Carolina Beach Trail Race - 12/30/2017

After we ran the Thanksgiving 5k in New Castle, PA this year, we decided to setup a race in Carolina Beach, NC while on vacation to Emerald Isle, NC.  Carolina Beach was about 100+ miles from Emerald Isle so I roused the family up at 4am, in the car by 0430 and on the road.  Traffic was obviously light due to it being a Saturday and it being North Carolina.  Got there around 6:30am after a visit to the Marriott to drop the kids off and see if I could snag something to drink before the 5k race before it started at 8:30am.  So we finally got to the beach and parked - this was the first annual 1/2 marathon and 5k and surprisingly things ran smoothly.  Shitter update - 4 port of shitters and 2 more inside dumpers to handle 250/300 people so yea, it was crowded.  I decided to only run the 5k given this was my second race back after the Thanksgiving race plus was having left achilles issues for two weeks.  Placing for these races was a non-factor to me for several reasons, out of shape, only been running 10 miles a week, left achilles been tight and achy for about a week and it was a 40-49 age group where only the top one in your group won.  That said, I figured I would run with Nic and hope all would go well.    After the 1/2 marathoner cleared out, we got setup and were off.  Most of the crowd was filled with either people who ran trails alot or they had never run them at all - and they were way overdressed for the 35F temps, some had full coats and face masks.  That said, we were off.  The first .9 miles was on pavement, yes, pavement.  I was wondering if there was going to be any trail in this race.  Welp, after the 1 mile mark we mov into the trails which were nice and flat.  Nic and I ran together for the first 2 miles, he pulled away and my left achilles was not feeling BUENO so I just let him go.  Most of the trail was flat, some roots and a small wooden bridge.  Below are our splits which were slow but ok for not running at all:

In the end Nic ran a 26:58 and I ran a 27:07.  Mom and Zach took it easy on the trails and I probably should of done the same thing.  All in all, it wasn't a bad time but if I would do it again, would only do the half.  Not sure how much variety was built into the 1/2 however any run is a good run.

Nic:

JD:

Hopefully, I can start building up my miles and move up to a 10k next and marathon by summer/fall.  Below are the stats on the 5k race which was 3.29 miles:

Distance:  3.29 miles
Final Time:  27:07
Pace:  8:16/min
Elevation gain:  33 feet, lol
Avg BPM:  155

Onto the next race!

New Castle YMCA 5k

Well, after two years of ankle and foot injuries, plus life shit I entered a thanksgiving race in New Castle, PA called the New Castle YMCA 5k.  I have been on a roller coaster of injuries and realized foot injuries can be some of the most frustrating to get over.  However, the feet were feeling good but had a slight hamstring tightness in my left ass so I figured I would run the race but not hard.

Got the YMCA in downtown New Castle, PA - a town that lives about 25 years in the past.  Got the bib, shirt and bottle.  Hit the dumper to clear it all out.  Both feet have been giving  me issues in the past couple of years such as peroneal tendonosis (from an ankle roll on the trails), sesamoiditis (from hiking in shitty boots), and the winner of them all lisfranc sprain - all of which sucked ass.  However, we are all feeling good except for some left hamstring tightness going on.  I told myself I would keep it at 8 minute miles for the race and that would be fine by me.  Nic, Zach, Heather, Charity, and my brother-in law all ran the race.  As stated, I ran a pretty slow race finishing second in my age group and 47th out of 294 which wasn't that bad for no races for years.  Hammy was a little tight at the finish but not bad at all.

I ended up with a 24:54/8:02 mile pace.  Not exactly 6:30's like had was doing a few years ago.  However, I will take and keep working on those tight hamstrings.