April 9, 2016: The Atlanta Hawks Fast Break 5K

5K PR: 24:00 (February 2016)

In our Weight Watchers meeting a few weeks ago, Melva Noel told me that she was training for her first 5K, and would be running this upcoming race, sponsored by the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and the Atlanta Track Club.  Bonnie and I decided at that moment that we would also register for the race to join Melva in celebrating her first 5K.  The race registration has come with a ticket for a late-season home game, so we've decided to get our tickets for the last home game of the season, against the Boston Celtics.  Going into the final week of the season, both Boston and Atlanta are tied for 3rd place in the conference, and are jockeying for home court advantage in the early rounds of the playoffs.  We have not been to an Atlanta Hawks game this season, so that is a fun bonus to the race. 

With Bonnie Youn and Melva Noel, a few minutes before the start.

In February I smashed my old 5K record with a time of 24:00 in the Hearts and Soles 5K.  That was an amazing run for me, and one that I wasn't sure that I could duplicate.  Nevertheless, I decided to take the same strategy to prepare for this race: 1) arrive early enough to jog the race route, both to get a good warmup and to familiarize myself with any challenges along the route; 2) set my watch to kilometer settings, as I felt that it would be easier to aim for better than 5 minute / kilometer paces and just put five of those laps together; and 3) start in the back of wave A.  

Wave A runners shortly before the start.  Harry the Hawk is posing for photos near the starting line.
(Spoiler alert: I finished ahead of Harry the Hawk!)
P.S. Harry the Hawk really had a lot of energy, not only did he run the 5K in the morning,
but he was dancing up a storm at the basketball game 12 hours later! 

On the morning of the race, the temperature was relatively cold, around 45 degrees F.  I wasn't familiar with the streets south of downtown into the Castleberry Hill neighborhood, so I was glad to reconnoiter the route ahead of time.  Returning to the start-finish area at Philips Arena, I caught up with Bonnie and Melva for a pre-race selfie, and then jogged up to wave A.  I was surprised to see that the wave was sparsely populated, and quite a few of us, probably those around the 7:30 pace, waited some distance behind the starting line until the volunteers instructed us to move closer to the start.   Right before we started, a woman wearing runningnerds gear ran up to me to give me a high-five - I was also wearing a runningnerds racing team (rrt) shirt, we wished each other good luck, and then we got the signal to begin!

The race route, with distances marked in kilometers.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could keep up with the group in the first kilometer, although I had to focus to avoid slowing down.  The other runningnerd opened a gap in front of me and it seemed that there was a 100-foot gap between me and the lead group, yet I was running about 4:30 min/km pace down Marietta street (about 7:15 min / mile).  As I made the turn onto Pryor Street, the first kilometer alert sounded at 4:32.  Shortly before making another turn, onto Trinity Avenue, I passed the one mile marker at 7:15 on the clock.  Could I really be running this fast?  I told myself, don't think too much, just RUN!  The second kilometer ticked by quite quickly, in 4:36.  As I approached the water stop, I heard the first alert from my heart rate monitor, and decided to walk through the water station.  A few of the runners in front of me didn't take water, but most of those who did also walked for a few seconds.  I got back up to speed, finishing the third kilometer in 4:56.  I realized that I was on pace to run another 24 minute 5K race if I could maintain just under a 5 min / kilometer pace.  There was the turn onto McDaniel Street, with the clock at the mile 2 marker reading 15:00 as I passed.  Go - GO - GO!!! 

Turning onto Northside Drive, the route was now uphill for a couple of blocks, although I managed to stay around a 5 min / km pace.  The heart rate monitor sounded again but then we began to go downhill in the direction of the new Atlanta football stadium (under construction).  I just flew down the road, letting gravity do the hard work, and the alarm stopped sounding for a moment.  I was delighted to hear the 4 km alert at 19 minutes even (4:51 for the fourth kilometer), but that was followed by the heart rate monitor saying slow down, SLOW DOWN!  Then we turned onto Markham Drive and the road was clearly going uphill.  The heart rate monitor beeped more insistently, SLOW DOWN, SLOW DOWN!!  I said NO!  GO  GO  GO!  Another runner passed me on that street, running strongly, pumping his right arm over his head to pump us up, GO  GO  GO  GO!  

Now for the toughest part of the race: up the exit lane onto Walker Street.  Volunteers were cheering loudly, which drowned out the inner voice telling me "Shouldn't you take a walk break?"  NO!!  GO  GO  GO!!!  Upon reaching Walker Street we continued going up over the Mitchell Street overpass, with my heart rate monitor beeping continuously.  Now I could see Philips Arena ahead, and knew that I was in the home stretch.  My progress to that point of kilometer 5 was at about a 5:20 min / km pace, and somehow I found a higher gear, catching up to and passing a couple of runners that seemed to be flagging.  The clock at the 3-mile marker wasn't operating, but my watch showed 23:10 elapsed.  I might just make the 24 minute time if I hustled, GO!  GO!!  GO!!!  Don't throw up!  GO!  GO!!  GO!!!  GO!!!!  as I made the final turn toward the finish.  

In that moment: a runner that I had caught up to put on his afterburners and streaked ahead of me; it was downhill to the finish; and I saw 23:45 on the clock.  GO!  GO!  GO!  GO!   and I crossed the finish line with 23:57 showing on the clock  I DID IT!!!  Fist pump in the air!  I DID IT!  I didn't throw up!  I did it, I did it! 

And my official result: 23:52!  A new PR by 8 seconds!  

After cooling down and regaining my wits, I slowly walked most of the last kilometer, to get photos of Melva and Bonnie as they made their way to the finish.  Melva had a great debut at just over 48 minutes, and Bonnie finished at 54 minutes even. 

What a great race, what a great day!  

After the race, with the Mercedes-Benz stadium in the background, due to open for the 2017 NFL season.
The new stadium will host not only the Atlanta Falcons, but also a new Major League Soccer team, Atlanta United FC. 

Given the small size of the field in wave A, I wondered if I might place in my age group.  They didn't call my name during the awards ceremony, but when I checked the results after the race, I was 4th out of 37 in my age group, just 10 seconds behind third place, and 66th out of 778 finishers.  I was very satisfied to knock out another 24 minute 5K, so I guess that February race wasn't an aberration!  Also, starting with the speedsters in wave A really helped.  I can't run that fast on my own, but chasing some "rabbits" and being chased myself really helped me find the speed that I didn't know that I had. 

One of the reasons that I originally decided to work on longer distances was the hope that I might get a little faster in the shorter distances.  That seems to have worked!  Granted, I'm quite certain that I could not have run one more kilometer at that pace.  I know that I ran my best possible race in my current physical shape, so there was nowhere that I lost the 10 second difference between me and third place.  Getting faster will require additional training, but I certainly feel motivated to continue working out, especially mid-week speed workouts. 

http://www.atlantatrackclub.org/fast-break-5k