Tidewater Stiders Tune-Up Series 20k – New Year, New PR

Yesterday’s Tune-Up Series 20k, held on Fort Story Army Base, is the first of three races intended as a “tune-up” to the Shamrock Marathon on March 22nd. The three races are 20k, 25k and 30k in distance but there’s also a 10k, 15k and 20k series for the people hoping to take part in the Shamrock Half Marathon on the same day.

Many of the entrants simply use the races as their weekly long run – after all it is easier to run long when you’ve got company isn’t it? I choose to race the distance which let’s me know where I am in my training and what I need to do in preparation for the upcoming marathon.

The 20k was due to start at 9am which meant a 6:30 alarm call. Breakfast for all my races and long runs consists of 3 scoops of Hammer Nutrition’s Sustained Energy mixed in 24oz of water. I refrain from eating solid foods before a race and choose to fuel-up with a liquid breakfast instead. For me it’s far easier to drink 24oz of Sustained Energy than attempt to consume and digest a bagel, power bar, oatmeal or whatever else is considered a “normal” breakfast. In case you’re interested, 3 scoops of SE provides 343 calories made up of 73g of carbs, 10.5g of protein and 1g of fat. I also take a couple of Endurolyte capsules to help keep cramps at bay and my usual daily ration of Tissue Rejuvenator which is a great product for superior joint and tissue health.

Anyway, enough about the Hammer Nutrition products. We (my wife was running the 10k) arrived at Fort Story just after 8am, allowing plenty of time to register, collect our race packets and warm-up. I jogged about 1.5 miles and took an Espresso Hammer Gel around 8:50am before performing a few 50m sprints. My body was definitely ready to race, but due to the amount of traffic trying to get on the army base, the start time was pushed back 20 minutes to 9:20am. Not ideal, but the time went quick as I chatted to friends and did a bit more stretching.

Eventually both races started and we were off. My rather lofty goal pace was somewhere between 6:15 – 6:20 per mile and it was cool to hit the first mile feeling pretty good in 6:14. I was accompanied by Billy Chorey who wasn’t sure what pace to run at and asked if I minded him tagging along. Actually it was great to have company and time passed quickly as we chatted our way through the opening miles.

Mile 2 and 3 were a bit quick (6:07 and 6:06) but I still felt good and we ran through the water stop towards the four mile mark, which thankfully came in a little slower at 6:27. Just after the four, we made a right turn and tackled the first hill of the course (photo courtesy of TriDuo.com Sports Photography). I love the hills of Fort Story and noticed we were now gaining on several of the other runners ahead who’d started the race a little faster.

Mile 5 and 6 felt great (6:14 and 6:08) and as we approached the end of the first loop, I sensed Billy drop off the pace and fall a little behind. Judging by the ease Billy was running I had a sneaky feeling he’d be back soon. Mile 7 was the fastest of the race (5:50) and faster than the third mile of my 5k on New Year’s Day – crazy really! I also moved into 3rd place as I passed another couple of runners right at the seven mile mark.

Mile 8 (6:07) was into a slight headwind, but I still felt good and as predicted Billy caught up to me. Things were still ticking along nicely at mile 9 (6:04), but at the 15k mark my legs started to feel heavy and I sensed the cadence dropping. I urged Billy to press on as I knew I’d reached my limit and didn’t want to hold him back.

The next two miles slipped away from me slightly (6:16 and 6:24) and I frantically tried to work out my finish time. Sometimes the simplest calculations cause the mind to go blank, but it was somewhere around the 11 mile mark I realized I was in with a shout of hitting another PR (personal record). I dug deep, urged my legs to turn over faster and headed towards the final hill.

My wife Ally (who incidentally had a great 10k race) was at the bottom of the last hill to take a few pictures (bottom of hill and 0.3 miles to go) and cheer me on. Ally’s support was the perfect lift at a tough stage of the race and certainly helped me stride on to the finish.

I could see the clock as I approached the line and knew a PR was in the bag. Amazingly I’d shaved off over a minute for a 1:16:19 finish time! Billy was there to congratulate me as was Pete Gibson who ran a fantastic race for second place and was there to cheer me on to the finish.

I often wonder when my streak of PRs is going to end (surely I can’t keep this going much longer?), but in races like this it’s all about enjoying the moment and basking in the feeling of everything falling into place on the day.

Good times….