Three weeks to go until the marathon! Last Sunday I completed a 22-miler, the longest run of this training cycle building fitness and endurance. This run was better than both of my 20-milers: I patiently managed a very consistent easy pace from start to finish, and my heart rate stayed consistent and within the aerobic zone throughout as I relaxed and glided along the Stone Mountain PATH trail. My hydration / nutrition / clothing race day plan is set, from new shoes and good wool socks to a collection of caps for a variety of weather conditions. My attitude was quite positive, except for the last couple of miles, as I leaned on a "fight" mantra to get through the last 23 minutes or so.
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| That means that taper starts as soon as I cross the finish line today! |
On my drive to this morning's race, I listened to the second half of the Running Rogue podcast, Episode #303. The host, Chris McClung, interviewed his sister Lori Smiley, who candidly described her ups and downs through several marathon training cycles. She shared 10 keys to her progress toward recently qualifying for the Boston Marathon, 5 physical and 5 mental keys. The episode really resonated with me. As one of the mental keys to success: Lori shared that during her best marathon, she had no negative thoughts. As the miles progressed, she told herself "I get to do this.... It's all centered around the gratitude I have for a healthy body."
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| The line for Summit Coffee Company (taken after the race) |
The race began at Smyrna Town Center just northwest of Atlanta, where there was plenty of parking and room for pre-race gathering. Although it was quite cold this morning, 27 deg F, the skies were clear, the roads were dry, and I was well-protected from the elements with two comfortable layers, including mittens and a chemical Handwarmer. I warmed up my stomach with a half-cup of free coffee from the Summit Coffee Company, then I warmed up my legs with a very easy mile on the sidewalks near the race route, finishing with a couple of strides in an empty parking lot. My legs felt good, and I was physically and mentally ready for a good race. I walked into wave B, giving myself plenty of distance from the front of the wave so that I could run a controlled start. It was great to begin the race with some familiar people: Bryan Greenberg was ahead of me in his distinctive Maryland Terrapins kit, and I talked for a minute with Linda Bode Phinney from Tucker Running Club. To my surprise, Emory professor and speedster Nick Varvel was starting in wave B, with this race as part of an 18-mile easy pace long run. After the push assist wheelchair division started at 7:30 am sharp, and then wave A began, wave B stepped forward and I crossed the starting mat at 7:36 am.
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| Wave B runners ready to begin! (From Bryan Greenberg's Strava page) |
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| Red is higher elevation, blue is lower elevation. |
We had an uphill start: it was nice to get that out of the way at the beginning! As we turned onto Atlanta Road, the route was gently downhill. The sun was rising over the horizon - and happily I was wearing sunglasses - and I enjoyed looking at the beautiful dawn sky. Quite a few runners streamed past in the first few minutes, but I just used my mantra "Patience" as I practiced a conservative start. I was running near Nick and Linda, then I recognized Chelsea Carnes to my right, and we caught up with Jessie Abraham, both fellow trainees in Coach Carl's Tuesday track workouts. Jessie and Chelsea have similar paces and abilities to mine, and it was nice to run with them for much of the first half of the race. I was chatting with Linda, Jessie, and Chelsea as we ran that first mile - the "conversational pace" was perfect for my start, and hopefully the three women didn't mind my chatter. My plan was to see how a 9-minute first mile felt, and then gauge what I would do for the rest of the race. It wasn't long before the mile 1 marker came into view, 8:54 elapsed on the watch and probably 9-minutes-flat as I passed the actual marker. There was a water station ahead, and while I didn't really need water, it was good to take the 30-second walk break and take in a little hydration.
The route was a gently rolling hilly race, typical of anything in metro Atlanta. Although running downhill was nice, I knew that we would return the same way, so I celebrated every uphill section on this stage as well. "Some of the faster wave C people are passing us" I said to Jessie. To myself, I focused on "Patience" in order to run my race, my pace. Mile 2 was 9:19, my heart rate was around 150 bpm, about right for this type of effort, and probably lowered a few points by the crisp temperature. The only hiccup in this race is that as the lead group approached us on their return, the police or volunteers were telling us to "Stay right". I was wondering why the woman on the bike in front of the lead runner was waving and shouting "No! No! No!" After the first couple of runners had passed, we were then directed into a middle southbound lane, as the other speedy returners came back in the right-most lane, from our perspective. I wonder when the leaders eventually safely made a crossover.
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| With Bryan Greenberg before the race. |
Once that was sorted out, I enjoyed looking out for speedsters that I knew, and cheered them on by name if I recognized them in time. There was another water stop midway through mile 3, where I took a few icy sips of water and another 30-second walk break. Mile 3 was 9:04, 27:17 elapsed; at 3.11 miles I had 28 minutes on the watch. Chelsea and I made the turnaround at about 29 minutes, about 3.2 miles in, as we carefully worked our way around one of the push assist teams making the turn at the same moment.
