October 21, 2018: PNC Atlanta 10-Miler

Goals: 

1) Don't mess up 7 months of recovery and 4 months of training doing anything that's not on the training plan! 

2) 4 miles easy, then practice a slow start for the first 5 miles, followed by race pace in the second half of the race. 

3) Try out cold weather gear for the first time this season.

4) Remember that today's race is just another step to prepare for the New York City Marathon in two weeks from today! 

Saturday night: lay out gear, prepare two bottles of Nuun, try to get to bed by 10 pm, with alarm set for 4:30 am.  

11 pm: actual bed time.

Sunday morning: 

4:27 am: awoke 3 minutes before "ass o'clock", temp 51 deg F, warmer than expected.  Breakfast of cereal, too sleepy to remember to make coffee, but remembered to wear and bring all gear, including application of squirrel nut butter and nipple guards to prevent chafing.

5:15 am: in the car, heading to Atlantic Station, to allow plenty of time for traffic and finding parking.

5:35 am: no traffic, plenty of parking at Atlantic Station!

5:45 am: having stretched, I jogged 2-1/2 easy miles including part of the 5K route, wearing only 1 long sleeve shirt, tights, and a cap.  Getting colder, 46 deg F, and I'm running too fast!  I thought that I wouldn't get back in time for the Tucker Running Club photo, and mistakenly thought it was scheduled for 6:15 am, but instead at 6:30 am.  Ran another 1/2 mile. 

6:30 am: Tucker Running Club photo, then off to the porta-potty for insurance, and one more mile making two loops around Atlantic Station.  Temp 45 deg F, ran to the car to put on a second shirt. 

7:00 am: Gathering for the start in wave D.  Last year I was in wave B.  In a moment of wisdom, when I registered this year, I must have given the track club a slow expected finish time.  No problem, I needed to start with a much slower group to avoid starting too quickly. 

7:15 am: Wave A started, then waves B and C took off with a 2 or 3 minute break between each wave.  I let myself lag back as wave D walked to the starting line.

7:26 am: "Runners set: GO GO GO!!"  And wave D has begun!  Temp 41 deg.  As I turned onto 17th Street, a gust of wind nearly removes my cap, and confirms that I made the right decision to wear a second shirt.  It's often windy during the New York City Marathon, especially the first two miles over the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.  During the first walk break at 4:30, I see Teresa Ducuara and Heather Garner coming up.  We ran the first four miles together, as they seemed happy to run my pace and my run:walk ratios.  

Mile 1: 11:55, exactly as planned!  Lots of people cheering us on, thanks! 

Mile 2: 11:42, a minute slower than planned, but better to start too slow than too fast.

Mile 3: 10:55, a slow easy run down Cardiac Hill on Peachtree Road.  3053rd out of 3891 runners crossing both timing mats.  My fingers were frozen: it took me a couple of minutes to pry the package of ShotBloks from my running belt.  Maybe I shouldn't have left the gloves and hand warmers in the car. 

Mile 4: 11:01, running through the Peachtree Hills neighborhood.  Lots of campaign signs in the yards, "Brian Kemp for Governor."  Not a good neighborhood: ran a little faster.  The sun has risen as we run to the east, time for the sunglasses.  As we turned onto Piedmont Road, I lost track of Teresa and Heather as we passed through a water station.  45:32 through 4 miles.  Amazingly, that was 1 minute slower than planned.  Oh well, I wasn't racing this part of the route, I call that a win!  I hope I can remain as calm in the first four miles in New York. 

Mile 5: 10:13, Heading downhill into the I-85 underpass, I'm beginning to pass people, even with the walk breaks.  Crossed the 5-mile timing mat at 56:30, 2769th out of 4003 runners, movin' on up!

Mile 6: 10:16, before the race, I had thought that this might be my first sub-10 minute mile, but there was a net elevation gain.  

Mile 7: 9:57, uphill to the entrance to the Botanical Gardens, then a fast downhill into Piedmont Park.  I'm passing quite a few people as I speed up around the Active Oval.  My fingers have thawed, now I'm glad that I'm not carrying gloves. 

Plenty of hills, but no heat or humidity today, thank goodness!

