April 25, 2020: Mano-a-Mano 4-Miler

In the months before COVID-19 swept the globe, the Atlanta Track Club announced the race date for the Singleton 4-Miler for April 25.  Brian Minor and I had resolved to race each other.  In case you're wondering, here is our scorecard for seven of our competitions prior to today's contest:

July 16, 2016:          Decatur DeKalb 4-Miler         Frank 34:16         Brian 32:00

July 17, 2016:          Lindbergh Mile                      Frank 7:07          Brian 7:01

January 7, 2017:      Red Nose Half Marathon        Frank 2:04:00      Brian 1:59:06

January 1, 2018:      Resolution Run 5K                 Frank 23:30 (PR)  Brian 23:26

December 9, 2018:  Jeff Galloway Half Marathon  Frank 1:58:50      Brian 1:55:54

August 3, 2019:       Decatur DeKalb 4-Miler          Frank 33:09         Brian 34:37

September 2, 2019: Big Peach Sizzler 10K             Frank 53:23         Brian 53:01

There are a few more, with much the same pattern, although I'm only counting the races that I specifically remember that we had challenged each other beforehand.  The  funny thing, before I looked up our results while writing this blog post, I had forgotten that I have lost 6 out of these 7 contests.  I've only remembered the fun that we've enjoyed before, during, and after these races.  

Oct. 22, 2017, before the Atlanta 10-Miler.  We weren't directly racing on this day,
but Brian bought me breakfast after I met his challenge to go for a personal record.  

When we learned that the Singleton race was postponed, I proposed to Brian that we hold a virtual competition: we each pick our preferred route, start at the same time, and let Strava referee.  Brian immediately accepted, and our training resumed! 

In selecting my route, my top priority was safety.  After an easy run up and down Lavista Road in Tucker, I decided that the sidewalks were too battered for me to try to run faster.  I settled on an out-and-back route at Stone Mountain Park, where one lane of the asphalt roadway is reserved for pedestrians and cyclists, and there is minimal auto traffic, restricted to one direction, in the other lane.  Brian was originally going to run the Suwanee Greenway, but after investigating the route, there were some wet spots covering the trail.  With the recent rains, Brian elected to run one of his regular routes on the sidewalk paralleling Duluth Highway.  He had one traffic light to contend with, but I gather that running the main route, the likelihood was that the light would be green when he reached that intersection.  

My route had more hills, but my biggest hill was only a 60 foot climb in the middle of the route.  I do OK with rolling hills, and all of my runs excepting those on the track are hilly runs.  At least these hills would not be as steep as those on the trails at Lucky Shoals Park.  Brian had a 100-foot hill to climb in mile 1, then descending about 60 feet, then climbing 60 feet in mile 3 of his return.  He told me that he was counting on a fast finish with the long downhill for mile 4. 

We both started on the east side of our routes, ran west 2 miles, and then returned to the start-finish area

I'm in week 4 of a 14-week training plan with Coach Carl, finishing with the Peachtree Road Race 10K on July 4.  Currently, I'm not too hopeful that we'll actually run large races that soon.  However, well before COVID-19 had spread through the United States, I had already resolved to focus on 5K to 10K training in this cycle, to develop some speed, before returning to longer endurance races, culminating in a 2021 marathon.  The training program has felt easy so far, perhaps because I'm comparing it to marathon training.  However the speed components include 15-second strides and hill repeats, as well as tempo and progression runs, trying to hit specific paces.  Carl is a big advocate of strides, once a week, at the end of shorter easy workouts, and claims that strides are one of the best ways to build speed. 

The "ass o'clock" photo means that this is a REAL race,
whether or not you think that it's virtual.  

My personal record for the 4-mile race distance is 32:53, from April 2019 in the Singleton race.  Brian has run 31:18 and 31:30, but those times date back to 2017.  I ran in both of those races, but I don't recall specifically trying to race Brian, and doubt that I would have had a chance.  Back then I was happy to break 34 minutes.   

Before I began running, I had rarely appreciated the beauty of sunrise.
Bonnie took these photos from the car on the way to Stone Mountain Park. 

Arriving at Stone Mountain shortly before 7:00 am, I had plenty of time to warm up on a 2-mile out-and-back on my chosen race route.  The weather was nearly perfect, 53 degrees F, but there was a very light drizzle toward the end of my warmup.  Around 7:20 am, Bonnie and I called Brian and Beverly on FaceBook Messenger for a short video-chat.  They had a little more rain than we did.  Brian was sporting his Chicago Marathon shirt, I was wearing traditional Tucker Running Club day-glo, and the Brooks shoes that had carried me to a big personal record in the marathon on March 1.  Based on my warmup, I wasn't sure what I might run today, but I was hoping to finish in about 34 minutes.  But I jokingly finished the call with Brian with the words "Talk to you in about 25 minutes!"   

