December 11, 2016: The Jeff Galloway 13.1, 3rd year streak

Today was my tenth half-marathon, and the second anniversary of my first half-marathon on this course.  Having run the Galloway Half Marathon in each of the three years, I'm a "streaker" and proud to have been involved from the beginning in this very well run race, on a nice course through midtown Atlanta.  It's not a flat course, but for the distance, it's probably one of the best in metro-Atlanta in that the hills aren't too bad.  There are two difficult sections, a 75 foot net climb in mile 7, and a 65 foot net climb in mile 10.  Those are both mitigated by nice long gentle downhill sections before and after each uphill section.  

Today's race route

I broke the 2-hour mark for the first time in this race last year, and ran a nearly perfect race on a mild early winter morning, 48 deg F at the start.  This weekend the weather has been colder, with our first freeze on Friday night.  Several of the runners in half marathons today volunteered in the Westside race yesterday, and likewise some of yesterday's runners were in cheer groups for the Galloway half this morning.  I volunteered yesterday morning at a combined 10K/10-miler on Westside Atlanta, directing runners through one of the route splits in 25 deg F weather.  My fingertips and toes were nearly frozen after 3 hours, but fortunately I managed to thaw out by the afternoon.  

Thankfully the temperature was a few degrees warmer this morning, which made a big difference in terms of comfort.  I wore two layers, a short-sleeve runningnerds wicking shirt under the long-sleeve Inaugural Galloway 13.1 shirt from 2014, showing off my status from the original race.  I also wore compression sleeves under cold weather tights, the Tucker Running Club cap, my favorite pair of Balega socks, and the Brooks Launch shoes that carried me to the finish line of my first marathon.  I think that I'm not alone among runners in carefully selecting my running kit before a big race, both for comfort and for psychological meaning. 

Waving to Bonnie at the start.  13.099 miles to go!  

Before the start I saw Sheelagh O'Malley, who occasionally joins the Sunday morning run with the Tucker Running Club.  She had run the 10-miler yesterday and was getting 16 miles total today including her warmup, virtually running a marathon this weekend.  I'm impressed by people who can run two races on back-to-back days, particularly the longer distance races.  I had outrun Sheelagh in the BuHi Half in October, but noticed that she ran yesterday's 10-miler in 1:25, 3 minutes faster than my PR for that distance.   

Smiling but cold at mile 5.
Gloves on, long sleeves down.
100 feet in front of the 2-hr pace group

About five minutes before beginning, my colleague Simon Blakey showed up with the 2:00 pace group.  He was a last-minute substitute for one of the assigned pacers, who was suffering some hip issues.  He ran a 1:43 half marathon at Thanksgiving, and did a great job as a pacer today, keeping the group just ahead of the 9:09 min/mile average pace and encouraging the group throughout the race, especially on the hills.  I kept an eye on the 2-hour pace group, but was glad that I was running on a different interval, 3:30 run and 30 second walk.  They were running 2:00 and walking 0:30, but I found that the running segments were a little faster than I was comfortable running.  As a result I was leapfrogging the group for two-thirds of the race.  I managed to get a bit ahead of them on the Eastside Beltline (miles 5 and 6), hoping that Bonnie was impressed to see me just ahead of the 2-hour pacers when I passed her at ca. 5.5 miles, but they caught up with me on the hill in mile 7.  

I had carefully prepared a plan to match last year's sub 2-hour performance, and the pace group was helpful in validating my progress even though I didn't rigorously stay with the group.  Shortly before the 9-mile mark, where we turned from Monroe Drive onto 10th Street, I reached the corner at 1:21, exactly on plan and matching last year's run.   Today I had run a bit more consistently, a few seconds slower than last year on the downhill sections and a few seconds faster than last year on the uphills.  I passed Bonnie again near the 9-mile marker, a 100 feet behind the 2-hour pacers, but still on track with my plan.  After the 9-mile marker, we headed uphill on 10th Street, and I started to have trouble at that point.  I had to let the pace group go at that point, accepting that mile 10 would be tough, and just trying to stay under 10 minutes.  I passed the mile 10 marker at 1:32, and realized that I needed to run a 28 minute 5K to break the 2-hour mark, that meant a 9:00 min / mile pace for the rest of the race.  That's not difficult for me to manage in a 5K or 10K race, and I was just hoping that I would have enough gas left in my tank.  I knew that mile 11 would be a nice long downhill, and that was the fastest mile of last year's race.  Indeed I managed to speed up in mile 11, although the pace group was still well ahead of me at the turn from Piedmont Avenue onto Monroe Drive past the north end of Piedmont Park.  I had hoped to reach the corner by 1:38:40, today it was 1:39:20 when I turned the corner.  

