July 4, 2018: The Peachtree Road Race, my fifth year

2014 time: 55:36
2015 time: 54:38
2016 time: 55:07
2017 time: 59:23

Today I finished the Peachtree Road Race 10K for the fifth consecutive year.  It's the first race that I've tried to run fairly fast since getting injured in the marathon in March.  I've begun the 20-week training program to prepare for the New York City Marathon, in exactly four months from today, on November 4.  On Monday morning (two days ago), I did a hill workout, and had very little pain during the run.  That was the most comfortable run that I've had in months!  

Then I realized, this might be really dangerous for me, if I push too hard in the race.  I've resolved not to try for any new personal records prior to the NYC Marathon.  It's taken four months to get to this good stage of my recovery.  I can't afford to exacerbate an injury that has just healed (or nearly healed), because I'm 100% focused on preparing as best as I can for a good experience in New York.  For the race, I resolved to run with good form from start to finish, and to deliberately hold back in the first miles at a 9 min / mile pace, even though the first three miles of the route were mostly downhill.  My only time goal was to run the entire race at a fairly consistent pace, from start to finish.  I planned to experiment with running without walk breaks, consistent with the typical speed work on the training schedule for Wednesdays.  Nonetheless, I would slow down and run-walk if anything hurt too much, or if the Atlanta heat-hills-humidity began to bother me. 

Tucker Running Club, about 30 minutes before the start

For the second year, I started in wave B, qualifying with my first sub-50 minute 10K last September in the Big Peach Sizzler.  I tried to start near the back of the wave, but in the minutes prior to the start, quite a few people joined the corral at the last minute, so I was in the middle of the wave.  In addition to the patriotic music for the Independence Day celebration, and the National Anthem prior to the start of the elite men and wave A, the start line announcer proudly reminded us that Atlanta is "Running City USA!"  While I thoroughly embraced the sentiment, for today my mantra was "It's all about New York!"  

Inside the corral for wave B, walking to the starting line

Crossing the starting line at 7:05 am, I was fortunate to find myself in a large group that was also starting cautiously.  I didn't have to check my watch too often to stay on the desired pace.  In the middle of the first mile, I met up with Liz Mann, who was dealing with a cold.  For that reason she was also running just for fun, without any real time goal.  Although there were plenty of water stations, even in the first miles, I carried my own bottle of Nuun on my water belt.   We passed the mile 1 marker at 9 minutes even on my watch, and the mile 2 marker at 18 minutes even.  My Garmin recorded slightly faster times, 8:56 and 8:49, although I was mostly watching my heart rate, staying in the 150 bpm range.  Liz peeled off at the mile 2 water station and I kept running down the middle turn lane of Peachtree Road, taking sips from my own bottle after each mile marker.  I picked up a little speed as the road continued downhill, but maintained good form and avoided overstriding.  

There were more bands along the route than in the past few years, which was nice.  In the early miles, a band played "Call Me" by Blondie, a fond memory from the late 1970's.  But the soundtrack through my mind was Sinatra, "I want to be a part of it, New York, New York".  That kept my speed in reasonable check.  Crossing the bridge after Peachtree Battle Street, we headed up Cardiac Hill.  Now I began working a bit going uphill, but I focused on maintaining good form.  Mile 3 was completed in 8:19, and I crossed the 3.11 timing mat at 27:15 elapsed.  

Despite the large size of the field, totaling over 55,000 finishers, my cautious start in wave B meant that the road wasn't too crowded in the area in which I was running.  A few of the fastest wave C runners had caught up around the mile 2 marker, but most of them were still behind me.  I noticed that quite a few of the runners in front of me were running the tangents, perhaps not as tightly as the elite runners would have done, but there was enough room on the road for us to gradually tack from side to side with the gentle curves in the road.  It didn't take long to reach the Shepherd Center at the top of Cardiac Hill.  I shared a few hand slaps with some of the spectators, and accepted a green Shepherd Center wristband.  It was a little warm on my right wrist, but proudly wore it for the rest of the race as a souvenir.  Mile 4 was completed in 9:11, which was a pleasant surprise!  "King of the hill, top of the list, A-number one! New York, New York." 

I was sweating fairly heavily by this point, and accepted water at the mile 4 and mile 5 water stations without slowing down too much.  Each time I took a sip and then poured the rest on my neck and on my head.  I still had plenty of Nuun for hydration and electrolyte replacement.  I covered mile 5 in 9:04, just over 44 minutes elapsed.  I wouldn't set a PR today - but that wasn't the goal.  I was running better than last year when I was suffering a cold.  Unfortunately I saw a person lying down on the sidewalk, getting treatment by medical personnel including an IV and an oxygen mask.  (I was relieved to read later in the day that there were "very few medical issues due to the heat".)  Upon reaching 12th Street, I knew that I was at the top of the last significant hill.  With relief, I glided for two more blocks, making a wide turn onto 10th Street, aiming down the middle of the road.  

I sped up a bit knowing that there was just one kilometer to go.  Everyone running around me sped up as well!   I made a few surges here and there, pumping my arms to propel myself forward with good form.  Music was playing, I don't remember what song it was, because what went through my brain was "I'm gonna make a brand new start of it, in Old New York!"  Running through the rainbow intersection at Piedmont and 10th Street, not too much further, the green expanse of Piedmont Park to my right, and then a woman says as she passes me "There it is" and I look up to see the finish line, 55 minutes elapsed - my gosh, I'm going to finish in less than 56 minutes!  Running, running, RUNNING across the timing mats, raising my hands in celebration, 55:31 official time!  In the past, I might not have celebrated only my third fastest time out of five runs on a course.  But the injury and the long slow road to recovery has made me more appreciative of the gift of running, one that I hope that I won't take for granted in the future.  

A beautiful day at Piedmont Park, after the race

My soleus muscle was a little sore throughout the race - so it's a good thing that I have a physical therapy appointment tomorrow morning - but the pain was never severe.  After I cleared the long finish line chutes (water, Peachtree Road Race T-shirt, snack box) and made my way to the Atlanta Track Club post-race party at Park Tavern, I found a place to stretch.  With a few minutes of leg swings to lengthen the leg muscles, I felt fine.  

Now if I can just run like that for 20 more miles, I'll reach my long-term dream goal of completing a marathon in less than 4 hours!