Turtle Trot 10K and 5K (Heat+humidity+hills+humility=HELL)

This was the worst race of my life, no doubt about it. But wow, did I suck! Let me start from the beginning of this awful morning. I had to wake up at 5:50 AM as usual to leave at 6:00 for our 70 mile drive to Amelia Island for the Turtle Trot 10K and 5K (I did the 10K and my dad did the 5K). We arrived and you could already feel the heat and 100% humidity. The reason I wanted to do this race was because I hadn't raced a 10K since April. I wanted to run a decent race if possible and see where I was in terms of speed and endurance. The race started at 8:00 and I took it out in the first mile at the pace I wanted to hold. I went through it in 7:45, but was struggling already because most of the first mile was a series of gradual inclines. and it went all downhill from there. The next miles were plagued with hills and the omnipresent humidity. By mile 3 we were in Fort Clinch Park where the hills were less frequent but the humidity was still present. And man was I going slow. It seemed that you could walk faster than I was running. I had to stop and walk for the first time ever in a race and not just once or twice but three times. My training has suffered a decline since my vacationing started and I have to get my act together so I can get better. I vowed to myself not to do no more than 2 races a month so I can focus on my training. But back to my final minutes in hell. I stopped a few more times but then the sacred "mile 6" sign popped up in the distance and I reached into my body to muster a few minutes of hard running to the end. And once I saw that clock, I wanted to cry. Humility overtook me as I crossed the finish line in 1:00:43. All I wanted to do was crawl under a rock. I didn't even feel I deserved my first place in my age group award. The only positive thing I can say about the race is that it humbled me and has motivated me even more to train harder so this can never happen again, even when these types of conditions come upon me. On the other hand, my dad had a decent race but the factors that affected me also affected him, giving him a time more than a minute slower than what he usually gets, a 22:37. He did perform well in his age group, though, placing 2nd and getting a plaque that he has been longing for. All in all, this race under these conditions was a frustrating waste of our time, even though the Amelia Island Runners did a great job organizing the race. The next race I'm doing is the rescheduled Carrabba's Beach Run next week which I don't even want to think about how bad the conditions may be with the impending tropical storms. And after that race I will go through with my vow and only do the Children's Way 5K in late September and then a race in late October. So long and keep staying away from this horrendous humidity!

Tour de Pain

Sorry about the late post, I just got Internet access in Poland. But on to the running. This Tour de Pain was my first one and a memorable one it was. I wasn't in prime shape since I was in Alaska for a week so I failed to preform my best.

4 mile beach run

I had a week to get myself back in shape for the races and did the best I could but nothing could of prepared me for the conditions of the 4 mile beach run. The race was scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM held right on Jacksonville Beach. It rained the whole afternoon but once we got there it stopped and cleared up a little. My goal was to get sub 30:00 and my dad's goal being sub 28:00. We stepped on the beach and saw that the conditions were OK. The sand was still pretty loose from the rain and wasn't packed well. To make matters worse, the race director announced that there were no port-a-johns on the beach to use. That caused my dad and me to run frantically to McDonald's before the start of the race to use the bathroom. We got back in time and the race was off a few minutes later. I took it out at my desired pace-7:20 for the first mile. My legs felt dead and only felt worse after having to jump over at least 7 streams in the first mile, much like a steeplechase. The second mile I hit in 15:40, a little slower than I expected. In the second half of the race things went from bad to worse. The conditions were horrible. It was like running throw a soaked sand box. The sand on the beach turned to muck. You had to make an effort just to get your foot out of the ground. I faded quickly and was passed by my competitors. But all things come to an end and so did this race. I finished in 34:08 with my head hung over. My dad on the other hand finished in 31:15, a time slower than what he did two years ago in his first Tour de Pain. The rain came back and we were quick to head out.

5K

We woke up at the crack of dawn the next morning to head out to 1st place sports for the road 5K at 7:30 AM. My legs were sore and would only feel worse during the run. My goal today was anything under 25:00. The race started except I didn't do my usual act of bolting out. I still kept a fast pace going and went through the first mile in 7:10. The second mile was slower for me and more painful as I suffered through it in 15:00. The last mile I just winged and I finished the race in 24:07, a time I was OK with. My dad beat me by the biggest margin yet, finishing in 22:01.

Road Mile

After a few hours of rest we were back out to downtown Jacksonville for the last "stage" or race of Tour de Pain, the road mile. It had three heats, those being men 40 and over at 3:00 PM, men 30 and under at 3:15 PM, and all women at 3:30 PM. A realistic goal for me was somewhere between 6:30 and 6:50. My dad's heat went first and he got 6:22 so I realized that my goal was indeed reasonable. The course was two loops around a half mile course. My heat was off to the sound of the cannon and I pursued the competition. I went through the half mile in 3:16, picking off a lot of people who started out too fast. I came in at 6:44, a time that I was finally pleased with. I finished third in my age group and felt that I preformed good coming off of a week of vacation. My next race is going to be the Carrabba's Summer Beach Run, a race that is hit or miss. It will be two days after I come back from Poland but I am training hard here, preparing for the worst. So long and keep running!