The last good mile was the ninth mile.
Gloves off, sleeves still down.
100 feet behind the pace group.  

The last 5 miles circle and then enter Piedmont Park

Entering Piedmont Park, I resolved to run as hard as I could manage, knowing that I needed to stay at the 9:00 min / mile pace even though the stretch through the park would be slightly uphill.  Passing the 11 mile marker at 1:41 confirmed that I couldn't afford to slow down.  But try as I might, my pace was slower than 9:30 min / mile.  By the stage I was taking very few walk breaks, and keeping them short, ca. 15 - 20 seconds, just enough to give my pulse rate a short break.  It seemed that I felt a lot better in this stage of the race last year compared with today.  Approaching the 12-mile marker, I saw Bonnie cheering me on and taking photos.  I cried out as I approached her, "Oh, the pain!"  I was joking with her, as I wasn't really in pain, other than some psychological angst that the 2:00 finish might be slipping away.  

I reached the 12 mile mark at 1:50:30.  With only 1.1 mile to go, I doubted that I could cover that distance in 9:30, but I wasn't ready to give up yet.  I ran through the Phidippides cheer group, feeling their positive energy but fearing that exchanging high fives would slow me down more than it would pump me up.  I took a short walk break around 12.5 mile point, then tried to get back up to speed, resolving to run the rest of the way to the finish.  I was looking for the 2-hour pace group on an out-and-back segment, and didn't see them although I couldn't believe that they were that far ahead of me.  But I was starting to lose motivation at this stage.  The thought even passed through my mind at one point about cutting one section that would have saved me a tenth of a mile, I couldn't believe that I was even thinking that, but fortunately I ran past the point of temptation and stayed on course.  

Neither cold nor smiling at mile 13.
I rolled up the sleeves around mile 10.

Now it was time to run past the south side of Lake Clara Meer.  I was pretty sure that 2:00 was completely out of reach.  I was starting to let up on my effort, when from behind me I heard a woman's voice shout loudly, "Frank, you can do it!" It was Sheelagh coming up behind me.  I think that she was surprised that she was able to catch up to me, but she was moving smoothly and still talking, whereas all I could do was to try to pump my arms a bit harder in response to her encouragement.  I think that she was going to run with me to the finish, but it probably became clear to her that I would only slow her down, so she pulled ahead at her own pace.  Fortunately that helped me to run a little faster, trying to keep her in sight.  I made the turn at the Boathouse at 1:59 even, last year I reached this point at 1:58.  As I was running along the south side of the Active Oval, I could hear the announcer saying something about 2 hours, 2 hours, and was feeling an acute sense of disappointment that I had failed to finish in 2 hours, 2 hours.  But I just kept pushing myself to the finish.  As the clock came into view, I saw 2:00:45 on the clock, and now my goal was to try to finish around 2:01:00 on the clock.  Unfortunately my vision was better than my running, meaning that I could see the clock from further than 15 seconds away from the finish, and I actually crossed the timing mat at the finish line around 2:01:01 on the clock.  I momentarily felt quite beaten up after accepting my medal, but quickly recovered as my heart rate dropped toward a more reasonable level. 

The face of disappointment, a little slower than last year.

With Anna Calcaterra and Sheelagh O'Malley.
Anna won the master's women's title in this race!
It was nice of Anna to wait around for me to finish 20 minutes later! 

I quickly recalled that my typical times have been 2:02 - 2:06, and that today's race was my third fastest half marathon out of ten 13.1 races to date, and decided that was pretty good, being only about one minute off of last year's time.  I thanked Sheelagh for encouraging me to finish strongly, in fact I think that I probably would have finished about 30 seconds slower if I had been on my own.  

With Bonnie after the race.  I'm smiling so I had obviously
gotten past the disappointment of missing the 2:00:00 goal. 

