Running for the second half of my life: December 15, 2019: The 2019 Jeff Galloway Half Marathon (also d.b.a. Northside Hospital Orthopedic Institute Half Marathon)

For the sixth year in a row, I completed the Jeff Galloway Half Marathon. This is a wonderfully well-organized race on what for me is now a very familiar course. This year, the race gained a named sponsor, the Northside Hospital Orthopedic Institute. Moreover, the organizers added a 3-person relay, with legs of 5.5 miles, 5.6 miles, and a final 2.0 mile sprint. The "Tucker Running Club Half Sisters" entered a team with Crystal Dawson, Katie Huitt Dawson, and Lindy Liu. This year, the biggest change was that there was no expo. In my opinion, this was a good financial decision: the expo occasionally had a good speaker or two: Billy Mills was particularly inspirational in 2017. But it must have been quite expensive to rent out space in a hotel for two days. This year packet pickup was in Jeff Galloway's Phiddippides Store in Ansley Park Mall, near the location of the race, so he didn't have additional overhead. I also bought over $100 dollars of running gear while I was at the store, more than I typically spend at a race expo. I appreciated the convenient location and free parking at the mall, since parking is always expensive at or near the hotels.

"TRC Half Sisters" before the race

The only problem with this race is that the number of participants decreases each year. There is considerable competition with other events: yesterday RunSocial held the Westside 10K and 10-Miler, and this morning others ran the First Watch Locomotive Half Marathon in Kennesaw. Each race has its loyalists within the metro Atlanta running community. There are a few super-studs who run one of the Westside 10 races on Saturday and then either Galloway or Locomotive half marathons on Sunday. I stick with the Galloway Half because it was my first 13.1 race back in 2014, and I know that I will have a quality experience - as long as my own preparations are up to snuff. As I'm training for the Publix Atlanta Marathon on March 1, just 11 weeks from today, this is the last race that I will run with a time goal until the marathon.

After achieving my long-term goal of a sub 1:55 half-marathon at the Invesco Thanksgiving Half-Marathon 17 days ago, finishing in 1:53:14 (8:38 min / mile pace), my goal for today's race was simply to show that I could do it again. Two years ago, I set a personal record on the Galloway course at 1:56:42 on a perfect day. I told Coach Carl Leivers that my goal for today was in the 1:52 - 1:55 range, corresponding to an average pace of 8:30 - 8:45 min / miles. Once again, I would walk through each water stop, placed about 2 miles apart, but I planned to run straight through the rest of the race.

At the start, wearing the Inaugural JG 13.1 shirt from 2014

The conditions were excellent for today's race, 39 degrees F at the start. My only concern was that temperatures were forecast to rise into the upper 40s by 10 am. I arrived wearing two layers: a short-sleeved Atlanta Track Club shirt underneath and the long-sleeved JG 13.1 2014 Inaugural race shirt on top; and running tights along with a cap. I left the gloves in the car, but brought a couple of chemical hand warmers and carried them in my pockets in case I needed them. If anything was missing, it might have been my mental training. Having spent much of the week preparing a final examination, when Bonnie asked me Friday evening about my mantra for the race, all I could say was "delta G = delta H - T delta S ?" Over breakfast this morning, I took a quick look at "Running Rewired" and happened to see a page in chapter 4 "Affirming Your Greatness" and to re-read an anectode about the Penn State cross-country team's affirmation:

"We love hills, we love hills!"

Among the relatively small number of runners in the first "red" wave, I lined up between the 1:45 and the 2:00 pacers. While waiting to begin, I saw the Dean of my college a few rows ahead, Michael Elliott. I didn't know that he was a runner until a couple of days before the 2018 New York City Marathon, when I discovered by chance that he was running as well! He is quite fast, having finished NYC in well under 4 hours, and ran today's race in 1:43. I didn't attempt to keep up with the Dean!

The race course (above)
What Garmin recorded in the first 0.2 miles (below)

We started precisely at 8:00 am, and I crossed the timing mat a few seconds after the official start. Immediately I was off on a fast pace, running downhill for two blocks, then right turn onto Juniper Street. I nearly caught up to the 1:45 pace group when they took their first walk break, but didn't pass them before they began running again. That would have been a big mistake. When I first checked my watch, it showed a 7:07 pace! I slowed down a little, but the watch still showed me clocking 7:54 for the first mile. When we actually reached the mile marker, I realized that something must have gone wrong with my tracker, and was relieved to see 8:35 elapsed, which was closer to what I had planned, 8:30 - 8:45 for mile 1. The Garmin map later revealed that my signal must have bounced off of some of the buildings in that area.

For much of the first five miles, I ran with Jackie Whitlock, a fellow trainee in Coach Carl's group. She is a faster runner than me, but apparently hasn't run 13.1 miles in awhile, so she was taking it easier today. That worked well for me, having some company for the first part of the race. Occasional conversation kept me from going faster than I should have in the beginning. But as we ran through miles 2, 3, and 4, notching 8:36, 8:43, and 8:55, I felt that I was putting forth more effort than I had on Thanksgiving Day. To achieve my goal of 1:52-1:55, I couldn't afford to lose too much ground in those first miles. I passed the 5K timing mat at 26:47, close to my plan of 27 minutes even. Shortly before reaching the mile 4 water station, I looked above for the lead runners on the Freedom trail, and there was Michael Elliott - we waved to each other, he shouted "You look great, Frank!"

