My recovery has been slow, but is progressing well. In addition to the excellent care that I've received in physical therapy, I've also discovered a wonderful massage therapist, Corey Dobyns of Core Balance + Wellness. Prior to beginning her own practice, Corey worked with a physician for several years. Most commercial massage therapists offer a standard package of treatment. In contrast, Corey has listened carefully to my specific ailments and concerns, and then has focused primarily on the problem areas. After the first session several weeks ago, the last of the pain of the quadriceps disappeared for good, and even the chronic Achilles pain was absent for several hours. Corey thinks that the problem may be the soleus muscle, and/or a bump or cyst that can be felt on the side of the Achilles tendon, and not as much with the tendon itself. I went for another session two days before the race, and the beneficial effect on the Achilles area persisted for even longer. I will continue with physical therapy as well until the Achilles pain is completely gone, assuming that I don't run out of insurance-covered appointments before then.
 |
| http://visitcore.com |
I first ran the Hotlanta Half in 2015, finishing in a torrential rainstorm. Then in 2016, I started too quickly for the conditions, and was fortunate to avoid heat exhaustion by walking through a good part of the second half of the route. Humbled and wiser from the experience, I achieved my first negative split performance in the 2017 race, jogging the first 6 miles at an easy pace and enjoying myself in a 7-mile race.
I registered for this year's race several months ago, back when the registration fee was only $70. Then I got injured in the Southside 12K in February. It's been a difficult recovery, but the last month has been very encouraging. In addition to physical therapy and massage therapy, I spend a few minutes most mornings and evenings massaging my calves and quads with a foam roller, on top of the physical therapy exercises almost every evening. My goal for the race today was simply to treat it as a long, slow, distance run, a workout that happened to cost $70.
 |
| Bonnie drove us this morning in her new car, so it was my opportunity to take the "ass o-clock" photo. Unfortunately my finger was on the edge of the lens - inexpert photographer - but the great news is that this was the only thing to go wrong today! |
Before the race, I practiced a few warmup techniques recommended by Coach Carl, then jogged a couple of blocks before lining up just behind the 2:30 pacers. I set my watch to a 2 minute run, 30 second walk interval. My plan was to stick with the 2:30 pacers for a while, hoping that my run-walk interval would keep me close. At the start, I gave Bonnie a smile and a wave as I passed, jogging at an easy pace. I made sure that I was off to the right side of the road by the first walk break two minutes in, and noticed that a majority of the runners around me were also taking a run-walk strategy. With each run leg, I was getting ahead of the 2:30 pace team, without meaning to, and then they would catch up on my walk breaks, at least for the first mile or so. But as we worked our way through downtown Atlanta, I started to get well ahead of the 2:30 group. I decided that would be OK, as I wasn't pushing myself, not paying much attention to the watch, and strictly taking every single walk break.
Shortly after passing the mile 2 marker, we saw the lead runner coming back from the Georgia State Stadium loop (formerly Turner Field, at the 1996 Olympic Stadium), and we applauded him as he passed us. In fact he had already opened up a large gap on second place, more than a minute by my estimate, and then we turned off to make our own loop. In addition to staying with the run-walk strategy, I also walked through every single water station, to make sure that I stayed well hydrated as the temperatures began to gradually rise. I averaged a little slower than an 11 minute / mile pace for the first four miles, but my caution was warranted considering that I had not run longer than 11 miles since the marathon in March. The important thing was that I was enjoying the experience, looking around, occasionally talking with other runners along the way, as we leapfrogged each other with the run-walk strategies. I was a little concerned to feel some soreness in the Achilles as early as 3 miles in, but then it didn't get any worse. The pain even seemed to move around a little, up into the calf, then back down near the Achilles. Maybe that was a good sign that the pain wasn't terribly localized, so that the damage if any would not be localized in any severe form. Despite my relatively slow pace for the race, the first six miles seemed to pass fairly quickly, even though it took more than 70 miles to get to the start of the Eastside Beltline, about 6.3 miles into the race. Turning onto the Beltline, I resisted the temptation to deliberately speed up, despite the gentle downhill grade. I didn't remember how pleasant the shade was along the right side of the route, but I felt good in this section. Remembering that I needed to save some energy for uphill miles 9, 11, and 13, my mantra for the day became, "This is the process of my recovery: the prize will be a good experience in the New York marathon in November." Nevertheless, I noticed that I was passing quite a few people as I progressed with the run-walk strategy. I was running fairly quickly each time I began running again, but just for two minutes or so, then getting another 30 second walk break. The first cooling towels were offered around the mile 8 marker, at the north end of the Eastside Beltline, just as I was getting warm. What a nice relief, one of the best parts of this race! Many people seemed to discard the cooling towel right away, but from experience I knew the benefit of holding on to the cooling towel, occasionally wiping sweat from my eyes as needed over the next two miles.
