I ran like a Kenyan this year! I didn’t know that I had it in me but I did a sub 1 hour 10k at the 49th Cooper River Bridge Run. 57:18 to be exact, shaving off nearly eight minutes from my previous best time!
Scott had advised me that we should run our hearts out the first bit and just embrace the idea that the Bridge itself was going to suck. The initial leg through Mount Pleasant is often tricky due to the volume of people and so many of them are already walking within the first kilometer- having to dodge and weave through the melee creates slow going. We were in a higher corral/wave this year and managed to be at the very front of it which meant less congestion. My first mile was the fastest of my life at 8:36. I literally did not know that my body could go that fast.
He wasn’t wrong. The Bridge sucked, but I just leaned in and kept moving my feet and when we crested the peak and started the downhill the wind was at my back pushing me so I took advantage of it and clocked in my fastest 5k time of my life at 29:03.
The halfway point of the race is just as you are starting your descent on the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge and it is both comforting to know that there are no more inclines as the rest of it is either downhill or level, but still, you’re only halfway there. I have run this race enough times now to know that you still have about two miles left once you go down the exit ramp and enter downtown Charleston and I remember feeling super tired here and Scott annoyingly helpfully told me to keep running because I was slowing down. My watch said otherwise and showed that I was staying steady but I moved my feet a little faster to appease him and get that monkey off my back.
Once we had a little less than a mile to go Scott told me to keep it up because we could very well come in under an hour and I probably barked at him and told him that I was doing the best I could (I don’t remember so this is my best guess) and told him to go ahead and I’d meet him at the finish line. I took a peak at my watch, realized he was right and dug deep. Those last few turns around Marion Square are always brutal but I finally made the last turn and saw the blue banner strung between the metal support arches and made one last push… and got my 10k PR! Scott had gone ahead of me for the final bit and he finished in 56:14.
We got our medals, found water bottles, cans of High Rise seltzers, and some bananas and Envy apples that Harris Teeter, the title sponsor was handing out, and then got out of the crowd to go find our rendezvous point with Becky. Getting out of Marion Square is sort of like a high stakes escape room, and we have discovered that you can cut through an ally, get to King Street which is where the last leg of the race is, merge quickly but carefully into the race (this was hilarious as we were clumsily juggling cans, apples, and water bottles, as well as wearing our medals), and ferry your way across to the other side of the street. You need to hustle as you do this because you don’t want to mess up the other runners still in hot pursuit of the finish line.
As always we had a lovely time hanging out with my cousin Becky who hosts us, and Scott and I both agreed that PJ the Chihuahua was less angry about us being there than she normally is. We are so thankful that Becky is willing to play Uber driver for us because the logistics of getting to and from this race are rather complex.
On Sunday after breakfast with Becky, Scott and I decided to go out to Folly Beach, and nearly got swept off our feet because of the wind. Our beach visit was short lived as getting sandblasted turned out to be not all that fun so we decided to go check out the Flowertown Festival in Summerville on our way home. We spent some time here wandering amongst the food trucks and artisans, enjoying the thousands of blooming azalea bushes the festival was honoring as we did. When we’d had enough of the festival we headed back to the Upstate so that we could stop by my parents’ house in time for dinner and to visit since my Mom had just had her hip replacement surgery.
I am still in shock that I knocked so much time off my previous PR… I didn’t know this body could do that! Thanks Scott for putting up with my whining and complaining… I love you for your patience and support even when I am a lot.
