Race #147
5k #51
2018 Race #8
2018 5k #3
Turtle Trot 5k #1

In years past, my June race has typically come in the form of the Sunrise 8k. This year, the 8k took place on the same Saturday that we planned to leave for the beach. To run this race would mean driving out to Simpsonville early in the morning, running the race, hurrying back to Greenville so Mom could attend my aunt’s bridal shower, packing up and then heading back in the same direction. It did not seem worth it.

I started to google other races in June. In the south, they are hard to come by. That’s when I discovered this race, or rather, series of races put on by Alfred Olivetti, owner of Go Tri Sports. (For Greenville residents, Olivetti used to own and run On On Tri in downtown Greenville.) Every Wednesday this summer, Go Tri Sports hosts a 5k either on the road or on the beach. I knew that I had to do this one. I love running in Palmetto Dunes and why not run a 5k while here.

By the time the three of us, Mom, Ellis, and I, got down there and got our bibs, I did not have time to get in a 30 minute warm up. Instead I cut the warm up down to 20 minutes and decided to add the other ten minutes onto the cool down after the race.

During the warm up, my legs were heavy. I could have let the negative thoughts get to me but instead I reminded myself that this warm up helped me get all the sluggishness out of my legs to prep for the race.

I got back with about five minutes to go. We lined up on the road, listened to the instructions and a few minutes after 8am we were off.

I had glanced at the course map beforehand but did not study since I know the Palmetto Dunes area pretty well. When we first started staying at Palmetto Dunes I kept comparing it to North Forest Beach and preferring North Forest Beach. Now that we’re back on North Forest Beach, I think I prefer Palmetto Dunes.

According to my training plan, my goal was to maintain a 7:35 pace and aim for a 23:00 finish. Spoiler alert: that did not happen. I am not disappointed though because in the south, especially on the coast, we run through extremely thick humidity.

For some of that first mile I maintained goal pace or a little under but as we headed out of Palmetto Dunes and hit the very slightest of inclines, I could feel my pace suffer a little bit. Instead of trying to sprint to keep up the pace, I focused on maintaining the same effort level.

Just before we turned back into Palmetto Dunes, we hit the first mile marker.

Mile 1: 7:44, only 9 seconds off goal pace (somehow in my mind it felt like more than that)

We headed into a residential section and I tried to pick up the pace a little while making sure that I maintained a solid 85-90% effort. My pace hovered a lot lower than I expected but I didn’t stress about it, knowing that I was putting forth a solid effort.

Around the half mile mark, I passed a girl that I had been running behind for most of the first mile and a half. I expected that she would try to catch me later but she never did.

Mile 2: 7:48

Heading into the third mile, I wanted to try to get my pace back closer to goal pace. I knew that a sub 23 was not in the cards for the day but I wanted to finish strong. My pace never got back quite where I wanted but I was able to finish strong, never feeling incredibly fatigued but still feeling like I kept my effort level up despite the heat and humidity. (The temps were already above 75 when we started.)

(Attempting to smile for the camera just before the turn for home)

Mile 3: 7:44

As we made the final turn to home, I had been chasing a teenage boy so I started my sprint and passed him with about .05 remaining until we went under the tent. He followed that a couple seconds later with a sprint worthy of a 100m dash that I could not match. Instead, I kept pressing and finished strong.

The boy that I passed and then who passed me at the end

The course ended up measuring 2.99 for both Mom and I. I have no idea whether the course was short or not or if the steady tree cover for most of the race interfered with the satellites or not. I’m not too stressed about it.

Overall time: 23:21

Mom, finishing strong!

Mom came in less than 30 seconds behind me. She said that she kept me in her sights the whole time! Way to go Mom!

Afterwards I felt great and really enjoyed the 25 minute “cool down” which brought me to a total mileage of 8.55 for the day. (That does include the walk I added on at the end of the run to meet Mom and Ellis who had gone to pick up coffee.) I had no idea that I would get anywhere near 8 miles running for the day. I like it!

If I were local, I would love a series of races like this. Alfred Olivetti did a fantastic job organizing this race. I have no doubt that every race in the series, including the ones on the beach!, will be just as well run as this one. Greenville Track Club could learn a thing or two.