The Tidewater Striders Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday evening brought another unexpected surprise. I knew I’d placed 2nd overall in the Striders 2008 Grand Prix Series – a 12 race challenge spread over 12 months and taking in race distances from the mile to the marathon – but I was completely shocked to be awarded “Outstanding Male Performance of the Year”. I guess my hard work and never-say-die ethic counts for something after all? Anyway, the award really meant a lot and was a tremendous way to round off a successful 2008 – probably my most consistent year of running ever.

Thankfully it wasn’t too late a night as Sunday had another challenge in store – the Colonial Half Marathon in historic Williamsburg, Virginia. The race wasn’t due to start until 1pm so it was nice to stay in bed a little later than normal and take a leisurely drive along I-64 to the College of William & Mary Campus where the race would begin. This race was one of the reasons I held back a little in the first loop of Saturday’s 30k, but seeing as though I pushed the pace in the final 20k, I didn’t expect too much in terms of time and resigned myself to an enjoyable run along the scenic course.

Once again, however, I surprised myself, and found the miles ticking by at quite a pace. My legs were certainly sore from the 30k, but somehow I was able to keep the cadence going at a nice clip. Maybe it was the constant uphill/downhill that the Colonial course offers? I’ll spare you the details but with a few miles to go I realized I might be in with a shot of beating last year’s finish time of 1 hour 22 minutes. Luckily there was a younger guy (who I remembered just beating me in a 5k last year) to keep me going and I spent most of the last 2 or 3 miles trying to keep him in my sights. Finally we reached William & Mary Hall and it was just a couple of quick turns to the finish line where the clock read 1:21:22 – 38 seconds quicker than last year after a very solid 30k just 30 hours previous! Fantastic! For the record I finished 21st place overall and 2nd place Master in a very competitive race.

Highlight of the afternoon was meeting fellow Welshman Nigel Edwards from Northern Virginia who also ran the half. He spotted my Welsh Dragon hat as I walked to the start line and we immediately hit it off. I saw Nigel during the race and it was great to cheer on a fellow countryman for a change. We also hooked up at the post race area, exchanged email addresses and phone numbers, and I’m sure we’ll see each other one day soon – either at a race in the DC area, Virginia Beach area or at some random pub showing a Welsh rugby game one Saturday afternoon…

Here the weekend takes a turn for the worse. After hanging out for an hour or two after the race, Allyson and I decide to head for something to eat. By this time it’s about 4pm, snow is falling and we’re both starving. After a well-earned lunch, we spend some time with our daughter who was working an afternoon shift and finally head for home around 6pm. We hadn’t even made it to I-64 when I started to feel a little nauseous. Allyson was driving and as I sat in the passenger seat I just thought my food hadn’t digested properly. However, with each passing mile, I began to feel worse and worse and desperate to get back to Virginia Beach.

Finally we made it home. I grabbed my bags, got out of the car, and headed upstairs to lie down. The rest, as they say, is ugly. I’ll spare you the details, but the last 3 days have been none too pleasant and quite a blur; a nasty bout of food poisoning has left me six pounds lighter and weak as a kitten. Thankfully the worst is over, but I still have no appetite and need to put some of the lost weight back on.

Needless to say I haven’t run a mile since Sunday and am thinking the Mud in Your Eye XC on Saturday is out of the question. What a bizarre weekend – two tremendous races, a wonderful performance award followed by the worst case of food poisoning I’ve ever experienced. It’s a funny old world….

To kick off this Tidewater Striders Distance Series 30k race report, here’s a quote from yesterday’s post:

“Last year I ran a crazy 1:56:48 which I think was a PR by over 3 minutes. If I can somehow get close to the magic 2 hour mark tomorrow, I’ll be ecstatic.”

Somehow I did manage to get close to the magic 2 hour mark….but it was close!

Race conditions weren’t perfect for Saturday’s 30k, but it’s been a lot worse in the past and I’m sure it will be less favorable for future races too. The secret is to take what you’ve got and make the best out of it.
Sure, it was windy (roughly 16mph winds out of the NE), but it wasn’t raining and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds to brighten up the day.

The race was due to start at 9am, so I set off around 8:15 to warm up and see how the conditions may impact different parts of the course. 3 miles later, I was back at the car, suitable warmed up and ready to race. Unlike 99% of the runners, I stripped down to singlet and shorts, performed a few last minute stretches and made my way to the start line with a couple of minutes to spare.