 |
| Thanks for the course support, and especially the ice-cold cooling towels! |
Down and up the hill on 10th Street along the south side of Piedmont Park, a right turn onto Piedmont Road, and then another right turn into Piedmont Park at the twelfth street gate. I remembered how difficult this section had been two years ago, when I had foolishly let my heart rate rise too high much earlier in the race. Today it was a comfortable jog along the familiar paths of the beautiful park, although we were gradually heading uphill to the north end of the Active Oval. Normally I might delay a walk break if I saw a water station coming up, but today I just stayed with the program, taking advantage of the additional walk break through a water station. I was hardly aware of my overall time, other than having the sense that I was now running a little faster than the first miles of the race, consistently completing each mile just under an 11 minute / mile pace. The prospect for another negative split performance was favorable, as long as I remained patient for the remaining miles.
Passing the 10-mile marker near the exit to the park, I evaluated how I was doing: 1:50 elapsed, 5K to go. If I had felt 100% healthy, I might have considered trying to speed up to 10K pace, but with the 12th street hill looming ahead, I stayed with the program that had carried me along this far, continuing to enjoy a well-supported easy run. With another cold towel from the Hot Moms group, I decided to put the towel under the front of my cap, which felt good, keeping my brain cool. Mile 11 was the slowest in the second-half of the race, but it was mostly uphill, and I didn't let it worry me at all. I did notice that with 10.8 miles elapsed while crossing 6th Street on Juniper Street, I was now running longer than any of my practice runs since the marathon. And then mile 12 was downhill into the Georgia Tech campus. Without significantly increasing my effort, I ran a sub-10 minute pace for most of that mile, completing mile 12 at 2:11:20. Although there was some soreness in the Achilles tendon area, it hadn't gotten any worse. Run Family handed out more cooling towels. I took one, then a hundred feet later reached for another but dropped it! I laughed, stopped for a moment to pick it up, and tucked it under the back of my cap to keep my neck cool, imagining that it looked like a mini-khaffiyeh. I thought about trying to speed up a bit, but I was getting tired, and deployed the mantra again, "This is the process of my recovery." I just focused on running with good form. I was comfortable with my progress, knowing that I was on track to beat 2:25, better than my hope to keep up with the 2:30 pace group, and more importantly, running at a fairly consistent pace from start to finish. Most of the other runners around me were struggling more than me, as I passed them. Mile 13 was definitely uphill heading up Luckie Street, so I just took it easy. Then I could see up ahead Ivan Allen Boulevard. I took one last walk break, then sped up as I crested the hill at the north side of the Georgia Aquarium.
Remembering how badly I had limped through this same area as I struggled through the last few hundred yards of the Georgia Marathon, today I felt really good as I conquered this long block. And then with the last left turn onto the Baker Street, passing the mile 13 sign, I sped up some more, along with a handful of other runners as we could see the finish banner ahead in the distance. With a smile on my face, I ran strongly, seeing 2:23 on the race clock. An announcer gave high fives on the left side of the course, but I saw Bonnie standing on the right, so I just gave the man a friendly wave as I passed him and drove myself into the finish, smiling broadly and raising my arms in triumph as I crossed the finish line, then clapping a few times as I ran up to Bonnie. I gave her two thumbs up, "That went well!" and then walked over to a volunteer to accept a couple of ice-cold cooling towels.
2:22:57 official time. This was actually my slowest time in the four times that I've run this race, but given my return from injury, I was very very happy with the outcome, not only physically but also with my psychological discipline to stay with the conservative plan from start-to-finish. I still have some healing to do, but I didn't exacerbate anything today. And even though it was a warm morning by the finish, I managed the hydration very well, drinking two bottles of water along the way with supplementation with the water stations at every mile. What did I say at the beginning about a workout that cost $70? I definitely got my money's work! No other "workout" would have been as well supported with a dozen water stations, or police protecting the intersections, or cheer groups encouraging us at several points in the later miles. Now I remember what draws me - and others - to this race year after year, despite knowing that the weather is likely to live up to the name, Hotlanta.
 |
| Post-run stretching |
No comments:
Post a Comment