After 50 consecutive years, Atlanta's iconic 10K race on Peachtree Road was postponed from Independence Day to Thanksgiving, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Once the race was officially delayed, I planned to run my own 10K race on or around Independence Day. In the weeks leading up to July 4, the Atlanta Track Club encouraged members to run "My Personal Peachtree" as well.
I originally planned to run on July 3, to avoid others with the same idea. Unfortunately a water pipe leak at the house urgently required repair - and the workers were able to come on Friday morning July 3, so I waited until Saturday July 4. The night before, I watched the 2012 London Olympics 10,000 meter race on YouTube, where training partners (at the time) Mo Farah and Galen Rupp finished with gold and silver medals, respectively. In addition, Tariku and Kenenisa Bekele were just a second apart, with the younger brother Tariku winning bronze, even though his older brother Kenenisa was the defending Olympic Gold medalist and the world record holder - a record that still stands, 15 years after he set it in Belgium. I recall watching that race at the time and feeling inspired, even though it was several months before I started with my first attempts at running.
I arrived well before sunrise at the Tucker Middle School track, ran an easy warmup mile, and then began running my personal 10K, which should have been 25 laps around the track. I ran the first two miles pretty slowly, 9:03 and 9:01, slightly picked up the pace for mile 3 at 8:49, crossed what I estimated was the 5000 meter mark around 27:40. Then at 3.80 miles, disaster struck.
Just a little, but enough so that I needed to immediately stop. I now wonder if this is why elite runners sometimes inexplicably drop out of races.
I was pretty upset at first, but by the time that I had arrived home (just a few minutes drive) I had accepted that the good thing about a virtual race was that I could just run it any time I wanted to. I hadn't dialed up the effort that high in the warmup and in the first 6000 meters, so I felt that I could try again after a rest day.
This morning, Monday July 6, making sure that my lower GI tract was as empty as possible, I set out to repeat the attempt. Another 1 mile warmup, finishing with a few strides, leg swings, and stretches, and I was ready to start. Mile 1, I tried to keep the effort easy, but felt that I was running faster than I had in my first attempt. When I checked my watch after the first lap, I had run just over 2 minutes, an 8:10 min / mile pace. I wondered, can I maintain this pace? I slowed just a little, but finished mile 1 in 8:25. Turns out that I couldn't maintain the pace, running both miles 2 and 3 in 8:46. I crossed the 5000 meter mark around 26:45. I knew that I was in some trouble now, because I was much more tired than I had been running 5K just 55 seconds slower on Saturday. What a difference just 4 - 5 seconds per lap makes!
Mile 4 was a mental challenge, as I tried to keep from slowing down. When I made it past 3.80 miles, there was no problem with potential out pooping, although I was about to poop out. 8:53 for mile 4, 34:49 elapsed. Mile 5 was tough. I slowed down, my heart rate maxxed out. About 41 minutes in, 4.7 miles elapsed, I took a walk break down the final straight of the track. I needed a full minute for 100 meters. I resumed running when I crossed the start line, but couldn't get back to a decent speed. Mile 5, 10:06, 44:56 elapsed.
I had watched a video on Friday night (see link above) that warned that miles 4 - 5 would be tough, but that mile 6 and mile 6.2 would take care of themselves. I was skeptical on the second point, as I've run plenty of 10K races where I've suffered in mile 6 and mile 6.2. But I remembered something that Coach Carl had once advised for marathon training: mile 24 is 9 laps to the finish; mile 25 is 5 laps to the finish. Putting on my marathon mindset, 5 laps to go, I sped up all the way to ... marathon race pace, finishing mile 6 in 9:57, 54:53 elapsed.
For the last lap, I was determined to run faster. In the original plan, my goal was to save enough energy so that mile 6 was my fastest mile and mile 6.2 was my fastest lap. That wasn't the case today, although I covered the final lap at a 8:40 min / mile pace, the fastest lap of my last 5000 meters. I was concerned that the track was just a bit short of 400 meters, so while I crossed the "finish line" at 6.20 miles elapsed on my watch, I ran to the middle of the first curve (about 50 meters more) to ensure that I finished 6.22 miles, recording a legitimate 10K distance on both Garmin and Strava. 56:49 total time.
That wasn't what I was looking for when I began training three months ago. But my training has been uneven, running most workouts on the shorter end of the range, including two longer run attempts in June ruined by needing to poop - no disaster but it really slowed me down. I'm still enjoying the act of running, but I miss running with other people. Unfortunately I haven't felt safe joining running meetups since mid-March, and I'm sure that all the negative news has adversely affected my motivation to train. So for the next month, I'm just going to run when I feel like it. I'll run some physically distanced races by appointment, not worrying too much about my overall time, just trying to negative split those races. Undoubtably that's what I should have done today. I was on track to do that on Saturday. But this morning I was impatient and wasted my chance.
I originally planned to run on July 3, to avoid others with the same idea. Unfortunately a water pipe leak at the house urgently required repair - and the workers were able to come on Friday morning July 3, so I waited until Saturday July 4. The night before, I watched the 2012 London Olympics 10,000 meter race on YouTube, where training partners (at the time) Mo Farah and Galen Rupp finished with gold and silver medals, respectively. In addition, Tariku and Kenenisa Bekele were just a second apart, with the younger brother Tariku winning bronze, even though his older brother Kenenisa was the defending Olympic Gold medalist and the world record holder - a record that still stands, 15 years after he set it in Belgium. I recall watching that race at the time and feeling inspired, even though it was several months before I started with my first attempts at running.
 |
| Scenes from the 2012 Olympics. Good ol' days, good ol' days. Youtube video |
I had pooped out.
Actually, I had out pooped.
Just a little, but enough so that I needed to immediately stop. I now wonder if this is why elite runners sometimes inexplicably drop out of races.
I was pretty upset at first, but by the time that I had arrived home (just a few minutes drive) I had accepted that the good thing about a virtual race was that I could just run it any time I wanted to. I hadn't dialed up the effort that high in the warmup and in the first 6000 meters, so I felt that I could try again after a rest day.
 |
| Ever hopeful at the start |
Mile 4 was a mental challenge, as I tried to keep from slowing down. When I made it past 3.80 miles, there was no problem with potential out pooping, although I was about to poop out. 8:53 for mile 4, 34:49 elapsed. Mile 5 was tough. I slowed down, my heart rate maxxed out. About 41 minutes in, 4.7 miles elapsed, I took a walk break down the final straight of the track. I needed a full minute for 100 meters. I resumed running when I crossed the start line, but couldn't get back to a decent speed. Mile 5, 10:06, 44:56 elapsed.
 |
| Youtube link |
For the last lap, I was determined to run faster. In the original plan, my goal was to save enough energy so that mile 6 was my fastest mile and mile 6.2 was my fastest lap. That wasn't the case today, although I covered the final lap at a 8:40 min / mile pace, the fastest lap of my last 5000 meters. I was concerned that the track was just a bit short of 400 meters, so while I crossed the "finish line" at 6.20 miles elapsed on my watch, I ran to the middle of the first curve (about 50 meters more) to ensure that I finished 6.22 miles, recording a legitimate 10K distance on both Garmin and Strava. 56:49 total time.
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| I'm wiped out after a tough 10,000 meters. And now I have to go to work! |
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| How not to run a 10,000 meter race |
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