August 23, 2015: The Hotlanta Half Marathon

Goal C: To finish faster than my slowest half-marathon time (2:19:36)

Goal B: To finish under 2:15

Goal A: To test myself against my best half-marathon times, PR on a loop course 2:05:36 (Publix Georgia Half), PR on a point-to-point net downhill course 2:03:09 (Tear Drop Half). 

When I first learned of the Hotlanta Half Marathon earlier this year, I was unsure of the wisdom of running such a long distance in August, typically the warmest month in Atlanta.  I cut back on training in June after the summer heat began to bother me, and was concerned that I might develop an overuse injury, so for the past two months I've basically run only 3 times a week, two of those runs usually with the Tucker Running Club.  However I've done two 13-mile training runs and a 10-mile trail race during that time.  I decided to register in mid-July, shortly before the price increased, and figured that the Hotlanta Half would simply be a test of my progress. 

I had originally thought that I would just run with the 2:15 pace team, but by race day, I had decided that their pace might be too slow, and that I could safely try for a faster time.  I would try to keep the 2:00 pace team in view at the beginning and see how I felt after the first mile or two.  I set my Garmin to intervals of 4:00 run, 0:30 walk, and also planned to walk through every water stop near each mile marker.  The water stops were manned by various service organizations, who each would receive a share of the money raised from registration fees. 

Race route and elevation map

With Jennifer, fellow runner in the Tucker Running Club.
She ran her second half-marathon this morning.  

The night before the race, I was awakened around 1 am by intense lightning and loud thunder, which persisted for about an hour.  But in the morning, the weather seemed to be calm.  With the sunrise, the sky was dotted with light clouds and the temperature seemed comfortable, although it was quite humid.  We arrived at Pemberton Place, near the World of Coca-Cola, shortly after 6 am.  As part of my pre-race ritual, I knocked back one shot of beet juice around 6:15 am.  Then after walking to the start on Baker Street, dividing Pemberton Place from Centennial Olympic Park, I downed another shot of beet juice standing in front of the start-finish banner, around 6:45.  I was assigned to corral C, but it looked like we would all start continuously without a break between waves, as we did in the Publix Georgia Half Marathon in March.  As the time neared 7:00 am, I heard the beginning of the national anthem, and the crowd buzz dropped to a hush.  Within a few seconds of finishing the anthem, the announcer began counting down to the start, and without further fanfare, the race had begun!

Panorama of runners lining up for the start, shortly before 7 am.
I'm the only one waving at the camerawoman!
At that moment, the skies looked promising, like we would have a dry race. 

The first mile went south, past the Georgia Dome and the new Atlanta Falcons Stadium (under construction).  It seemed like the 2:00 pace group was moving pretty quickly, as I recorded a first mile of 8:54, yet I didn't gain any ground on them.  My second mile through downtown was similarly fast (for me), at 9:00.  Everything felt really good and so I tried to maintain a 9-minute per mile pace for as long as possible.  The third mile turned south toward Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves, originally built for the 1996 Olympics.  We enjoyed a significant downhill section south of I-20, and I finished the third mile in 8:53.  

Upon rounding the south side of the Turner Field complex, the route started uphill.  Fortunately I knew this from running the course last weekend, and was prepared to slow down to avoid burning out too quickly.  Staying close to the run / walk ratio of 4:00 / 0:30 from the beginning really paid off here, and I made it through challenging mile 4 without too much difficulty, in 9:43.  My average pace had now slowed to 9:10 minute / mile, but I was very happy with my race at that stage, and still felt strong and without any pain.    However, I could now see ominous dark clouds on the western horizon and it looked like it was just a matter of time before it started to rain on us.  Crossing I-20 and heading toward the Georgia State Capitol, I spotted Bonnie at the top of the hill across the street from the Capitol.  I sped up to pass a few of the walkers in that area, blowing Bonnie a kiss as I passed.  Covering the fifth mile in 9:27 gave me a cumulative time of 46 minutes - I was hoping for anything faster than 48 minutes at mile-5, so I was really pleased.  

That was a big hill!

