GUEST BLOGGER: Running for MY LIFE!
(Or as Frank might say, “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE MY WIFE!”)
(Or as Frank might say, “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE MY WIFE!”)
Many of you may or may not know me as the
(slightly) slower half of Frank McDonald, the ever-faithful wife who gets up at
a** o’clock to accompany Frank on his many, many races. The Athletic Supporter.
The Photographer. But today, I have been elevated for only the 2nd
time to GUEST BLOGGER. Frank is trusting me to give an account of my race today
at the inaugural Mercedes Benz
5k walk/run like MADD, benefiting Mothers
Against Drunk Driving.
While it’s not the first time MADD has held this
5K, it is the first time that a race was held at the gleaming, brand-spanking
new Mercedes Benz Stadium—a billion-dollar masterpiece that was the primary
vision of Arthur Blank, founder of the Home Depot. Blank himself was actually
spotted in the crowd today, mingling calmly with the hoi polloi.
The excitement over the new stadium translated into
a record-breaking crowd with over 8,000 participants registered—more than
double last year when it was still held at the soon-to-be-demolished Georgia
Dome.
RACEBLOG DETOUR: Frank and I had the opportunity to attend
the first Atlanta United Soccer game at #MBStadium for his birthday on Sunday,
Sept. 10. What an exciting game that was, a sold-out event against FC Dallas where United destroyed
the visiting team, 3-0! Frank and the die-hard fans were mostly on their feet
the entire time, occasionally blocking my view (did I mention I’m short?), but
that was no problem because the ginormous wrap-around screen around the roof oculus
gives a crystal-clear 360 view of the game. Truly, there’s not a bad seat in
the house. MB Stadium is a marvelous structure, with so many layers to explore,
including a skybridge and transparent wall to see the city skyline. The one
minor glitch was that at the time of the game, the camera lens roof was not yet
operational. The only roof aperture of its kind in the world, the ceiling can open up in about 10 minutes and was tested for the first time in public at the inaugural Atlanta
Falcons game a week later. Arthur Blank really thought of the fans—there are
not 1, but 2 MARTA stations that lead right to the stadium, so public
transportation is great (unlike to the new Braves’ SunTrust stadium); there’s gourmet food at reasonable prices, with free (!) refillable soda. For his birthday, I bought Frank an
authentic Atlanta United jersey and scarf, and he wore the red, black and gold
proud. He broke the jersey out again today, just for the race.
This time
last week, I was attending my 30th High School Reunion of the International School Manila Class of ’87. I
have always had the warmest memories of my years at ISM. Growing up in the
Philippines was an idyllic sheltered time for me and my family. My father was
working at the Asian Development Bank as an Economist, and moved to Manila in
1967 with my mom. All of the Youn kids were born in Manila, as Korean
expatriates, and we attended ISM from pre-K all the way until 12th
grade. While that’s undeniably a rare experience, there were at least a dozen
in my class who are “oldtimers,” which is a testament to how close we are.
My class
consists of some of the most remarkable individuals spread across the globe,
but the organizers decided to host the 30th reunion in New York,
loosely centralized so that many could attend. In fact, out of the class of
140, almost 50 attended, a huge percentage. We had alumni come from as far away
as the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, London, and even Luxembourg. I
reconnected with old friends, and also reacquainted myself with classmates I
truly hadn’t seen in a full three decades.
This past
summer, I had attended Frank’s own reunion with his Ph.D. Chemistry class at
Stanford. Having cheerfully braved a class reunion with him, he was game to
join me for my own reunion because he had been impressed by how fondly I spoke
of my years in Manila. Sadly, that was not his own high school experience in
Nederland, TX, so he wanted to see what it was like to meet a class where
people loved and cherished one another.
During the
trip to Manhattan, Frank reminded me that although he was also signed up for
the MADD 5K, he was also racing the Buford Highway Half the very next day.
Therefore, he asked, “Would you like me to pace you and coach you during the
race?”
ULP. Early on
when I had first begun my running journey about 4 years ago, Frank had coached
me back then and I had achieved a relatively good (for me) pace of around 16-17
minutes a mile with the run/walk method. However, I’d since become more lax in
my weekly runs, and my pacing had suffered. So, however tentatively I may have
felt, I gamely said “yes.” Frank responded with a grin. “GOOD. My goal is to
get you to PR, so I’ll be PUSHING you, even YELLING at you.” Blink blink. What
had I done?
