February 27, 2016: 36th Charles Harris Run for Leukemia (10K)

2014 time: 55:29

2015 time: 54:42

2015 Wave C qualifying time: 54:01

2015 Wave B qualifying time: 51:05

Personal record on certified 10K: 53:50

After running what for me was an amazingly fast 5K earlier this month with average pace of 7:43 minute / mile, I was curious to see what I might run on a 10K course.  In December I completed the Eastside Beltline 9.8K at an 8:30 minute / mile pace, and decided to try for a rather ambitious goal in today's race: a 51-minute 10K, which might get me into wave B for the Peachtree Road Race.  I have recently run a probable qualifying time for wave B at the 5K distance, so I felt that I might be able to get close to that at the longer distance. However, that would require running each mile at an average 8:12 minute / mile pace.  

Do these shoes make me look fast?

I've run the Charles Harris 10K in 2014 and 2015, and have done fairly well in both years.  However in both of those races, my conditioning had let me down a little bit so that I couldn't really take good advantage of the long downhill section that marks the beginning of the sixth mile.  Whatever came of my overall time this year, I was determined to save enough to keep up with the rest of the runners when I passed the mile 5 marker this year.  

I arrived early enough to the start area at Tucker High School to chat with several running buddies, including Daniel Yee, a k a The Running Cat.  We compared a few notes on the latest research on beet juice.  Daniel reminded me that the bacteria in the mouth convert the nitrates in beet juice into the vasodilator, nitric oxide, shortly after which I downed a bottle of beet juice concentrate, taking care not to wash the taste from my mouth.  The Tucker Running Club organized a few team entries, so I was on the men's open team along with Ryan Shams and Eric Strait.  We managed to get a photo of some of the team members before the start of the race in the Tucker High School gym, but unfortunately I missed a subsequent photo on the road right before the race began, perhaps because I was too eager to secure a position closer to the start line. 

Partial Tucker Running Club team photo right before we stepped outside.

There's no "I" in team.  And there's no "Frank" in this team photo.

The weather was cold but sunny and dry and with no perceptible wind, so I was comfortable enough with two shirts, a cap, gloves with chemical hand warmers, sunglasses, and a new pair of running shoes.  I ran the first mile in 8:04, which felt fairly easy, and close to what I had planned for running to reach my "dream" goal of a 51 minute finish.  But as miles 2 and 3 ticked by, I just couldn't move faster than 8:25 and 8:41, respectively.  I decided to take walk breaks after the mile-2 mark and about 2.7 miles in at the first water station.  Fortunately my legs were feeling good and I was enjoying the run, so I knew that I had a good chance to improve on last year's time on this course.  I took another walk break in the middle of the fourth mile going uphill toward the I-285 Perimeter, and another short break with the first heart rate alert near the mile-4 marker, 8:58 for mile 4.  Even though mile 5 was gently downhill, I needed 8:59 for mile 5, walking through the second water station shortly before the mile-5 marker.  But upon reaching the steeper downhill section just beyond the mile-5 marker, I was able to speed up quite well.  I passed a couple of runners in this section, and was passed by a couple of young speedsters (who must have either started late or really slowly), but was happy with my race down the hill.  I turned the corner onto North Druid Hills Road (about 1 km to go) at 48 minutes on my watch, so I knew at that point that I might set a personal record if I could finish strongly.  That last mile was a struggle with some small but steep hills in the neighborhood, but I passed the 6-mile marker with about 52 minutes on the race clock (8:22 for mile 6) and pushed through the finish line at 53:56 on the clock.  I gave a little fist pump after I crossed the timing mat, very pleased at having improved over last year's performance. 

The race route, with mile markers

My official time of 53:43 is an improvement of 59 seconds over last year, and a personal record on a certified 10K course, chipping 7 seconds from my time in the Singleton 10K last April.  Although I'm far away from the 51 minute qualifying time for wave B, it's good to know that I'm still improving, even though I haven't been working out quite as diligently as I should.  The Tucker Running Club Men's Open team finished in 3rd place overall, with aggregate time of 2:44:22. 

The 36th Annual Charles Harris Run for Leukemia