Over the past 6 weeks, I've recovered from the calf strain that disrupted my training for the Publix Atlanta Half-Marathon in March. If there's a problem, I'm eating as if I'm training for an ultra-marathon. I blame it on an extremely busy work schedule over the past month.
In preparation for today's race, I ran strides on the track at Emory on Tuesday evening, in 80 deg F heat, and a 4-1/2 mile run through Decatur on Thursday evening in 75 deg F heat. Although my legs felt fine in both runs, I felt a little out-of-shape on Tuesday, but stronger on Thursday. An hour after finishing Thursday's run, a squall line and cold front blew through metro Atlanta, dropping the temperatures by a few degrees. When we awoke this morning, the temperature was about 50 deg F, with clear skies - perfect conditions for running! My plan was to race as a progression workout, trying for about 9 minutes for the first mile, gradually speeding up with each mile, and aiming to run the last mile faster than 8 minutes.
After parking, I stretched and then took an easy 1/2-mile jog around downtown Norcross before picking up my race number. Bonnie and I were issued consecutive numbers: a good omen! My warmup continued with a 1-mile run on the course itself, covering the first 1/2-mile and the last 1/2-mile. In a flat section on a quiet street, I tried a 30-second surge, similar to the stride workout on the track, and my legs felt really good! A couple more strides convinced me that I would have a good race.
Shortly before the start, I set my watch to intervals of 1:30 run, 0:30 "walk", except after the first mile, I would occasionally run 30-second surges, especially in the last mile. I originally planned to start near the front of wave C, but in a quick chat with Carol Gsell during final stretches, she planned to start in the back of wave B, to let the other runners slow her down. I thought that was good advice and did the same, actually a few rows behind Carol.
Wave A started out with a cheer, then wave B moved up to the line. The announcer repeated pre-race instructions, gave us a 30-second warning, then an 8-second alert. With the blast of the airhorn, we were off and running, out of Thrasher Park and onto North Peachtree Street. I maintained an easy pace, holding back from passing anyone that wasn't walking, and that worked nicely. About 1/2-mile in, I checked my pace and heart rate, just a few seconds faster than 9 min / mile and a few beats under 150 beats / min - perfect - thank goodness for cool weather!
We turned onto the first of three out-and-back spurs. I passed the 1-mile mark at 8:39, not bad! At 9:30, I executed the first 30-second surge, running downhill, and passed a dozen people. As the signal sounded for 10:00, I let off the accelerator, settling into a nice steady pace. That felt really good! Making a wide turn and heading back to the main road, I had no trouble with the gentle uphill stage.
Returning on North Peachtree Street, we turned onto the next block for the second out-and-back. This one was uphill. I didn't remember that from last year, but didn't worry about it, just kept going. My legs felt strong, and I didn't slow very much going uphill. At the turnaround point, my watch signaled 15:30, and I decided to toss in another 30 second surge: passing another group racing downhill! Before reaching Peachtree Street, I passed the 2-mile marker, 8:13, 16:52 elapsed. I was on a sub-34 minute pace, and had a good prospect of breaking my 33:30 personal best for a 4-mile race, dating back to New Year's Day 2016, if I could maintain the progression.
Back on North Peachtree Street, we ran a couple of blocks on fairly level terrain. I threw in another surge at 18:00 and naturally let off the acceleration after about 30 seconds, as I made the right turn onto the final out-and-back. I slowed to a walk for a moment to take a couple of quick gulps of water at a station manned by Kalpana Patel, who received a high-five as I began running again. I let gravity carry me downhill along the longest of the three arms, making sure to bend my knees to absorb the shock. Turning around, I ran uphill for about 0.4 miles. It was a tough hill for its length, but I had enough strength to avoid taking a walk break, and passed several people in this section. The toughest part of this leg was the rising sun directly to the east. Thank goodness I had worn a good pair of sunglasses. I missed having the visor of a cap to block the sun, but in previous years I had overheated when I wore a cap, so I deliberately ran today's race with a bare head. With the sun in my eyes, I couldn't see the top of the hill, until I drew near a police car in the middle of the lane protecting the road from auto traffic. That gave me the boost that I needed to push over the crest at North Peachtree Street. Even though I slowed a little going up the long hill, I finished mile 3 in 8:05, 24:57 elapsed.
And I felt good, with the confidence that I could get to the finish line within 8 minutes. I threw in another surge at 25:30, and again at 27:30. I didn't check my pace on the watch but my heart rate was at 170 bpm, a rate that I can maintain for only about 1 mile. But that was all that I needed! Making a right turn into the neighborhood at 29 minutes, I didn't know my mileage, as I didn't waste the energy to scroll on my watch: turns out I was at 3.5 miles. At 29:30 I threw in another surge, coinciding with a fairly steep downhill on a left turn, as I rocketed past a couple of other runners. As I let off the speed at 30:00, someone passed me - was it one of the guys that I had just passed? For most of the race, I had my eye on a runner ahead who, like me, was wearing the dark green shirt from last month's Publix Atlanta Half-Marathon. And now I caught up to and quickly passed him, in the trough of the hill. Now back uphill: it helped that I had run this earlier this morning, as I knew exactly how far I needed to push: not much further! Left turn onto Park Drive, 31 minutes elapsed, and up-and-over the crest. The finish line was now just two blocks away. I had to consciously race down a relatively steep downhill block, but my legs felt good as my turnover increased, as I remembered to keep my knees bent to save my quads. One last turn along the east side of Thrasher Park: as the finish line came into sight, I made one more hard push to pass another runner on my left. I didn't need this last sprint to break my old personal best, but I had the mental strength to accelerate through the finish line, 7:56 for mile 4 and a 32:53 finish time!
Having pushed so hard in the final blocks, I had better not abruptly stop. I accepted a bottle of water from a volunteer and walked for a couple of blocks, then re-started the watch as I slowly jogged back-and-forth across a few blocks parallel to the last mile. My equilibrium returned during the easy cool-down run, and I returned to the park to celebrate my new 4-mile race personal record!
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| No wonder the race was hilly! This sign is in Thrasher Park near the last hill of the race. |
I call it a 4-mile race record, because I'm sure that I've run faster 4-mile stretches in my best 10K and 12K races. However, today's race will show up on Athlinks as my best 4-mile time. The plan for a progression run along with short surges in the later miles definitely worked to my strengths, and I will try that strategy in other races in the coming months.
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| At second breakfast, after the race |
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