I began to relax as we ran the next couple of miles, all net downhill. Around mile 5 on the Beltline (8:36), Crystal Dawson passed me near the end of the first leg of her relay. She had started with a later wave, so I had at least a 2 minute headstart on her. It would have been a mistake to try to keep up with her, given that I still had 8 more miles to run. I walked through the water station as Bonnie took my photo, then resumed running to the end of the Beltline and up Kanuga Street to Virginia Avenue. "I love hills" I said to myself, as I passed several people in this section. Completing mile 6 in 8:40, I subsequently reached the 10K timing mat at 54:01, right on schedule. "I love hills" as I continued working my way up Ponce de Leon Place. One of my goals for today's race was to maintain focus through mile 7, because in past years, I've always slowed down in this part of the race. There are some long uphill stretches in this part of Virginia-HIGHLANDS. I caught up with Katie Vernon in this section, and we gave each other pep talks about how running in Tucker prepares us well for hills. I moved just ahead of Katie before the next water stop, but as I turned the corner onto Highland Avenue, Katie was right behind me. But I was thrilled to finish mile 7 in 8:52. I've never run that section under 9 minutes before, so Mission Accomplished!

Net downhill course, but with some substantial hills

Just 6.1 miles to go: I was getting warm, so I took off my cap and put it in my pocket. What a relief it was to feel cool air on my head. Mile 8 was an even mix of small rollers, 8:39, and mile 9 was net downhill, 8:23. I passed Bonnie at the mile 9 marker on 10th Street around 1:18, about 45 seconds slower than I had run on Thanksgiving. Running along the southern border of Piedmont Park, we had a long uphill stretch before reaching the 15K timing mat, which I crossed at 1:21 on the dot. So far I had run the perfect paces, 27 minute averages for each 5K.

Approaching the mile 9 marker.

But the road kept going uphill.

"I love hills, I love hills!"

Upon turning the corner onto Piedmont Road, I was greeted by

a big ol' mountain of love.

That's when my old friend Fatigue leapt onto my shoulders. Our conversation:

Me: "I love hills!"

Fatigue: "Feel the burn!"

Me: "I love hills!"

Fatigue: "Liar!"

Me: "I love hills?"

Fatigue: "Liar, liar, lactate legs on fire!"

I lost that exchange.

The "speed bumps" after mile 9 looked like a mountain from street level.

Struggling up the unending hill that was Piedmont Road, I gratefully took a walk break through the water station, then tried to get back up to speed. But my legs wouldn't respond. My legs were heavy, the tights were getting hot. Fatigue was riding on my back and wouldn't get off. Time for "Never ******* quit!" That may have helped a little, but the hills didn't ******* quit either. I thought that the mile 10 marker was at the top of the hill: I was wrong. 9:06 for mile 10, more than 1:27 elapsed by the time that I reached the marker. I needed to run a 26 minute 5K to match my half-marathon best. "Never ******* quit" wasn't an affirmation, in fact it was rather negative. As I tried to remember what "Running Rewired" recommended for another positive affirmation, I lost focus and gave in to an unscheduled walk break. Oh the shame! Not setting a personal record today.

Finally we reached the top of the hill. I tried to relax and glide down the long slope to the intersection of Monroe Avenue. In past years, this was one of my fastest miles in this race, but today I managed only 8:43 for mile 11, as I turned the corner into the north end of Piedmont Park. Lindy Liu was waiting to take over for the final 2-mile sprint of the relay, cheering me through as I walked through the water station, around 1:36 elapsed. Could I run 2.1 miles in 17 minutes? Not today. I did what I could to get up to a decent speed coming out of the water station, passing a runner who was evidently having even more trouble. But then other runners began passing me. I saw Bonnie before the mile 12 marker, and I smiled but said "I used up too much energy at the start, and now I'm paying for it." 9:31 for mile 12. I had just given back everything that I had worked for back in mile 7, and with a usurious amount of interest.

Approaching the mile 12 marker.
See those people behind me?
They all passed me in mile 13.

1:45 elapsed, now I was just thinking about my 1:56:42 course record from 2017. I could improve on that mark, if I just kept moving. Once I realized that I had only 1.1 miles to go, I just had to run faster than a 10 minute mile pace for the rest of the course. And that I managed, barely, covering mile 13 in 9:44, but not without giving in to another walk break. A quartet of runners passed me on the road on the south side of Lake Clara Meer, then it was time to turn for the finish as I saw the mile 13 marker. Because of my watch distance malfunction at the beginning, I knew that I had 0.2 miles to run after my watch had signaled 13 miles. At least all of the course mile markers were in the right positions, so when I reached each mile marker, I had calculated correctly what I needed to finish with a course best. With 1:55 showing on my watch, I found a higher gear, and pushed myself as hard as I could for the final tenth of a mile. The finish line came into sight quickly enough, and I crossed the timing mat at 1:55:45 on the clock, 1:55:40 chip time.

Bonnie captured my finish!

Knowing that I had set a new course record for myself, and having completed my second-fastest half marathon, I allowed a little celebration before slowing quickly and gratefully to a full stop. I didn't remember to stop my watch until after I had collected my medal and was wrapped in a heat blanket. I had endured a rough time over the last half hour. Fortunately I recovered quickly enough to cheer Lindy Liu as she ran strongly through the finish line at 1:56:42 on the clock. Looking at Lindy's Garmin stats afterwards, she ran the last two miles 2 minutes faster than I had managed, and she would have passed me in the last stretch if her relay had been allowed to start with the first "red" wave. I had predicted that Tucker Running Club Half Sisters would outrun me, and indeed they did on chip time, finishing in 1:54:43 - congratulations! In fact it was a great day for women runners in this race - the first two finishers were women, crossing the finish line in 1:18 and 1:19 respectively, followed by the first man in 1:22.