I had a great experience in the Publix Georgia Marathon in March, and went on to run several sub-25 minute 5K races in April, and set a new PR for the 10K distance. But I have had trouble mentally taking on longer runs. I've had early morning commitments most weekdays, so morning runs haven't been possible, but then I have to battle the heat in late afternoon / early evening runs. On several occasions I've set out to run 9 or 10 miles, but after 5 or 6 miles, have decided that I've had enough, just walking back to base, even if I had to walk a mile or two.
After I decided to register for the Georgia Peach Jam half marathon on Memorial Day, I realized that I had better make sure that I could run the distance. I managed to run the Hotlanta Half route nine days before the Memorial Day race, starting out at sunrise (around 6:30 am), and I had covered 10 miles before the temperature had risen above 75 degrees. Getting through the 13.1 mileage in decent shape was the confidence boost that I needed for the Memorial Day half marathon.
I was excited about the Peach Jam, for several reasons: it would be nice to run a race that I haven't run before; the Dirty Spokes team puts on well-organized races; and the race route was one of the flattest in the area, other than a few low bridges over small creeks and a couple of underpasses. The race started and ended at Fowler Park near Cumming, at the north edge of metro Atlanta, and proceeded along the Big Creek Greenway. The surface would be alternating boardwalk and concrete, on a path about the same width as the Eastside Beltline, one of my favorite running areas. The only concern was that the Big Creek Greenway passes through / over a wetlands area, and with quite a bit of recent rain, the humidity would likely be close to 100%.
The temperature at the start was 70 deg F. I decided to run at a steady 9:10 min / mile pace for the first 6 or 7 miles, and then would try to speed up. I was running 3-1/2 minute run / 30 second walk intervals, and felt really good for the first 3 miles. But to my surprise, my heart rate hit 170 bpm in the fourth mile! I slowed down a bit and tried to relax as much as possible during the walk breaks, but my heart rate would rise again above 170 bpm near the end of each run segment. After six miles, my pace dropped off to 9:30 min / mile, despite making every attempt to speed up. By the 10 mile marker, I conceded that I had no chance for a sub-2 hour finish, and my goal was to save enough energy to have a good final mile. That meant slowing way down for miles 11 and 12, even taking a couple of 2-minute walk breaks, just under a 12 min / mile pace. By mile 12, I was on pace for about a 2:10 finish, which at least wouldn't be "disastrous". Fortunately I had recovered enough in the previous 2 miles, managed to finish mile 13 in 10:15, and had a strong finish running the final 300 meters on the track. I even managed to joke to the volunteer as I reached the track to run the long way around to the finish line, pointing to the finish line just 100 meters to my right: "The finish line is that way!" while turning to the left. I didn't get passed by anyone else in the last half-mile, and passed one person on the track.
I gunned through the finish line, at 2:09:04. The volunteer handing out medals was standing very close to the finish line so I had hardly slowed down when I grabbed the medal while gasping "thank you!" As I stepped off the track, looking frantically for "Water! water! water ... water" Finally I found a volunteer who pointed me to the water station, dozens of steps away. I staggered to the water coolers, had to wait until I could fill up a cup, promptly gulped down the liquid, filled up two more cups, one to drink and one to pour over my head.
I made several other mistakes during this race:
1) I wore compression sleeves for this race. They had felt great running 26 miles in March at 40 degrees; at 75 deg F, I wanted to stop and pull them off after 6 - 7 miles. I won't make that mistake again.
2) I carried 16 ounces of slightly diluted Powerade in a water bottle on my belt, but decided not to bring a hand-held bottle, as it was "only" a 13.1 mile race. Even with a few water stations on the course, that wasn't enough hydration, as the temperature began to rise.
3) After 45 minutes, I began taking a shot block every other walk break (every 8 minutes), washing it down with Powerade. After taking six shot blocks, my stomach began to feel queasy, and I realized I was getting too much sugar.
