August 29, 2020: Virtual Decatur - DeKalb 4-miler / R.A.T. race 5K

Ah, the good ol' days, before COVID-19 and physical distancing

The Atlanta Track Club designated this weekend for the virtual Decatur-DeKalb 4-miler race.  This is normally a hot hilly humid race, typically scheduled in mid-July, then last year moved to the first weekend in August to provide a little more recovery time from the Peachtree Road Race.  Originally I had hoped that the weather might cool down by the end of August, but when I woke this morning, the temperature was 75 deg F with 88% humidity.  

Brian Minor and I were originally going to virtually race each other - we had a fun time in a competition last year on the hills of Decatur (read all about my victory here) - but he had a family emergency, so I was running on my own today.  To complicate things a bit more (or perhaps not), Coach Carl arranged another version of the R.A.T. race "Running Alone Together" for a 5K distance this morning.  Knowing that I couldn't run a fast 5K and a separate fast 4-miler on the same weekend, I decided to just check my time when I reached 3.11 miles, on my way to finishing 4 miles.  

Last weekend I scouted a couple of locations for four miles out-and-back, one route on the Silver Comet Trail and the other on Columns Drive, both in Cobb County.  But a few days ago, perhaps not feeling that motivated, I decided to just run 16 laps on the track at Tucker Middle School, just a few miles from home.  At least I wouldn't have to drive 30 minutes or more before and after the race.  And Tucker Middle School is in DeKalb County, so at least I had the location partially correct, even if I was replacing a challenging hilly course with a pancake-flat track. 

10 minutes before sunrise

As I've subscribed to the Charge Running app, I decided to go along with a virtual 4-mile race that I found on the app, "Fast on the First" hosted by Coach Casey Green. I first used the app for the Summer Heat Half-Marathon in July. Since then I've enjoyed some live interaction with Charge Running coaches through my cellphone on solo morning runs.  After warming up with about 3/4 mile from a parking spot in nearly-empty downtown Tucker, I started up the app with about a minute to go before the 7:00 am starting time.  Coach Casey gave us a 10-second countdown, I started my watch, and took off! 

I started at the beginning of a straight 100-meter stretch, thinking that a 400 meter track would require me to run 36 steps beyond 16 laps to cover the 4-mile distance, assuming that the track was true and that I stayed on the inside of lane 1.  Story of my running life: I started much too fast. Although I wasn't working that hard, I quickly pulled back on my reins until I was moving closer to an 8 min / mile pace.  The first mile went by pretty quickly: 7:49 when the alert sounded, and I had not even completed 4 full laps!  I worked around a solitary walker on one of the curves, giving her at least 6-feet distance, but I ran the rest of the first mile in lane 1, as the walker had courteously moved to the outer lane before I passed her the next time.  

It turns out that Charge Run was recorded from New Year's Day 2020, hence the "Fast on the First" title for a January 1 race.  The coach had recorded encouragement to the runners who had done the race live on that day.  How much things have changed since then; a year that began with such hope has turned into one of the worst years in my own lifetime.  Anyway, the second mile felt the same as the first mile, but when I looked at my watch, I had somehow slowed to an 8:25 min / mile pace after lap 5.  I picked up the effort just slightly, and finished mile 2 in 8:17.  But I was even further back on the curve, even though I had not deviated at all from lane 1.  Perhaps the Garmin wasn't completely accurate this morning?  

Mile 3 started to feel a little tough.  My heart rate was around 170 beats per minute, but I was more than halfway done.  I had not recognized that much of the pop music soundtrack on the Charge Running app.  When I first began running, I quickly discovered that I actually enjoyed the experience of running when I didn't listen to music, even when I was running solo. But the music soundtrack sort of re-created the experience of what a race might be like, whether the music came from live bands on the curbs or simply from a spectator playing music from the speakers in the car.  Then near the end of mile 3, I recognized Queen's "Don't Stop Me Know", one of their hits from the late 1970's.  

"I'm gonna go, go, go, there's no stopping me"

I'll admit that I don't remember the song from that era.  I really only noticed it in the credits of the recent biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody", which I watched on a long international flight last year.  But Charge Running can certainly pick good songs when a tired runner needs a pick-up.  When Freddie Mercury sang

"I wanna make a supersonic man out of you"

I ran just a bit faster, as the mile 3 alert signaled 8:10, 24:16 elapsed.  That was close to what I was hoping to run. I pushed through the 3.11 mile mark and hit the lap button on my watch.  25:06 was definitely better than any of my other 5K race times this year (in person or virtual). 

A couple of screenshots from the movie credits (YouTube link),
showing Queen at the band's height of popularity 40 years ago.
Back then, my hair wasn't quite as long as Brian May's, but it was just as curly.  

With just 3-1/2 laps to go, I tried to maintain a fast pace. But having completed the R.A.T. race 5K distance, and without having Brian Minor for competition, just running to post a time on the Atlanta Track Club page wasn't enough motivation to keep pushing myself.  I deliberately took my foot off of the accelerator for the rest of the distance, settling for a decent but sustainable 9 min / mile pace to finish 4.00 miles in 33:04.  

Even with the slowdown in the last mile, that was a good 4-mile time for me, less than a minute slower than my personal best. 

Strava analysis shows a decent 5K effort, speeding up just a bit in mile 3,
and finishing strongly for the last 0.11 mile.

The Garmin pace chart shows a steady decline in my pace from start-to-finish,
except for a couple of minutes of acceleration
when the Queen song was played around 24 minutes into the run! 
"Cause I'm having a good time, having a good time"
It wasn't the best way to run a 4-mile race, but I made it. 