So, during
the rest of the reunion weekend in New York, I thought I’d better try improving
my running just a wee bit. In fact, both of us took the opportunity to run
through and around Central Park. Even though we have visited NYC many times,
this was truly the first time both Frank and I have ever taken an actual run
through Fredrick
Law Olmsted’s masterpiece. Although he also designed Piedmont Park, it
pales in comparison to the glory of Central Park. Did you know that in addition
to the famed Boathouse and lake, there’s boulders, cliffs, a Dairy (now a
tourist center), a Sheep Meadow, a mall, bridges, carousel, fountains, and tons
of trails? Magnificent—and I got to run through it two mornings in a row. Even
though I knew I had to try to improve my time, I couldn’t help but just enjoy
the scenery. I also managed to run up 5th Avenue and through Rockefeller
Center (pausing to pose for a thumbs down at Trump
Tower). Frank ran 13 miles. I did 4. But I did it at least for 2 days in a
row, so I thought, OK, this might be enough.
Coming back
to Atlanta, however, my week was so slammed I didn’t run once during the week.
So I was rather mentally realistic about what I would accomplish this morning
for the race. To prepare, we ate lightly on Friday evening at a delicious vegan
restaurant, Herban Fix (not carbo-loading
like a small Tucker Running Club crew who ate at Bambinelli’s). Vegan you say?
The truffle mushroom rice and scallion pancakes were killer, and Frank indulged
in the soy-frosted carrot cake. A.MAY.ZING.
When we got
home, I immediately set out my race gear, remembering the old adage: Fail to
Prepare? Prepare to Fail! blinding yellow Tucker Running Club shirt, CHECK;
sports bra, hat, Balega socks, sunglasses, water bottle in fridge, CHECK.
Garmin watch? SET TO CHARGE. Alarm clock:
Set to 4:30 am (parking deck opened at 6), CHECK. Promptly get to sleep?
NO. I played Solitaire on my iPad til 1:30 am, urgh. And when the alarm woke me
up, I got dressed and we got in the car, and then Frank asked me what time it
was. NO GARMIN, because it was still charging on my bedside table. So there is
a corollary to the old adage: OVERprepare and you may still semi-fail.
NOW BACK
TO THE RACE: Fortunately, Coach Frank is prepared. He had his Garmin,
and since he was pacing me, he would keep track of metrics. Very important for
my scientist husband. As we sped along I-85 downtown, I took my de rigueur ass
o’clock selfie, still quietly in self-doubt about setting a PR. However, I was
determined that I would enjoy myself and see what I could do, and not complain
or whine even if Frank gave me the stick. We were meeting a very mini Tucker
Running Club crew—Carolyn Weber and Linda Bodey Phinney were also coming, and
we were going to try to set up a photo.
We arrived right around 6 am, heeding the traffic
warnings from Atlanta Track Club, and fortunately, there was still plenty of
parking spaces available in the closest Red Lot. Emerging into the Georgia
International Plaza, the greenspace between the stadium and the Georgia World
Congress Center, racers were beginning to gather and the emcee was warming up
the crowd. Soberingly, we also saw poster boards set up commemorating the many
beautiful lives tragically lost to drunk drivers.
We took a lap around the early part of the course
and around Phillips Arena to warm up. I ran into a few familiar ATC
faces—Carole and Phil Limonciello who were up naturally at 4:30 am without an
alarm clock, Susie Kim with her headlamp on, a fellow WeightWatchers member. With
this crowd and my average time, we were going to run with Wave E.
2nd RACEBLOG DETOUR: If you are running this race, or any one
of the many courses around the area between the stadiums and Centennial Olympic
Park, and you find yourself quite aways from the portapotties, the Omni Hotel
lower level has lovely, luxurious restrooms. With no one in them at that hour.
BACK TO
THE RACE: We found Carolyn right around 7 am. She shared that she was
nursing a sore knee, so she was going to start with our wave as well. It’s one
of the few rare times that both of she and Frank would run with the Wave of my
people, so we got to chat and take our selfies in front of MB Stadium before
the groups advanced to the starting line. In the distance, maybe 20 yards in
front of us, Frank saw Linda, but the crowd was too large for us to call her
back. We agreed that we’d try to meet up again once we arrived inside the
stadium at the finish. Coach Frank and I also agreed that we would implement
the Galloway run/walk method of alternating 30 seconds walking and running. He
would use his stopwatch and would signal to me.