Shortly after turning onto John Wesley Dobbs and crossing under the Downtown Connector (I-75/I-85, 14 lanes through downtown Atlanta) I took my first gel as planned, about 5.5 miles.  That required a slightly longer walk break but I quickly got back up to speed, running mile 6 in 9:31.  Now for one of my favorite places to run in Atlanta: the Eastside Beltline.  Running north, I would enjoy a gradual decline of 100 feet over the next two miles.  Staying with the run / walk formula, I tried to speed up in the running sections, covering mile 7 in 9:30 and mile 8 in 9:15.  My favorite water stop to this point of the race was at the mile 7 marker, mostly because there was a bubble machine in operation, which definitely lifted my mood.  Unfortunately I could hear thunder overhead, and there was a very light drizzle, but the temperature was also cool, for which I was thankful. 

Upon leaving the Beltline and crossing Monroe Avenue to run on 10th Street, I knew that the next mile would be challenging.  This was mile 9 in the Galloway 13.1 in December, but today I felt better, primarily because I didn't have any injuries of any kind at this point, just a little tiredness.  The road went uphill as we passed Piedmont Park, so I took a second gel at this point, taking a slightly longer walk break.  The road then dropped an equal amount in elevation as we approached the turn at Piedmont Road, and I was able to speed up again, running mile 9 in 9:37.  We were now running through rain, but it wasn't too heavy, and I was enjoying the cool temperature. 

Upon turning into Piedmont Park at the 12th Street entrance, I saw a runner make a sharp U-turn, cutting the route at least one mile short.  For a second I was outraged and disappointed that I hadn't noticed her race number, but then decided that it probably didn't matter.  And perhaps she was injured and just needed to get back to the finish area as quickly as possible, and that would be fine if she was gracious enough not to cross the finish line.  But as we ran through the Park, there was a bigger problem.  The rain had increased in its intensity.  Now it was a full-fledged downpour, a real gulley-washer.  My shoes were soaked by this point.  We were all trying to avoid running through the deepest puddles, without much success.  I finished the tenth mile in 9:55.  Despite the slow mile, I was very happy with my elapsed time of 1:33:45, three minutes faster than my first ten miles in the Publix Georgia Half Marathon.  

Exiting the park, the next long block was a steep uphill section on 12th Street.  I crossed a timing mat at the bottom, and was puzzled by its location, as it didn't correspond to the 10-mile mark.  As planned, I took my time going uphill, not wanting to burn myself out with the better part of 3 miles to go to reach the finish line.  Only after I crossed another timing mat near the intersection with Juniper Street did I realize that there had been a "King of the Hill" challenge - I had read about it once somewhere but completely forgot about it on race day.  

<Late edit: I didn't think that I had done well on this little challenge because I forgot about it and took it easy on the hill, but in fact my time of 1:45 up the hill gave me 361st place, whereas my overall finish was 358th place, practically the same.  If you look at the results

http://www.orionsportstiming.com/results/HotlantaHALFKingoftheHill2015.html

after the 808th runner, "Times below here don't reflect a valid time.  This is where the timing mats floated away.">

Turning left onto Juniper Street, the runningnerds who weren't running today were gathered at a water stop.  When they saw my "rrt" (runningnerds racing team) shirt, they cheered as I passed, and I shared a few high-fives.  Their plan was to offer a cooling towel, and that wouldn't have been helpful under these conditions, but thankfully the towel offered was dry.  The towel was the only dry thing on my person, at least for a few seconds, and I was grateful to wipe the rain from my face.

I knew that Juniper Street would be uphill, but didn't anticipate the amount of water that we would have to run through at every intersection.  Torrents of water were running downhill from Peachtree Street one block to our west, and then pooling in the level street before flowing downhill toward Piedmont Avenue to the east.  At every intersection we ran through ankle-deep water.  I heard one runner say, twice, "This isn't any fun any longer."  I responded, "here is the swimming part of the race!  And perhaps we'll have bikes to ride the final miles, so this will be my first triathlon!"  My low expectations for my performance in this race helped me stay positive.  Although I had expected to struggle with temperature and not water, nonetheless I could take a relaxed attitude, not having a big time goal in mind.  And I knew that whatever I accomplished today would be a very good run for me, with the terrible weather conditions in the final miles.  When I checked my time for mile 11, I was pleasantly surprised to see 10:30!  Uphill and through inches of water!!

