Goal: aiming for consistent splits, as a strategy to set a new personal record (currently at 25:23)
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| Yep, that's me. |
A friend in our WeightWatchers group suggested running the Atlanta's Finest 5K, starting near Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta and passing immediately south of the Georgia Institute of Technology campus. I had been eyeing the race anyway, as it is an Atlanta Track Club event, but have been taking it easy on the running and training due to some leg pains that I wanted to improve before the fall races, possibly the beginning of shin splints in the left leg. But then Bonnie signed up while we were sitting in the WeightWatchers meeting, and so I went ahead and did so as well. I've been running about 5 miles each Saturday morning to keep in shape but haven't done typical mid-week runs, to give my legs a chance to heal. This race features cadets from the Atlanta Police Academy, and the event is a fundraiser for Crimestoppers.
In my last race (Decatur DeKalb 4-miler in mid-July) I started with the third (last) wave, and had a fun race by holding back a bit for the first 3 miles and then kicking into high gear for a strong finish. Today I resolved to start a little faster, aiming for an 8:20 pace for miles 1 and 2, and then see if I could speed up with the aim to break the 25-minute barrier. Our friend from WeightWatchers joined us along with her fiancee and a good friend, so there was a party of five in wave C at the start. As we moved up to the start line, I wished Bonnie a good race and stepped up close to the starting line, on the third row. It was exciting to actually coil up to wait for the starting horn, which blew at 7:36 am, 4 minutes after the first wave.
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| Wave C starts: I'm just to the right of center, third row, wearing fluorescent yellow shirt and lime green cap. |
Although the morning was pleasant, the temperature was in the low 70's, which is warmer than for any other race that I've run to date. I didn't really think about that at the beginning. We ran two blocks to the west along Baker Street and then turned right onto Marietta Street, heading north. What did I say about starting a little slower? I soon found myself in the front three runners for my wave, then second! But my pace was just under 8 minutes per mile, so I wasn't doing too badly. I felt good and decided to stay at this speed for as long as I could, as the road was fairly level. Within a couple of blocks of turning onto Marietta Street, I caught up with the slow end of wave B, and was working my way through those runners for most of the first mile. Wave B was for runners faster than 9 minute miles, not for walkers in the first mile. (That's the only critical remark I will make today.) But in fact it was fun to be passing people, a lot of people. Probably they thought that I had arrived late to the race and was trying to catch up. I don't know this part of town very well, although I recognized a Japanese noodle place that I had been to with friends earlier this year. As I reached the 1-mile sign, the clock was closing in on 12 minutes, which meant that I had run an 8-minute mile (actually 7:58). I wasn't too far off track, just a bit ahead of my planned pace of 8:20.
The second mile continued fairly smoothly. I deliberately slowed just a bit as the road appeared to go slightly uphill, but it wasn't too difficult. I passed someone as he was telling his friends that the route used to turn right at the Engineer's Bookstore heading to Georgia Tech. The race organizers advertised that this year's new route would be flatter and faster, which would eliminate a challenging hill at the end of the race. We crossed Northside Drive, where I decided to skip the water stop, and then we took a sharp turn at about 1.5 miles in, nearly the halfway point, to head back to Centennial Park. We were now on Tech Parkway with the Georgia Tech campus to our left, on the nicest part of the route. We enjoyed a fairly long gentle downhill stretch, during which I passed quite a few people including two Sandy Springs policewomen. (Does that mean that I now know that I can outrun the police? Let's hope that I never try to test that outside of a friendly race.) Near the end of the second mile, I reached the first noticeable hill (about 25 feet elevation) and slowed down again. As we passed the 2-mile marker, I began to seriously regret running past the water stop. My mouth was suddenly really dry. Since this was a short 5K, I had deliberately left my carrier belt and water bottle at home. The warmer start contributed to some thirst. Oh well, nothing to do but push forward, it would only be one more mile to the end. 8:16 for the second mile, 16:14 elapsed (a little past 20 minutes on the clock at the 2-mile marker, but subtracted 4 minutes for the wave C start).
