2014 course time: 55:30 (354th out of 588 finishers, 40th %ile)
2015 course time: 54:43 (276th out of 452 finishers, 39th %ile)
2016 course time: 53:43 (314th out of 647 finishers, 51st %ile)
PR: 51:40 (Singleton 10K, April 16, 2016, 122nd out of 457 finishers, 73rd %ile)
After completing the marathon in November, I gained between 5 - 10 pounds. It began with a giant barbecue rib platter in Chattanooga, a few hours after completing my first marathon. I kept eating as if I was still in training, even though I was in post-marathon recovery (lower mileage, slower speed). The effects began to show when my times in subsequent races were slower than a year ago (Galloway Half Marathon, Resolution Run 4 mile, Livvy's Love 8K, Hearts and Soles 5K). Was it the aging process, was I not yet recovered (or slightly injured) from the marathon, or was it the extra weight that I was hauling up the hills of Atlanta that was slowing me down?
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| Available at iBooks or Amazon.com |
Hoping that it was the last reason, I tried to regain the self-discipline that had helped me to lose over 50 pounds in 2013-2014, and to maintain the weight loss through 2015-2016, but my best intentions failed when confronted with the temptations of delicious desserts. Then I suffered three falls in the disastrous Thrill in the Hills half-marathon trail run three weeks ago. Taking off one full week from running didn't help, although I needed the time for the badly strained chest muscles to heal, and to regain my confidence in running.
Fortunately I recovered sufficiently from the falls, to resume running a couple of weeks ago. I felt that my fitness would be sufficient to run the marathon (coming up on March 19), but was concerned about carrying the extra weight on a course that would be much hillier than the Chickamauga Marathon route. A couple of weeks ago, I ran into Beverly Ford at a runningnerds event, and she told me about the 10-day cleanse that she and Brian Minor had begun. After one last hurrah at Grub Burger about 10 days ago, I decided to begin the program. For the past 9 days, I have consumed almost exclusively green leafy vegetable and fruit smoothies, with added powdered plant protein supplement, and snacking on nuts and hard fruit and vegetables (carrots, celery, apples). It's basically a vegan diet, except that I can occasionally supplement protein needs with hard-boiled eggs. On the few occasions that I went out to dinner, I ordered green vegetable plates, or lentil soups or curries, which were pretty filling and close enough to adhere to the plan.
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| Yesterday's lunch. |
The good news: the plan has worked! The hardest part was surrendering my coffee habit (3 - 4 cups before noon) and suffering through a couple of days of caffeine-withdrawal headaches, but after that phase had passed, I felt intensely hungry only on a couple of days. The smoothies actually tasted pretty good, thanks to the flavors of the fruit. I lost 7 - 8 pounds! In a couple of 4 to 5 mile runs on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, I felt strong and light on my feet. Best of all, I finished the program with a positive attitude, not wanting to gorge myself when I returned to eating regular food.
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| Pre-race dinner at Bambinelli's on Northlake Parkway. Front row: Bonnie Youn, Lindy Liu, Kathie Walker, Russell Walker, Nicole Cannata Back row: Roberto Chalon Saskor, Myriam Fentanes, Kettan Bivek, Carolyn Weber, me, Richard Wilson, Grayson Cannata, my bald spot (in mirror), and Curt Walker. |
I deliberately broke the plan last night at the pre-race dinner with others in the Tucker Running Club, eating only about 1/3 of a generous serving of shrimp fra diavolo at Bambinelli's in the Northlake area, and taking only two bites of their delicious, complimentary, buttery garlic knots. I decided to stop at 9 days, as I wanted to return to eating some solid food before running today's race. I also ate my usual pre-race breakfast of oatmeal with almond milk this morning. I decided that I would restrict coffee to mornings when I was racing or running. Coffee will now be an occasional indulgence, and not a daily habit. We'll see how I do with that resolution, but if I'm experiencing caffeine-withdrawal headaches, I must accept that I've been drinking far too much coffee.
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| In the warmth of the Tucker High School gym, about an hour before the start of the race. |
(Dear readers, by now I have probably lost many of you. You probably thought you were going to read a race report, instead of learning about my diet for the last two weeks.)
