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| 61 degrees at the start of a 16-mile run last weekend |
The last week has been one of highs and lows in the marathon training cycle. Bonnie and I went to Niagara Falls last weekend, and had a wonderful and relaxing time, visiting one of the great wonders of the world. I was due for a 16 mile long run, and had found a potential route on the map. Setting out with the sunrise at 6 am, I had the falls all to myself for a three-mile loop, and then discovered a wonderful bike-pedestrian pathway parallel to the Scenic Highway along the Niagara gorge, extending 6 miles north of Niagara Falls. I may have been distracted by the spectacular views, but I felt strong and relatively fast on that day!
Upon returning to Atlanta, I was compelled to run the Tuesday evening speed workout and Thursday evening easy run on the treadmill at the Blomeyer Fitness Center at Emory, due to thunderstorms on Tuesday and steady rain on both evenings. While running on the treadmill was incredibly boring and much lonelier than running on my own outside on sidewalks or parks, I was proud of my discipline in completing both workouts, when it would have been easy to skip due to the weather. And the gym membership paid off for more than just a locker room to shower and change clothes after outdoor runs.
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| Today's race route |
Fortunately this morning's weather was relatively good for August in Atlanta, 70 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky. Today's workout was 10 miles easy pace, as this is a "drop-back" week between last Saturday's 16 miler and next Saturday's 18 miles. I picked up my bib and then headed out for 4 easy miles on the PATH trail paralleling the race route. This provided a preview of the hilliness of the race course to come! By the time that I had returned to the starting area for the 5K race, I was already quite sweaty. I ran with wave D (11:00 min / mile or faster) and maintained a decent pace from start-to-finish, running intervals of 4-1/2 minutes and walking 30 seconds. The hills were monstrous, with most people in my group walking near the top of both hills. However it was nice to see a few friends along the way, and running at a pace at which I could maintain some conversation. I also appreciated running on a protected and supported course, with a water station at the top of the first hill and another water station just past the finish line. My official time was 33:43 (10:52 min / mile pace), exactly what I was aiming for in today's easy mileage.
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| Two substantial and sustained uphill sections makes this one of the most challenging 5K race routes. |
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| Team B&B (Brian & Beverly) were featured on the postface e-mail linking to race results! |
I didn't stop at all after crossing the finish line, determined to keep moving for 3 more miles. After running around the Galloway School for the better part of a mile, I made my way onto the sidewalk paralleling much of the last mile of the race route, then turning around to complete 9.97 miles total, in 1:53:09. At the end, I was following Bonnie until she entered the finish chute. I didn't quite get to 10.00 miles on the watch: to avoid crossing the timing mat for a second time, I had to slow down to walking speed to pass spectators along a narrow path parallel to the finish chute, and decided that I had run enough for the day.
I didn't feel that strong or fast this morning. My legs were sore from the beginning. I wonder if it was from the unfamiliarity of running on the treadmill. I was deliberately running the 5K at an easy pace, but I'm not confident that I could have broken 30 minutes today if I had been trying to run faster on such a hilly course.
After the race, we joined Beverly (Ford) Minor for a small birthday celebration - her birthday closely coincides with the date of this annual race. And then I remembered that this race marks the third anniversary of the second time that she met her future husband Brian Minor! (That was a couple of weeks after their first meeting at a group run, which I had also attended.)
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| We're all still smiling after our runs! Happy Birthday, Beverly! |
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