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| A nice note from Jeff Galloway, acknowledging my 5-year streak! |
I woke up at 5:15 am, to the sound of steady rain, which had continued for more than 24 hours. On top of that, the temperature today was a few degrees colder than it had been yesterday. Nonetheless, yesterday's 5K race had given me confidence that I could run well this morning. I didn't feel any significant soreness!
I aimed to run just under a 9 minute / mile pace in today's race. I set my personal best in last year's Galloway Half, running an average 8:55 min / mile pace to finish in 1:56:46. Brian Minor challenged me nearly a year ago to race the Galloway Half Marathon. Brian is faster than me, having run a 1:45 half a couple of years ago. As a newlywed, perhaps he doesn't train quite as consistently, and his work schedule is not that conducive to running as regularly as I can. Brian felt that he could run a 1:55 race. To have a chance to outrun Brian, I knew that I needed a similar - or better performance. The other part of my strategy, which I learned from watching the elite men running the New York City Marathon, was for the eventual winner to stay close behind the leader or leaders until the last mile or so, then make a move that hopefully the leader couldn't match. Although I wouldn't bet on myself to actually outrun Brian unless things went badly for him, at least I was confident that I could run well. A sub 2-hour half marathon felt realistic for today!
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| Almost ready to run, but we still need to shed our outer layer. My cap doesn't look like it's on very tightly. |
I arrived at the Piedmont Park deck shortly after 7 am, stretching and warming up in the lot. Then I jogged at an easy pace to the starting area on 11th Street, about one mile, which was a perfect warmup. It was drizzling and windy at the start of my jog, but by the time I arrived in the starting area, the rain had stopped! I caught up with Brian, said hello to several other friends who were running today, and just tried to keep moving to keep my muscles warmed up, until the National Anthem. Unlike yesterday, when I removed my cap, my head remained dry. To protect my ears for a longer run and the prospect of a windy day, I did wear a skullcap. As the anthem came to an end, I realized that we would begin within a minute. I replaced my cap and hurriedly removed a third throw-away layer, instead of waiting to remove it during the race. There were fewer runners than in previous years, no doubt due to the bad weather, but the camaraderie and energy was high among those of us who showed up to run.
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| The great contest has begun: mano a mano! |
Jeff Galloway gave the signal to start, and I immediately began running. I must have crossed the starting mat within a couple of seconds of the official start. Brian and I crossed the timing mat together, but within a few hundred feet, he moved ahead, so my strategy was on the right foot! Two blocks into the race, we turned right onto Juniper Street, and a gust of wind blew my cap off of my head! I decided to let it go, it was an Atlanta Track Club cap that was sent to all members several years ago - and I had another one at home. I must not have put it on very firmly after the National Anthem. For the first few miles, I "leapfrogged" the 2 hour pace group. Their intervals were 2:00 run / 0:30 walk, whereas I was on what for me was a more comfortable 3:30 run / 0:30 walk interval. After a few miles, I left them behind for good, and I didn't hear the pacers calling out intervals. This was a nice repeat of last year's personal best start to my race. I crossed the 5K timing mat at 28:03, similar to last year's pace. The only difference from last year was in mile 4: when we turned off of Freedom Parkway onto the PATH trail, we encountered a giant water hazard which forced us to carefully walk on the grass.
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| Trying to catch up to Brian on the Eastside Beltline. |
As the miles ticked by, I remained about 100 yards behind Brian. Brian and I were using exactly the same run / walk intervals, and he stuck with the plan, slowing down within a second of me, then returning to a run at the same time that I did. I thought about skipping a walk break to partially close the gap, but that was probably a bad idea, so I also stuck with my own plan. On the Eastside Beltline, I picked up some speed. At one point, only one runner was between me and Brian. I didn't see Brian turn around, so I don't know if he saw me, but he also picked up some speed, as we both ran in the downhill direction. Mile 5 was my fastest mile of the race, in 8:25 minutes. At the north end of the Beltline, Brian's wife Beverly was taking photographs, next to a water station that nearly coincided with a scheduled walk break. I said to her "I'm not too far behind your husband!" "I know" she replied. After the race was over, Beverly told me: "I gave you up: I told Brian that you weren't far behind!" Brian must have seen me for himself when he made the sharp right turn onto Kanuga Street.
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| Beverly photographed me near the north terminus of the Beltline, when I was only 20 - 30 seconds behind Brian. |
At the six mile mark, my watch recorded 53 minutes elapsed, about 30 seconds ahead of my position in the 2017 race. After another turn, I crossed the 10K timing mat at 55:06 elapsed, having just run a 27 minute 5K! The gap between Brian and me remained constant. I counted about a 20 second lead based on when Brian passed landmarks. That was certainly surmountable if I kept running strongly. But then we made a left turn onto St. Charles Street. I told Brian yesterday that there was a long hill on St. Charles, and he might not see but he would probably notice the effect on his effort or his pace. It turns out that my memory was faulty: the hill loomed up ahead quite visibly! This was the first mile where I began to tire, when I began looking forward to the 30 second walk breaks. And Brian seemed to increase the gap, running strongly up the hill. Afterwards Brian told me that he had seen me, and knowing that I was close behind spurred him on to turn up the effort! I can say the same, he was my pacer for the first six miles. But mile 7, as in previous JG 13.1 races, was my slowest mile, this year in 9:36, 1:02:30 elapsed. When I compared stats later in the day, I lost 15 seconds in that mile. I never saw Brian again after he turned onto Highland Avenue early in mile 8. At the end of mile 8, 1:11:34 had elapsed: in 2017, I had finished mile 8 at 1:11:36.