28 minutes at the 5K mark predicted 56 minutes for the race. I didn't have a time goal for today, but my intention was to negative split, even though the return trip would be about 30 feet net uphill. I felt like I would manage that today as long as I was smart about my effort. And while I scrambled up the hill at the turnaround with short quick steps, upon cresting the hill I called on my mid-race mantra, "Relax and glide." That had carried me through miles 12 - 20 in last weekend's long run. I was mostly running with the pack, accepting greetings and encouragement from the runners in the other lane as they worked toward the turnaround. I took water and another short walk break shortly before reaching the mile 4 marker. Mile 4 was 9:07, 36:24 elapsed.
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| Three short walk breaks enabled a strong and progressive race pace! |
I began to think of the marker as "Mile 24." At this state, Coach Carl's advises finishing the 26.2 mile marathon thinking of "9 laps to go on the track" in order to cover the final 2.2 miles. But for me, 9 laps seemed a little long. I just focused on "relax and glide." I was occasionally passing people, which was nice. I think only one person passed me after mile 4, and while I thought about trying to keep up with him, I remembered "My race, my pace" and just stayed with "relax and glide." One of the other things that Lori Smiley mentioned in the podcast was that she was smiling throughout the race. She had no negative thoughts to drag her down. I let my face relax into a natural smile, and every time I thought to do that, I gained a little pep in my pace. I expected to pass the mile 5 marker sometime in the 46th minute, but to my surprise the alert sounded at 44:50 - I had just run 8:27 for mile 5, without thinking too much about it. Afterwards I realized that I had benefited from a net 25 foot descent. But that was the right direction to be going for a negative split race, which was the only negative thing happening in this race for me!
My heart rate was at 160 bpm, close to my the threshold, but at the imaginary "Mile 25" marker, with just 1.2 miles to go - or 5 laps on the track - I was in control and could maintain that pace for another 10 - 12 minutes. To avoid any chance of overheating when I increased my effort, I tucked the handwarmer in my running belt, then slowly pulled off each mitten and put them away in the belt as well, just as I was passing a couple of people. I thought about myself, "Was that a little overly dramatic? I'm about to make a mad dash to the finish - what a %#&@in' badass I am!" ... Then my attitude turned more humbly to "Gratitude". "Gratitude that I am healthy and can do this." That thought was particularly poignant as I remembered a great friend from graduate school who recently passed away from cancer, and thinking about my father-in-law's recent cardiac problems, and my mother's ongoing sciatica. Those weren't negative thoughts, they were part of my "Gratitude" mantra as I continued to run strongly. "Humility" is extremely important, respecting the challenge of the marathon ahead in three weeks.
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| I'm very satisfied that this checkpoint race accurately shows what I can currently do! |
"WE ARE ALMOST DONE!!"
and then sped on ahead. One more block and we made a left turn, greeted by the mile 6 marker. 8:16 for mile 6, even with 25 feet net uphill, just over 53 minutes elapsed. "Gratitude" I told myself again as I passed several runners on Church Street, knowing that I was on track for a 55 minute finish, therefore accomplishing the negative split.
Then we made a right turn. In the distance I could see the finish line, at the end of a nice gradual downhill. I picked up my pace. So did everyone else. I was amazed to see Nick Varvel still running in the distance and only about 20 seconds of me. There was another runner about 5 seconds in front of me. I decided not to attempt a move, it was probably impossible to pass anyone else in the short distance remaining, but I continued to run quickly and consistently past the finish line timing mat, just a step or two ahead of someone that I had passed a moment earlier when we were both making the last turn.
I held up both arms in a little celebration before stopping my watch. Official chip time time, 54:47! That was the fastest 10K race that I've run in more than three years! (Dec 2019 Eastside Beltline 10K, Sept 2019 Big Peach Sizzler 10K).
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| I like where I ran near the median in all four ranked categories: "Right in the meaty part of the curve: not showing off, not falling behind." (That's a favorite quote from Seinfeld's George Costanza, describing the qualities of his candidate's 2.0 GPA) |
I exchanged congratulations with a few others in the finish area. I felt good, not too tired, brimming with happiness at achieving my goal for today! I accepted a bottle of water and a small bag of blueberry Fig Newtons, but didn't stop walking in the cold. Within a couple of minutes I had resumed an easy jog as my warmdown, completing about 8.4 high-quality miles for the day. That was the perfect check-point race: Negative split, strong finish, mission accomplished!
