February 26, 2022: Publix Atlanta 5K

I've now maintained my streak with one of the Publix Atlanta marathon weekend races, for 9 consecutive years! How times flies, if not my race times:

March 23, 2014: 5K, first time to encounter thousands of half marathon and marathon runners

March 22, 2015: 13.1 miles, second half marathon

March 20, 2016: 13.1 miles, slight improvement over 2015 race

March 19, 2017: 26.2 miles, second full marathon

March 18, 2018: 26.2 miles, injured at the start, worst marathon ever - should have switched to the 5K

March 17, 2019: 13.1 miles, injured at the start, so I took it easy and didn't make things worse

March 1, 2020: 26.2 miles, best marathon ever, negative split and personal record

February 28, 2021: 26.2 miles, 2nd best marathon, pandemic moved race to the Atlanta Motor Speedway

Frank and Brian: Friends and Rivals, ready to race
on the clock from different start waves

With my current focus on shorter distances, running another 5K was a good test of my current fitness prior to starting a training program with Coach Carl Leivers beginning on March 7. I've resumed the Tuesday evening track workouts, and running without pain - as long as I keep up with the physical therapy stretches at home! Brian Minor and I had talked about racing each other, but Brian decided to run the USATF Masters 5K Championship on the same course. To my surprise, I drew a wave C bib instead of the wave B start that was probably in line with my abilities. I guess I didn't enter my previous race details properly, but it wasn't a big goal race, so just aimed to start near the front of the wave. It was cold this morning, 37 degrees F at the start, but I was wearing two layers so was comfortable enough as long as I kept moving. I enjoyed an easily paced warmup run, even encountered Emory colleague Nick Varvel for the last mile or so. Nick will run the Chicago Marathon in the fall. He is also raising money for the CURE Epilepsy foundation.   

Looking ahead a few minutes before the start

With Kalpana Patel, volunteering with wave C

The wonderful MC, Ronell Blackmon, got us fired up as we stepped up to the line. The route seemed to follow nearly the same route as the Atlanta's Finest 5K race, which in past years has doubled as the USATF Masters Championship. The Atlanta Track Club probably wanted to keep the same route, although it was noticeable that we started a block north of the usual start for this race. My plan was to run mile 1 in just under a 9 minutes, basically "cruise pace" that I had practiced in Tuesday evening's track workout, then slightly speed up in miles 2 and 3. I had told Coach Carl that I was confident that I could run a 27 minute 5K, so that was my goal for today. The route along Marietta Street was very slightly downhill. Although I had to work my way around slower runners and some walkers, I didn't have trouble running a fairly straight path, while keeping the effort easy. I passed the mile 1 marker at 8:50 elapsed, right on plan, with net 23 feet downhill. Shortly after that point, I passed superstar grandmaster runner Betty Lindberg, 97 years young. The road split to take us onto the southbound lanes of Northside Drive. A moment later I reached the sharp turn onto Tech Parkway, where I saw a fan holding a sign "Betty's Fan Club". 

Betty Lindberg approaching the mile 3 marker, on the way to setting
a new 5K world record for women over age 95!

Heading south and east past the Georgia Tech campus, we were running gently downhill, so I did not need to do much differently to speed up a bit. Near a timing mat, I grabbed a cup of water from a volunteer. I had felt that my mouth was a little dry, and while the water was ice cold, I sipped slowly and it was perfect for what I needed. There was a small hill along the way, then I sped up as we looked ahead to a gently long downhill. Net 36 feet downhill for mile 2 in 8:19, and 17:09 total elapsed. So far, so good. 

Now it was "hammer time"! I knew that the race route would be gently uphill to the finish, but felt that I had banked enough energy. I definitely sped up while moving uphill, but after crossing North Avenue, I found myself slowing down again. The street name changed to Luckie Street. I've run this road in many previous races, including the later miles of the Hotlanta Half Marathon. If I was a little tired this morning, it was nothing like how I inevitably feel in the last mile of a half marathon - even when it's going well. Channeling that memory and comparing to how I felt better this morning helped me to keep pushing. I took a quick look at my watch, 20 minutes high, and said to myself "I can do anything for just 6 more minutes." I had also noticed that my heart rate was 163 beats per minute, so mentally I knew that I had a little more in the tank, as I wasn't "red-lining" yet. Nonetheless I really had to fight to keep my pace below 8:30 min / mile. 

Didn't actually max out the heart rate (under 180 bpm)
but red-lined in the last few minutes

Crossing Ivan Allen Boulevard at the Georgia Aquarium (where we had parked), I remembered that I was very close to the finish line for the Atlanta's Finest 5K route. But today's race had us sharing a finish line with tomorrow's half marathon and full marathon races, inside Centennial Olympic Park, so I had a little further to run. Instead of turning left (as in the Atlanta's Finest and Hotlanta Half races), we turned right onto Baker Street. I put on a kick as we approached the corner to turn onto Marietta Street, thinking that I was near the finish line. Turns out that I still had two blocks to run on Marietta Street, and I found myself slowing down again, running another gentle uphill. In my last 5K race in January, I had taken a walk break near the end, and afterwards I had regretted giving into that temptation. Today I didn't let up on my effort. 

In case you're wondering, pace is in blue, flatter than the elevation profile!

Finally we turned left into the Park for the finish line. This last stretch was the route for the 50-meter dash. That should have been a short jaunt, but this morning the finish line seemed SO far away. Probably that's exactly how it looked in the eyes of the young children that ran the tot trot an hour later! Fortunately, not only was this last stretch was gently downhill, but Ronell was providing plenty of verbal encouragement to us all. I put on a little kick to pass a young woman before crossing the finish line, allowed a little fist pump of joy - and hopefully managed a smile if anyone was photographing - and slowed to a stop. 26:51 on the watch, 26:41 official time, so mission accomplished!!  

I eventually caught up with Brian - and the first thing he said was "You beat me!" "Really??" I responded. Brian had already looked up my time. The difference was only 29 seconds, so I'm really happy that I had not given in to the temptation to walk. Brian has just resumed training after a break, so I was fortunate to take advantage of the opportunity for a rare win! 

I don't win very often, so I'm gonna make the most of today's victory! 

Over brunch, we agreed to a "mano a mano" 5K race series: 

Stay tuned!!

Bonnie approaching the finish - she also had a good race today!

Ronell Blackmon escorting the new world record holder, Betty Lindberg! 
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