Video: salmon swimming upstream

Finally we turned west onto 5th Street.  As we crossed Peachtree Street, the employees of Big Peach Midtown were in the street to cheer us on.  Andrew, the employee that regularly opens the store early on Saturday mornings for the group runs, recognized me as I approached, and we gave each other enthusiastic double high fives.  Thanks to all of the Big Peach Midtown employees that were cheering us on in the heavy rain!  Continuing west and across the downtown connector again, we entered the Georgia Tech campus.  This was a nice downhill stretch, covering mile 12 in 9:34.  As I approached the water stop, I pulled out my last gel.  I had planned to take it a few minutes earlier, then debated as to whether I needed it at all, ultimately decided that I didn't want to risk running out of energy at the end.  Accepting a cup of water from one of the first volunteers and then holding the cup in my teeth as I tried to rip over the end of the gel, who did I see near the end of the water line but Elizabeth, the blogger for Running on E!  With the cup hanging from my teeth, probably not my best look, LOL! 

I knew that the final mile would be a challenge, and didn't really have a good strategy for running it.  With a negative split strategy, the last mile should be the fastest, but the sadists who laid out this course put a hundred foot elevation rise in the 13th mile.  Could I really run a 9-minute mile, uphill, after running 12 before?  I think we all know the answer: I needed 10:29 for mile 13.  But as I saw familiar landmarks ahead, my mood lifted.  I tried to ignore the soreness in every muscle below the belt and the insistent beeping of my heart rate monitor.  Crossing Ivan Allen Boulevard, from which I had turned into the parking garage three hours earlier, I forced myself to speed up.  I sneaked a peek at my watch and realized that I could finish very close to my time in the Publix Half Marathon.  It was a long block past the Georgia Aquarium but volunteers and/or spectators were encouraging us, "not much further!"  Making the turn onto Baker Street, I saw the top of the finish line arch, and a welcome downhill section.  I gave it every bit of energy possible, speeding up enough to even pass one of the other runners, looking for Bonnie as I approached the finish line.  There she was on the left, next to the clock reading 2:06 and a few seconds!  I ran down the center of Baker Street, raising my arms in victory after I crossed the timing mat.  

Official time, 2:05:49!!  Just 13 seconds slower than the Publix Georgia Half Marathon, which was run in a light drizzle, so today's conditions were much more challenging.  I accepted the very heavy medal from the volunteers manning the finish line, accepted a welcome bottle of ice cold water, and kept walking for a few minutes to avoid leg cramps.  Stretching while watching some of the other runners finish definitely helped later on, and I didn't even feel that stiff after sitting in the car for the 30-minute drive home. 

Lessons to share from today's race: 

1) Have realistic expectations.  I had not trained rigorously enough to expect much improvement.  But at least I had maintained a decent level of fitness so that I was able to run a good 13.1 miles.

2) Run the course a week ahead of time.  If you live in the area where you plan to run a race, make the effort to cover the course.  I knew where all of the hills would be and was able to run a smart race, conserving energy in the tough sections.

3) Have a plan, but prepare to be flexible as required by the conditions.  Although the last four miles were pretty slow because of the rain, I had run a very good race for the first nine miles before conditions deteriorated, thanks largely to having run the course last weekend.  As a result, my mood was positive even when I was running through huge puddles later in the race, because I knew that I had done my best earlier in the race when conditions had been decent. 

4) Bring a complete set of dry clothes, not only shirt and shorts but also underwear, socks  and shoes.  The drive home was so much more comfortable as a result.  It helped that Pemberton Park at the start/finish area had large and permanent public restroom facilities for changing clothes.  

5) Wear thin but high quality running socks.  In the past I've favored a thicker sock, trying to give more protection to the skin.  But I recently heard advice that the thicker socks, when they are wet with sweat, will exacerbate chafing and blister formation.  With all of the water that I had to run through this morning, it would have been much worse for my feet if I had worn thicker socks.  Although I have some soreness on the tips of my toes, happily I don't have a single blister this afternoon.

6) Liberally apply anti-chafe balm on any skin that could possibly chafe against clothes or shoes, even (especially) the soles and toes of the feet.   

It's even legal to drive while intoxicated with
endorphins! 

Goal C: To finish faster than my slowest half-marathon time (2:19:36); Achieved easily! 

Goal B: To finish under 2:15; again, Achieved easily! 

Goal A: To test myself against my best half-marathon times, PR on a loop course 2:05:36 (Publix Georgia Half), PR on a point-to-point net downhill course 2:03:09 (Tear Drop Half); I'm very pleased with a 2:05:49 time.  I knew that this wasn't the race to break the 2 hour barrier, but came closer than I had reasonably expected.  

I'm looking forward to increasing my training as the temperatures begin to drop in September.  Hopefully I can find the time to put in more miles each week.  My next long races: Atlanta 10-miler (October 25), and the Galloway 13.1 (December 13).