One new thing that worked well: I carried a towel that I sprinkled with lemon juice and water and then froze overnight. The race began some two hours after I had removed the towel from the freezer at home, so it was not completely thawed out, but it was nice to have the ice-cold towel in the beginning. The lemon juice kept the towel from acquiring a bad smell as I wiped sweat from my head as the race proceeded and the temperature rose. Unfortunately the towel that I carried was cotton, and it felt scratchy to the skin later in the race. But I will try that trick again, with a bandanna made from lighter material.
Despite my rough experience in the Peach Jam, I managed to get in several good runs since. Last Saturday I took my car in for 90,000 mile service, dressed to run for about an hour at a park near the dealership. When the mechanic told me that they would need 3 - 4 hours, I filled up a water bottle and managed 12 miles on a warm morning.
On Tuesday, I joined the Atlanta Track Club All Comers meet for the first time this season, at Marist College. One of their Grand Prix events this year was the shot put! Most of us had no experience; I watched a youtube video on the morning of the meet, and practiced the step and spin move at home and then a few times in my office before leaving for the meet. I was hoping to practice a few times at the meet, but it turned out that under the rules, competitors were forbidden to freely practice on the court! We were given only one practice try, and then two measured tries. Fortunately I did OK in all three throws - I didn't pull anything, nor did I foul. Both measured throws were around 16 feet.
After the shot put, I joined the final (slowest) heat of the 1 mile run. I managed to run a fairly steady pace, running each lap under 2:00 minutes, crossing the finish line at 7:06. I didn't get lapped by the winner, although I could tell that he finished just a few seconds behind me - as I finished the third of four laps. I also ran the last heat of the 5000 meter race about 25 - 30 minutes later. I ran the first two miles at a sub 8-minute pace, but slowed down to 8:17 for the third mile, managing a little more speed in the final 110 meters to finish in 24:50. Not too bad for me to run sub-25 minutes at 73 deg F.
Tomorrow I'm running the Hotlanta Half, for the third year. Last year's race was terribly challenging: the temperature was 75 degrees at the start, but I was overconfident and ran the first three miles at a 9 min / mile pace, only to struggle mightily for the remaining 10 miles, finishing in 2:20 as the temperature steadily climbed with every mile. It was a humbling experience, but a very valuable one, shortly before beginning training for my first marathon. I wanted redemption this year, but had hesitated to register for the race, even though the price increased as the year progressed. Then in late February, I went to the runningnerds / Run Social kickoff party, and won the best prize at the raffle, a free entry to the Hotlanta Half! ($70 value by that time).
Tomorrow I will proudly wear the runningnerds race team shirt. My only time goal is to run a negative split race. I'm completely taking the possibility of sub-2 hour finish from my thinking.
There, it's gone.
No?
Let it go, Frank. LET IT GO!!
I've joked that I will walk for the first 5 or 6 miles, to ensure that I manage a negative split. Seriously, I will start with the 2:15 pace group and will run the first 6 miles at ca. 10 min / mile pace, with 3:30 / 0:30 run / walk intervals, basically a 10K warmup. When we turn onto the Beltline, I will have just under 7 miles to the finish. If I'm feeling strong at that stage, that is when my race will begin, not one step earlier. I must not forget that a very conservative first half set up a very good experience in the second half of the Georgia Marathon, and so I will approach tomorrow's half marathon with the same mind set. There will be some tough hills in the 9th, 11th, and 13th miles of the Hotlanta route, many of the same hills that I tackled in the last few miles of the Georgia Marathon. The forecast temperature is 67 deg F at the 7 am start, rising only to 73 deg F at 9 am and 75 deg F at 10 am, so hopefully tomorrow's finish temperature won't be any higher than last year's start temperature.
Wish me luck!
Finally, I'm trying to decide which marathon I will run in the fall. Or, will run a marathon this fall? I wasn't selected in the New York Marathon lottery drawing: 17% chance this year, ironically similar to the odds of success in NIH and NSF grant applications, for what it's worth.... I've decided to hold off on registering for a fall marathon until I have a really good half-marathon experience. If that means waiting until the Publix Georgia Marathon in March 2018, that will be OK.
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