October 2, 2016: The BuHi Half Marathon

Although I've avoided signing up for most races in the middle of marathon training, a new half-marathon, the "Buford Hwy Int'l Half-Marathon" was postponed several months from May to the first Sunday in October, to avoid a conflict with an airshow at nearby DeKalb-Peachtree airport.  It turns out that probably worked out well in terms of weather, now that we're beginning to enjoy cooler mornings after one of the warmest summers ever.  Nonetheless I was concerned about interrupting a disciplined marathon training program with a race that wasn't in the plan, but then one of the bloggers that I regularly follow, Jesica at runladylike, posted an entry on running a tune-up half-marathon about a month and a half out from race day - my marathon is in six weeks.  She suggested that it would be helpful to run at marathon pace on tired legs - to simulate what it might feel like for the second-half of the marathon; or to run the half marathon as a fitness test, very gradually increasing pace with the passing miles, and if all was well at mile 9, work for a fast finish.  In training, I've returned to the run-walk strategy, which led to my half-marathon PR last December, and decided to try the 3:30 run / 0:30 walk intervals that I'm planning to follow in the marathon.  I also ran 10 miles yesterday at an easy 11 min / mile pace, so there was no real taper going into today's race, although I didn't do the 20 miles that other marathon training participants did yesterday, I guess I will try to get twenty miles next Saturday.  

The BuHi Half Marathon celebrates the diversity of cultures represented along Buford Highway, Georgia State Route 13 (for today, GA 13.1).  Buford Highway begins at the northeast edge of Atlanta at Lenox Road, and passes through the heart of the northeast suburbs of Atlanta, beginning with Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, Norcross, Duluth, Suwanee, and Buford, a small town at the south end of Lake Lanier.  Unlike many other "ethnic" areas, Buford Highway is an interesting mix of many cultures.  You will see Supercarniceria and Halal shops amidst a variety of restaurants ranging from Mexican and Colombian to Korean and Malaysian, with a Waffle House doing brisk business in the middle of it all.  There are ongoing problems with speedy automobile traffic vs. pedestrians in a corridor with discontinuous sidewalks.  When I tried to do a warmup run early this morning, I experienced what many living in the corridor must navigate every day.  But I hope that it's clear that Buford Highway is one of the most interesting parts of metro Atlanta, and popular with Atlantans of all races and national origins. 

Bonnie Youn, Carolyn Weber, Roberto Chalon, Myriam Fentanes, Layne Preau, and me
after a delicious and filling meal at Dominick's in downtown Norcross

The night before the race, several of us in Tucker Running Club (TRC) got together for some modest carbo-loading, at Dominick's, an Italian restaurant in downtown Norcross, just a couple of blocks from Buford Highway.  I had not really carbo-loaded before a race, but in a nutrition seminar as part of the marathon training, the nutritionist advised that it was OK as long as one didn't overdo it.  I enjoyed a garlic chicken dish with a side dish of pasta marinara - even though it was only a half-order, it was quite a generous serving, and I took half of the chicken home for lunch today. 

To encourage the broadest possible participation, there were four events today: the half-marathon, followed by 10K and 5K starts, and a 2-mile stroll.  Bonnie and several other TRC runners were doing the 10K, with Layne Preau and Myriam Fentanes among the carbo-loaders who joined me for the half-marathon.  I also met up with Carl Line, another mid 50-something runner with whom I've done several Thursday evening group runs out of Big Peach Decatur.  Carl is an experienced marathon runner and has run several sub-2 hour half marathons. 

I ran about 1-1/2 miles to warmup at an easy pace, then met up with friends and we found our way to the start in front of Plaza Fiesta, a shopping mall in Chamblee catering primarily but not exclusively to Latino culture - there is also a Planet Fitness and Ross Department Store.  The start was delayed almost 15 minutes after the scheduled 7 am start, but it was probably helpful to wait until there was a little dawn light before we began.  The temperature was quite pleasant, around 55 deg F at the start, and I was optimistic that I was going to have a good run.  It looked like there were a few hundred participants, spread out across three lanes of the road.  There did not appear to be a timing strip at the start line, but I was only about 10 seconds behind the starting line.  We received a few short announcements about staying within the coned lanes - in the middle of the Highway - and then it was time to start.  With a short blast of an airhorn, we were off! 

Plaza Fiesta, el rinconcito de nuestro pueblo

Buford Highway is fairly hilly, so I've been concerned that the hills may be a challenge.  In the marathon training course, the person mapping our routes gets a lot of good-natured teasing about finding all of the biggest hills in Atlanta - but we all know that the hill running makes us stronger.  I started out a little too quickly (low 8 minute / mile pace) and forced myself to slow down a bit.  The good thing about run-walk - when executed from the beginning - was that I could recalibrate after the first running interval, and get back on track with a sustainable pace well before any tiredness had set in.  I was fairly disciplined with walk breaks, except if I saw a water station ahead I would wait until I reached the water station, and then walk through while drinking.  

video of the start, taken by Bonnie

The first miles passed from Chamblee into Brookhaven heading toward Atlanta.  This section was net 125 feet downhill, although the route was actually rolling, so there were some short uphill sections as well.  After the 2-mile mark, I could see the towers of midtown Atlanta rising ahead in the pre-dawn twilight.  About 2-1/2 miles in, we reached the first turn-around point.  We could judge our progress seeing the runners ahead and behind us.  Carl was about 1 minute ahead of me so I felt fairly good that I was not too far behind his pace.  Best of all, I was running a steady 9-minute / mile pace and feeling very comfortable doing so.  

