Start of the Beach Run The annual Beach Run Series in Atlantic Beach, NC is a staple in the local running community in Carteret County. There series has been around as long as I can remember and I've always enjoyed participating in them since high school. The races are run in the sand, at falling or low tide, so it's actually packed in pretty well. The courses are out and back starting at The Circle and running towards the pier at the Double Tree Hotel, formally Sheraton Hotel. For the majority of the series it was a points system where you had to run four out of the first six races to qualify for overall or age group awards. I was fortunate enough to win the 10K Overall Championship in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The Parks and Recreation staff opted to do away with the points system in 2013 and 2014 and just have them all be fun runs. I opposed it as did many local runners. The numbers were still good but not what they used to be. As a result they brought back the points system for the 2015 series. They say you have to do five out of the first six races to qualify for awards. Mathematically, winning four races would still clinch an award as it did in the past. Carteret County Parks and Recreation even opted to have Run The East score the races with shoe chips. It's great to have chip timing, a first for the Beach Run Series. It was fine not having chip timing in the past but it required the staff to do more work and they did have issues recording times and losing the pull tags from the bib numbers of finishers. Either way I'm excited the points system is back and it will make for better racing and increased numbers.
I had not been doing anything hard in my training since the racing the Core Sound Run 10K on March 21st. I took a week and a half off from running and when I started back I was just doing base work. I did hire a personal coach to train me starting in May. That will be in another blog post but I am excited to have personal coaching tailored for me instead of a generic plan out of a book or purchased online.
The first Beach Run of the year came on May 12th. My only goal was to win and start a the drive for another overall championship. Although I hadn't done any intervals or tempos I felt good going into it and confident I could still run a fast time. I felt like my base was getting stronger each week and my times were dropping on all my runs while feeling strong.
I had not been doing anything hard in my training since the racing the Core Sound Run 10K on March 21st. I took a week and a half off from running and when I started back I was just doing base work. I did hire a personal coach to train me starting in May. That will be in another blog post but I am excited to have personal coaching tailored for me instead of a generic plan out of a book or purchased online.
The first Beach Run of the year came on May 12th. My only goal was to win and start a the drive for another overall championship. Although I hadn't done any intervals or tempos I felt good going into it and confident I could still run a fast time. I felt like my base was getting stronger each week and my times were dropping on all my runs while feeling strong.
Katherine and Heidi after the start My Dad and I arrived at the race around 5:30 and I registered. It was 75 degrees, sunny, but the wind was going to be tough for the first half of the race running towards the turnaround. I'd rather have the headwind going out than coming back tough. I wore my new flash green Adidas Supernova Split shorts in honor of Sonny Hyman. Online pictures don't do the shorts justice, they are bright green and he would have been proud of them. Sonny was known for running the local races in bright green shorts and a bright green hat. I've always liked the color too and since he passed away last year I have been wearing bright green in all the area races in his honor to carry on his tradition.
After doing my dynamic warm-up routine I headed down Ocean Ridge Drive for an easy warm-up run. I met up with my friends Katherine, Eric, Heidi, and cousin Josh once making it down to the sand for the start of the race. Eric was running the mile while Katherine, Heidi, and Josh were running the 5K. The wind was blowing tough in our face as we lined up for the 6:37PM start. The 1 mile, 5K, and 10K races start together. The race started I went to the front with Katherine with me. One kid in the 5K took the lead fast but Katherine and I caught him within the first half mile. We were running in a pack of several runners. Katherine took the lead and I tucked in behind her to draft for a little bit. I ran the first mile in 6:17.
The wind was tough and not getting any easier. My goal was to maintain effort going into the wind and pick it up coming back once we made the turnaround. As we neared the 5K turnaround, 1.55 miles into the 10K I did a surge to create some space with anyone that was possibly competition for me in the 10K. Katherine told me "Go Tyler" as I lead everyone at the 5K turn and kept going down the beach to the 10K turn. I ran mile two in 6:42. I wasn't sure how far I was ahead as I didn't look back and couldn't hear anyone due to the strong wind. Once I ran under the pier the sand on the other side was softer, making it harder to maintain speed. I tried to maintain my effort as I neared the 5K turnaround and halfway in the 10K race. I ran mile three in 6:57.
After doing my dynamic warm-up routine I headed down Ocean Ridge Drive for an easy warm-up run. I met up with my friends Katherine, Eric, Heidi, and cousin Josh once making it down to the sand for the start of the race. Eric was running the mile while Katherine, Heidi, and Josh were running the 5K. The wind was blowing tough in our face as we lined up for the 6:37PM start. The 1 mile, 5K, and 10K races start together. The race started I went to the front with Katherine with me. One kid in the 5K took the lead fast but Katherine and I caught him within the first half mile. We were running in a pack of several runners. Katherine took the lead and I tucked in behind her to draft for a little bit. I ran the first mile in 6:17.
The wind was tough and not getting any easier. My goal was to maintain effort going into the wind and pick it up coming back once we made the turnaround. As we neared the 5K turnaround, 1.55 miles into the 10K I did a surge to create some space with anyone that was possibly competition for me in the 10K. Katherine told me "Go Tyler" as I lead everyone at the 5K turn and kept going down the beach to the 10K turn. I ran mile two in 6:42. I wasn't sure how far I was ahead as I didn't look back and couldn't hear anyone due to the strong wind. Once I ran under the pier the sand on the other side was softer, making it harder to maintain speed. I tried to maintain my effort as I neared the 5K turnaround and halfway in the 10K race. I ran mile three in 6:57.
On the way to the Win After rounding the turn, I got to see where my competition was and they were farther back than I thought before the turn. I had a lead of several minutes as my pace was getting faster now that I didn't have to battle the headwind. My effort was staying about the same as it did going into the wind but I was running a much faster pace. I ran miles four and five in 6:25 and 6:18. I felt strong and prefer to race negative splits but the tailwind was making it easier to negative split. I wanted to break 40:00 and felt I had a good shot at it but had to push myself the final 1.2 miles. I saw Katherine, Heidi, and Josh doing their cool-down from the 5K as I neared the finish line. I ran mile six in 6:18 and the final 0.21 miles at 6:05 min/mile pace. I won the 10K in 40:19, 3:29 ahead of second place.
Heidi and Josh finishing the 5K I was glad I won and pleased with my effort. I know I had faster in me if the conditions were better and if I had someone to run with. Katherine finished 3rd overall in the 5K, 1st woman in 19:21 and Heidi was 2nd female, 4th overall in 19:46. Josh Lyle ran 19:54 to finish 5th overall and 3rd male/ My best 10K time in the series is 38:10 when they used to start in April so it was cooler, less humid, and we had a side breeze that evening. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Hopefully the wind won't be as strong and hopefully the sand will be more packed in past the pier for the remaining of the series. e to edit.
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