Official Race Results
In as few as seven days prior to Cotton Row I was totally unsure if I was going to be able to race, even the lower competition 5km, let alone the highly competitive 10km on Memorial Day. Then I had what I can only describe as a breakthrough week of training. I was coming off of the Pinhoti Trail Adventure Run two and a half weeks earlier and a lackluster performance on dead legs at the Scenic City Half Marathon. I had no confidence whatsoever in the ability of my legs to turnover quickly enough to be more than an after thought at Cotton Row.
Here was my training week leading into the race.
Sunday May 23: Ran the Cotton Row 10km course twice at a very aggressive pace coming off the top of the hill on each loop.
Monday May 24: Busy day at work so was left to hit the elliptical at work during lunch which was actually a blessing as it gave my feet and joints a day off from the pounding.
Tuesday May 25: Track workout at Huntsville High School with 8x400 meters and 200-meter recovery. I was going to hit them at 80 seconds per, but after going 76 on the first one, I kept them all at that level or better. Repeats were at 76, 76, 76, 75, 75, 75, 75, and 71. The last four were at 4:58 pace and the temperature was in the upper 80's. Later that night I went home and was ill all night from going so hard.
Wednesday, May 26: Ran the Panorama 10 miler course, cutting it short because of the weather. I started out at 7:30 pace for the first mile, and then slowly picked up the pace, finishing at 6:30 pace for 7.25 miles. It was a great run, despite having some stomach and GI issues late in the run that forced a stop in the woods. I was not as ill as after Tuesday's run, but this is par for me; feeling ill after hard workouts when I am not in shape to be running that hard.
Thursday, May 27: Had to meet with WAAY 31 to film the news story on Cotton Row, so just ran while they filmed and then did a few hill repeats after in Jones Valley.
Friday, May 28: Met with Joey and Kathy at Fleet Feet at 6am and ran the Fanning Trail hybrid loop. This is a 1-mile warm up followed by a 0.87-mile straight hill climb on technical trails. I was out to run my best ever on the climb (previous was 11 something) and this morning I ran a personal best of 9:54. Then we proceeded to hit the rest of the Green Mountain trails and then roads back to Fleet Feet. The hill climb was a tremendous confidence booster as I ran it hard and was not totally wasted after the summit.
Saturday, May 29: Ran the 10km loop at Cotton Row at 6am, picking it up late and striding out at a fast pace. The last 2 miles were a test for the race and I was wearing my new Nike Lunar Racers +. It was the first run I have done in over 3 years where I did not wear inserts for my arches. It felt really good and I was confident that I could run in the Racers on race day.
Sunday, May 30: Basically a day off where Laura and I just jogged with the dogs.
Summary for the week: I have not had a week with as many quality runs as this in a long time. Based on the results and effort from this week, I am going to run at least the 10km at Cotton Row just like I was in top 10km shape.
The night before the race, I looked at my splits from the two previous years and developed a race plan that I thought could work. In my first two attempts at the 10km in 2008 and 2009 I was in great road shape and went out too hard in the first 2 miles and had nothing left in my legs at the top of the hill to bring it home. So this year I decided to go out conservatively and try to negative or even split the second half. My plan was to run a low 36 and beat my Cotton Row 10km personal best of 36:31.
Mile 1: 5:40
Mile 2: 5:45
Mile 3: 6:10
Mile 4: 6:10
Mile 5: 5:40
Mile 6: 5:45
Mile 0.214: 5:30 pace
This would get me to a 36:16.
It was so hard to not surge out at the start while watched a hundred of front liners sprint ahead. Other runners in my class like Kevin Betts, David Purinton, and Jon Elmore left me at the start like I was standing still. I even watched other runners who were slower than me run out front, but I knew from previous experience that running faster than the projected average for this race from the start was not productive for me. Still by the time we hit Lowe I was running even and starting to work my way ahead of those who had gone out too hard.
Mile 1 split: 5:42.19
Average pace: 5:42.19
Projected Finish Time:
In the second mile the pack started to thin out and I was hitting my stride and trying to maintain even breathing. I knew that the course would continue to climb slowly for this entire mile and that it would be about keeping an even effort up passed the cemetery at the 2-mile mark. Lapping my watch it looked like I was slightly off my projected pace but it was very humid and it seemed to be affecting everyone else as well.
