PLACE NAME DIV DIV/TOT TIME PACE 166 Douglas Morrison M3539 19/51 31:29 7:53
The turn out for the C-Ville Mens 4 Miler was impressive considering it was the first early summer running of the race. There were ~500 runners, and I enjoyed the new course and size of the field. I arrived early, which was good because I had some unexpected pre-race registration issues to work out. Apparently I registered for the training course not the race by mistake. I was able to get registered without issue, but it did cause a bit of stress. Once I resolved the registration issues I headed out for a quick warm up run. It was raining and muggy, which made the run a bit uncomfortable.
The start of the race was a little packed with runners but as we got through the first mile it thinned out. The first mile went pretty quick and I was probably out a little to fast. The course started with a slow incline for the first 1/2 mile and rolling hills for the last 1/2Mile as we headed out from Scott Stadium into campus. I covered this first mile at a 7:36 Pace and carried that momentum into the hilly section. The second mile contained the largest hill climb which started to separate the runners. This was a difficult hill but I concentrated on a fast stride rate to climb the hills. My heart rate was much higher than usual, it averaged 169BPM and maxed out at 181BPM which is ~10BPM faster on average. I working harder and it was humid. I was happy to pass mile marker 2 because I knew it was pretty much all down hill from there. I tried to relax into the downhill, but I found it hard to keep my foot speed and pace up. My third mile was the slowest probably due to my need to recover from the hill climbs. Once I got to the 3rd mile I was able to kick it back in but I was still struggling a bit. When we rounded the turn into the stadium I gave one last push and passed a few people in the last tenth of a mile. I was running so hard I forgot to look at myself on the Jumbo-tron! I was happy with the strong finish and meeting the sub 8min pace improving time by ~1Min for this distance.
Overall I felt good after the race. My legs were a bit sore but I probably would not have noticed that if I did not have to climb the stadium stairs to get off the field. My foot fared the pounding pretty well and I believe it is almost recovered.
The Charlottesville Track Club put on a great race. The new course is fantastic and the turn out showed that there is a strong running community in Charlottesville. I look forward to running this again next year and remembering to look at myself on the Jumbo-tron.
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