Mile 8: 9:20, running out of Piedmont Park and up the 12th Street hill.  Normally I would take it easy, but I had a walk break right before we left the park, and I ran up the hill non-stop.  Most people were walking, I was sprinting!  Strava confirmed that was my fastest time up the hill in 13 tries, which included four Hotlanta Halfs, two Georgia Marathons, and last year's 10-miler.  Turning south onto Juniper Street, I passed Samantha Andrews, with whom I often run on Thursday evenings at Big Peach Decatur.  She was sporting a BibRave shirt and called out, "Hi Professor!" as she always does when we meet.  She is a professor herself, teaching biology at Georgia Gwinnett College, but I guess it's a matter of respect for our two-decade age difference.  1:25 elapsed.  I was back on pace to finish in 1:45.  I decided to skip every other walk break for the rest of the race. 

I steadily sped up from the start to mile 10:
after walking through the finish area, I ran two easy cool-down miles.

Mile 9: 8:25, I seemed to pass everyone, trying not to run over anyone.  Much of the time, we were restricted to a single lane, so it was a little crowded, even this far into the race.  I passed Becky Caldwell, a fixture with the Tucker Running Club, former swim coach at Tucker High School, and a dedicated triathlete.  At the only water station that I used today, I accepted a cup of Gatorade from Olympian and Atlanta Track Club coach Amy Begley.  

Mile 10: 8:24, as we turned onto 17th Street and cross the overpass, we ascended the last hill of the race.  The watch signaled a walk break approaching 1:35 overall.  I took my last ShotBlok and a swig of Nuun, then returned to a run.  I hadn't been passed by anyone for miles, then a young woman with a blonde ponytail passed far to the right.  She looked much younger than me, no problem.  Then either she slowed down or I sped up and I passed her.  Into Atlantic Station, less than half a mile to go.  I was driving myself pretty hard, pumping my arms strongly, passing everyone in sight.  Turning onto State Street for the last two blocks of the race, the Atlanta Roller Girls had the best cheer team of all, encouraging us into the finish, with their leader's chant amplified by a megaphone.  Passing, passing, passing, and then downhill to the finish line.  I saw two young women ahead of me, did I have enough room to catch up to them?  Not quite, but I crossed the finish line at 1:43:05 chip time, 1:54:26 gun time, 2001th out of 4004 finishers, just ahead of the 50th percentile.  I saw Bonnie to the right as I cleared the timing mat and raised both arms into the air in celebration!

The number 10 on the medal spins!
It seems to be a new gimmick in medals over the past couple of years. 

9:10 am: After accepting the medal and a bottle of water, I cleared the finish area and turned back to run 2 easy miles to cool down along the last mile of the race route, cheering on a few people that I knew.  On my way back on 17th Street, a woman had fallen near the corner with State Street.  I don't know what happened but from her cries it sounded like she had a severe cramp.  Two Atlanta police were standing around her and with another person was kneeling holding her down on the hard cold street pavement - I'm concerned that might have made things worse for her - but then Rich Kenah, director of the track club, arrived to see what had happened.  I hope that she will be OK.  

The watch measured 10.14 miles for the race route.

16 miles for the day, and I had plenty of energy left, despite running the last 2 miles of the race considerably faster than marathon race pace.  After a few minutes of leg swings, I was ready for a celebratory brunch with Bonnie at Murphy's in Virginia-Highlands. 

Calorie replacement programme

October 13, 2018: The Race, presented by the Unity Collective

The months of September and early October have been unusually warm, but my training has gone very well over the past month.  A few days ago, the outermost bands of Hurricane Michael brushed the metro Atlanta area with about 1-1/2 inches of rain - and also brought overdue fall temperatures.  This welcome change in the weather came just in time for my last long run in this training cycle, three weeks in advance of the New York City Marathon.  The plan for today was 22 - 23 miles, as a dress rehearsal for marathon day.  

I decided to combine my long run with a new half marathon and 5K race organized by Tes Sobomehin of runningnerds, and Da'Rel Patterson of Black Men Run, who joined forces as the Unity Collective, to put on "The Race", inviting runners of all backgrounds to explore the diverse neighborhoods of southwest Atlanta.  The Race began and ended at the Impact Center next to a church by the same name, located on the northeastern edge of East Point, a suburb nestled between the City of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.  

For a link to the race site and their interview, click here.  