My official time was 2:00:56, 68 seconds slower than last year.  I had a feeling that I lost most of that time in mile 10.  After the race, I checked my Garmin results from 2015 and compared with today's race.  Today I lost 28 seconds in the difficult 10th mile.  And unfortunately I lost another 21 seconds in mile 11, as I was only able to speed up to 9:00, even running downhill.  So indeed it was a good run except for one tough uphill mile and an imperfect recovery.  

With Jeff Galloway, 1972 Olympian (10,000 m) and
winner of the inaugural Peachtree Road Race in 1970

Splits for today:

8:53, 9:03, 9:01, 9:18, 8:44, 9:05, 9:42, 9:13, 8:58, 9:55, 9:00, 9:44, 9:25, and 55 seconds after mile 13 on Garmin to get to 2:00:56.  

Half marathon history to date:

1) BuHi Half, October 2, 2016: 1:56:08 (12.85 miles measured), 1:58:40 (13.15 miles with a little running past the finish line)

2) JG 13.1, December 13, 2015: 1:59:48, PR on a certified course

3) JG 13.1, December 11, 2016: 2:00:56

4) Publix Georgia Half, March 20, 2016: 2:02:03

5) Teardrop Half, May 17, 2015: 2:03:09

6) Publix Georgia Half, March 22, 2015: 2:05:36

7) Hotlanta Half, August 23, 2015: 2:06:49

8) JG 13.1, December 14, 2014: 2:19:36

9) Hotlanta Half, June 12, 2016: 2:21:17

10) Thrill in the Hills (trail race), February 20, 2016: 2:26:38

When things get a little tough in a race, I should never forget that four years and 50 pounds ago: walking a few miles was a difficult workout.  I couldn't run a single mile.  

Chatting with Simon after the race.  

December 3, 2016: Eastside Beltline 10K

2013 result: 55:45, my first 10K race

2014 result: 56:48, my worst 10K race

2015 result: 51:44, 6.07 mi, est. 53 min pace

I love running on the Eastside Beltline.  I appreciate what the Beltline has done in revitalizing this part of Atlanta, and I like to support the ongoing Beltline project by running this race each year.  But my history with this race has been mixed.  My first 10K race was on the Eastside Beltline, which was only my third race overall, and I was thrilled to finish in well under an hour.  In 2014, the weather was wet and cold and miserable, I twisted an ankle on the rough and muddy trail in the third mile, and could hardly walk after the race.  The 2015 race was run on a beautiful, pleasantly cool morning, but when I finished in seemingly record time, I discovered that the route was quite short. 

This year, I waited until a few hours before the deadline, 3 days prior the race, before deciding to register.  After the November 12 marathon, I had resolved to take a full month off from running races.  But my recovery has been remarkably rapid.  I think that the quality of the training program, the emphasis on stretching after runs, and the relatively slow pace of my marathon, all contributed to my recovery.  I managed to skip the Thanksgiving 5K race in my mother's town, simply cheering Bonnie on her race (and taking a lot of photos), but once I was convinced that the weather would be dry today, I couldn't resist the urge to run a competitive race. 

The Atlanta Track Club had their annual breakfast and awards ceremony early this morning, beginning at 8 am.  I ran a lap around the track club office (about 1.5 miles), and enjoyed a light second breakfast with a few friends, but left before the awards ceremony so that I would arrive at Krog Street Market near the south end of the Eastside Beltline in time for the 9:30 am start.  As I lined up for the race, it seemed that the crowd was larger this year, and I began further from the front of the pack than I might have chosen.  

Before the race, I hoped that my number was not inauspicious.

After a local high school choir sang the National Anthem, the airhorn sounded with only a few seconds delay, signaling the beginning of the race.  It took at least 30 seconds to walk to the starting line.  Then it was so crowded for the first mile of the race that it was hard to get up to a decent pace.  That kept me from starting too quickly, but an 11 minute / mile pace was far too slow for a 10K race.  I ended up running a few hundred yards on the dirt shoulder so that I could make better progress past the slower runners.  Finally after about 3/4 mile, I reached a clear space so that I could run my pace and on a relatively straight line.

Even 1/2 mile into the race, the route was still quite crowded,
evidenced by the runners on the grass adjacent to the Beltline.