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| Today's race route, with mile markers. Note the surprise spur right before the 3-mile mark! |
There was a 60-foot rise in elevation from mile 2.2 to 2.8. I knew that there would be a hill from looking at spot elevations (no elevation map was published ahead of time, as it was a new route), but I was expecting only about a 30 foot rise. I had remembered that the high point would be at Ivan Allen Boulevard, but when we crossed North Avenue (and the street name changed to Luckie Street), it felt like the high point. The road leveled out for a moment (actually about 10 feet downhill, but not that noticeable). But there really was a 40 foot rise on the way to Ivan Allen. I couldn't push to maintain speed. For the first time, a few runners passed me at this stage. Undoubtably they had been much more disciplined in their start. Another learning experience for me. After crossing Ivan Allen, it was supposed to be downhill to the end. But I didn't have enough reserve energy to speed up.
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| Elevation profile for today |
Right before reaching the 3-mile sign, we were greeted by a cruel surprise: a spur that was not on the map! (OK, second critical comment, "cruel".) The organizers must have added about 50 feet going up Simpson Street to ensure that the distance was 5.0 kilometers. And it was 50 feet uphill, not a nice level 50 feet. One volunteer scolded another runner for cutting the spur short. With all the police around, I wasn't going to cheat! Then back to Luckie Street for the finish. Here I saw the 3-mile marker, and the clock was showing 29 minutes, which meant that I was at 25 minutes with no chance of setting a personal record. (Actually 25:05 at the 3-mile mark, which corresponded to 8:51 for the third mile.) I decided that there was no point to pressing hard for a strong finish and was not sure that I could have done so. As I approached the intersection with Baker Street, I could see the finish line. I made a sweeping left turn and a steady run to the finish line. Another runner caught up to me and although he passed me I stepped up a little faster to keep it close. Just over 30 minutes elapsed when I crossed, which ended up corresponding to a chip time of 26:14. That's basically my average 5K time, so it wasn't terrible, but I was hoping to have finished a bit faster.
After re-hydrating with water and a bottle of Powerade Zero, and then replacing some lost calories with a delicious asiago cheese bagel, I headed for the finish line to watch for friends. I walked ahead of the line to Luckie Street to watch for Bonnie. She was wearing the dark blue shirt from the Southwest Beltline 5K in July, so I could spot her from a distance. There was a feller in front of her as they approached, and I snapped a few photos. About 100 feet before the final turn, the volunteer at the corner shouted "She's going to catch you!" At that second Bonnie put on the jets and streaked ahead of the poor guy! Then to hold him off, she found an even higher gear! I was running along the sidewalk attempting to take a few photos and could hardly keep ahead of her. I learned afterward that she had suffered an ankle sprain in the first half-mile, but persevered nonetheless and finished strongly!
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| Bonnie approaching the finish. She has just blazed past the poor guy about 50 feet behind her. |
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| Bonnie's finish! |
Back to my race: I guess I'm probably not going to get much faster. To finish a 5K in less than 25 minutes, I have to run each mile in 8 minutes. Perhaps I have a chance to do that when the weather gets colder in the coming months. However I am working on longer distances, as I've registered for a 10-miler in late October, and that may improve my endurance when I run shorter races like the 5K. In any case it was a run race and a nice route, even with the hill in the third mile.
Splits: 7:58, 8:16, 8:51
Overall: 26:14, 8:27 minutes per mile average pace, average speed 7.1 mph.
I placed 12th out of 42 in my age group (chip time), so I was very happy to see that I was in the top third.
Goal: aiming for consistent splits, as a strategy to set a new personal record (currently at 25:23) Not achieved. But I really enjoyed leading the wave for the first mile, so the lack of running discipline was worth that experience!
Lesson learned: Always wear the water belt when the temperature is above 70 degrees, even for a short race. Actually, probably should always wear the water belt when running, period.
Next race: Big Peach Sizzler (10K) on Labor Day, September 1.