August 1, 2020: Publix Summer Series 5K

The final race of the Publix Summer Series was a 5K cross-country race, at the McIntosh Reserve recreation area, a few miles southwest of the small town of Whitesburg.  I thought last week's race was remote, but today Google Maps, finding the most direct path, guided me onto dirt roads while I was still a half-hour away from my destination.  I was relieved to spot the signs for the Reserve, and was grateful to see the familiar Atlanta Track Club signage and the volunteer guiding me into the field for parking.   

Progressively further and further from home

I was determined to run today's race more cautiously than last week's 8K race, when I was undone by an unexpected set of hills hidden in the treelike.  And unlike my daydreaming during the course instructions for the 1-mile race two weeks ago, I paid careful attention this morning.  During my pre-race warmup next to the course, I noticed that the route was two adjacent loops, and realized beforehand that I might easily go off course, especially if I grew tired later in the race. 

 

The fog burned off just a few minutes before my heat began

link to video for the start of the 7:24 am heat

As we started the 7:33 am heat, I found myself in the lead, but watching my pace carefully.  I was running easily across the grass, which was cut to an acceptable level, like running across a lawn.  About 3 - 4 minutes in, I noticed that the inner loop to our left turned back toward the start.  I just kept cruising forward, made the turns to return near the Chattahoochee River, and passed the mile 1 marker as my watch signalled 8:30.  Sam Benedict was just behind me, I estimated about 5 seconds based on the course monitor cheering each of us in our respective runs.  

I had planned to speed up just a bit in mile 2, especially as we approached a gravel road where I thought that I might run a little faster.  It turned out that the gravel road was the separator between the outer first loop and the inner second loop.  So I dutifully followed the red arrows painted on the grass, except for one little section where we avoided a small culvert draining water into the river.  I passed course monitor Jennifer Akor (at least I think it was her behind the mask), and turned off to run on a trail next to the river.  I started counting seconds before Jennifer began cheering on the next runner, who I assumed was Sam, but I didn't dare slow myself down by looking behind me: I now had a 12 second lead.   The trail was easy to run on, but then I spotted a few tree roots embedded in the ground, and made sure that I picked up my feet.  I hardly noticed the roar of the river as the water passed over some rapids, paying more attention to safely passing a couple of women from an earlier heat.  I was now +2 people ahead. 

The Chattahoochee River, flowing from left to right

link to video

Just after I passed them, the course monitor directed me to make a left turn - and up a hill!  Fortunately the hill wasn't too steep or too long, about 40 feet total.  I let myself slow down, just maintaining even effort, knowing that what goes up would come down again.  Another turn took me onto a roadway, where I glimpsed Sam further back, so I had continued to increase my lead.  Mile 2, 8:43 and 17:13 elapsed.   

Heart rate went up earlier than I had realized.  
I know to stay below 160 bpm, at least until the last mile,
but had reached 175 bpm going up that hill in mile 2.  

Definitely not an Orange Theory run today.  But I didn't crash and burn. 

Now it was "go time".  I passed Rich Kenah, directing runners onto the second inner loop.  I felt pretty good, although when I checked my watch, my heart rate had picked up to 168 bpm.  Surely I could do this for just one more mile, especially since it appeared that there were no more hills ahead.  I passed Bob Wells, cheering me on as I passed a man from an earlier heat.  +3 on the race, and still leading everyone in my heat.  But as I ran across the field, I heard footsteps coming rapidly behind me, and hugged the left side of the line as a speedster from a later heat passed me.  I think he was the sub-6-minute guy from my heat in the 1-mile race two weeks ago.  I restrained the urge to ask him if he was in the 7:36 heat ... it didn't matter.  But I kept him in sight for quite some time.  +2 on the race.  As I made the first left turn in the field, the course monitor called out "One-half mile to go!".  Perfect, I could definitely do this.  Just then, a young man passed me, +1, and then another.  So I was back to even.  But I was running well.  One more left turn, and there was the finish line in the distance.  I felt like I was slowing down, and afterwards my Garmin trace confirmed that.  But as I passed the 3-mile marker in the field (8:15 for mile 3, 25:28 elapsed), I was determined to push my hardest, and made a nice sprint across the timing mat, in the low 7 minute / mile race in those final steps.  25:50!  

I was out of breath as usual after a race, but it didn't take long for me to recover.  Sam crossed the finish line about a minute after me: at the very end, he was passed by the last man that I had passed early in mile 3.  Although I outran Sam in all three races, it wasn't by huge margins, and I'm certain that if age-grading was considered, Sam ran better than I did, relatively speaking.  I just hope that I take care of myself well enough to still run sub-30 minute 5K races when I'm in my 70's!  

After the race, I noticed a cabin across the field from where we had parked.  It was William McIntosh's home, built two centuries ago when he had lived on this property.  I had read about the McIntosh Reserve on Wikipedia a couple of days ago.  I had learned that McIntosh was a Creek Indian with Scottish heritage on his father's side (hence the last name), and that he had sold the Creek Nation land to the State of Georgia in return for property rights to his own plantation, which became the Reserve where we ran today.  

From the Wikipedia pages on the McIntosh Reserve
and William McIntosh

Really? 

This afternoon, I began reading "The Second Creek War: Interethnic Conflict and Collusion on a Collapsing Frontier", written in 2010 by John T. Ellisor, a history professor at Columbus State University, available on iBooks and Amazon Kindle.  Prof. Ellisor describes McIntosh in more detail, including his role in the First Creek War, in which McIntosh "assisted" future U.S. president Andrew Jackson in a battle against the Seminoles in Florida, sold people of color into slavery, and enriched himself by embezzling funds belonging to the Creek Nation.  An excerpt from chapter 1, page 32: 

and the introduction, page 13:

We can't change the history of Georgia, but we do need to know about and acknowledge all aspects of our history.