February 11, 2017: Atlanta Track Club Hearts & Soles 5K

2014: 26:14

2015: volunteered

2016: 24:00

In last year's Hearts & Soles race, I set a personal record for the 5K, smashing the 25 minute barrier for the first time.  Looking back on my blog post from last year confirmed my memory of running faster than I could have imagined, yet feeling fairly good from start-to-finish, both physically and psychologically.  A couple of months later, I ran another 5K a few seconds faster, setting my current PR at 23:52.  As I prepared for today's race, I realized that I've run very few 5K races since then, the last being the Cartersville cross-country 5K in September 2016.  Frankly, 5K races have sometimes been painful, running at close to maximum effort for 3.11 miles.  In the past year, I've focused on longer distances and building endurance, but I've lost some speed.  The Achilles / calf strain has greatly improved over the past month.  Having finished long runs of 15, 17.5, and 20 miles over the past three weekends, I'm confident that I can run the Publix Marathon next month.  But in the long slow distance runs, the objective is to build endurance rather than speed.  Today's 5K race was a good test of my physical fitness with regard to speed.  

Another strong turnout from the Tucker Running Club!
And this was just the group of 20 that were present 45 minutes ahead of the race start.
Several others were volunteering, warming up, or still arriving. 

Bonnie and I shortly before the race began

I had fairly low expectations for my time in today's race, but was trying for another 24 minute finish, at least at the start.  I warmed up well with a 3-mile progression run, running the last mile at an overall pace of 8:30 min/mile, with occasional short bursts at 7:30 min/mile pace.  After the warmup, I felt strong and pain-free, and decided to line up at the back of the A group (7:30 min / mile or faster).  By the "rules", I should have lined up near the front of wave B (8:30 min / mile or faster), but then I might start out too fast, whereas from the back of wave A, I can set a reasonable pace without getting in the way of the real speedsters.  

Speedsters Joel Seskin and Robin Mitchell joined me at the back of wave A.  To my surprise, Corey Tanner was standing in the front of wave B.  We figured (correctly) that Corey was saving himself for the 19 additional miles that he would be doing later this morning with the marathon training group.  Robin is recovering from a cold and didn't expect to run very fast today.  We were chatting when we heard the air horn go off without warning (because I wasn't listening for announcements).  Fortunately my watch quickly synchronized with the satellite in the 20 seconds that it took to reach the starting line, and so I was able to accurately track my run from start to finish.  

For the first mile I wanted to run faster than 8:00 but was careful not to push faster than 7:30, knowing that I couldn't sustain 3 miles at that faster pace.  Joel pulled ahead of me in the first half-mile and I didn't see much of him again except briefly when we passed before I reached the turnaround.  The first half-mile was uphill, and I could feel the effort of exertion early in the race, but after making the first turn onto Wildcat Road, I regained some speed going downhill.  Midway through the first mile, Robin caught up to me.  I commented "This is Robin passing me, running fast while sick!"  She told me that while she was setting out cones early that morning, there was a badly injured dog near the road that might have been there for days, the poor dog was so emaciated.  If I understood her correctly as she began to pull ahead, Robin had called the county animal control this morning but they had not yet arrived.  I didn't see the dog, I was concentrating on running, but quite a few other runners noticed the dog, watching humans having fun running back and forth while the injured dog was in pain and hungry. 

I was surprised to finish the first mile in 7:37, but I was beginning to doubt that I could maintain that pace.  The lead runners passed on the return leg at around the 2-mile mark for them, with two pairs of male runners separated only by a few seconds, so they were heading for a highly competitive finish. (The top four finished in a range of 15:39 to 15:51, must have been exciting to watch!)  I ran strongly through the turnaround, reaching the 2-mile mark myself at 7:57 (15:34 elapsed).  But I was seriously winded at this point, huffing and puffing quite loudly as I struggled to keep going.  Terry (I don't remember her last name) caught up to me, and she encouraged me to keep pushing forward.  I don't know if she slowed down a little or if I managed to speed up a bit, but we ran together for at least a quarter-mile.  Corey Tanner passed at this point - I had a two-minute head start on Corey - and he was running easily, seemingly without effort.  Terry said "Keep up with him!" but I knew that was the impossible dream, as much as I wanted to keep Corey within sight.  

This race has a reputation as a fast-and-flat course, and by Atlanta standards, that is absolutely correct.  But in the third mile, there is about a 40-foot gradual rise at the end of Wildcat Road, peaking near the intersection with Clifton Springs Road.  Last year it didn't seem to bother me too much, but this year, it was a mental struggle not to surrender to the temptation to just give up and walk.  I did manage to fight my way up the hill without walking or stopping, or worse, suffering a cardiac event.  I really appreciated the volunteer at the turn reminding us that it was downhill to the finish.  Indeed upon making the turn onto Clifton Springs Road, I regained some speed.  I was disappointed to have run the third mile slower than 8 minutes, as I approached the 3-mile marker (23:52 elapsed), and that confirmed that today's 5K would not be a PR performance.  But somehow I summoned my inner Usain Bolt at the 3-mile marker, with only 110 meters to go.  OK, to be honest, I never found an Usain Bolt within me, he was 1000 miles away in Jamaica.   But I did manage sufficient acceleration for the final dash to finish at a 7:25 min/mile pace.  A good number of the 397 people who finished ahead of me were cheering the rest of us through the finish line, including my colleague and friend Simon Blakey, who had run an incredibly strong time of 21:08.  I crossed the finish line just a few seconds past 25:00 on the clock, official chip time 24:44.  

I wasn't surprised that I ran slower than last year's time, but was very pleased to break 25 minutes.  In fact today's race was my third-fastest 5K run.  After receiving a bottle of water and a power bar, I headed near the finish line to watch for and cheer for the remaining finishers, while I occasionally did some post-run stretches.  It's amazing how many people I now know by name at these races, through Tucker Running Club, runningnerds, Atlanta Track Club training programs, and just regularly participating in these races.  Socially this is a huge change for me, expanding my circle well beyond the university bubble, one of the best things about running.  At my first Hearts & Soles race three years ago, I don't think that I knew anyone at all. 

After the race, Robin went back to wait near the dog, until animal control personnel arrived.  Robin said that they carried the dog on a stretcher, but I was glad to know that she was rescued.  One of "Man's best friends" certainly didn't deserve to suffer alone on the side of the road, and we owe a debt to Robin and the other compassionate humans who stayed this morning to ensure that the dog was rescued.   

Gathering for a celebratory brunch at Home Grown restaurant on Memorial Drive, with Brian Minor and Beverly Ford, Duncan and Wendy Whatney, and Priscilla and Mike Hammond.   I ordered vegetarian with the best of intentions, but the plate of three delicious chocolate chip pancakes wasn't the healthiest option, especially when the pancakes overlapped the edge of a large plate.  During our meal, we met several other runners who had also run the Hearts & Soles 5K.