The Atlanta Track Club hosts the Atlanta's Finest 5K in mid-August each year. I've only "raced" this course twice, in 2014 and in 2017, finishing in 26:14 and 25:04 respectively. In 2018 I was training for the New York City Marathon, and ran the race at a slower pace as part of a 10-mile medium-long run. Although the Track Club advertises the race as one of Atlanta's flattest courses, the summer heat and some hills in the second half of the course have always slowed me down in past years.
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| "Ass O'Clock" on the way to the race |
In the run-up to today's 5K race, I resolved to try for a sub-25 minute finish. Everything went well in the week prior to the race, including carefully hydrating. Then last night, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday with a grand family dinner at the Royal China restaurant. We enjoyed a delicious meal of Peking duck, spicy chicken, salt-and-pepper squid, sizzling tofu with shrimp, seafood chow fun, eggplant fries, snow pea leaves with garlic, red bean dessert, and then a slice of birthday cake from Sweet Hut. Although I had resolved beforehand to eat selectively, filling up on greens with snow pea leaves and just enjoying small tastes of the other dishes, I ended up eating my full share. Walking out some pounds heavier, I jokingly dialed back by goal by a minute.
On race day, we left the house at 6 am sharp, for a 25 minute drive to Pemberton Park near the start of the race. We had allowed plenty of time before a 7:30 am race, right? But there was a massive traffic jam downtown, and the parking garage for the World of Coca-Cola was already full. We needed another 10 minutes to crawl the additional block to more expensive parking at the Georgia Aquarium. Then the first decision: bib pickup or toilet? Since the Atlanta Track Club always has efficient bib pickup, I decided to jump into the line for the toilet, which took about 15 minutes, but the line grew steadily longer as I waited, so that was the right decision. I successfully dropped a pound or so before the race. But I unexpectedly found the longest line for bib pickup. By then it was 7:15 am, far too late for the planned 2-mile warmup jog (at my pace, anyway). The announcer was already asking all runners to move to the starting area a few blocks away. That was my only warmup: an easy jog, a few short strides and skips, on my way to wave B.
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| I missed the big Atlanta Track Club group photo, but my priority was to wait in the toilet line. |
Fortunately I felt ready enough to run. The 73 degree F temperature was comfortable compared to recent evening runs, at 20 degrees warmer. After saying hello to volunteer Lindy Liu - single-handedly holding back a horde of wave B runners - and waving to Kristi Swartz 20 feet away, I just kept jogging in place and staying loose with butt kicks. As we moved up to the starting line, I reviewed my plan once more: aim to run each mile at a consistent 8 min / mile pace, then make a strong kick to the finish line in the last two blocks.
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| Scenes from Pemberton Park: current exhibits at the Center for Civil and Human Rights (above) World of Coke (below, left) and the Georgia Aquarium (below, right) |
The airhorn sounded! We ran north on Marietta Street, one of the main roads into the Five Points center of downtown Atlanta. Marietta Street typically has many potholes, but to spruce up downtown for the Super Bowl earlier this year, the City of Atlanta repaved the street, so we ran on a very nice and smooth asphalt surface this year. I tried to maintain a very easy pace, and avoided looking at my watch for the first few minutes. When I finally checked, I was moving at a 7:45 min / mile pace, which was pretty good for a conservative start. I had let a considerable number of faster runners pass me in the first few minutes. Kristi Swartz, who typically runs close to my speed, was far ahead, but I decided to stay with my race plan and resisted exerting myself. The first mile was gently, subtly downhill, and I passed the mile 1 sign at 7:50. My legs felt good, and my heartrate wasn't too high, in the mid-150 beats per minute, so I kept running at the same pace.
For the second consecutive year, this race was also the USATF Master's 5K Championship race. Those competitors, about 160 in total, had a five-minute headstart on wave A, and began seven-minutes ahead of my wave. I'm sure that there were plenty of speedsters in the 40s, 50s, and 60s age groups far ahead of me, but near the end of mile 1, we began to pass a few of the older runners in the competition, who wore a second bib on the back marking their age group and gender, i.e. M 80, W 90, etc. One of the regular runners would say "Good job" everytime she passed one of the senior runners. I wasn't sure if that was patronizing or encouraging, although I'm certain that her intention was positive. I mainly tried to steer clear and avoid running into any of the slower competitors.
