Charlotte’s Thunder Road Marathon - another PR to finish off a fine 2006!
Only time for a quick race report, hopefully something more detailed will follow pretty soon. What a great, challenging race! Conditions were far from ideal and I think that’s the coldest temperatures I’ve ever raced in. Luckily my hotel was only minutes from the start line, so I was able to stay indoors until almost the very last seconds before the gun went off. Usually I’m not one to feel the cold, but on this occasion I opted for a couple of layers on top, hat, gloves and shorts. Yes, that’s right - shorts. I don’t even like training in long pants, so there was no way I was going to race in them today, and after applying a couple of layers of Tiger Balm to my legs I was ready to go!
After getting wrapped up in an early fast pace at the Marine Corps Marathon just a few weeks ago, I was determined to stay in the zone today and hopefully save enough to finish strong. The last 6 miles at Marine Corps were far too painful and there was no way I wanted to experience that kind of struggle again. Much of the race is a blur, but I do remember consistently knocking out 6:20 to 6:30 miles. No heroics today, just a solid, steady effort was the plan. I went through the halfway mark in 1:25:40, a fraction slower than planned, but still feeling great. My main thoughts at this point were “I felt this good at Marine Corps too” and “I hope the hills haven’t killed my legs”. Charlotte is the hilliest marathon course I’ve had the pleasure of running in recent years, but what goes up also comes down. It was challenging but fair. Rather than talk myself into struggling up the hills, I would look ahead and try to close on runners in front of me. On the downhills, I would relax as much as possible and try not to tear up the quads too much.
It started getting tough at about the 21 mile mark, but what kept me positive was the fact that I was consistently catching runners who were now struggling up ahead. One by one I caught and passed about 5 people. Each time I told myself they were in my age group, and it could be the difference between receiving an award or not. Finally, with a couple of miles to go, I ran out of runners to catch. Whoever was in front was too far ahead to see. Now it was just a question of hanging in there and holding off the cramps that were starting in my feet.
A couple of blocks later and there was the finish line up ahead. I sensed a good time, but I’d kind of stopped watching the clock and concentrated on staying strong for the last few miles. Hopefully I’d dipped under my Marine Corps Marathon time. Soon the finish clock was in view and I watched the seconds tick away until I passed the line at 2:51:00 - a new PR on a pretty tough course! What a great way to end a great year of running….
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