This morning's race was held in the West End of Atlanta, along the first completed section of the Beltline project, which opened in 2008. Bonnie and I had not previously been on this part of the trail, and I was limited to studying the course and elevation map posted by the organizers when we registered a few weeks ago. When I picked up our race packets last night, I learned that more than 450 runners had already registered, so it promised to be a fairly big crowd.
My endurance has improved over the past few months. Although I didn't break my PR in the Peachtree Road Race, I now have more confidence that I can run a faster 5K, which now seems a relatively short distance for me. I feel that a sub-25 minute race is possible for me in the near future, but I must prove it!
 |
| About an hour before the start, upon arrival at Gordon White Park |
Mile 1: The race announcement had "featured" a 3/4 mile off-road jaunt, which started off on grass. In spots it was a little muddy from occasional afternoon rains during the past week, and after we passed through the first narrow underpass at Abernathy Boulevard, I took off my sunglasses so that I could watch carefully where I was running. I didn't have a sense of my own speed but I was keeping up with the other runners in my pack. We crossed under a second narrow underpass at Lucile Avenue, where the grass and mud was mixed in with some stray gravel. I was thinking that it would have been good to have some cleats for this first part of the race, although of course that wouldn't work once we got onto the paved path. We reached a larger underpass at Interstate-20, then scrambled up a little hill culminating in (for me) a three-foot vertical leap onto the paved path, as we turned back south on the Beltline paralleling Langhorn Street. Shortly after passing under the interstate, we reached the mile 1 marker, in 7:41. Once again, a little too fast at the start, although perhaps that was the pace that I would need to have a chance to break 25 minutes.
 |
| The race route, and elevation map; distance in miles |
Mile 2: The path took a sharp turn away from Langhorn Street and then resumed southward for a short distance. At Oak Street, we left the Beltline and entered the West End neighborhood. The streets were lined with cars (probably mostly those of other runners) and the neighborhood was mildly hilly, although no more than my usual running routes in metro Atlanta. A few of the residents turned out to cheer us on as we made our way due east along Oak Street. I felt that I was still running at a ca. 8 minute per mile pace, and shortly before making the right turn onto Lawton Street, we reached a nice downhill section. However, as we turned onto Lawton Street to head due south, the elevation began to increase, and for the first time, I was starting to feel tired. We passed the mile 2 marker, at 15:50 total elapsed time, and 8:09 for the second mile.
Mile 3: Lawton Street continued uphill until we passed Abernathy Boulevard, where it leveled out. I remember thinking at this stage that was the last difficult section, and tried to will myself to resume a faster pace. Only one mile to go! But we still had a few blocks before we could turn back onto the Beltline at White Street, for the final dash to the end. I thought that surely the 2.5 mile alert should already have sounded, but in fact it wasn't until we were entering the Beltline that I heard the alert. However I had not slowed too badly, and was at an 8:30 pace for the past half-mile. We turned left and circled downhill, where we regained the Beltline as a broad sidewalk along the north side of White Street. At this stage the runners had thinned out and I started with my strategy of picking a runner 20 feet ahead of me, and trying to catch up with him or her. I passed a few runners in that way, although at least one fellow picked up his pace keep up with me, and we ran together for several hundred feet before he fell behind. The published elevation map had shown a small uphill rise shortly before the 3-mile mark, although at this stage in the race, that "small" hill felt more significant. But as we crested the hill, I could see the finish line in the distance, and I attempted to kick into a higher gear. Mile 3 completed at 24:26, 8:36 for the third mile.
The finish: When I could finally read the clock hanging over the finish line, I thought I saw a number beginning with 24, then I wasn't sure if it was 24 or 25, because my vision was partially obscured by sweat in my eyes and on the inside of my sunglasses. As we drew closer, I realized that the clock had passed 25:00 minutes as I was watching. Several of the advance runners were doing their cool down run in the opposite direction along White Street, encouraging us to a strong finish. I passed between two men holding signs urging the Beltline not to pave over their community garden, as well as encountering again the man demonstrating against commercial trucking in the neighborhood. Shortly before entering the finish chute, two men passed me at warp speed, one on each side - where did they come from? I passed over the finish line just after 25:30, seemingly without a bit more energy to spare. I slowed down to allow the volunteer to remove the timing strip from the bottom of my bib, then walked into the park (none too steadily, although trying not to show it!) as I picked up Powerade, a banana, and the finisher's shirt. After walking a lap around the park, I started to feel better. Later I checked the official time on a monitor near the finish line, and my time was 25:33, and 10th in my age group.
At first I was disappointed that I failed to break the 25-minute barrier, especially since I had spared no effort throughout the race. But afterwards I realized that I just needed to find a way to shave about 15 seconds off of the second and third miles, and that would do it. I also recognized that in the warmer weather (about 72 degrees at the start, and relatively humid), I was probably a bit limited in my speed. I'm motivated to keep up the training through the summer, expecting that my times will probably improve when the temperature drops in the fall. To be fair to myself, this was my second-best time ever for the 5K distance.
Best of all, no problem with shoelaces this time! Thanks to the internet, I learned that I've been tying my shoes with a slipknot for the better part of a half-century. That has now been corrected!
Goal: To challenge my 5K PR of 25:23: challenged although not yet surpassed
Goal: to get through a race without a shoelace becoming untied: Achieved!!
No comments:
Post a Comment