Once again I've taken a hiatus from blogging. On the bright side, I'm catching up with writing projects for work, including a publication late last month that I think will have some impact in the future:
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.orglett.5c01966
The short summary: This reaction was invented nearly 30 years ago, but beyond the published cases, it's reputation is that it's a really finicky reaction, and hasn't been that practical beyond synthesizing relatively simple compounds. Most of my own ideas didn't work, but the really talented graduate student author on this paper carefully studied published fundamental chemistry about copper, then proposed and tested several well-crafted hypotheses, making one change that made the copper catalyst more reactive, and a second change that has made the reaction much more reliable. We have some applications that we/I want to study going forward, but I hope that other chemists will find that these conditions are reliable for their proposed applications. Our original title began with the word "Practical..." but turns out that we can't use that word in our title, we have to wait for others to decide for themselves if this will really be practical. Fair enough.
Anyway, most of you didn't come here to read about oxidation states of copper or catalytic turnover, but rather wanted to read about oxygen going into my lungs as my legs turned over running up and down the hills of Atlanta. Last year's Peachtree Road Race was a struggle and a disappointment: I ran out of energy by the time that I was in the 5th mile, but the finish line was 6.2 miles away from the start. My resolution was to run this year's race without any unplanned walk breaks, without self-loathing as I ran uphill in the second half of the race, all of which happened in the 2024 version.
To get some structure and help for my preparation, I enlisted Coach Carl Leivers to create a training plan. It was a good plan, but I had some challenges finishing some of the workouts due to rainouts, or my own scheduling, suffering in the early summer heat, etc. etc. I did have some good final workouts, and felt good in the days leading up the race day.
I had earned a wave C bib in the Members' 10K in April, finishing in 53:50 in crisp 37 deg F temperature at the start. But I had run the first 5K loop too aggressively in 26:24, then struggled through the identical second loop needing another full minute. I did a better job in the Move for Grady 10K a couple of weeks later, on a humid 64 deg F morning, but pacing very evenly on a rolling hilly course to finish in 55:38. Yes, it was nearly 2 minutes slower, but I was proud of consistent pacing from beginning to end, running each mile in a narrow range of 8:41 - 8:59, then having enough energy left to speed up a tad into the finish line. That was my goal for today's race.
Wave C started at 7:00 am on the dot. I deliberately managed to stay near the back of the wave, the first part of my strategy to use the crowds to keep from running the first half-mile too quickly. The other strategy was taking 30 second walk breaks after 4:30 running intervals, giving myself a chance to correct early on if I was running too quickly. I was determined to run the first three miles no faster than 9:00 minutes per mile. Mile 1 was completed in 9:21. I would have preferred to run closer to 9:01, but my mantra today was "Patience". Mile 2 was downhill, which I jogged in 9:27. Now I worried that I was indeed running too slowly. But last year I had thrown caution to the wind by this point, and then paid dearly for my overconfidence by mile 5. Mile 3 chugged along at a leisurely 9:30. There wasn't a 5K timing mat, but I'll estimate that my first 5K was 29:30. That was on track for another 59 minute finish, not really what I wanted.
Nonetheless by the time I had reached the mile 3 marker, I was already making my way up Cardiac Hill. For July 2025, the hill was renamed "Hope Hill", to honor the work of the Shepherd Center in its 50th year, bringing hope to thousands of patients and their families. Snarky runners (including me) were saying "Hope I make it up this Hill". Fortunately I just kept the "Patience" mantra in mind, shortening my stride length and increasing my leg turnover, then taking a 30-second walk break at 29:30 elapsed to get more oxygen into my lungs. Sufficiently recovered, I resumed running, reaching the top of the first hill just in time for the 34:30 walk break. The road leveled out for a half-mile or so, as I passed the mile 4 marker in 9:42. Yes, it may look like I'm slowing down with every mile. I still felt pretty good, conserving my energy so that I was ready to take on challenging mile 5.
Then I felt a twinge in my ankle. Uh oh, this happened when I was warming up for a one-mile race in mid-May. The pain wasn't severe, but gradually became a dull throb in the pad of my heel. Who was it that said that "pain is just weakness leaving the body"?? I don't even know what that is supposed to mean, but it didn't seem to really slow me down. Now I was crossing the I-85 overpass, heading uphill into Midtown Atlanta. This is where Peachtree Road Race dreams fade, panic can set in, goals may slip out of reach. But not today: I motored my way up, up, up into midtown. The ankle / heel didn't really bother me as I continued to run. I was so focused on just running the tangents and concentrating on my effort level that I nearly missed seeing Bonnie on the other side of the road, before crossing 17th Street. Mile 5 was near the High Museum and Symphony Hall: 9:21! Even with two walk breaks, I ran difficult mile 5 as fast as easy mile 1!
I worked past 15th Street, reaching Colony Square, exactly one mile to the finish line. I took my last walk break at 49:30. Resuming my run at 50:00, remembering that I had run this stretch in 7 minutes on fresh legs a few years ago. Maybe I wasn't as fresh today after 5.2 miles, and I was running to protect my right ankle. But I was definitely not yet in oxygen debt. Was a sub-58 minute finish possible?
The last hill crested after passing 13th Street. Now it was net downhill to the end. 12th Street, then 11th Street, then up ahead was the left turn onto 10th Street. I took a quick look at my watch: 52:30. The corner is exactly one kilometer to the finish line. On a good day I should be able to run that stretch in 5 minutes. Unfortunately I felt another twinge in the right ankle as I pushed off to make the left turn. But the pain / weakness left my consciousness as I realized that the next few blocks were definitely downhill! Crossing Juniper Street, continuing downhill past the crane with the cameras overhead for Marathon Photos. Other runners held up their arms, but today I was all business, looking straight ahead, dashing through the rainbow intersection at Piedmont Road. Over one tiny rise, don't slow down! My watch signaled 6 miles elapsed as we approached Piedmont Park, but it seemed to be another full minute before I saw the mile 6 marker on the left side of the road. 56 minutes elapsed, 0.22 miles to go. I accelerated as best as I could, totally in a flow state, not noticing anyone or anything around me, just focusing straight ahead. Having run the race 10 times before, I knew that I wouldn't see the finish line until cresting another little rise. Push, push, push, go go go go go! 57 minutes elapsed - and then I could see the finish line. I put my head down, arms pumping, channeling memories of many 15 second strides. As we approached the finish line, I saw 57:3x on my watch, I was going to beat 58 minutes.
Past the finish line, stop the watch - 57:47 on my watch, which I discovered a few minutes later was 57:42 official! Not a personal best, but two minutes better than last year, and I felt very happy with the quality of my run from start-to-finish.
Update on July 5: some lower leg stretches definitely helped, treating the foot with an ice pack while sitting in the recliner, and compressing my foot in an ace bandage overnight. In fact I found that wearing shoes (which I normally don't do in the house) provided enough support so that there isn't much pain. I think I'll be back to running before too long, but will judge my recovery day-by-day.