Brian even created a bib to wear for our virtual race!
19 is his favorite number.  

Some friendly trash talk before the race! 

I did a few last-minute stretches as I toed the line at the start.  Bonnie lined up to take my photo of the start; Beverly did the same for Brian, about 10 miles away.  At 7:30 am sharp, Bonnie gave me a signal, then "Ready, Set, GO!!!!"  

Above: Brian getting inspiration before his race from their son, Brenden
Below: Beverly made signs for Brian's race! 

Above: Brian's start in the rain in Lawrenceville
Below: The drizzle had stopped at Stone Mountain, about 10 miles to the east

I had intended to run the first mile in 8:30 or so, and then try to speed up from there.  When I first glanced at my watch about 30 seconds in, I was moving at a 7:50 min / mile pace.  But I had a slight downhill start, so I settled into an easy rhythm.  Amazingly, I was still running around an 8 minute / mile pace.  Coach Carl had reminded me, "careful not to start too fast!"  Yet my legs felt really good.  I decided to trust my training, and my warmup, and my strides, and I maintained the same pace.  Mile 1 elapsed in 7:57, a little faster than I had planned.  I might just have three more of those miles in me today, I thought. 

I took these photos a week ago, when I was checking out the race route.
Axles were a landmark at 0.4 miles.
Below is the view one mile into my route. 

Before I knew it, I was at the single intersection on this route.  This was the 1.4 mile mark.  But instead of 14 minutes on an easy run pace, I was looking at just past 11 minutes elapsed on my watch!   

Now I ran downhill past the Children's Playground, then uphill again, still running strongly.  In this section, I had to move to the left side of the roadway (reserved for auto traffic) to maintain sufficient distance from walkers.  At this time of the morning, I had seen only a few cars.  Running in the westward direction, I was facing traffic, so I had plenty of warning whenever I needed to move back into the pedestrian lane.  My main concern was to stay out of the bicycle lane, especially while running downhill, as the cyclists can pick up some significant speed on the Stone Mountain hills.  

Grateful for downhill running!
And grateful for great friends, and my lovely wife.
Can't forget the real meaning of life! 

After passing the Children's Playground, I began climbing a long hill that tops out near the parking lot for the walk-up trail to the top of Stone Mountain.  Fortunately I knew from my route planning that I would only run up the first 10 - 20% of that hill.  I was looking for the landmark for the turnaround, a remote parking lot off to the left.  And there it was, appearing simultaneous with hearing the 2-mile alert.  And at 16:02 elapsed!  

Meanwhile, Beverly snapped a photo of Brian mid-race.

We were judging distance by Strava, not by a measured race distance, so there was no point to running tangents.  I had weaved a bit from the sidewalk on the right to the roadway on the left to maintain sufficient distance from others on the road.  So I ran a few extra steps, just in case I found a more direct route to the finish line.  

Halfway done!!

Turning around, I immediately had to run back uphill, but it didn't take too long before I was heading downhill again.   I've run the Stone Mountain loop in the counterclockwise direction many more times than the opposite, so the landmarks were more familiar from several years of running memories.  At the intersection, just 1.4 miles to go!  

But now, the exertion of the first 2.6 miles was beginning to take its toll.  I was still running well, running fast, but was nearing exhaustion.  I checked my pulse rate and I was already red-lined, 180 beats per minute!  Brian had made a joke before we began, asking Bonnie "Do you know CPR?" and that came to mind.  But then I was running downhill again.  I tried to relax a little, let my pulse come down into the 170s (still pretty high), and heard the mile 3 alert, 24:08 elapsed.  

Above: the view at mile 3
Below: a left turn, that in the past has deceived me that the roundabout is near.
Today I knew that I still had 0.7 miles to run. 

Just one mile to go!  A 33-minute finish was almost assured.  I had no idea how Brian was doing with his run, but at this point, I was now thinking about what a great position I had put myself into for a personal record, if I just kept pushing.  I had just run 7:57, 8:05, 8:06.  An 8:45 would match my personal record!  Although I was hurting, I just told myself, c'mon Frank, you can do anything for 1 mile!  

Heading uphill, I was maintaining an 8:45 pace at first.  Then I cleared the hill, made the left turn pictured above, and headed downhill, picking up some speed.  Passing the axles again, 0.4 mile to go, my pace for the last mile was now 8:30 / mile.  Putting aside the temptation to take a short walk break, I began looking for my last landmark.   

These signs are relatively new, probably within the past year.
From here, I had just 0.3 miles to go!  

I went into the motion of running a stride, but didn't turn up the speed to the second or third level, as I needed to maintain for just 2 or at most 3 more minutes.  A woman coming the other way cheered me on: "You're close to the finish line!"  I realized that she must have seen Bonnie's finish line, already in place for me.  That was good, because I was going to arrive about 2 minutes earlier than I had told Bonnie to expect me!  One last left turn, and then a straightaway to the finish.  

