After a quick chat with soon-to-be-first-place Allie, I lined up near the middle of the crowd. This ended up being a quasi-bad idea because many of the nice folks directly in front of me were in more of a “social jog” mode than a “run this race” mode. But the road was pretty wide after we crossed the timing mat, so I was able to take off and pass some folks, which is always a nice confidence booster.
My Garmin also reset itself (user error) right before the start, and I was about .5 miles in before it got to working again; thus, I don’t have perfectly accurate split data. I shall therefore simply divide this race into two distinct phases: pre- and post-Laurel Hill.
Pre-Laurel Hill: The 2.5 miles before the hill were just groovy: a big downhill, a couple of little uphills, no problems. I was feeling strong; legs were happy. According to the Garmin data I do have, I ran mile .5-ish to 1.5-ish in an average pace of 7:14! Official time for the pre-Laurel Hill segment of the race was 19:06, which, assuming 2.5 miles distance, means an average pace of 7:38.
And briefly, the Laure Hill: it was horrible and it seemed to last forever. I felt like I was barely keeping it together. I slowed down even when I saw it coming. It was that scary.
Post-Laurel Hill: My legs were pretty tired, my stomach felt icky, and I was a little demoralized by some of the paces I’d seen flash on my Garmin when I’d dared to look at it back on the hill because they really weren't what I was hoping for. Basically, I thought the race was already shot, goal-wise, so I was somewhat phoning it in. There were also a few more little uphills, including one in a parking garage(?) that led into the stadium. I have no idea what my pace was on this last part, but based on what the Garmin says (I also forgot to stop it at the finish) and based on the time coming off the hill, I’d say it was close to 8:15/8:30.
My official chip time was 33:19, which I am totally shocked to report was good enough for 3rd place in my age group.
Takeaways: I have officially resolved to not run any more races in Chapel Hill. It’s too hilly, and it’s just a little strange for me to race on campus because I work there. Also, considering that basically ¼ of this race was that godforsaken hill, I’ve decided not to let the overall pace here be an exclusive indicator of my performance. Looking at the first 2.5 miles, I feel like I see improvement, even if just a little, over my last 5k. As such, I’m going to stick with my shorter-race focus for the foreseeable future.
