January 1, 2023: Resolution Run 5K

Eight weeks to go until the Publix Atlanta Marathon! I'm now in the tough part of the training. I ran last weekend's 20-miler on one of the coldest days in years, starting at 18 deg F at 11 am and finishing at 24 deg F around 3 pm. I don't feel like I've completely recovered. Thank goodness that this has been a "recovery week" so my "long run" for today was just 8 miles total. 

Listening to my body, I wasn't going to have any trouble complying with the "easy effort" prescription. And while it was more difficult than usual to get out of bed and get ready for a race this morning, the 8-mile total wasn't an issue. Bonnie and I arrived more than an hour before the 5K start, picked up our bibs. While it would have been nicer if I had socialized a bit more before the race, I was determined to get in some warm-up miles. I planned to run at least three miles beforehand, figuring that it didn't matter too much how I split up the miles if I wasn't pushing it in the race. Despite several minutes of dynamic stretching before I started, I felt really "rusty" this morning. I completed an easy run-walk loop around Piedmont Park, including the third mile of today's 5K race route, plus a couple of miles out-and-back on the Eastside Beltline. That totaled 3.4 miles before the race, and I felt a little better. 

warm-up route

I caught up with Brian Minor before the race, and made it very clear that I wasn't racing this morning, just trying "not to get hurt" and that for me at this time "everything is about marathon training." We both lined up at the back of wave B. After the airhorn sounded for our wave, it took a full minute to get to the starting line. Our favorite MC, Ronell Blackman, was announcing today's race, and I gave him a high-five right after crossing the timing mat. With a crowded wave in front of me, it was slow going, but exactly the type of patient start I needed to practice for the marathon. To my surprise, Brian and I "leapfrogged" a couple of times in the first mile. He was trying 4:30 run / 0:30 walk intervals. I had decided to try running straight through, but was keeping my effort easy. It helped that the first mile was mostly uphill, working our way around the higher side of the Active Oval before exiting Piedmont Park at the 14th Street gate, and continuing uphill on Piedmont Road past the mile 1 marker (+48 feet ascent). By just maintaining a steady effort and not forcing anything, I finished mile 1 in 9:58, close to my goal conservative start pace for the upcoming marathon. 

After passing the Botanical Gardens entrance at The Prado, we had a nice long downhill run. I passed Brian here, joking that "maybe we are racing after all" but within a few seconds, Brian had moved ahead of me again, and he stayed there for the rest of the run. There was a water stop on Westminster Drive along the north side of the park, and that was my only break, about 30 seconds, then back to running to take advantage of the downhill elevation. We made a loop around the newest section of the park, then the mile 2 alert sounded as we crossed Westminster heading south into the main part of the park. 9:23 for mile 2, thanks to the significant gravity assist (+26 feet ascent, -129 feet descent). 

Race route. Red is faster. 

My goal was to pick up the pace again, to finish the final 1.11 miles on a strong note. I spotted people ahead of me that I knew: Kalpana Patel, then Sue Landa and Alice Pate as we ran past the dog park, Colleen Curran shortly afterwards. I didn't mean to blow past them all, in fact I chatted with everyone but Colleen who happened to slow to a walk as I passed. I would have been happy to run together with any of them, but somehow I found myself getting in front and then I was past. At Park Tavern, a big and enthusiastic cheer group from Atlanta Running Club encouraged us to the finish. I wondered why the Running Club wasn't running ... but then there was the mile 3 marker. 9:17 for mile 3, (+55 feet ascent, -12 feet descent). 

I was determined to finish strongly. Unfortunately my legs were feeling tight so I couldn't really muster a stride. Coach Amy Begley was cheering us at the last turn. I saw Brian ahead of me but I wasn't going to catch up to him. His wife Beverly took his photo as he passed, then Beverly saw me coming and took my photo as well, about 10 seconds later. Crossing the finish line in 29:37 elapsed, I was happy with the progression. My legs were still tight, but I wasn't in pain. It was nothing like my glorious personal best 23:30 run five years ago, but I would have been disappointed if I had tried to run much faster today. Like I said earlier, right now it's all about marathon training, endurance over speed. 

Post-race cool-down.
I'm not sure why there is so much red!  

I collected a bottle of water and a free waffle from Bantam & Biddy. Then I realized that I had better start moving soon before the legs locked up, if I was to complete the 1.6 miles remaining for the day - plus I wanted to get back to the finish line in time to see Bonnie. I made a quick loop through the neighborhood on Monroe Drive, turning left on Park Drive to follow a short section of the marathon route into Piedmont Park, then back and forth between the lake and the main gate to finish the daily mileage. And happily, my legs felt better after completing 8 relatively easy miles than they had when I started earlier this morning. 

Screenshot from Beverly's video