I should have gone to the Porta-Potty one more time before The Race began, but was chatting with Sheelagh O'Malley in the corral and then it was time to begin!  The temperature was 57 deg F as we began running, with the first glow of sunrise lighting up the clouds to the east.  Over 700 runners ran the half marathon, followed by nearly 500 registrants for the 5K.  We immediately ran up a massive hill on Sylvan Road, approaching Langford Parkway, one of the east-west arteries through the area.  When I saw the elevation map for The Race, I imagined this would simulate the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, although it probably wasn't as long of a distance.  Nonetheless I took my time heading up the hill, maintaining an easy pace.  Quite a few people cheered for us in the dim pre-dawn light as we ran north on Sylvan Road into Atlanta proper, through the Sylvan Hills residential neighborhood.  Around mile 1, I passed Jordan Eison for the one and only time that I will ever do so in a race: he served as a pacer for the 2:45 group, having run the Chicago Marathon last weekend.  

After about 3 miles, we entered a more industrial area and then into the West End neighborhood, just south of Interstate 20.  By this stage, I was running with Jennifer Butz who formerly joined the group runs at Big Peach Running Company in Decatur, before she moved across town.  She was on a slightly different run-walk pattern but we were leapfrogging each other for awhile.  Crossing under the highway, we reached the manicured campuses of Spelman College and Morehouse School of Medicine.  On a couple of out-and-back sections, I saw several friends and running associates, including Brian Minor just behind the 2-hour pacers, Tommy Daniels serving as a 2:15 pacer, and a bit later Beverly Ford Minor.  I had rarely visited these parts of Atlanta and never before on foot.  It was nice to see the parks in the area, and smile to the locals who had woken up early on Saturday morning to cheer us on our Race!  

From the Map My Run site for The Race (above),
which is a little neater than my own map (below), since I
tacked additional miles on the same or similar route. 

The miles ticked by surprisingly quickly.  I used my typical intervals of 4:30 running and 30 seconds walking, and maintained a consistent pace, between 10:15 and 10:30 minutes per mile for the middle part of The Race.  I crossed the 10K timing mat at about 1:07 gun time (1:05:40 chip time), a little faster than expected for an easy run, but with the cool temperatures, I ran smoothly and nearly effortlessly.  Around the 7 mile mark, I began to feel a little soreness in the left Achilles, but later in The Race I realized that the pain had almost disappeared.  That is one of the great benefits of the run-walk method!  The only problem was that with every passing mile, I felt more and more regret about skipping the Porta-Potty before The Race. 

About 8 miles into The Race, we entered the Westside Beltline.  The last time I had run on this path, the temperature was 90 degrees F and I was fighting off the beginnings of heat exhaustion - this morning with temperatures 30 degrees cooler, I was running smoothly and thoroughly enjoying every minute of the run.  I avoided overtly "racing" anyone, but nevertheless I gradually passed people with every run interval.  At the mile 10 marker, I thought, "just a 5K ahead" and then realized that today, it was more like 13 miles to go!  Then I consciously slowed down, a little.  In mile 11, we left the Beltline, where I caught up to and passed the 2:30 pacers, David Bloomquist and Angie O'Neal.  My original intention was to tuck in with them and not pass them, but they had obviously started out much too quickly.  I was on pace to finish in 2:20, and they were walking, so I just said "hi" as I passed and kept truckin' on.  Jessica Rudd and Kristi Swartz were running together about one or two minutes ahead of me, as we passed each other on another out-and-back section. 

Approaching the mile 11 marker, the Atlanta Track Club manned a water station, with executive director Rich Kenah handing out cups of water.  But I focused on the porta-potty next to the water station.  I slowed to a walk, but the door was locked.  At least, the red slide was showing.  I decided that I could hold on for 2.1 more miles.  We returned to Sylvan Road, running in the bicycle lane.  I waved to a man sitting on his front porch strumming a guitar, and gradually passed more runners as we went up and down the hills.  Then I saw Langford Parkway in the distance at the top of the big hill, just after taking walk break at 2:10.  I bounded on fresh legs up the hill, and through the busy intersection protected by the police.  Passing under the Langford Parkway, and a little more uphill, my watch signaled time for a walk break at 2:14:30.  And just as I reached the Reggae Runners cheer group at the top of the hill!  Well, it would really be poor form to take a walk break through the most enthusiastic cheer group of the morning, so I could wait a moment - but then more people cheered for us as we continued toward the finish, so I just kept running, trying not to press too hard.  Gliding into the long finish chute, there were hundreds of people cheering us (me!) into the finish, seemingly most of the 5K runners and many of the 263 half marathon runners who had already finished!  I crossed the finish line at 2:20 gun time, official chip time 2:18:26.  That was more than 11 minutes faster than my goal time for The Race, but I wasn't too tired and was ready for 9 more miles - once I had stopped at the Porta-Potty! 

