Goals: to get a feel for the actual route; to conquer Cardiac Hill
Today was the long-awaited dry run of the Peachtree Road Race route, 13 days ahead of the big day. We would be limited to the sidewalks, and streets would be open to automobile traffic, so we were advised not to focus on our times and instead simply enjoy the experience of the route, and perhaps think about pacing for the big day, to have enough energy to finish strong after 10 km. The route is famous for a long gentle downhill stretch in mile 3 to Peachtree Creek, followed by the equally infamous "Cardiac Hill" in mile 4. But the Brookhaven group has trained well, especially the Club Drive runs on May 31 and June 7, which mimicked the elevation profiles of miles 3 and 4 of the Peachtree Road Race.
 |
| Elevation profile for the Peachtree Road Race |
I decided to practice getting to the race start as well, familiarizing myself with parking at the Doraville MARTA station, checking the transit time to Lenox Station (3 stops, about 10 minutes), and heading north on Lenox Road to the start at Phipps Plaza (about 5 - 6 minutes, at a relaxed jog). Coach Kathie Walker was there to sign us in at the Phipps Plaza parking lot, and while stretching and warming up I had a few minutes to catch up with Coach Rob Gee and students T., S., M., and A., and later Coaches Chuck Carr and Naomi Attaway. Altogether there were several hundred runners today, with all of the In-Training for Peachtree groups present, as well as training groups sponsored by the local running stores and a couple of smaller running clubs.
 |
| Wave A has just left, and wave B is about to start! Thanks to Coach Curt Walker for today's photos. |
 |
| 6.22 miles (10 km) covered today! |
There were six waves today, and I chose wave B anticipating that I would aim for a 10-minute mile. I finally spotted Coach Curt Walker, taking photographs as we got underway. We were off to a good start, jogging out of the Phipps parking lot onto Peachtree, through the intersection with Lenox Road, and then past the official start line at the main entrance to Lenox Mall. Thanks to group adrenaline, we were running at a good pace in the first couple of miles. Although we had to cross the street twice to avoid construction projects that had encroached on the sidewalks, we managed to find crosswalks at points where there was minimal automobile traffic. I sailed down mile 3 heading to the low point at Peachtree Creek. I knew that I was probably going too fast considering the distance to cover today, but it felt good to move quickly. I enjoyed noting some of the landmarks along the way, including the former site of Cafe Intermezzo (second date with Bonnie in December 2008) and Restaurant Eugene (where I proposed to Bonnie on October 16, 2009). The fond reminiscences evaporated after crossing Peachtree Creek, and looking uphill at the stretch known to Atlanta runners as Cardiac Hill, the fourth mile of the Peachtree Road Race, rising 120 feet in 3/4 of a mile. By focusing on form and pumping my arms, I made it up the hill without too much trouble, although the landmark that I had originally thought would mark the crest at Piedmont Hospital was actually a rehabilitation center several hundred feet before actually reaching the hospital at the intersection with Collier Road.
 |
| This is around the end of mile 3, immediately after crossing Peachtree Creek, at the beginning of our climb up Cardiac Hill. Although there were several water and Powerade stations along the route today, I was glad to have my own water bottle, as the temperature was in the mid-70's with some humidity, even at 8 in the morning. |
In the fifth mile, I began to feel some fatigue as we crossed the I-85 overpass. Although the elevation map showed a mix of downhill and uphill sections, in real life the downhill stages were not obvious to this runner. And I was aware that we would be rising in elevation another 75 feet on our way into midtown Atlanta. I just focused on enjoying the familiar territory of Midtown Atlanta: Rhodes Hall, where I started and completed my second 5K in November 2013, the Arts Center complex between 16th and 15th Streets, where we have enjoyed many wonderful Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performances, past Colony Square, and finally reaching the high point of the second half of the route at 14th Street, with the Proscenium Building on the southwest corner.
The sixth mile went fairly slowly, as we had a long stop at 12th street for a red light, as I contemplated the STK restaurant across the street. After two more blocks, past the new Café Intermezzo where we celebrated with brunch after my first 10K in December 2013, we made the left turn onto 10th street, for the final half-dozen blocks to the finish. As I approached the intersection with Piedmont Avenue, the light turned yellow, and then red, so we had to wait for at least a dozen cars to pass before we could cross. But as we neared the end of the sixth mile, I could see the beautiful green grass of Piedmont Park to our left. I heard the footsteps of another runner behind me, and I picked up my pace a bit, determining that I would not be passed in the final 0.22 mile. But I was unable to hold off the other runner. At least he was a coach - we chatted for a moment and I learned that he was from the Alpharetta group. It took much longer to get to the finish at Charles Allen Drive than I had expected, although the very very last bit was noticeably downhill.
Coaches Curt, Rob, and Chuck greeted me as I walked into the cool down area to check in.
 |
| Flanked by coaches Rob Gee and Chuck Carr in front of Grady High School. It looks like I was still breathing heavily! |
Although it was a tough run, it was also great fun. In fact it went better than I had expected even though we were limited to the sidewalks, and the actual mileage was undoubtably longer as we had to switch sides of the street four times in the course of our runs. Discounting the sixth mile where there were a couple of red lights requiring a complete stop, I was very pleased with my times:
Mile 1: 9:23
Mile 2: 9:23
Mile 3: 8:36, all downhill
Mile 4: 9:59, better than expected heading up Cardiac Hill!
Mile 5: 10:16
Mile 6: 11:36 with a couple of red lights
the final 0.22 mile: 2:14 (10:11 per mile pace)
Goal: to get a good sense of the actual route; Achieved!
Goal: to conquer Cardiac Hill; Achieved!
No comments:
Post a Comment