The Dismal Swamp Stomp Half Marathon

Result: 1:13:54, 7th place

I went into this event knowing in the back of my mind that Cherry Blossom was just under 6 days ago. At the same time, I wanted this to be a hard effort as well as to test my recovery ability and how fast I was able to run on a half empty tank. The results showed well: a 1:13:54-good for 7th place and only about 1 minute off my personal best and no less than a very solid performance. Would I have liked and wanted to PR? Of course. But I had just run a terrific 10M race at Cherry Blossom-and it was my fastest 10M I have ever run(it even beat that psycho treadmill run I did a few months ago).

The course was beautiful. It was a bit humid(it didn't start until 8:00 AM), and in the middle of nowhere(seriously I was not far from the NC border). But it was a nice weekend. The course was run on (once a road-now closed off as part of the park) which ran parallel to a canal. It was an out and back flat course. I kept the pace pretty even with a semi-fast 1st mile(5:25), and then settling right into the mid-5:30s. This was a good range for me to work with. Pushing into the 5:20's for a PR would've left me destroyed for Pike's Peek. I was in 9th in the beginning but I ended up catching one guy who was 2nd at the Shamrock Marathon(he ended up dropping out) and another guy in the last 2 Miles. I felt pretty good aerobically, and tried to make sure I would run as even as possible. This was also supposed to be a hard effort, and I wanted to make sure I pushed hard despite running on tired legs. I was also pleased with how good I felt in the new racing flats I recently got. This was a perfect way to test them out in an event. I will definitely race in them for Pike's Peek next Sunday. The nice thing now is that I feel more recovered from Cherry Blossom and just got a great endurance workout under my belt. I will do a 10K workout this week(either Tues or Wed) to get my legs rolling for the 6.2 race. I only ran 38M last week so I'm feeling more energetic for this week. Took Sunday off.

Overall, the results are promising. Last year, a "slow" 13.1 for me was 1:17. This year, it seems to be a 1:13.

I really enjoyed this event. I probably won't do it again next year, but definitely worth the trip. I'm glad I got out there. Part of traveling to races is the experience. The smaller sized race was a nice contrast to the gigantic mob of runners at Cherry Blossom last sunday, that's for sure.