Goal C: To have a good run on a muggy evening
Goal B: To run a consistent pace in the 1-mile race
Goal A: To challenge my 1-mile time of 7:03
The Atlanta Track Club's Grand Prix event for this month was the 1-mile race, in the All Comers Track & Field Series. Last week's races were cancelled due to bad weather, but at the start of this evening, the weather was favorable. Of course summer thunderstorms often pop up with little warning, and so there is virtually always a chance for a storm, particularly in the evenings after a warm day.
 |
| From the women's 800 meter invitational, prior to the open 800 meter races. (Photo from Atlanta Track Club) |
I arrived at the track around 7 pm, to warm up on the infield, as well as watching some of the early races, including the invitational 800 meter races. I had decided that I would try the 800 meter race in the open heats, partially as a warm-up, and also to get a sense of a good starting pace. Once again I found myself in the slowest adult heat, fairly certain that I could not run faster than a 3-minute time for the 800 meter race.
A group of approximately 20 of us lined up at the start, around 7:45 pm. I took a position in the second row (of three). After about 10 really fast steps, I caught myself and settled into a more reasonable pace. I completed the first lap just past 1:30 on the clock, slower than 1:23 in the 400 meter race a few weeks ago, but I was feeling fairly strong going into the second lap. On the backstretch I started breathing heavily, and afterwards my Garmin showed that I had slowed from a 6:00 minute / mile pace to 6:30, but I finished the second lap at 3:10 on the clock, speeding up a bit on the final straightaway. Actually the 800-meter race went better than I had expected, although I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be running a 6:30 mile later in the evening. Even though I never triggered the high heart rate warning (>175 beats per minute), it took a long time after finishing to recover my normal breathing pattern.
After watching several invitational rounds of the 1500 meters, it was time to begin the 1-mile heats. With a 45-minute break, I had mostly recovered and was jogging slowly in the infield while watching the faster runners. As the evening progressed, the western sun was blocked by a few white clouds, which was nice, but then the clouds became darker and more ominous after 8 pm. The first of several women's heats in the 1-mile race began around 8:30 pm, starting with runners submitting the slowest projected times. Before the second women's heat was complete, we heard an announcement that the meet would be temporarily halted for 30 minutes, due to severe weather within a 5-mile radius. As we began to leave the track, a bright and loud lightning bolt struck nearby, and any doubts about whether it was necessary to suspend the meet were dispelled.
I went back to my office to gather my belongings, trying to decide if I should just go home. I decided to work a bit while waiting on the weather, as I could see the field from my office to watch for any action that might signal a resumption in the meet. I chatted with a new rotation student in my lab for a few minutes, even worked on a figure for my textbook. At 9:30 pm, the Atlanta Track Club tent was still standing on the infield, and the lights were still on at the track, but I could see only one or two people at most on the edge of the track, undoubtably track club staff.
Around 9:45 pm I decided to head for home. But as I was walking to the parking garage, there were still several dozen runners waiting outside the gate to the track. A volunteer told me that they would try to start up again at 10 pm, to run a couple of fun heats for the 1-miler. I put my things in the car and jogged a couple of warmup laps around the P.E. center complex while waiting, about one half-mile per lap. It had not rained at all, with the storm passing to the south of the Emory campus, but I could still see occasional lightning in the distance.
As I neared the end of the second lap, I could hear someone making an announcement and sped back to the gate. They decided to open the track at 10:10 pm, so the warmup timing had been perfect for me. In the end we had two heats, the first group of runners faster than 7 minute / mile, and the second heat for the rest of us. The temperature had cooled to the low 70s, which felt really good after running the 800 meter race in 80 deg F temperature.
 |
| A few dozen of us stayed to the bitter end! I'm on the back row to the right, underneath the big white arrow. |
It took a few minutes before the first heat could begin. First, the track club personnel took a few photos of the hard-core runners who had stayed through the storm delay. Then they had to find the starting gun, since the volunteer who had been the starter had apparently gone home! After searching for a moment, a volunteer found the starting gun, put the first heat runners on their mark, and they were off!
Even though this was just a fun run, at least three of the runners in the first heat finished faster than 5 minutes. Rich Kenah, the track club executive director, finished his mile in 5:12. Even though he is a former Olympic runner, I suspect that he didn't get to properly warm up since he was busy being in charge, yet he knocked out a fast mile. The last runner in this heat finished just over 7 minutes, and she made a strong sprint to the finish line.
Then it was our turn. While our motley crew tried to figure out where to stand, the volunteer apparently could not find any more rounds for the starting gun. He told us that we would start with the snap of the clipboard. I thought that he might be joking, but he announced "On your marks," then a pause for a couple of seconds while a few of us stepped out of our starting position, and then a relatively quiet snap of the clipboard. Most of us started, including me. But one of the people in front of me hesitated for a split second, seeming unsure of whether he should start. I said "That's it!" and everyone was moving.
I resisted the impulse to start too quickly. Thanks to my Garmin watch and the experience of running the 800 meter race earlier in the evening, I settled in to a 6:50 minute / mile pace. That was a little faster than I thought I should be running, but I felt good and wasn't pressing too hard. I was running in lane 3 for most of the first lap, but after passing a group on the backstretch, moved into lane 2. The first lap went well, and I passed the start-finish area at 1:50 (110 sec elapsed). On the next backstretch, I found myself coming up on a group of three women, who seemed to be going just a bit more slowly than me. Before finishing the backstretch, I passed them in lane 3, then kicked ahead a bit to open up some space so that I could move back into lane 2. As I passed the start-finish line again ca. 3:35 (105 sec for lap 2), I heard someone shout "Go Carol!" then "Go Phil!" Sensing that Carol and Phil must be just a few steps behind me, I kicked it up a bit, maintaining a steady speed.
In the third lap, I started breathing heavily, and on the backstretch I got the first alert that my heart rate was above 175 bpm. But I wasn't going to slow down now! I told myself that this was just like the last half-mile of a 10K. I kept running hard, trying to keep my pace at or slightly faster than a 7:00 minute mile. At this stage there was no one immediately in front of me or close behind me that I could sense. I crossed the start-finish line again at ca. 5:25 (110 sec for lap 3). Once again, I heard cheers for Carol immediately after I crossed the line, then Phil, so that kept me pushing forward. I didn't want to be passed by Carol or by Phil if I could help it!
Now for the last quarter-mile! As I entered the backstretch, I heard the announcer call the winning time for our heat at 5:55. I lapped a few people on the backstretch. They had to know that I was coming, I was breathing so hard, but I was moving fairly well! Otherwise I was running on my own, with a fairly large gap between the runners on my lap in front of me as well as those behind me. Making the final turn, I could see 6:50-something on the clock in the final straightaway. I badly wanted to beat 7:00, but even speeding up a bit, I saw the clock tick past 7:00, then past 7:03 (my PR in the Morningside Mile). But I continued to kick as strongly as I could, putting on a strong show through the finish line, crossing at 7:06 on the clock (101 sec for lap 4). Funny, my Garmin registered 6:57 for 1.00 mile, but it also confirmed my strong finish.
In any case I was very pleased with my mile. I had run a mile in an All-Comers meet a couple of weeks earlier, and had only managed 7:36, because I started out too quickly. Tonight I set a good, sustainable pace in the first lap, and didn't burn out before finishing.
No comments:
Post a Comment