Cary Road Race 10k: Disappointment of a Course Miscalculation

I am still very new to running and racing in many ways, but sometimes I forget that I have only been running since June of 2010. Because after having run 33 race in less than two years, I have experienced a lot of both good and bad on race day: side stitches -yep, unexpected PR's -yep, inexplicably wretched runs -yep, rain, heat, wind, cold, humidity -yep, malfunctioning timing equipment -yep, malfunctioning - Garmin -yep.  Now, that is not to say I've seen it all.  I haven't, nor do I want to make such a claim.  My point is that as you run more races, you understand that pulling off a perfect race for both the organizers and the runners is really an amazing accomplishment.  As a runner, I am aware of the huge amount of effort to race organizers put into a race.  And, I hope that the understand how much time and effort runners put into attending their race.  As a runner, I can forgive just about any unforeseen problems that might arise on race day, with the exceptions of  course miscalculations.  The first time, I ran a race where the course was short, it was part of an event that was incredibly disorganized and was the culmination of a really lack luster effort on the part of the race organizers.  I was not expecting course problems from The Cary Road Race because it is an event that has been run for nearly 34 years, and take place on a course that is defined by it setting on greenway going around a large pond.  The race make use of two public streets, which are clearly marked for the race.

However, as I was running in the 10k on Saturday I noticed after the second mile of the race that my Garmin was off by nearly two tenths of a mile from the course markers.  The first turnaround had not been as clearly marked as it was last year, and there did not seem to be anyone directing runner which side of the road to run on.  Even though the course markings were off, I continued to run hard hoping that my Garmin was just off, which often happens in races do to running tangents, but two tenths of a mile is a lot to be off in the first 3 miles of a race, but I hoped against hope that Old Bob had just flaked on me because I was having a banner race.  After the three mile mark we run the course again and as we were heading to the turnaround again, I was fighting off a cramp/side stitch while climbing a hill, so it took me a while to notice that a cone had been set up, and the turn around had been moved back about a tenth of a mile to where the ground had been clearly painted 10k turnaround.  My fear that the course was short had been confirmed, but I was having a great race.  Even at the right distance, I would have shattered my 10k PR, so I decided to run hard and stay in control of the only thing I had control over at this point, myself and how I ran.  I ended up running strong and finishing the race over 4 minutes and nearly two tenths of a mile under my 10K PR.

A while back when this happened to me at the Free to Breath 5k, my frustrations boiled over because it was a culmination of series of lapses on the part of the race organizers of the event, but this time I just felt disappointment because I had run a good race and had been looking forward to breaking my 10K PR and not setting a new standard for my six miler.  But, I am learning quickly from these races that I can only control myself and how I run, and sometimes not even those things are really under much control.  I still have a hard time forgiving course errors and will most likely not run this race again, but rather than get overly frustrated by the error, I was able to move past it and take some pride in knowing that I still ran really well.

2011 Cary Road Race: 4/9/11 Race Report

This was my most intelligently run race to date because of the elimination of past mistakes and management of my body while not feeling my best.  I had some cranky leg issues over the last few days, which made me cautious.  A PR was within reach as long as I ran a decent race and didn't do anything dumb, but considering how much of a dumb ass I have been recently, there was at least a 50/50 chance I'd find a new a creative way to screw up!  My previous 10k time was 57:25.  I got it in race for which I wasn't prepared and went out way too fast.  My previous 10k was also run at a time when my overall fitness level was declining due injury and poor work habits.  Currently my fitness level is on the rise, and my preparation has been geared towards this race.  So, my old PR was as ripe for a fall as .

Unfortunately, my lower quads started to get cranky on Wednesday, and Thursday didn't seem that much better.  Friday they improved some, but we had lots of thunderstorms and the temperature dropped that night and didn't help things in the slightest.  My legs felt tight when I woke Saturday morning, and my left calf almost felt knotted.  I tried to warm up and loosen me legs before the race but was hit by a sneezing fit, which took away from my time to get warm.  I had taken allergy medicine before I left and figured that with the rain, allergies wouldn't be an issue.  I was mistaken, and after eight straight sneezes I had no choice but to sneak off to the side of the starting area and launch some snot rockets.  Disgusting? Yes!    But, I most of the people there were runner, so I am sure that they all been there / done that at some point or another.