I could see Bonnie in the distance, wearing her own yellow Tucker Running Club shirt, next to the finish line that she had strung up between two plastic poles marking the bicycle lane.  I heard my watch signal 4 miles!  I took a quick look but only saw 8:15, my time for mile 4, but knew that my time elapsed would begin with the number 32!  One last push through the finish line for the cameras, for the glory, hearing Bonnie's cheers!!

I gasped to Bonnie, "Oh my, that was hard!"  It took me a few minutes to regain my breath, but I was thrilled to see 32:43 elapsed for 4.04 miles.  After I checked Strava, and my mental function had returned to manage the simple addition, I realized that I had just smashed my old personal record, with a 32:21 finish!  Win or lose, I was going to be very, very happy with this outcome.  

The second of three deer to cross the road shortly after I finished.

And now to wait to hear from Brian!  I went for a short warmup jog with my phone in hand, and then he called - his result was 37:02 minutes for 4.02 miles, or 36:53 at the 4.00 mile mark, according to Strava.  

So I snatched the victory today!  And I was really happy that my training showed today. Add one more to the table: 

April 25, 2020:       Mano-a-Mano 4-Miler          Frank 32:21         Brian 36:53

We had a fun time afterwards, reliving our races.  Here's our Strava results for comparison: 

Although I ran really fast (for me) today, you can see that I slowed down with every mile, so that's something for me to work on going forward.  It looks like Brian started conservatively, but had trouble with the hill on the return trip in mile 3, and couldn't make up enough on the downhill for mile 4.  

There WILL be a rematch!  I'm pushing for a head-to-head 10K competition for the Peachtree Road Race, but have also agreed to another 4-mile mano-a-mano on August 1, when the Decatur DeKalb 4-miler is scheduled.  

April 4, 2020: Night Owl 5K - virtual edition

I had a lot of fun running my first virtual race two weeks ago.  I decided to do it again for the AWARE Night Owl 5K.  This race was scheduled at Panola State Park, at 6 pm in the evening.  Nathan Gaffney, one of the trainees in Coach Carl's Tuesday night track workouts, had advertised the race a month ago, and I had put it down on my calendar. 

Then the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world.  In my work, I've quickly adapted my courses to remote learning, and I've grown more comfortable with the technology.  I've maintained Friday afternoon group meetings with my laboratory, and weekly one-on-one meetings on the phone with each member following the same schedule that we had established earlier in the semester.   

Bonnie and I, and all members of our family appear to be fine.  Everyone in my research group is currently healthy.  Hopefully Emory and metro Atlanta shut down in time to minimize the number of new infections, but only time will tell.  Having passed the two-week mark since I last went to work, I feel that I've made it, now I just need to continue to stay safe.  

The world hasn't seen a pandemic like this since the 1918 influenza epidemic, which all four of my grandparents survived.  More than a million people have been diagnosed to date, and over 60,000 people have already died from COVID-19.  

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

And then there are thousands of others who have taken ill with milder cases of COVID-19 - mild in that they weren't hospitalized.  Many of them weren't tested, so they don't show up in the official statistics.  I work with two people in my department who are recovering from likely cases of COVID-19.  The symptoms matched, it was a pretty bad experience, and different from influenza, but the severity of their illnesses wasn't at the level that landed them in the hospital.  They weren't tested.
  

For running, I'll continue with virtual races for causes and events that I want to support, until it's safe to run races again, whenever that may be.  I registered for the Night Owl 5K a couple of weeks ago, knowing that it would only be a virtual race for me.  Before I registered, I was excited to learn that the AWARE Wildlife foundation had established a formal program for the virtual race.  A few days ago, the organization posted a YouTube video.  I encourage you to watch, all the way to the end!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qyIjaP-vuE  

I decided to run the same route that I had run at Lucky Shoals Park a couple of weeks ago, except counterclockwise, which I consider is the tougher direction.  Bonnie and I showed about around 5:30 pm, filmed a finish line photo - since I didn't know exactly where my 5K finish line would be once I began running - and then did an easy warmup lap, thinking over my race plan.  

Toeing the line

Ready to start

At 5:55 pm, I walked up and down the parking lot to ensure that I was relaxed and ready to go.  At 5:59 pm, I toed a line at a stop sign, activated my watch to find a celltower signal, and counted to 60.  Assuming that it was now officially 6:00 pm, I said "Ready --- set --- go!"  Clicked the watch button and took off - much too fast, but slowed to a reasonable pace as soon as I was on the asphalt path.  

