16 mi + Valentines 5k + 1 = 20 miles

Earlier in the week Mike sent me an email that he was thinking about jumping into the Valentines 5k in Denver, NC. I responded that I needed to get in 20 miles but I was open to doing 15 miles plus the 5k and then 2 mile warm down.

I then emailed Jeff to see if he wanted in on the plans. He was but only part. He wanted the early miles. So we agreed to meet at the Cowan Country Club this morning.

7:15 we headed out and put in 12 miles. We arrived back around 9 AM. Mike and I then dropped some clothes at our cars before heading out to review the 5k course.

The course was pretty tough. It starts on grass for a quarter mile before shifting to the road. From there it follows the road before cutting through one yard and on to the golf course path. We followed the path before cutting back into the neighborhoods.

We popped out on the roads before circling through another section of neighborhoods and then finishing back at the Country Club.

The first mile is pretty flat and quick, but the next two miles have some tough rolling hills.

My opening mile was 5:54, followed by 6:04 and 6:01. My Garmin measured the course at 3.11 so I would say the course was fairly accurate

Mike and I had pretty different plans for the race. He was in for attacking right from the gun and it showed. He ran the first mile in 5:15.

I really just wanted to run a controlled and aerobic race. And, I pretty much accomplished it. Never during the race did my breathing feel out of control. More so, my legs were just dead tired. With 95 miles running and 81 miles riding hadn't left much in the tank.

On the topic of tempo run races, I have never been a huge fan for one simple reason. When someone beats me, I never wanted the excuse to be that I was "tired".

However, I might just being coming around to changing my mind. I am smart enough to understand that there many advantages to using a race as a tempo run. The single biggest advantage is having other runners for company.

The other thing I like is having water and snacks after my run and the free massage was a big perk.

One of the interesting attributes of this race is that during the awards, they a couple of unique awards. Each woman gets their award plus they get a beautiful flower. This is really a nice thing to do for the ladies on Valentine's Day. The other nice thing is that they give a couples award. They use the couples combined times to determine the winners. I am always up for team competitions so next year if there are any ladies out there that want to team up, let me know.

For those that are interested in seeing a first person video of the race, I have embedded the video as well as provided a link for the people reading this on face book. You are seeing the raw footage and sound. Mike sent me a link to some nice video editing software which will allow me to produce some nicer video in the future.