As we progressed to the start, I confess I did feel
a little anxiety, because I didn’t want to let Frank down. However, I just
reminded and reassured myself—enjoy the race, don’t get injured, and do your
best. Finish strongly.
Aaaannnd….we were off! The adrenaline rush of the
start is always a big boost of speed. Frank always tells me he has to tell
himself not to go too fast in the beginning. But this course started with
downhill momentum, so I let myself go. Frank tells me, and the metrics show,
that this was the fastest pace I achieved in the race. The weather was
excellent—in the 70s at the start, but with cloud cover and stiff breezes, it
felt even cooler. The sun didn’t come out actually until near the end of the 2nd
mile.
As we rounded the corner onto Marietta Street, I
felt strong, keeping up with Frank and gamely and relatively easily maintaining
the 30/30 splits. Even with my warm-up, though, my calves still felt a little
tight, and my feet were heavy. I hoped that by the 2nd mile, that
would alleviate. However, the 2nd turn onto Forsyth Street led to a
slightly higher elevation. I was slowing. I found myself more eagerly awaiting
for the 30 second walks to start as Frank motioned with his hand to slow down.
With a few of the uphills, Coach Frank allowed me to take longer walk breaks,
thank goodness, but when there were downhill stretches, I managed to maintain a
longer run pace. The hairpin turn onto Northside Drive was probably the longest
uphill stretch, but Frank yelled, “this is NOTHING compared to Cardiac Hill!”
and he was right. In my mind, I was ambling and pumping my arms a little faster
every time he yelled “RUN! GO!”
My second mile was the slowest. However, as we were
approaching the end of the 2nd mile on Northside, there started this
beautiful downhill. I said to myself, “you can run downhill Bonnie.” So I
picked it up a bit on that downhill, and found I wasn’t breathing too hard. Go!
Go! Go! I could see MB Stadium in the distance! Frank pulled out his camera and
started taking photos to document my race, right at the Jerk Chicken stand.
Here’s when I actually started passing people (yeah, I mean you, couple in the
camo-blue shirts!). As we pulled closer to the T-intersection of MLK Drive,
Frank reminded me, “Bonnie, this is where we got out of the MARTA station for
the Atlanta United game! You’re going to make a run for it into the stadium!”
Come on Bonnie! As I crested that last turn into
the stadium, mentally, I was still strong, but in my mind, I had thought it
would be a little like the Georgia Dome when I ran it last year. That actually
had a few bumps and hills before hitting the field, so I was bracing for it.
Not so at Mercedes--the entrance was pretty much a flat straight shot! Hit the
nitro! That last 50 yard dash was kind of a blur, but I could hear Frank’s
voice kind of ringing behind me, and his breath hot on my back. GO! GO! GO!
And then it was over! I crossed the finish, and to our great pleasure, Carolyn was right there to capture that winning moment!
And then it was over! I crossed the finish, and to our great pleasure, Carolyn was right there to capture that winning moment!
The photo that captured the essence of the entire
race. That woman the left? Her face says it all: I passed her!
Frank caught my view from behind—pump those fists!
(#ATC Coach Amy Begley, I hear your voice too!)
Frank told me that the course was a true 5K at 3.1
miles, with the 3 mile mark right at the entrance of the stadium. And when I
finally caught my breath…here comes the best part: THE PHOTOS!
#MedalProud!
#Hotdogging!
Coach gets a kiss under the goalposts!
Frank does his best Terrell Owens!
I #RiseUp!
Frank breaks through the ceiling:
And for the running geeks: my stats.
No PR, Alas. No land speed records broken at chip
time of 57:21. BUT:
- - I was faster than 356 people (more if you count those that stayed home on the couch)
- - I finished without injury
- - I finished strong
- - I enjoyed myself (really!)
- - I can say honestly that I run more than I ever did 30 years ago in high school, and if you ever told me that I’d accomplish that back then, I’d say you were a liar.
So the moral of this story is: The future is truly unwritten.
Go and make and break your own records! Have fun along the way, and if you’re
lucky enough, you’ll find and marry a great coach (and even better husband)!