As we headed back to the northeast on Buford Highway, now we had to climb the 125 feet to get back to Plaza Fiesta.  Now the run-walk strategy was really paying off - I was strong going up the hills, and just as I started to feel the first bit of tiredness, my watch would sound, I transitioned to a comfortable walk for 30 seconds, and then got back up to speed, catching up with the people who had passed me during my walk break. Before long we were back at Plaza Fiesta, having covered the first five miles in just over 45 minutes.  As I approached the water stop, I recognized Aparna Bhattacharyya, the executive director of Raksha, a local organization providing resources for the protection of battered women.  Bonnie and Aparna are good friends, and we registered in support of Raksha.  She was cheering me as I approached the water station, where I took a short walk break to drink, and then got back up to speed. 

Aparna Bhattacharyya (center) and the volunteers from Raksha - thanks!!

At this point my legs were feeling really good, and I felt that I could maintain the current pace for many miles, as long as I continued with run-walk.  We passed many favorite and/or memorable restaurants along the way: Bismillah Bangladeshi restaurant, a tiny little cafe next to a larger market; Los Rayos taqueria, which offers the very best guacamole ever; and then the restaurants of Asian Square, including Barbecue Corner II (Chinese) on one corner and Sweet Hut on the other.  Around nine miles in, we reached a section where we ran two loops on the Doraville section.  The lead runner was finishing his second loop just as I approached the first loop, so he was about three miles ahead of me, and had a very long lead on the second place runner.  At the north end, I saw Carl make the turn, we waved as we passed, and I made note of the spot where we passed, so I could see if I was gaining, maintaining, or losing ground when I came back in a couple of miles.  Indeed on the way back, I saw that I was getting closer. 

In the last mile of the loop, I caught up with Carl.  I think he was a little surprised to see me!  We chatted for a couple of minutes, I remember mentioning that my race was going very well and I had set a 10-mile PR "back there", just over 1:30, and that I would have a half-marathon PR as long as I didn't "bonk" in the last miles.  I had never felt this strong 10 miles into a race in the past, and I started to speed up a bit, getting ahead of Carl.  After I came out of the second loop, and well past the 11 mile signal on my watch, there was a sign for mile 10.  I said out loud, "That can't be right!"  As I caught up with some early finishers that were cooling down, I approached a mile 11 marker, and I asked them if the signage was correct.  They assured me that it was not, and that I didn't have far to go to the finish, which was consistent with my watch, indicating that I was well past the 12-mile mark.  Although we were going uphill on the approach to Dresden Drive, I maintained a 9 min / mile pace, and felt like I had a little energy in reserve.  Turning onto Dresden Drive required cutting across a lane of traffic, guided by two police giving us clear instructions and trying to keep the drivers from cutting us off.  Once I was on Dresden, I sped up a bit, passing a couple of other runners.  As we turned into the back lot of Plaza Fiesta, I took a look at my watch and saw that we were not yet at 13 miles.  Apparently this route was going to be short.  

Best guacamole ever.  And open until 4 or 5 am on weekends!

As I approached the finish line, Carolyn Weber was cheering on the sidelines (temporarily out of running due to a broken bone in the foot) as I passed another runner in the final steps.  I saw 1:56 on the clock as I crossed the line, a personal record on paper, but saw 12.85 miles on my watch.  I wanted to see what my time would be if I ran the full 13.1.  As soon as I could get past the volunteers at the finish chute, I began running again at a slower pace, doing a cooldown jog through the parking lot, stopping the watch only after 13.15 miles came up for the distance, 1:58:40.  Still a PR pace. 

Despite some disappointment with the race organizers for a short route (confirmed upon chatting with some other finishers), I was very happy with my performance.  I managed my overall goal of a negative split and maintained average pace of 9:02 min / mile, with a fairly narrow range of fastest mile at 8:32 (mile 11) to slowest at 9:17 (mile 8), that one being 87 feet uphill.  Best of all, my heart rate never exceeded 170 bpm, touching 170 bpm near the finish line when I was running fairly fast.  I didn't really expect to break 2 hours today given that I was running on tired legs, but they didn't feel tired while I was running, and I wasn't out of breath when I finished the race.  I don't know how much of this was due to lower temperature vs. improved conditioning, but not only was this my best time, this was also the best that I've felt upon completing 13.1 miles.  Certainly today's race is a great confidence-builder in preparing for my first marathon in mid-November. 

Splits (elevation gain / loss) [total elapsed]

Mile 1, 9:00 (-30)

Mile 2, 9:02 (-13)   [18:02]

Mile 3, 8:50 (-58)   [26:52]

Mile 4, 9:10 (+53)   [36:02]

Mile 5, 9:10 (+80)   [45:12]

Mile 6, 8:47 (-61)   [53:59]

Mile 7, 9:15 (+38)   [1:03:14]

Mile 8: 9:17 (+81)   [1:12:31]

Mile 9: 8:58 (-48)   [1:21:29]

Mile 10: 8:57 (+15)   [1:30:26]

Mile 11: 8:32 (-32)   [1:38:58]

Mile 12: 8:55 (-73)   [1:47:52]

Mile 13: 9:08 (+72)   [1:57:01]

13.15, 1:58:40

Postscript, October 3: official time 1:56:08, 59th out of 202 finishers, 8th out of 21 in the male 50 - 59 age group