At Delia's Chicken and Sausage, we made a gentle turn onto Northside Drive, followed within a block or two by a much more acute right turn onto Tech Parkway. Temilola "Tes" Sobomehin Marshall was course monitor at the corner, cheering us on, giving high-fives to the runners on the inside track. I had taken an outside track to make the turn without slowing down, and ended up going quite wide, adding several extra steps - like a big truck making the turn. Something that I need to work on ...
The route continued downhill past the Georgia Tech campus. Stealing another glance at my watch, I was still running just under an 8 minute / mile pace. As we approached a water station, I decided to take a cup, although I didn't feel particularly thirsty. I was determined to maintain pace, but had trouble finding an open spot with a volunteer. A woman just ahead had taken a cup, and I tried to guess whether I should dash past her on the left or on the right. I guessed wrong and bumped into her - fortunately I didn't knock her over, but many apologies - running isn't supposed to be a contact sport. Something else to work on ...
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| The big divot in my pace running uphill in the last few minutes was the only real glitch in today's race. |
I managed to grab a cup of water from a volunteer, promptly spilled half of its contents onto my right shoulder, which cooled me off a bit, gulped down the rest, which slaked any incipient thirst. Reaching the mile 2 marker in 7:49 elapsed, I realized that I was likely to break 25 minutes today after all. We were in a section with gentle rolling hills, which I managed going uphill fairly well without maximizing my heart rate. By maintaining the same pace going downhill, while exhaling heavily trying to blow out as much carbon dioxide as possible, my heartrate would recover downwards a few points. Then uphill again, repeat on the downhill. I saw Kristi Swartz up ahead, and wondered if I could catch up to her.
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| With Bonnie and Tes after the race |
At 19 minutes, midway through the third mile, we crossed North Avenue, past the Coca-Cola Headquarters Building, onto the long steady uphill section named Luckie Street. At first I ran well, maintaining the pace. I had followed Kristi for much of the way, but couldn't close the lead - she wasn't slowing down. Further ahead, I looked for the Georgia Aquarium Garage, the landmark the top of this final hill at Ivan Allen Boulevard. But the only building that I could make out was a Hyatt Hotel, and I didn't recall its location. I asked myself, do we have to pass the Hyatt before we cross Ivan Allen? 20:30 elapsed, it seems much farther than 4 minutes from the finish line. Afterwards I checked my Garmin stats, which showed an abrupt drop in my pace around that time, slower than 9 minute / mile. I wonder if my mental strength failed in that moment - something else to work on ...
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| Bonnie's finish, with commentary |
On Luckie Street, we passed a wheelchair racer that had stopped on the side of the road. A man tried to encourage her, but she seemed OK. Hopefully it was a mechanical breakdown rather than a physiological problem, perhaps a flat tire. As we drew nearer to Ivan Allen, I finally realized that the Hyatt Hotel was beyond the Aquarium, in fact at the corner for the last turn to the finish line. The combination of knowing that I was close to finishing and cresting the hill gave me the strength to return to a faster pace. Time to put on the final kick, I thought, especially as we began running downhill past the Aquarium. I was shocked to see a younger runner just ahead of me slow to a walk. As I flew past, I wanted to shout "Why are you walking? We're running downhill and near the finish!" Good thing that remained an invisible thought bubble, because a moment later he passed me, and I couldn't match his kick.
Passing the mile 3 marker (8:13, 23:52 elapsed, although I didn't notice at the time) I saw David Bloomquist, who cheered me forward with "Just 50 yards to go!" I thought, 50 steps to the finish, is that all? I kicked hard through the left turn onto Baker Street, kept running as fast as possible toward the finish line. Afterwards, I wish that I had thought of the technique of strides, speeding up a bit in consecutive 5 second increments. In the heat of the moment, the only thoughts in my brain were "run run run" and "I hope that no one is about to pass me at the very end!" I was relieved to clear the first and then the second timing mat without hearing footsteps immediately behind or next to me. I stopped my watch, to see: 24:48 elapsed! Mission Accomplished!!
My official time: 24:44, 20 seconds faster than my previous best on this course. Although I was briefly winded, I quickly recovered, and set out for an easy 2+ mile cool down, during which my legs and everything else proved intact.
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| Celebratory brunch at West Egg: chicken chilaquiles |
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