June 15, 2022: postscript on Hotlanta 5K; 400 meter race at the All-Comers track meet

 Now that the full results are posted, here are the top 25 finishers in the Hotlanta 5K:

Both Brian and I were not outrun by anyone older than us, so 
I call both of these results big wins for us two old geezers! 

My first post-Hotatlanta run was at the All-Comers track meets hosted by the Atlanta Track Club, last night (June 14). This was the final All-Comers meet of the season, and the only one that I managed to attend this year, given some pressing work / life events in recent months. I decided to run the 400 meter sprint, to take a second shot at this short distance after the April 2022 Grand Prix race, which was a disappointment for me. Despite the hot evening, 93 degrees F at 7 pm, I had some confidence because I had run 400 meter repeats on the Tucker Middle School track a week ago, early in the morning on June 8, as the final speed workout before the Hotlanta 5K. That workout was two sets of four laps, aiming for ca. 1:51 per lap, with rests between each lap of 90 / 75 / 75 seconds, and a 150 second break between the end of the first set (lap 4) and the beginning of the second set (lap 5). I ran cautiously, to ensure that I could finish all eight reps, so ran 1:56, 1:53, 1:52, 1:53 for the first set, and 1:56, 1:53, 1:51 and 1:47 for the second set, intentionally pushing the pace on the last part of the last lap. 

The entire June 8 workout, including run-walk warmup and cooldown.
Pace is in blue, heart race in red. 

With the hot temperature last night, I jog / walked a couple of easy loops around the Cheney track fence, about 1.6 miles for a warmup. I found myself squeezing sweat out of my singlet as I waited for our race to begin. The first few heats were with some young speedsters, finishing in less than a minute. I almost stepped out of the group gathering for the race, until I saw a few others in my age group that looked as nervous as I felt. My people. When there were only about 15 of us remaining, Enrique Tomas organized us into two groups. I was assigned to lane 4 in the final group. When it was our turn to walk onto the track, most of us needed help finding the proper line for each assigned lane, except for one young woman in lane 2 who was adjusting her starting block. 

The starter took his spot somewhere behind me, called "On your mark" and after a long pause, during which I almost jumped, the pistol shot rang out. I began running, but not at top speed, even though the young woman in lane 2 jetted past around the curve and out of sight. I just focused on my own running form. Coming out of the first curve, I felt good, cautiously increased my speed just a bit on the straightaway. To my surprise, I realized that I was gaining ground on a woman around my age in lane 3, and Atlanta Track Club volunteer Luke Butler in a lane to my right, possibly lane 6. At the 200 meter mark, I passed the woman in lane 3, and a few seconds later, passed Luke as well. That was a surprise! Going into the curve, I accelerated a bit more, because I didn't want to lose ground to anyone that I had just passed. This was so much better than the April race, where I had felt like I couldn't get enough air at this spot on the track. 

Coming out of the curve, at the 300 meter line, only now did I begin to feel tired. I saw the volunteers at the finish line recording our time. Only 100 meters to go. "I can do this" I told myself, and was buoyed by hearing people on the sidelines cheering. I possibly saw a couple of finishers far ahead to the left and the right. They were way out of my league, so I wasn't concerned about them. There was no one else in front of me on the track. Looking straight ahead, I just focused on my form, pumping with my arms and leaning slightly forward to accelerate to my top speed, which according to my Garmin watch, was 10.5 mph. I made sure to run through the finish line, then gradually slowed and stopped. I saw 1:32 on my watch! And when I walked back to the volunteer who had recorded the time in lane 4, he showed me 1:30.82 seconds on the stopwatch. I smiled broadly at the volunteer, said "Wow! Thank you! That went really well for me!" 

Love seeing the cautious blue on the first curve,
and the red streak for the final 150 meters!

I understand that professional sprinters don't try for a negative split in the short distances. But for me last night, the negative split strategy was definitely the right approach. I had fun, I felt good, and that single lap on the track erased any disappointment remaining from Sunday's 5K.