Neptune 8k

Race report time. Race reports like this are fun to right because I hit my goal time of 38 minutes. I didn't quite hit it with the splits I was planning (8,8,7:30, 7:30,7) but I did hit my goal time and in the end that's what matters. I also hit my goal time in a day of very bad weather and rain.

I arrived at the race at 7am for an 8am start. Before I got out of the car I noticed it was raining so I grabbed my jacket. I knew it wasn't waterproof but it would keep me from getting chilled and wet all the way down to my skin. I went and grabbed my timing chip and starting walking the boardwalk that's right on the beach. The rain was steady but not really hard. No big deal.

I realized I needed to go to the bathroom and I spotted a mcdonald's that wouldn't mind if I used their facility. It was in doors that I realized how wet I was and I realized that regardless if it was raining at the start of the race I was going to be wet for the race. I got back outside and started my warm up, I felt fresh and the air wasn't stifling, it was going to be a good race.

Warmed up and the rain just kept coming. It seemed like the rain was getting harder. It was. I ducked under and awning with 50 of my closest runner friends and tried to just relax for a few minutes. Then it was time to get to the start line. No sooner did we get to the start line did the rain just start coming. Hard, steady rain. I started to hear people complain to their friends that their time was going to be bad today because of the rain and the wind. I was grinning hear to ear. I love running in the rain. It's one of my favorite times to run and because I've love it it's something I do on a regular basis. I've always read practice what you'll be racing in and it just so happens I've run in rain.

The gun went off and I swear the rain started coming harder. Several things amazed me at this point. The first was the incredibly slow people that were in front of me. It's pretty common sense to line up according to your speed. If you are a slow runner then line up towards the back, fast line up towards the front. Me, I'm a medium speed runner so I line up in the middle. My only excuse I can think of for people is that they think they are faster than they are. They must think a 9:00 m/mile is fast so they line up towards the front. Really I just don't know.

The other thing that amazed me was the ipods and mp3 players that people were listening to in the pouring rain. Water and electronics don't go to well together. The next thing I noticed was the rain coming down still harder and the wind blowing in my face. I didn't care, I was grinning and just loving the fact that we were all running in the rain.

At about mile one there was a water stop which I thought was hilarious because it was raining so hard all one had to do was look up and open you mouth. So that's what I did, the volunteers laughed.

At mile one I started to find someone that was doing miles at about 8:00. I decided to keep my first two miles at 8 to avoid going out too fast. There was a lady that was just ahead of me and at a good clip. Turns out she was doing the pace I wanted and so I just decided to stick with her till mile 2. This let my mind rest a little about pacing and kept me from getting too excited.

Mile two hit and it was time to increase my pace. It hurt a little. My shoes were wet and really heavy and I was more than soaked through. I started thinking about my favorite scene from Remember the titans. The two linebackers are huddle up with their team and one asks the other "how strong are you?" and the reply is "I'm too strong". I also thought about a scene from facing the giants. The scene where Brock has to do the death crawl and the coach as him to do his best. So blindfolded and with a 160lb guy on his back Brock starts death crawling. During the drill the coach demands Brock give his best. He demands more power, he tells Brock to negotiate with his body for more strength. So with those thoughts I finished mile 3.

Two to go. I tried to relax and I started setting small goals for myself. Mile 4 down and at the turn around with about .9 miles to go I started to increase my pace yet again. People were tired and were slow. I was having no problem picking off people and the more I picked off the more mental fuel my body got. I started counting down the blocks and knew I was almost at the finish. With .2 miles to go I started kicking, full speed as much as I could muster. My stomach hurt, my legs were heavy and I was sucking wind. But I wanted to leave it all out there and that's what I did.

37:52
7:38 m/mile average
Splits:
1- 7:52
2-7:29
3-7:26
4-7:40
.97-7:22