Mile 2 split: 5:48.70
Average pace: 5:44.95
Projected Finish Time: 35:20
Making the turn onto Owens, I grabbed some water to moisten my throat and dump a little on the back of my neck. Approaching the split in the road, I had closed the gap on George and was now running stride for stride just a few meters behind him. We passed a few people through here before making the turn onto Mountainwood. We were running closely with Firaya Sult.-Zhdanova, the former Boston Marathon winner in 1992 and 1993. I had gotten to know here pretty well over the last three years while hosting the Elite Dinner and having talked with her. As George and I made the hard left and began to climb, we passed her by enroute to the top.
Mile 3 split 6:07.58
Average pace: 5:52.49
Projected Finish Time: 35:43
I was surprised at coming through the half way point so quickly and almost right where I had planned to be. I grabbed more water at the top of the hill and began my recovery pace, trying to get ready to drop the hammer coming down Bankhead. I felt a little sluggish but as George lead the way down the hill, my leg turnover picked up and the pace got fast. Just like in training over the past few weeks, I was able to speed up in the second half and today was no different. It wasn't the easiest mile, having to climb the second half of Mountainwood and then the short climb to Bankhead, but I was able to come in faster than my plan.
Mile 4 split 6:05.70
Average pace: 5:42.19
Projected Finish Time: 36:30
I love to run the 5th mile of Cotton Row, as it is such a fast mile, being slightly downhill the entire way. Plus I had friends at the intersection of Bankhead and Maysville with DJ Pauli G jamming out some tunes. I have no idea what song he was playing but I could hear it coming and as I approached Slade's house, I picked up the pace and gave high-fives to my friends. I think I got a little carried away as my pace had dropped to 4:30 for a few seconds and my heart was racing. I got it back under check within a couple of blocks and continued to chase George.
Mile 5 split 5:33.02
Average pace: 5:41.24
Projected Finish Time: 36:22
Having run the course a half dozen times in the month of May, I had trained the sixth mile by easing up slightly on the uphill of White Street and getting ready to stride out down Randolph Ave. To mimic my preparation, I slowed slightly and after hitting water one more time, I turned down Randolph and tried to pick up the pace. I felt like I was running at near top speed but not all out. Toward the bottom of the hill and just before climbing into downtown, I remember struggling slightly as I could see DeWayne Satterfield operating a sprinkler for cooling people down. Reaching the intersection of Randolph and Washington, I recalled describing this two-turn sequence to Lori Jandreau as to the last section of the Boston Marathon; a hard right and then a fast left down (Boylston) to the finish. I picked up the pace again, trying to run the tangents on the corners and letting the sound of the crow energize me. Toward the end of the mile I was giving it everything that I had.
Mile 6 split 5:50.38
Average pace: 5:51.10
Projected Finish Time: 36:21
The final two-tenths of a mile was a blur as somehow I had dug deeper than I thought possible and I was able to take the pace up another notch. I was pumping my arms hard and my turnover was faster than at any point in the race. Crossing under the starting banner and seeing the clock, I could tell that I was going to come in faster than my personal best and about where I thought I could be. I could hear the screams of the crowd and despite now realizing that they were cheering loud for all the runners, it felt like they were just yelling for me. I ran the last 0.214 miles at 5:10 pace.
Final Time: 36:15
Average pace: 5:50.02
Despite my splits being slightly off from my projections, I had come in right where my overall plan had me for time and I was able to cut 16 seconds off of my personal best for this course. Starting the race I was seeded as number 27 (of 2,100 runners) and I finished exactly in 27th place. I was fortunate enough to earn a 3rd place age group award, my first for the Cotton Row 10km.
This was a great race morning for me as I was able to run smart and have a great time knowing that I was not in the best road shape and conditions were far from ideal, though everyone had to compete in the same humidity. I hope to learn a lesson from this race about not starting out too fast.
Overall I think that I had such a good day (for me) because of the confidence builder runs that I had during the week leading into the race. They have me the reassurance that I could do what my legs knew they were capable of doing.