And from this point, I gradually slowed for the remainder of the race, running every single mile between 13 and 32 seconds slower than last year. I had leapfrogged Tom Pate for awhile. Tom is a fellow runner with Coach Carl's group on Tuesday evenings. In last week's Eastside Beltline 10K, I passed Tom around mile 5. Today Tom passed me for good around the mile 8 mark, finishing in 1:56:15, with a strong negative split.
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| With Tom Pate after the race. Tom won his age group! |
Running uphill at the end of mile 9 and the beginning of mile 10, I really struggled. Several runners passed me while I was running! I reached the 15K mark at 1:24:14 elapsed, corresponding to a 29 minute 5K. I could hardly wait for the 30 second walk breaks - what a relief when each one was signaled! Fortunately with each walk break, I recovered a bit, so at the beginning of each run interval, I returned to a decent pace. Then around 2 minutes into the run interval, I would struggle again. I really had to dig deep to keep pushing. I fought off the temptation to take early or additional walk breaks. Turning onto Piedmont Road, running uphill past Piedmont Park, I was looking and looking for the mile 10 marker. It took forever to reach it - however my watch signaled mile 10 was covered in 9:28, not that badly! About 30 seconds later, I passed the 10 mile marker at 1:30:30 on my watch. Surely I could run a 29 minute 5K to finish in less than 2 hours! Finally we created the top of the hill, and I began to pick up speed on the long downhill stretch of Piedmont Road to the intersection with Monroe Avenue. Despite wanting to run through a walk break while running downhill, I decided to take the walk break, although it was probably only about 20 seconds, as a group of other runners caught up with me. Mile 11 was my last sub-9 minute miles, in 8:41.
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| Beverly photographed me again around the mile 9 marker. |
The last two miles through Piedmont Park were net uphill, about 40 feet in each mile, although these were small rollers. My legs were really sore. I remembered that the 12 mile marker came before the south end of the park. But near that point, where Bonnie had taken photographs last year, there was a large puddle covering the sidewalk. I had no choice but to slosh through the mudpit along the left side of the pathway. I held out my arms to maintain my balance, and managed to get through the quagmire without falling. Afterwards I heard that some other runners were not as fortunate. Finishing mile 12 in 9:33, my watch read 1:48:13 elapsed. A new personal record was now out of reach. On the other hand a sub-2 hour half marathon was virtually assured, as long as I ran faster than a 10 minute pace for mile 13. The only disappointment was that there wasn't a Phiddippides Cheer Group at the south end of the park. Under the conditions, I couldn't really blame them for not coming out this year.
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| Bonnie captured Brian's finish. He and the woman immediately behind him had quite a heated competition for a good part of the race! |
I kept up with the walk breaks at 1:51:30 and 1:55:30, conceding that I couldn't get through the rest of the race without the 30 second walk breaks. Nonetheless I managed to record a time of 9:23 for mile 13, 1:57:36 elapsed. Not much further, I told myself. Keep pushing, keep pushing, KEEP PUSHING! As I passed the True Speed Photographer, I wondered what look of pain he would capture on my face. A runner wearing a red jacket caught up with me, and for a moment I thought I could stay in front of him. Then he found a strong kick as the finish line came into sight, and I couldn't match him. I could hardly see as I made maximal effort to get to the finish line. I heard Bonnie, Beverly, and Josh Mann cheering as I approached the finish line. At least I would beat 1:59!
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| Gritting my teeth as I powered through the last 0.1 mile. Were my eyes open?! |
I was totally dazed for the first minute or two after finishing, but gradually regained some equilibrium around the time that Jeff Galloway handed me the medal. I felt better after a banana and a little post-race cool-down jog and stretching. My official time was 1:58:53, good for 77th place out of 563 finishers, and 7th out of 30 in my age group. Brian finished in 1:55:57, 58th place and 8th in his age group.
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| My finish (above), and pace vs. elevation profile for today's race (below) |
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| The medal was so heavy, Jeff Galloway had to help me hold it! I'm smiling so the post-run endorphins must be kicking in. |
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| Bonnie left a little later, but made it to the finish line in time to capture several finishers including her hubby! |
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| Beverly Minor took several photos for this blog throughout today's race. Thanks Beverly! |
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| Standing with champions, from left-to-right: Anna Calcaterra, Female Masters Champ and 23rd overall; Brian Minor, 58th overall; Daniel Yee, 17th overall and 2nd age group; and yours truly, 77th overall |
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| Total bling this weekend: Double G, for running both the 5K and half-marathon; Barb's 5K medal; and JG 13.1 medal |
Analysis, 2018 vs. 2017, faster this year in blue, slower in red:
mile 1, 8:52 vs. 9:01
mile 2, 8:55 vs. 8:48
mile 3, 8:51 vs. 8:55
5K, 28:03 vs. 28:11
mile 4, 9:09 vs. 9:12
mile 5, 8:25 vs. 8:37
mile 6, 8:43 vs. 8:53
10K, 55:06 vs. 55:50
mile 7, 9:36 vs. 9:20
mile 8, 9:03 vs. 8:50
mile 9, 8:57 vs. 8:32
15K, 1:24:14 vs. 1:23:36
mile 10, 9:28 vs. 9:14
mile 11, 8:41 vs. 8:28
mile 12, 9:33 vs. 9:01
mile 13, 9:23 vs. 8:51
13.1M, 1:58:53 vs. 1:56:46, 9:04 min/mi vs 8:54 min/mi
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| Celebrating and bragging with Brian |
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| Calorie replacement programme: crab and scrambled eggs hash, and chocolate chip pancakes (I took half of the pancake home). Thanks Brian for treating us to brunch! |
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