Goal C: To beat my 10K PR of 54:22
Goal B: To finish in less than 54 minutes
Goal A: To run the second half of the race faster than the first half
Inside the packet containing my bib for the Charles Harris 10K two weeks earlier, I found a post card advertising the following race:
This probably sounds silly to regular folks, but among the runners in Atlanta, it's not uncommon to hear talk about improving one's Peachtree qualifying time. Obviously the organizers of the Chattahoochee Road Race are counting on that interest to draw a larger field, on a weekend when there are quite a few competing races. It really shouldn't matter for me - or for the other 99.9% of Peachtree Road Race participants. My chip time won't be any faster or any slower whether I begin in group B or group E. Last year I began in group C by submitting a 5K qualifying time, but by mile 5 a substantial number of group D runners were starting to pass me, even though I had a 4-minute head start. So I decided a few months ago that I would only submit my best 10K time, after all the Peachtree Road Race is a 10K race.
The latest issue of Runner's World arrived in the mail last night, and two timely articles were advertised on the cover: "The Right Warmup for Every Race" and "Pain-Free Knees". I read both articles over my pre-race breakfast this morning, and resolved to follow the advice. On the drive to the race start, I kept reviewing my plan to aim for 9-minute miles for the first 3 miles, so that I would have some energy for a strong finish.
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| Getting the last bit of warmth in the car before heading to the starting line! |
After picking up our race packets in a parking lot near the finish line, I jogged uphill to the starting area, about half a mile from the finish. I took it fairly easy until I got to the parking lot behind the starting area, then ran three laps turning up the pace for a couple of hundred feet in each lap. This wasn't quite as thorough of a warmup as recommended in the Runner's World article, but certainly it was a better and more purposeful warmup than what I usually manage.
We gathered for the start, and I took a position about halfway back from the starting line. I figured that would help me to avoid going out too quickly. A couple of minutes before the 8 am start, we heard an airhorn! It turns out that the race director didn't have a megaphone, but the airhorn got everyone's attention. He gave a one-minute advance notice (but I thought he had said something indicating that we were about to begin immediately) so I started my tracker and put on my gloves. I decided not to worry about the early tracker start, as I could subtract a minute from every alert and still follow my progress.
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| It was a beautiful morning, if a bit crisp, with temperature around the freezing point. |
Then the airhorn sounded for real. It took about 15 seconds to get to the starting line, and then we began moving in earnest. Although the start was a little crowded, I resolved to just move with the pack at least for the first half-mile, even though it seemed a bit slow. That was a good move, as I covered that first half-mile in 4:20, and mile 1 in 8:51, even though it felt like I was running really slowly. The route was rolling hills, but none of the hills were very challenging, and I was feeling good. In fact I think that my legs benefitted from the three different levels: flat, moderate uphill, and moderate downhill, using different muscles for each level.
Shortly after passing the mile-1 marker, the lead runner in the 5K passed us on the return leg. He had opened up at least a 30 second lead on the second runner. Then a fairly steady stream of 5K runners passed us as we crossed the overpass over the I-285 Perimeter. I had been running along the left side of our lane so I could watch the returning 5K runners, but when I realized the split for the 5K and 10K races was coming up, I managed to move over to the right side of the lane. The last thing that I wanted was for a 5K runner to cross in front of me at the turnaround. It seemed that a majority of the runners in my part of the pack continued forward on the 10K.
My right knee started bothering me a bit in the second mile, but the pain wasn't too bad. I remembered what I had read earlier this morning about a shorter, quicker stride on the Runner's World article on knee pain, and that helped. The pain came and went during the run, but it was never too bad, and I felt that it might not slow me down today. From the Runner's World article, it appears that I have a bit of iliotibial-band syndrome (IT-band), which is a common complaint among runners. I was relieved to read this morning that it's not an injury and simply an indication that I need to strengthen my glute and core muscles, which I've already begun working in earnest over the past couple of weeks. That probably helped with today's run.