The race was chip timed, but the only timing device was at the finish, so you may as well say it was gun timed.  Hiroko had to work and I was flying solo at the race, so there won't be any pictures unless there was a race photography company there, but I never noticed one.  The course was a double loop around a the 5k course, and I was happy for it because I had never seen the course before.  I thought that it would be fairly flat and was right for the most part.  There was one good sized hill towards the end of the first mile. 

My Garmin times are a little more accurate than the race time, so I'll use the splits from Old Bob in the report.

Mile 1: The first mile started with an immediate slight decline which got my pacing off, but I was able to fight off the urge to go out fast for the most part and held myself back.  I was hoping to run the first mile as close to 9 minutes as I could get.  But, I picked up time on the down hill that I never gave back and came in at 8:32.33, which was alright in my book.  I was hoping that my legs would loosen up more than they did over the course of the first mile, but the dampness in the air seem to work against me.  It also didn't help that we were running around a little lake.

  A lot of people passed me throughout this mile, but I didn't fight it at all because I knew that I would see them again as the race went on.  I just picked out a few people to target later.

Mile 2:  We continued up the hilly area just for a bit more then turned around and returned the way we came before turning off to go around the lake.  This portion had a large downhill that I had to take some advantage of and pick up speed.  I put Newton in the drivers seat and let my big ass pull me down the hill.  I didn't try to run anyone down or get caught up in anything going on around me.  No one really seemed to pass me here at all, nor did I pass anyone else.  I was still hoping that my legs would loosen up, and my calf still had most of my attention at this point.  I did this mile in 8:33 51

Mile 3:  this portion of the course was the  flat portion of the course and runners just streamed past me.  I didn't pass a single person during this mile.  I just kept my pace right where I wanted it.  I could feel a slight burning feeling in my hip flexors, sort of like I had applied a muscle cream to them, but I hadn't.  I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew something was a miss.  I did the third mile in 9:08.8, which was pretty close to the 9 minutes for which I was aiming. 

Mile 4: this was a repeat of the first mile.  About a halfway into this mile people, who had passed me earlier started coming back to me.  I wasn't really passing them yet, but I was picking off a few people that had been ahead of me for most of the race.  I caught the first person I had marked earlier as we were going up the hill, and I just eased by him was the hill took his legs out.  I was glad for all of the Umstead running that I had been doing because the hill wasn't hurting me as much as it was a lot of the runners around me.  I kept my pacing right where I wanted it and finished mile 4 in 9:09.82

Mile 5: The big downhill was right in this mile, and I again used it pick up some speed and began to take down a lot of the people that had passed me on mile 3 and got the last person, who I had marked.  I was running alright and knew that I was on pace for a big PR, but I also knew that my hips were not right and doubted that I had much for the push I wanted at the end.  At the end of Mile 5 my time was better than my 8k PR that I had set just last month by about 6 seconds, which made me feel pretty good because I hadn't used any kind of kick, which I would have had this been an 8k race.  I did mile 5 in 8.42.19

Mile 6: Once again we hit the flat ground and about five or six people passed me at this point, while I continued to pass about four others.  None of the people that passed me were people I had recently passed, so I didn't try to fight anyone except the last two ( I nearly caught the last person to pass me at the finish line, but she edged me out by a foot fall).  I debated about where to start my kick throughout this mile because I just didn't confidence in my legs at this point and knew that I had a 5k the following week where I was going to take a better performance than this to challenge my 5k PR that I want to challenge.  I held off until the end of the mile and just picked up a little bit rather than launching into the beginning of a kick.  I did this mile in 9:01.68

The last .2 was a little confusing it was the only portion of the course that I had not run on as part of the first loop and the finish line was right around a hairpin turn, so I did realize just how close, so my kick was shorter than it could have been.  I did it in 2:02  Old Bob say that my time was close to 55:00 flat, but my official time for the race was 55:14,which shave off 2:09 from my old PR, so I'll take it and be happy considering my legs never really felt their best.