Despite a somewhat ambitious goal of 2 hours for the 30k (18.6 mile) race, I decided to just go with the flow for the first couple of miles and see how I felt. Mile 1 was a comfortable 6:34, which I followed up with another 6:34 for mile 2. Heart rate was only around 156bpm, so I stepped it up a little and pressed on for mile 3 and the clock at the 5k mark. The third mile came in at 6:17 and I hit 5k at about 40:12 – a little slower than 2 hour pace, but there were still 15.6 miles to race.

As is usually the case at these distance series races, the field had already strung out and I was running pretty much on my own – a small group ahead and a larger group a short distance behind. Some runners prefer to have the company of others during a race, but I’m perfectly happy in my own little world. The next three miles were fairly consistent – 6:29, 6:23 and 6:26 – and at the 10k mark I clocked a little over 40 minutes, still outside target pace, but only just.

The second 10k loop started with three strong miles – 6:22, 6:22 and 6:18. One of the runners had escaped from the group behind and I think having him for company made me push the pace a little. As I approached the 15k mark I decided to take an espresso gel which would hopefully kick in a few miles down the road. My split at the halfway mark was 1:00:11 – just 11 seconds off pace and still over 9 miles to race. Maybe I could break the magic 2 hour barrier after all?

I traded places several times with the escapee before deciding to make a move of my own. The 10th mile contains a nice incline and I enjoyed powering up the hill and striding out going down the other side. Despite my best efforts to drop him, he was still stuck to me, so I decided to just focus on myself and let the race unfold ahead of me.

The last 3 miles of the second loop were quite tough for some reason. The boost I was expecting from the gel didn’t happen, and I was left “treading water” and struggling with my form and cadence. Splits for mile 10, 11 and 12 were 6:23, 6:20 and 6:25, and with the 20k mark fast approaching I knew I had to dig deep for the final loop.

A quick glance at the finish clock at 20k gave me an instant boost – I was under 1:20 and for the first time in the race on pace for a sub 2-hour finish. Also, a quick glance back at the water stop confirmed I’d put about 25 yards between myself and the “escapee”. Looking ahead it also appeared I’d gained some ground on the only 2 runners I could see ahead of me – both of whom were way ahead of me in the overall series standings and far better runners than I’ll ever be.

Spurred on and feeling somewhat rejuvenated (maybe it was the caffeine in the espresso gel?), I surged on and recorded the two fastest mile splits of my race – 6:12 and 6:10. The 15th mile was slightly slower (6:21) and as I passed the 25k clock I told myself “only 5k left to race”. I took another gel at this point and was so wrapped up opening the foil pack that I missed the 25k split. I was also too busy looking at the two runners ahead and counting how many seconds they were ahead of me (45) to notice.

I knew I had little chance of running 15 seconds per mile faster than the guys ahead, and even if I did catch them they had the ability to step up a gear and drop me in a heartbeat. I decided to focus on myself and maintain the 6:26 pace to take me to a 2 hour finish. Mile 16 was the slowest since mile 2 and I panicked slightly, but I dug deep and somehow recorded a 6:23 and 6:24 17th and 18th mile. Finally the last hill was behind me and I gave it everything in the last .6 of a mile to the finish line, painfully aware that the clock was counting down the seconds. The wind cruelly seemed to pick up and I was also having to dodge some of the slower 30k runners on their second 10k loop and the 20k runners who were approaching their own finish line too. I sprinted to the line watching the clock tick away the seconds – 1:59:50, 1:59:51, 1:59:52…….and out of the corner of my eye I think I saw it tick over to 2:00:00 as I crossed the line. After 18.6 miles of racing, I’d nailed my prediction to teh second! Nice…

My overall position in the race was 5th and I’d managed to close the gap to the 4th place guy to just 23 seconds. Maybe another 5k and another espresso gel and I could have caught him

I immediately headed back to the car to put on warm clothes to help prevent getting a chill, and it was only when I stopped that I realized how cold and windy it actually was. Typically after a race I cool down for at least a mile or two, but today all I wanted was some warm food and a hot drink. I headed inside to fill out my race card and have to admit the cool down never happened. Actually it was really nice to relax and chill out with a few friends, and enjoy the hot soup and drinks….

Later in the day when the results were posted, I was somewhat surprised to see myself listed as the third overall male finisher with a combined series time of 5:01:11 – a nice little bonus after 3 hard marathon tune-up races.

Now I just to need to run 8 miles on Sunday to log 52 miles for the week and record a slight increase over last week’s total. I wonder how my legs will feel tomorrow??