I decided to race each month after realizing I had raced in every month so far this year. I haven't raced in all twelve months in one year before. June has lots of options. I could have done one of the two Beach Runs in Atlantic Beach and probably won it but I chose to do something different for my June race. I first heard about the Susan G. Komen Triangle Race for the Cure when my girlfriend Jamie ran it in 2011 along with my friend Pat Price.
Joining me for this race was Ryan Bingham who recently moved back to Greenville, NC from Charlotte. Ryan and I ran together a lot before he moved and have started running together again since he's moved back. He had some good training in Charlotte on hills and hadn't been far behind me on hill intervals and regular intervals since moving back. Having him back to train with has been beneficial for both of us.
My own training had been going well since May. I have been gradually increasing the weekly mileage since Boston and adding in two speed days a week to go along with a mid week long run of 10 miles and a weekend long run of 12-15 miles. The two speed workouts have typically been short 200-400m hill repeats, a mix of fartleks, and some longer intervals that included a cutdown workout with Ryan Polli where I chased him the whole time as we did 2xmile with 3 min recovery, 2x800m with 2 min recovery, and 2x400m with 1 min recovery. Ryan is a beast in triathlons and won a 5K earlier this year in 16:57. He's got an extra gear I don't have but I'm getting better chasing him on intervals and he's pushing me.
The Tuesday before this race Ryan, Jarrod, and I did 6x400 on the greenway with equal recovery because the humidity was brutal. We kept the 400s at race pace until the last 200m of the last 400m where we picked it up to finish with a kick. We ran an easy 8 miles on Wednesday. I took Thursday off and just did a short shakeout 3.8 miles run on Friday.
My own training had been going well since May. I have been gradually increasing the weekly mileage since Boston and adding in two speed days a week to go along with a mid week long run of 10 miles and a weekend long run of 12-15 miles. The two speed workouts have typically been short 200-400m hill repeats, a mix of fartleks, and some longer intervals that included a cutdown workout with Ryan Polli where I chased him the whole time as we did 2xmile with 3 min recovery, 2x800m with 2 min recovery, and 2x400m with 1 min recovery. Ryan is a beast in triathlons and won a 5K earlier this year in 16:57. He's got an extra gear I don't have but I'm getting better chasing him on intervals and he's pushing me.
The Tuesday before this race Ryan, Jarrod, and I did 6x400 on the greenway with equal recovery because the humidity was brutal. We kept the 400s at race pace until the last 200m of the last 400m where we picked it up to finish with a kick. We ran an easy 8 miles on Wednesday. I took Thursday off and just did a short shakeout 3.8 miles run on Friday.
Race Course I rode with Ryan to Raleigh the day before the race to get our packets and drive the race course since neither of us had raced it before. Packet pickup on Friday afternoon was easy, not crowded at all. I highly recommend getting your packet for this race the day before if you can. The race has a competitive race and recreation race. The competitive race has over 1,000 runners. Winning times in the past have been sub 17:00 and a 15:56 won it in 2011. The course is challenging. The first mile is mostly downhill and only starts to gradually climb towards the end. There is a quarter mile uphill from 1.3 - 1.5 miles but then a nice downhill after it. The course is then rolling hills after that with a gradual uphill after 2 miles to the finish. The final 200m is a tough uphill finish. I'm glad we drove the course before so we knew where the hills were and the tangents for the turns. After driving the course Ryan and I headed over to Capital RunWalk and just hung out there talking with Bobby Mack. After that we went to Carolina Cafe in Cameron Village for a snack. I tried their new cronut and it is amazing! It's a great place for lunch and brunch on the weekends after long runs in Umstead!
Start of the Triangle Race For the Cure I stayed the night at Jamie's parents house after meeting up with her once she made it out to Raleigh after teaching. We had some storms overnight but that helped drop the temperature and lower the humidity for race morning. Ryan and I did a 2 miles warm-up that included some strides before lining up for the 7am start. I felt good and even though I knew the course was challenging and several people have said it wasn't a PR course I was aiming for a PR. After-all, I run better on hills than I do flat courses.
The race started with Ryan and I out fast with a handful of runners ahead of us. I figured several would go out too fast on the downhill start and I planned to pick them off after the first mile. I didn't go out as fast as I could have, I stayed controlled with the leaders in sight and Ryan just a few seconds back off of my left shoulder.
We turned off Hillsbrough St and hit the first mile marker in 5:45. I felt good and started to pass a couple people. There was a short uphill on Clark after the turn off Wagner. I was in a group of runners and just running with them. The climb up Brooks Ave was tough and slowed me down some but I regained it on the downhill just before the left turn onto Barmettier St. On the corner was a tree full of bras and a big pink ribbon in the yard.
I passed a couple more runners as we neared mile two. Even with the uphills, I ran mile two in 5:43, a little faster than the first mile. I think I was in sixth place at this point and 5th was just ahead of me. We turned right back onto Clark and there was a Church Choir group singing for the runners.
The race started with Ryan and I out fast with a handful of runners ahead of us. I figured several would go out too fast on the downhill start and I planned to pick them off after the first mile. I didn't go out as fast as I could have, I stayed controlled with the leaders in sight and Ryan just a few seconds back off of my left shoulder.
We turned off Hillsbrough St and hit the first mile marker in 5:45. I felt good and started to pass a couple people. There was a short uphill on Clark after the turn off Wagner. I was in a group of runners and just running with them. The climb up Brooks Ave was tough and slowed me down some but I regained it on the downhill just before the left turn onto Barmettier St. On the corner was a tree full of bras and a big pink ribbon in the yard.
I passed a couple more runners as we neared mile two. Even with the uphills, I ran mile two in 5:43, a little faster than the first mile. I think I was in sixth place at this point and 5th was just ahead of me. We turned right back onto Clark and there was a Church Choir group singing for the runners.
Finishing I pulled even with fifth place and tried pulling away from him as we ran on Clark Ave but he was hanging with me. I decided I would wait to try to out kick him going up the final hill to the finish. I kept running hard but the course had taken some speed from me. I made my move after crossing over Faircloth St. I moved into 5th place and began to pull a few seconds of ahead of him. I was digging deep as I ran uphill to the finish line. I finished 5th overall and 1st in my age group out of 1,224 in 17:55. The winner ran 17:28 and I beat 6th place by 1 second. Ryan finished 10th overall and 2nd masters in 18:26.
Ryan Finishing as 2nd Masters It was a challenging course but I was thankful for the cooler temperature, lower humidity, and shade on the course. I was 11 seconds slower than my PR but the 17:55 on a more challenging course is a quality performance. I know Ryan was very happy with his time and he ran a great race. His training is paying off and he's running times he hasn't ran in ten years. I think he'll get sub 18 this year or next. The crowd support was good. There were lots of breast cancer survivors out on the course and a lot of the houses and yards were decorated in pink. A lot of people ran the competitive race and recreational race in honor of a survivor or someone that passed away from cancer. It's an emotional race with a big turnout. They also had a women's only 5K, one mile, and survivor tribute. There are lots of vendors after the race giving away nice freebies. The race was very well organized.
Ryan and Me post race
Jamie and Me post race
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