This morning was my fourth consecutive year running the Charles Harris Run for Leukemia 10K. The temperature was cool, around 40 deg F, but with low humidity and a nice early morning sun, it promised to be perfect race weather. I promised myself that this year, I wouldn't start out too fast, aiming for about an 8:30 min / mile pace for the first mile. Actually I set my watch to kilometers, as it was easier for me to track progress in 5 minute intervals, so the goal was to start out at about 5:30 for the first kilometer, and then gradually speed up a bit as the race progressed.
In the hour before the race, I stretched and warmed up and stretched again, and felt really good as we lined up for the start. In past years, I've finished about 2/3 of the way back in the finish times (it's a race that attracts many fast runners), and so this morning I resolved to start about 2/3 of the way back from the starting line. The race started shortly after 7:45 am. From the first few hundred yards, I felt really good, but successfully restrained myself from starting out too fast.
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| Tucker Running Club team photo-op, about 45 minutes before the race. There were more TRC members that arrived later! Kettan Bivek, Ryan Shams, Bonnie Youn, me, Beverly Ford, Brian Minor, Nicole Galdamez, and Cap'n Curt Walker |
The kilometers / miles passed very easily. I ran a very steady pace, slowing slightly on uphill sections to ensure that my heart rate didn't rise too high, and then extending my stride to easily enjoy speeding up on the downhill sections. I took short walk breaks at both water stations, shortly before the 3 mile and 5 mile markers. I was really excited to reach the 4 mile marker in 33 minutes, better than my 4-mile race PR, and knowing that the next couple of miles would be mostly downhill. When I passed the 5 mile marker (8 km) at 41 minutes, I knew that I could finish in 51 minutes if I could run the last two kilometers in 10 minutes. As the ninth kilometer was a continuous downhill stretch, I sped up quite easily, running much of that section at a 7:15 min / mile pace, and passing quite a few people. In fact I was rarely passed at all today, especially after everyone settled into place after the first mile.
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| Hurray for 150 foot net elevation drop! |
I knew that the last kilometer would be tough, but I was mentally prepared and had a little reserve of physical energy. I continued to pass a few people in this section, especially going uphill. It was a little painful to push myself so hard, but my legs appreciated the lighter weight, and then I extended my lead on downhill sections. I reached the 6 mile marker at about 49 minutes on my watch, caught the first glimpse of the finish line banner, and was determined to finish strongly. I wasn't going to let any of the people that I had just passed catch up with me! As I neared the finish line, I saw speedster friends Simon Blakey and Brian Minor cheering me on. The clock ticked over to 51 minutes shortly before I crossed the line. Knowing that my 10K PR was 51:40, and my course PR was just under 54 minutes, I was absolutely thrilled to smash both of my personal records! After crossing the timing mats, I allowed myself a huge fist pump!! Perhaps a sub-51 minute finish wasn't a big deal for many of the people watching, but for me it was an incredible accomplishment! Official chip time, 50:48!!
When I looked at the splits, I saw that I ran the race perfectly for my physical ability. The first kilometer was the slowest at 5:18, and then I sped up a bit for every one of the remaining kilometers, exactly as planned. I was a tad slower in kilometers 5 and 8 due to short walk breaks at the water stations, but that also worked out perfectly, as I was able to get back up to speed very easily, giving my heart a short break from all-out effort.
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| We need a Tucker Running Club house, to hang up our team bling! |
We registered several Tucker Running Club members as a team. Both the women's open and the men's masters open won 2nd place in our respective divisions! Our team ran with Brian Minor (45:37 gun time), Curt Walker (48:13 gun time) and me (51:06 gun time) = 2:24:46, finishing second only to the Atlanta Track Club elite team.
The members-only guaranteed registration window for the Peachtree Road Race closes in a few days. Based on the 2016 standards, today's finish time puts me squarely in the middle of the C wave (10K standards, 49:44 - 53:02), so when I register later today, I will submit my miraculous 5K time from the Atlanta Hawks Fast Break 5K from April 2016, 23:52 (cutoff for B wave with 5K standards in 2016 was 23:58). Whether I'm assigned into wave B or wave C, it will be a good wave for me to begin the Peachtree Road Race in July.
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