Pre-Race:
Woke up to some nasty weather. It was in the mid 30s and a cold light rain. Of course with very little expectations with this race, I was ready for whatever mother nature wanted to give me. My game plan was to take it easy as I would any other long run in order to avoid injury before next Saturday's half marathon. Of course knowing my long run pace is around a 12 min/mile, I was expecting around a 1:15 finish.
Woke up at my usual "work day" time of 6:30 and was out the door at 7:00. Arrived at the race start at around 7:40, got my number and tech tee (once again, it's unisex and way too big so Goodwill is getting another one) and went back to my car to stay warm until about 8:10. By this time, there was a nasty rain/sleet/snow mix that was just plain miserable. At 8:15, I stood in a line (all of 3 people ahead of me) for the porta potty then headed to the start where I did a very light jog and stretching to stay warm. I had on my fleece-lined pants (they are water resistant), long-sleeve tee, rain jacket, gloves and hat. I was slightly chilly at the start which is a good sign I was properly dressed.
The Race:
At 8:30, we were off. I started near the back of the pack and settled into my easy pace and pretty much just held it there for most of the race. The first few hills were nothing and I was able to get up those without any problems. The hill right before Greenville County used to give me problems but not this time but I ended up taking a walk break anyway because I was getting too hot and had to take off my rain jacket. It was just too warm, especially once the wintry mix had stopped. Not sure why I get so much hotter in a race then in a training run. Adrenaline perhaps?
After that, it was smooth sailing until I got to the first water station which was on a downhill (really?) so once again I slowed to a walk and grabbed some. I quickly got back into my easy pace and breezed through miles 3-5. I definitely didn't have the struggle as I did in the previous two times I ran this race or the last time I ran through here. In fact those two flat miles through Cleveland Park seemed effortless to me this time around and I was feeling really good and even passing other runners (which this late in the race used to be very rare for me).
Mile 5 is where everything started to change and I ended up walking some up the two final hills. That last hill before the finish is awful and I did my best to conquer but only was able to make it about ½ way. But once I hit the 6 mile marker, I got back to running again and picked up the pace for a final kick for the downhill finish and cross the line in 1:09:56, a solid 5 minutes faster than I expected to.
Weather: 36° with 4 mph N winds. Rain/Sleet/Snow mix at the start. A very light drizzle during the race.
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