First step

Onto the trail just ahead of a walker

The first kilometer was mostly uphill for the first four minutes.  There was a set of switchbacks on the way up, then it leveled out briefly.  The elevation chart showed a little dip, but it wasn't apparent in this direction, then a hundred meters or so uphill to the highest elevation of the park.  4:10 elapsed.  The path leveled out again, even though the elevation chart showed that was downhill, it didn't feel much like it.  First kilometer finished in 5:41, 45 feet elevation gain, 26 loss.  Felt like 71 feet up, 0 down.   

But the second kilometer began with a nice long downhill.  In fact I was very careful to make sure that I bent my knees running downhill, to take advantage of the favorable slope without injuring myself.  I definitely picked up the pace below 5 minutes per kilometer (sub 8 minute per mile) past the bottom.  After a bit of level running, the hills began again, but I knew that meant that I was close to the end of the first loop.  Oh, there was another hill.  Then, the parking lot, followed by another hill.  Now I had completed the first loop!  Strava indicated that I set a personal record on the 1.08 mile loop in 9:39, out of 23 efforts since joining Strava late in 2016.  

I was doing well to this stage, but hoping to pick up the pace a tad on the second loop. The second kilometer sounded, 5:30, 11:11 elapsed, 22 feet elevation gain, 37 feet loss.  That felt about right.  Then it was time for the switchbacks again.  Up, up, up, at times winding around a few walkers on the trail.  There were probably no more than a dozen people total on the 1.08 mile loop, but I passed them multiple times, trying to maintain a safe 6-foot distance, or more, making sure that I turned my head away from people, not to breathe on them.  My legs were beginning to burn.  Maybe I should have taken more time after my warm-up run before beginning the race.  When I reached the top of the course, I glanced at my watch, 14:00 elapsed exactly.  That means that the loop from top-to-top was 9:50, pretty good!  But my pace per kilometer for the third kilometer was slower than 6 minute / kilometer.  I wanted to drive down that number into the 5's.  Leveling out (or actually downhill), and then heading down the real hill, I picked up more speed, finishing the third kilometer at the lowest point of the course in 5:47, 17 minutes total, 42 feet elevation gain, 59 feet loss.

Going uphill at the beginning of the fourth kilometer.
Thanks Bonnie for the photos! 

Only two kilometers to go, but ... I was getting thirsty.  It was warm, in the mid-70's.  I was doing OK with the rolling hills heading to the starting area near the entrance to the park, but it was a struggle to maintain the pace under 6 minute / kilometer.  Near the entrance, I drew close to a couple walking together, and another walker was coming the other way.  If I didn't stop, there would be four abreast on an 8-foot wide path.  I slowed to a walk, until the walker coming the other way had passed me, and then picked up the pace again taking a wide turn past the couple.  Actually I think that the momentary break, even just 5 seconds, may have helped my heart rate.  When I checked Strava afterwards, that lap was my third fastest, surpassed by four seconds in a one-lap race prep two evening ago.  Back to running, beginning the third and final lap.  This was going to be uphill the rest of the way for the fourth kilometer.  Running up the switchback this time was really tough.  I wanted to take a walk break so badly.  But I found the mental strength to keep running, even though I knew that I wasn't going too fast.  6:12, 23:10 total elapsed, 50 feet elevation gain, only 5 feet loss.  Given the elevation profile, that was pretty good. 

Could I finish in less than 29 minutes?  I still needed to go up one more hill to reach the highest point of the course, and pushed myself as hard as I could.  Actually it sort of felt good!  Turning the corner at the top of the hill, I saw 24:15 on the watch, 10:15 for the second loop from top-to-top, and my pace so far in that segment was just below 6 minutes per kilometer.  Now to cruise downhill to the finish.  I passed Bonnie coming the other way, said "one more klick" as I passed, and picked up the pace for a moment.  But even though the path was level, or slightly downhill, I lost concentration for a moment, and ended up slowing down.  Then the long downhill appeared, here was my chance to gain back some time, and started running faster again.  All the way downhill, to the bottom of the course.  27 minutes and change, how close am I to the 5K mark?  Run, run, run, 28 minutes elapsed, I switched the readout on my watch to show total distance, hoping to see 4.99 kilometers.  No, only 4.91 kilometers.  And up ahead there was a hill.  Not a big hill, but not easy either.  I kept pushing myself, 4.97 kilometers, run, run, run, and mercifully, the 5 kilometer alert sounded, 28:42 elapsed!  I kept running another 10 seconds before stopping my watch.  

Phew, I was totally gassed.  But on a warm evening, I had run only 9 seconds slower than I did two weeks ago when the temperature was 15 degrees cooler at 8 am.  And tonight, I ran in the direction that certainly feels tougher!  I'll call that a win. 

We created a faux finish line before I began the virtual race.
I've never broken the tape, before this evening! 

I'm fortunate to have a beautiful park to run, within walking distance of my home.
During a sunrise run last summer, I saw a deer at this place on the trail.
And the regular hill training has undoubtably helped my running!