I'm finally recovered from the irritated nerve, and have run completely pain-free since shortly after the Peachtree Road Race. In mid-June, I was just hoping to recover enough to complain more about the heat and humidity than the nerve pain. Hope realized! I don't know if this has been a hotter / more humid Atlanta summer than usual, or if I'm just more sensitive to the heat this time around. Nonetheless I'm still on track with marathon training, completing very slow 14- and 16-mile runs on the previous two Saturdays. With this weekend being a cut-back week, only 6 - 8 miles, I decided to register for the Run the ATL 10K race. It's now sponsored by REI, but still organized by Tes Sobomehin Marshall and the runningnerds / RunSocial group.
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| This is a real thing! https://atlantaselfie.com |
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| Mask off for a moment |
The purpose of the cut-back week is recovery in the macro-scheme of the training program, to "bake in" the strength gained in the previous long runs without stressing the body. Therefore, the mileage is shorter and the pace is always easy - therefore don't "race" a race. My plan today was to simply practice a patient marathon start without trying to keep up with the other runners at the start, then continue with that easy pace for the remaining distance. I decided to aim for 11 minute miles, using 4:30 run / 0:30 walk intervals, and also set my heart rate alert to chime above 160 bpm. This worked nicely in my last two long runs, so whenever the heart rate alert sounded, I immediately transitioned from running to walking until my pulse was well under 150 bpm. That has kept me out of "oxygen debt" so that I have successfully finished the distances, slowly but hopefully getting the benefit of additional time on my feet. With the warm temperatures, the heart rate monitor sounds much sooner than I think it should, but if my fitness is not up to running that fast, I definitely want to learn that now and not midway through the Chicago Marathon, just six weeks away.
In previous years, I've parked downtown ($10 - $15) or took a Lyft to this race, but this year Tes announced free parking on Fair Street, just 4 blocks or so from the starting line. The logistics of getting to the race were simple, and so I had plenty of time for dynamic stretches, a little socializing with other runners, and an easy warmup - which turned out to be a little faster when I realized that the race was about to begin yet I was still several blocks away! Not to worry, I made it with a couple of minutes to spare. If the group was just a little smaller than previous years, there was still a good energy amongst the runners, who ranged from those running the first 5K leg of the relay up front, to the 20K runners beginning at their slower paces. I enjoyed running the reply myself back in 2017. This year there was a large group representing Back On My Feet Atlanta - organized in 13 four-person relay teams!
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| Ready to start! |
As we started, any concern that I was moving too quickly was soon allayed as most of the small group of runners behind me passed me within a couple of minutes. My watch read 10:40 mile / minute pace, so I figured that I was off to the right start. There were some other run-walkers in my vicinity, so I didn't stand out when I took my first walk break at 4:30. To my surprise, my heart rate alert sounded about 7 minutes elapsed, at 164 bpm! That should not have happened, but I slowed to a walk following my resolution. When I checked again after 15 - 20 seconds, my pulse was down to 122 bpm, so I decided that the sensor wasn't getting a good reading. Earlier in the morning, I had loosened my watch for comfort, so now I tightened it a notch, and I think that the readings were accurate for the rest of today's run.
It was warm and humid this morning, but at least there were solid clouds overhead to block the direct morning sun, so I didn't need sunglasses or a cap today. Around 10 minutes in, I caught up with Judy Tennell in the Tucker Running Club. We ran together for a while, past the mile 1 marker and the water stop about midway through the 5K loop. As I approached the table, I thought of the poor Olympic marathon runner who knocked over a couple of dozen bottles in the late miles on a hot morning in Sapporo earlier this month. In the moment, it looked terribly unsportsmanlike, but watching the video later on, I can accept the explanation that it was an accident. I managed to grab a bottle cleanly, but it wasn't that easy, and I was moving no faster than 5 miles per hour. If I was so fortunate to run twice as fast, I'm quite certain that I could have not have cleanly grabbed a single water bottle. I was already thoroughly soaked with sweat by this point of the race route, even with the easy effort, so it was really nice to have a full bottle of water to sip as I ran.
I got ahead of Judy after the mile 2 marker, and finished the first loop between 34 - 35 minutes elapsed, averaging an 11:08 min / mile pace - perfect! Although I faithfully maintained the 4:30 / 0:30 intervals through mile 4, I finished that mile in 10:12. I guess I had zoned out or was just enjoying the run, but I consciously slowed down just a bit after that point. Shortly after the mile 5 marker (passed at 54:37, 11:00 min / pace on the dot), I nearly made a wrong turn! There were police at every intersection (thanks!) but I saw a row of cones on Ted Turner Drive and began to turn left. The policeman quickly got my attention before I had run more than a few steps, and a bike marshal waved me back onto the correct route. As I caught up to the marshal, I said "thanks - that was a bad turn on my part" who replied "I didn't want you to run to Decatur!" Me: "I was looking for a short cut!" Anyway, the correct turn was the next street, Forsyth Street. I had carried the water bottle for the entire lap, and finished the last drops as I reached the water station for the second time, where a couple of plastic recycling boxes were awaiting my bottle deposit.
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| I took this photo before the race began. |
In the Peachtree Road Race, I had increased my tempo after the 5-mile marker, but for today Coach Carl had encouraged me to run the entire race at the long run easy tempo. Even so, my heart rate alert sounded midway through mile 6 - and while I hadn't meant to speed up, I had unconsciously done so - so I immediately slowed to a walk for about a minute. Even with the extra walk break, and an uphill climb on the overpass in front of the CNN Center, I still covered mile 6 in 10:57, 1:05:30 elapsed. The road leveled out at the mile 6 marker, so I decided, with only 0.22 mile to go, that it would be OK if I sped up to enjoy the finish, as long as I didn't fall or twist an ankle in one of the many potholes dotting the roads adjacent to the State Farm Arena and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It felt great to move more quickly after slowly jogging 6 miles. I was now running with midfoot strike and I felt that the rest of my form was good, whereas I had ignored all of that while I was moving more slowly. Within a minute or so, my heart rate alert sounded, and I could feel that I couldn't keep up this pace for very long. But the finish line soon came into sight, I didn't need to run fast for much longer, so I could afford to go into oxygen debt for just one moment. Then I heard the MC announce "Here comes another 10K finisher!" and maybe I picked up my pace just a bit more! Tes was cheering near the finish line. I felt like slowing down with a few paces to go, since I didn't have a time goal for today, but didn't want to acquire a bad habit of not running completely through the finish line! So I focused for a few more steps to cross the finish line, stopping my watch at 1:08:14 elapsed. This was one of my slowest 10K race times ever, but I felt good physically, and was satisfied to have executed the plan, with just a touch of speed work at the very end!
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| Atlanta Selfie with Sue Landa after the race. Sue is training for the London Marathon on October 3! |
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