In the past few days, the morning temperatures in Atlanta have finally cooled, although it still gets warm in the evenings. I struggled through a 15 mile long run last Saturday morning at 75 deg F with 90% humidity, and had to cut short a speed workout on the track on Tuesday evening by four repetitions (1/2 mile), due to 90 deg F temperature. On the other hand, I've built some strength throughout the heat of the long summer. By regularly running strides at the end of some of my shorter weekday runs, my short-duration sprints have improved.
I made the one-hour drive to Cartersville early this morning for the annual Atlanta Track Club Wingfoot cross-country meet, mostly just to earn the Grand Prix participation points. The temperature was the coolest that I've felt in months, 59 deg F at the start. I decided to race, aiming to better my course time of 25:06 in 2016 - on the same field but a substantially different course layout. More importantly, I committed to start the race with good pace discipline, beginning conservatively and then gradually increasing my speed.
As we gathered at the starting line shortly before 7:15 am, the number of runners seemed smaller than in previous years. There was plenty of room for us all to toe the starting line. After a pre-race announcement, the starter climbed onto a haybale in the middle of the field, waved a red flag, and then fired the starting pistol. A puff of smoke rose in the air as a wave of eager runners flowed down the hill. In previous years, I've often run down this hill far too fast - this time I held my pace at a relatively easy jog, aiming for no faster than an 8:00 min / mile pace. Near the bottom of the hill, I took a quick peek at my watch, saw a pace of 8-low - perfect! I made a left turn over a gulley without mishap, and settled into the running lane for the first mile. I had started conservatively enough so that no one was passing me. I weaved around a few children, taking care not to run over them. We crossed the obligatory three rows of hay bales shortly before completing the first mile, up-and-over without raising my heart rate. My watch signaled 1 mile complete at 8:11.4, and a few steps later I crossed the 1-mile timing mat at 8:17.8 (official). If that was a little slow, I was now confident that I had plenty of reserve to run 2.11 strong miles. Now to speed up a bit! And unlike the Labor Day race, my legs responded to the command.
We soon reached another timing mat, corresponding to the 2-mile mark for the lead runners coming in the other direction. I noticed several Georgia Tech runners crossing the 2-mile mat at the same time as I passed in the other direction, at 10:28.3 elapsed (2050 meters for me, 1.27 miles), which meant that they were on pace for a 16-minute finish - amazing! They didn't even look like they were exerting that much, but it was probably the efficiency of their effort that I observed. In the 1/4-mile since the first timing strip, I had passed 6 people (thanks to the Atlanta Track Club for providing these detailed stats!). Near the end of the second mile, I caught up to Bob Wells, a fellow age-group competitor. Bob volunteers for many Atlanta Track Club events, and is deservedly well-known and liked. I had thought that we might run together for awhile, but after we crossed the 2-mile timing mat together, my pace was a little faster than his, and so I moved ahead. For the rest of the race, I heard people cheering "Go Bob!" and used that information to guess how far ahead of him I was. My watch signaled two miles completed at 16:04, consistent with a 7:53 second mile. I reached the 2-mile timing mat at 16:17.6, officially 8:00 minutes even - and having passed another 12 people.
Now for the final 1.11 miles! Once I had passed Bob Wells, I deliberately but slightly accelerated, reaching another timing mat at 3550 meters (2.21 miles) at 17:52.4, having passed 2 more people. I began to tire a bit - but this was no time to let up. I had run so well to this point, I wasn't going to let this effort slip away. Positive attitude!! I really enjoyed how strongly I ran up little 5-foot hills throughout the course, taking short powerful steps propelling myself past a couple of other runners each time. For most of the final mile, I raced a couple of young women. I caught up with them, passed one of them, then the other. A moment later, one and then the other of the women moved ahead of me, but I found the energy to catch up. We went back and forth exchanging the lead in our trio, occasionally passing other runners who had expended their energy too quickly. My watch signaled 3 miles completed at 23:52, well before I saw the 3-mile sign, however that corresponded to a 7:48 third mile on my watch, confirming that I continued to speed up.
Racing to the finish, there was another 5-foot hill to scrambled up, and I moved in front of both women. Where was the finish line?! Might I finish in less than 25 minutes? I ran as fast as I could, but both women caught up to me as the finish line came into sight. I saw 24-high on the clock - I found the speed for one last sprint, and here the stride workouts paid off: I rocketed ahead for a moment. The clock clicked past 25 minutes. It was almost too much of an effort for me, coupled with the momentary disappointment upon seeing 25:06 - 25:07 - 25:08 on the clock before I crossed the finish line mat, thankfully before I had run out of energy. I recorded 25:11 on my watch. My official finish time was 25:09.1, having passed 8 more people in the last stretch, to finish 148th overall. The results showed that I was 0.3 seconds ahead of one woman and 0.8 seconds ahead of the second of "the two Margarets."
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| All three of us advanced our places from the first mile to the finish, but I made the biggest jump. |
Although I didn't better my goal time of 25:06, I was very happy with the progressive nature of my race. One of the Margarets congratulated me as we picked up bottled water from the volunteers. My watch recorded a total distance of 3.19 miles, running the final 0.19 miles at a 6:53 min / mile pace. I was definitely pleased with my strong finish.
After cooling down, rehydrating, and chatting with a couple of friends in the Tucker Running Club, I set out for 5 easy miles on the Etowah Riverwalk Trail, completing a nice weekend workout before driving back to Atlanta.
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| The trees on either side are memorials to local residents. |
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| A field of cotton lies just south of the race route. |
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