With the cool temperature, about 45 degrees and 60% humidity, it was an ideal day for running.  I felt strong and fast, but knowing that the northbound direction of the Beltline was downhill, I was careful not to tire myself out in the first two miles.  I didn't feel comfortable taking walk breaks in the beginning, and wasn't moving fast enough to really need them in the beginning, so I ended up running the race with only three walk breaks, about 30 seconds through each water station, near mile markers 2, 3, and 4.  I slowed down just a bit in the third mile, on the unpaved section, but made it through this rough patch without incident.  The third mile ended with an uphill jog on Westminster Drive.  This was not included in last year's route, which I had thought was nice until I had finished and had learned that the race route was too short, so this year I was happy to see that the first half of the race followed the certified route.  I covered the first three miles in 8:40, 8:26, and 8:39, and about 26:50 for the 5K split. 

The USATF certified route. 

The outbound section had been gently but steadily downhill, so the return trip would be uphill.  Fortunately I was feeling very strong and was able to slightly increase my speed in the fourth mile, winding through Piedmont Park.  To my delight, I gradually closed on many of the runners just in front of me, passing them one by one.  At the mile 4 marker at the south end of the park along 10th Street, I saw that I had covered mile 4 in 8:21, around 34 minutes elapsed.  I was on pace for a 53 minute finish.  

Throughout the race, I saw a few people running with their dogs.  I was a bit envious of the dogs.  Each of the dogs was running at an easy, relaxed pace, looking around, enjoying their four-footed jog, panting a little as dogs do, but much less exertion than revealed by my own heavy breathing.  Occasionally I passed a dog, being careful not to get caught up in the leash.  And occasionally a dog passed me, followed by their human, pulled along by a leash.   

The route that I ran.
This seems to match the certified route!

Re-entering the Beltline, I slowed for the final water station, then concentrated on speeding up.  I could feel the gentle uphill elevation, but I felt strong and was passing slower runners from time to time.   Reaching the mile 5 marker on the North Avenue bridge (8:22, 42:30 elapsed), I resolved to push as hard as possible for the rest of the race, knowing that I might cover the final 1.22 miles in 10 minutes if I could run an 8 min / mile pace to the end.  Just behind me, I heard a woman say to a friend, "Ready to go?"  I had a feeling that they had resolved to kick to the finish at that point, and sure enough, within 15 seconds or so, one woman passed me on the left, then a second woman passed on my right.  I wasn't able to match their pace, but I kept the two of them in sight for most of the rest of the race.  

I recalled in previous years feeling tired in the final mile of this race, but today I found enough energy to keep pushing myself.  Best of all, I was still passing other runners, and I was only rarely passed.  It was a shame that I was wearing a cap, so I couldn't taunt them with a view of my big, beautiful, bald spot as I increased my lead on those younger runners!  

Reaching the underpass for Freedom Parkway about 5-1/2 miles in, and then the underpass for Highland Avenue at about 5-3/4 miles, I told myself, less than 1/2 mile to go, and concentrated on running as fast as I could.  At the mile 6 marker (8:25, 51 minutes elapsed), I knew that I wouldn't set a personal record today, but I had enough reserve to finish strongly.  At the end of the Beltline, the route leveled out as I turned left onto Irwin Street, then a right turn onto Krog Street, heading downhill.  As the finish line came into view, I saw 52:40 clock time!  I had to work hard to cross the finish line before the clock ticked over to 53 minutes, but I managed it.  I nearly had a mishap after crossing the finish line, as my back foot was clipped by a dog who didn't realize that it was OK to slow down after crossing the timing mat!  But I finished the race without injury and without being too tired.  Indeed after stretching I felt completely recovered.  (The post-race Krispy Kreme donut and chocolate chip cookie from Zoë's Kitchen may have also helped.)

Coming into the finish 

The dude in the green jersey roared past me.  He looks happy!

My watch showed 52:23 and 6.19 miles elapsed.  That was a little short of 6.22 miles but I was willing to concede that my watch might not be completely accurate, and I felt that we had adhered to the certified route.  

Official result: 52:19, 284th out of 1372 finishers, and 18th out of 55 in my age group.  

Average pace, 8:25 min / mile.  That was my second-fastest 10K race! 

It's safe to say that I've recovered from the marathon!