Goal: To pace myself in the first 4 km of a hilly course, so that I can have a fast finish in the final downhill kilometer.
In the past week, I learned about the Atlanta AIDS 5K, in Piedmont Park and the Ansley Park neighborhood in midtown Atlanta. I remember when the public first became aware of AIDS some 30 years ago, and especially the fear in the early days. Little was known about the causes or treatment, but everyone was aware that the illness was invariably fatal. Great strides have been made in treatment in the intervening years. Various combinations of medications have been developed (including some based on a small molecule drug discovered at Emory, emtricitabine) for long-term management of HIV infection, slowing or preventing the progression to AIDS.
Unfortunately, 1) these drugs are not a cure, 2) the drugs are very expensive and must be taken for life, and 3) new infections continue to be reported. The most effective anti-HIV drugs are essentially unavailable to the poor, especially those living outside of the wealthiest nations. The Atlanta AIDS 5K and Walk is a fundraiser for treatment and services for people living with HIV / AIDS, and also provides education programs to help prevent new HIV infections. |
| Some of the quilts on display near the start of the Atlanta AIDS 5K, in Piedmont Park |
Five days before the race: I jogged the route on a pleasantly mild evening. The first mile covers the final mile of the Peachtree Road Race, in the opposite direction (meaning about 100 feet uphill!) The second mile is level or slightly downhill, and then shortly after the beginning of the third mile, there will be a challenging uphill stretch (90 feet in 0.3 mile) before heading 80 feet downhill over the final kilometer. My plan is simple: take it easy enough on the uphill stretches, especially the second one, so that I will feel strong enough to kick into my highest gear for the final kilometer. Although I have marked out some 5-minute landmarks assuming 5 min per km, I've resolved that I won't wear myself out early if I find that I'm "behind schedule". I also need to save my legs for the 10-miler coming up in one week.
 |
| Elevation profile. Note the brutal hill in the middle of the third mile. |
Day of the race: With a 1 pm start, we ate an early lunch / late breakfast at Metrofresh, just a couple of blocks from the start. Turkey chili and salad was an experiment that I hoped would not finish the race in front of me, but at least we ate early enough so that I had two hours to digest before the start of the run. Although the morning was pleasantly cool (mid-40's), the temperature at the start was 63 deg F, with hardly a cloud in the sky. I could feel the warm sun on my head. As we lined up for the beginning of the race, no one around me was obviously carrying a water bottle. But I had kept to my resolution to always carry water after my experience in the Atlanta's Finest 5K in late August, and as we waited for the start, I began to feel that I was really going to appreciate having the water bottle on my belt.
 |
| Less than 10 minutes before the start |
 |
| The race route, with miles marked in magenta. |
Mile 3: Just as I passed the mile-2 marker, I felt my right shoelace flapping around. Oh no!! I had retied my shoes shortly before entering the corral, and the laces had looked good and felt good right before the start. But I had no choice but to find a safe place to pull onto the sidewalk and retie. That must have stopped me for 10 seconds. I jumped back into the race, and as I was gaining speed, I was about to pass a runner on his left, when he suddenly moved to his left, directly in front of me. In fact I ran into him although was able to brace with my hands so that the collision was highly elastic and no one fell. I don't know what caused him to jump into my way, unless he saw a shadow and perhaps thought that I was passing on his right. After another minute, the road began to head uphill. I knew that the next 0.3 miles would be challenging. To stay on a 25 minute pace, I would need to reach the top of the hill at the intersection with Piedmont Road at the 20 minute mark. Many runners around me slowed to a walk, and those of us who were still running were definitely moving more slowly. I tried to watch my breathing and posture, but man, that hill was tough. The 20-minute alert sounded well before Piedmont Road was in sight. I took a couple of sips of water and poured most of the rest of it on my neck as I approached the top, finally! As we turned onto Piedmont Road, the volunteer shouted "It's all downhill from here!" and I knew that he was right.
It took me a while to get back up to speed, but I was moving pretty quickly by the time we reached the Piedmont Park entrance at 14th Street. I made a strong push around the Active Oval and then there was one last turn in front of the Boathouse, for the final stretch. I could see Lake Clara Meer to my left as the 25-minute alert sounded, indicating approximately 3.0 miles covered. In fact the tracker audio alerts round off the value, so I reached the 3-mile mark at 25:19, 8:46 for the third mile. Finishing that tough mile in less than 9 minutes was really great for me.
The finish: At the 25-minute alert, I started counting seconds (three steps per second) thinking that I might still beat 26 minutes. But the finish line was a bit further than I had expected. All of the runners around me were pretty competitive and we were passing each other, back and forth in the final stretch. I stopped counting seconds at 60 and only at that point did I see the finish line. We all put on one final burst of speed, and I was unable to catch up with the nearest runner in front of me, but I finished strongly with 26:27 showing on the clock. Even though it wasn't a personal record, I was pretty pleased with a good time on such a hilly course.
 |
| The Meadow at Piedmont Park |
The kilometer splits were very informative, and I had run fairly even splits if one accounts for relative difficulty:
5:16 (uphill)
5:00 (level)
5:04 (downhill)
5:54 (shoelace fiasco and steep hill in the last few blocks of the Prado)
4:59 (downhill to the finish).
No comments:
Post a Comment