I reached the mile-2 marker at 17:52 (9:01 for mile 2). I commented to a runner next to me that I had achieved my first goal of passing the 2 mile mark before the 10K leader had completed 4 miles. Things continued smoothly through the mile-3 marker at 26:42 (8:50 for mile 3). At what was probably the 5K mark, I saw a clock reading 27 minutes, then spotted a timing mat in the right part of the lane. I moved over to cross the mat just as a runner ahead of me made a quick piroutte to return to the mat, which he crossed just in front of me. He apologized although we didn't collide, and I mentioned that we probably didn't have to cross the mat, but perhaps they would post our 5K times along with 10K results. According to my tracker, 27:38 at the 5K mark meant that I was on a pace to finish in just over 55 minutes. Hmm, I was definitely going to have to speed up to achieve my goals, but of course that precisely fit my A goal and the overall race strategy, to run the second half of the race faster than the first half.
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| The route was a partial out-and-back, taking a spur in the final mile to give us a downhill finish. |
I made a sharp 180-degree turn at the turnaround point. I was still feeling good but had to push myself a bit to maintain some speed. By focusing on staying with the runners around me, I continued at a good pace. There was a water stop shortly before the mile-4 marker, which I ran through but pulled over a couple of hundred feet past the water stop to take a couple of sips of water from my bottle, while taking a short, 15-second walk break. As I returned to speed, I reached the mile-4 marker at 35:46 (9:04 for mile 4).
The short walk break really helped me as we began the fifth mile. At this stage, I began to pass a few runners. I was listening to the breathing cadence of the other runners around me, and I was definitely breathing better, usually exhaling every 7th or 9th step. At that moment I realized that my musical training might be helping me to think in 7/4 or 9/4 time! I recently learned that one should not exhale on even step counts, as one tends to step harder when exhaling, and repeated exhaling on the same foot can lead to injury. I found myself passing more runners, and no one was passing me. As we crossed the I-285 overpass again, I saw the mile-5 marker, passing it at 44:32 (8:46 for mile 5). This was about the same time that I had run in the Cartersville 10K, my first sub-55 minute race.
I decided to take one more short walk break and a couple of sips of water, to fortify me for the sprint to the end. It's amazing what a 15-20 second walk break does, lowering my pulse rate just a bit, and giving my leg muscles a momentary break. I felt really strong and ready to run fast as I went back up to running speed.
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| The course features a downhill finish, for the final 0.7 miles. |
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| I began the tracker too early, and crossed the starting mat at 1:06. Look at the paces that I was running on the downhill sections near the end of the race! |
At the turn onto Hammond Drive, I could see the road ahead drop rather sharply in elevation. I started to build up some speed, lengthening my stride, and I zipped past another runner. I was flying down the hill, it seemed that my feet were only occasionally touching the ground, and gravity was doing most of the work. Hopefully my running looked impressive to any spectators. At one point I was concerned that I might fall, at another I wondered if my left shoe was coming untied, but I just kept moving as fast as I dared. But this wasn't the end of the race! To my surprise, we went uphill again, although I managed to maintain a decent pace, back to 9-minute mile pace, and passing a few runners. Then we went downhill again, and I started flying again, passing yet another runner. The road levelled out briefly as we made the final turn onto Sandy Springs Circle, with one more steep downhill section. Having gained some confidence from the first two downhill sections, I rocketed down the final stage at full speed, passing several other runners. I was shocked afterwards when I saw that my pace was faster than 6 minutes per mile, hitting 11 miles per hour going into the finish. And the clock clicked over to 54 minutes shortly before I finished, with 54:07 the last number that I saw on the finish line clock. When the results were posted, my official chip time was 53:54!!
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| Looking back up the final hill |
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| Shortly after the race, high on endorphins! |
It took me awhile to slow down after that blazing fast finish, and I could feel it in my legs when I was walking immediately afterwards, hoping to keep from getting stiff. But I was exhilarated with the race! Subtracting a few seconds for the start, I knew that I had definitely achieved all three of my goals! The downhill section at the end definitely helped, but I'm sure that I would have been unable to take full advantage if I had been too tired after 5 miles.
2 comments:
Congrats on your PR!
Congrats Frank! Awesome job. Way to PR and get yourself a few corrals forward for Peachtree. The Jayhawk did the 5k and had great things to say about the race as well!
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