Bib and bling sporting the colors of Africa

Relieved of my burdens, I stopped by the car, dropped off my bib and medal and picked up a cold bottle of Nuun (having drank a 23 oz bottle in the first 13 miles), and set out again before any leg stiffness set in.  Fortunately I didn't have much trouble getting back into the swing of running.  I ran a little slower, trying to stay out of the way of the other official runners or the cheer groups.  Upon entering City of Atlanta, I moved onto the sidewalks and just tried to encourage some of the other runners - there was Beverly Ford Minor less than a mile from the finish.  Instead of remaining on the official race path, I decided to simply continue north on Sylvan Road.  The sidewalk was nearly continuous, if cracked in a few places, and so I just focused on keeping my footing.  I didn't want to ruin an excellent training cycle with a fall or another broken collarbone.  I wanted to re-enter the Westside Beltline, but as Sylvan Road turned onto Murphy Avenue paralleling the MARTA tracks, I couldn't find an entrance to the Beltline.  I must have passed over it, as I remembered a long tunnel just past the mile 10 marker during the race.  

Before long, I had crossed interstate 20 and was near the Spelman College campus, well into the 18th mile.  I had planned to turn around after completing mile 18, but I decided to turn a little sooner, hoping that I might still find part of the Beltline for the return trip.   Just before my watch signaled the end of mile 19, I saw a long ramp heading down to the Beltline (I had noticed the ramp earlier in the race) and went back onto the protected and pristine surface of the Beltline.  I passed the point where we had turned during The Race, and just continued south along the Beltline, which was nearly deserted.  Reaching the southern terminus, I saw ahead a big housing project with the front door missing from the nearest building.  Hmm, should I go back?  I stopped for a moment and checked the map program on my phone.  I realized that I could get back to the Impact Center by running straight past the projects to turn right on Metropolitan Parkway, parallel to and one-half mile east of Sylvan Road.  

Heading south on Metropolitan, I reached the intersection with Dill Avenue.  I recalled an intersection of Dill Avenue with Sylvan Road, and saw sidewalks ahead on both sides of the street, so this was a good place to make a right turn.  This was the Capitol View neighborhood, with modest but well-maintained single family homes.  With 20 miles done by this point, I turned onto Sylvan Road to return to home base.  Momentarily, I thought that I might have turned too soon and would have to find some additional streets to run around, but the mile 21 alert sounded well before I saw Langford Parkway once again.  Heading back up the hill, all of the other runners were long gone.   There were no police directing me through the intersection, so I waited for the light to turn.  And upon entering the city of East Point, the sidewalk ended, just as the mile 22 alert sounded.  Oh well, I had officially run the minimum mileage for the day.  I slowed and cautiously ran on the grass shoulder, watching for any holes in the ground that could twist an ankle.  Disaster avoided, I stopped at the intersection to cross over to the Impact Center.  Music was coming from the venue, as volunteers were in the midst of packing up.  Running easily through the parking lot, I kept going until I reached my car at the far end of the lot.  22.45 miles for the morning in 4:00:42, not counting the short breaks when the watch paused in the Porta Potty, or waiting at a few intersections in the final 9 miles.  

Amazingly, my legs didn't feel too sore.  Had I really just run 22-1/2 miles?  I was still good for 4 more miles, if had I needed to cover more ground today.  As I stretched by running backwards through the partially empty parking lot, Brian and Beverly came from the expo, sporting The Race jackets.  We caught up for a few minutes, and I proudly showed them my elapsed distance on my watch!  Brian achieved his goal of breaking 2:00, with a 1:59:37 chip time, and 1:59:53 on the clock!  

With my mission accomplished for today, I'm definitely ready for New York - at least if the weather is cool and clear!  Coming next: three glorious weeks of taper, including the Atlanta 10-miler next weekend as part of a short little 16-mile workout. 

And as for The Race, this event was very well-organized, along a nice route that was new for me and perhaps for many of the other participants.  Congratulations to Tes and Da'Rel for your success in creating year 1 of The Race!