It was a great walk

It probably was a pretty good "jog". But the run? It sucked! Not the course, but all the people that were either far too ambitious when entering their projected finish times, or decided that the dedicated walkers had every right to start the course ahead of the 3rd corral (behind the elites and the Paul-fast people). 4 miles into the race I was still passing crowd like they were standing still, and I was very honest with my anticipated finish time - above 40 min and below an hour, the only suitable category for this 10K. I wonder how far extra I ran weaving back and forth to find gaps? Funny thing, though; I was almost at the crest of the bridge before I realized I was on the bridge, mainly out of frustration with the crowds.

As we spent 4 minutes walking up to the start, I wished they had organized the Cooper River Bridge Run as well as the PF Chang's RnR Arizona Half/Full Marathons, wherein the separate corrals started at staged times, walking up to the start line prior to their gun, and strict adherence to the appropriate corralling. No, this was mass-start, albeit chipped for start and finish. Still, this 10K had 10k more people than BOTH the half and full at Arizona!

And yes, the Kenyans won. A pack of them.

But, by mile 4 it was starting to thin out a bit and I could go in very fast spurts, then cruise to get my HR down. The last mile was a very solid effort, and there wasn't much more I could have given at that point. Had I been able to hold consistent effort, it may have been a different race. But at least I have a baseline now for a 10K (45:23) to go by, and this is definitely not a race to PR at unless you qualify for a sub-40 minute finish.

So, Mendy and I had plans to meet at the BI-LO tent after the race, knowing that we would finish separately. I waited for her to pass on the street, but didn't see her, and then waited for well over an hour at "the" tent. Then I did some laps as the crowds thinned. Waited some more. Did another lap. Then we found each other near where I had been waiting...at ANOTHER tent! Yep, two tents. Boy, did we feel like buffoons! We wasted so much time that we could have enjoyed together. Oh well, next time we'll plan better.

After the race, Mendy and I cleaned up and we all headed out to Vickery's on Shem Creek, where you can watch the shrimp boats come in under a nice sunset on the marsh. It is my favorite place to eat, bar none, for the atmosphere. I had a fantastic array of seafood (shrimp, crawfish, crab meat, and fried oysters) over creamy grits. Delish! We were all very stuffed, even with as famished as we felt prior. The rest of the weekend has gone very well, and we avoided the forecasted crap weather for the most part. It did kill our Saturday night dinner plans, but I think we made out in the end with a GIGANTIC pizza from Andolini's on John's Island. If you go to Charleston, go there for pizza! If you order a whole pie, bring some help.

I ran into friend and team mate Pete at both Vickery's and outside the cigar shop downtown. His lovely wife, Elizabeth I believe, was with him at the former, and he didn't shop at the latter. I did, however. I enjoy a good cigar, but they are difficult to find. I have been spoiled by some cigars that leave most of what's commonly available in the dust. At any rate, it was great to see Pete and his bride, and I'm sure Pete had a very nice finish time.

Grace, being herself, carried a Spiderman doll through the Charleston Market. Yeah, that's my girl. *shaking head* She's enjoying time in Chucktown, and with Grandma. She's quite a character, as Mendy's pictures will show, I'm sure.

I hope you all are having a great weekend, and I promise to get the recap from San Diego up soon! Catch you all later...

Oh, and sorry we missed you, Tiff. Hope Grampa is better soon!

**Update, with a special pic for Marcy

Sunday was awesome, and I didn't want to leave. Breakfast at Joseph's, walking on the beach, and lunch at Folly Beach Crab Shack. I'm trying to talk Mendy into moving back down there!