March 14, 2015: Pi Day (and the Tour deCatur 5K)

Goal C: To finish the 5K on Pi Day, 3-14-15 before 9:26:53 am

Goal B: To run a 5K with negative splits

Goal A: To break my 5K PR of 25:06

                 3.14159265359...

I picked up the bib and shirt a couple of days ago.
It was a 4-mile round-trip easy run from the
Emory campus to Fleet Feet in downtown Decatur.
Two years ago I would never have considered
 "running" into Decatur for a quick errand. 

Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.  For the nerds of the United States, today is Pi Day, March 14.  Sadly, the rest of the world will miss out, at least those who use the day-month-year combination. 31-4-15 would correspond to the 31st of April, which hasn't made it onto any western calendar.  

The Tour deCatur has typically been held on a Saturday morning in mid-March, so it was a happy coincidence that the usual day happened to be on Pi Day.  The Tour deCatur is a fundraiser and big community event for the Decatur Education Foundation, and the Decatur School District is well represented with student runners and their families from every school in the district.  I ran this race last year, and had a good time, even though I registered on the morning of the race.  This year I registered a few weeks ahead of time, which saved a lot of trouble, a few dollars, and guaranteed that I would get a Pi Day T-shirt! 

2014 Tour deCatur recap

It was raining on the drive to the race, so after parking I put on my running rain jacket and pinned the bib to the outside of the jacket.  We would be standing around outside for about an hour before the start of our race, and I didn't want to get soaked before our race had begun.  Fortunately the rain stopped within a few minutes of our arrival, and so we walked to North McDonough Avenue, in front of Decatur High School, to watch the 8:30 start of the 1-mile race.  A large number of children were gathered at the start, and with the signal to start, they went racing down the street, followed by a slower progression of runners, walkers, and parents pushing strollers bringing up the rear. 

  

The boy circled above was the
eventual winner of the 1-mile race.

Hundreds of runners and walkers
on North McDonough Road

  

The winner of the
1-mile race!

After seeing off the last starters, we hurried to the back of the school to watch the arrival of the 1-mile finishers.  In about six minutes, the lead runner appeared, blazing through the gates into the stadium and crossing the finish line at mid-field in 6 minutes, 19 seconds!  As the time ticked past 10 minutes and then 12 minutes, a line began to form at the finish chute!  It was probably because each child was receiving a medal and they were probably giving the awards too close to the finish line.  I just hoped that there wouldn't be a similar traffic jam when I finished the 5K. 

For the start of the 5K, we gathered on Commerce Street near the corner with Robin Street.  We had lined up for a photo with a banner of the race, held by the front line of runners, and then the race director had us move northwards on the street, probably a hundred yards or so, to the starting chute which would record our chip starting time.  (You will see later why this detail is important.)  Although the official time for the start was planned for 9:00 am, we actually began around 9:04 am, so I knew that I would still be running at pi time (9:26:53).  I was standing fairly close to the front, about 20 rows back, but probably closer than in last year's race. 

The race route, with mile markings in magenta

Today's start was just as chaotic as was last year's.  Walkers in front of me, speedy sprinters coming up from behind, children darting back and forth as we started - in short, it was a cheerful mess!  Actually the chaos was just what I needed to avoid going out too fast, although I definitely wanted to avoid a collision.  I ran most of the first half mile with my hands open and out in front of me, so that if I collided with someone, I could catch them and myself to avoid a dangerous body-to-body collision.  It wasn't until we had climbed the hill at the intersection of N. McDonough St. and Howard Ave. that the traffic cleared out a bit.  I heard a half-mile alert at 4:20, which was about right for my plan to run the first mile between 8:30 and 9:00.  But I must have picked up speed in the second half-mile, certainly I was feeling good, because I passed the 1-mile mark at 8:03!  I felt like we might be going gently uphill (later confirmed by the elevation map) but I was moving well.  After a half-mile jaunt through a residential neighborhood, we got back onto Howard Ave. for a few blocks.  I was starting to feel quite warm as we headed uphill on a gentle slope to the highest elevation of the race.  The temperature had risen to about 50 degrees F, and the rain jacket was becoming uncomfortable, but with the bib pinned to it, I couldn't take off the jacket.  But I managed to unzip the jacket most of the way down, working my fingers behind the bib from above and then below, even while running.  That helped to get some cool air against my chest and blowing around inside the jacket.

Decatur is just as hilly as Atlanta. 

We reached the top of the hill within 100 feet of turning northward onto Drexel Avenue.  As we headed downhill, I dared to let myself go a bit faster.  The IT band issue wasn't bothering me at all at this stage, and I glided quickly downhill, passing the 2-mile mark at 15:35 (7:32 for mile 2!).  That more-or-less coincided with a valley in the road, but the next section was a gentle upward slope, and before I knew it, I was turning right onto Ponce de Leon, cutting a tight corner to save steps!  Now I knew that it was no more than one mile to the finish line.  Even though we were going slightly uphill on Ponce, I maintained decent speed, and turned a slight diagonal right through a bicycle lane onto West Trinity Place, where another gentle downhill section gave me the impetus to speed up.  As we passed through an underpass for the MARTA tracks going into Decatur Square, I heard the 2-1/2-mile alert at 20 minutes even.  Wow, I've never done that before.  Surely I could cover 0.61 miles (ca. 1 kilometer) in less than 5 minutes, to break the 25-minute barrier.  But we were now heading uphill toward the courthouse.  I could feel myself slowing a bit as we ran uphill, and I could see that my heartrate was pretty high, in the mid-170's.  I thought that I felt a little twinge on the side of my right knee, but nothing too bad.  I could hear the announcer in the stadium, and I definitely knew that I could maintain a fast pace for a couple more minutes.  

At the top of the hill, we turned right onto N. McDonough, downhill!  After a couple of hundred feet, we made a right turn past the school and downhill again into the stadium and onto the field.  This year I was passing a few people on the way in but occasionally was also passed by a couple of children that found the energy to put on an incredibly strong sprint to the finish.  I later learned that I was moving at 9 mph in this section, pretty fast for me.  

As I entered the stadium I was rewarded by the beautiful sight of 23 minutes on the clock - something that I have never seen before in a race!  The time clicked forward to 24 minutes but I was exhilarated that I was going to set a new personal record!!  As I crossed the line I saw 24:10 on the clock, and when the official times were posted in the afternoon, I had finished in 23:57!  Smashed my old PR by more than a minute!!

Then I checked my tracker.  3.04 miles.  Of course a 5K is 3.11 miles, and my tracker usually records a distance for a 5K of about 3.14 miles (no pun intended, really!), so 

I had just run a 4.9 K!  

If only we had started a hundred yards further back on Commerce Street!  

Nevertheless, I ran today's race at an average pace of 7:53 minutes per mile, something that I've never managed before.  My best previous pace on the tracker had been 8:04 minutes per mile to achieve an earlier 5K PR of 25:06.  So I will take today's time as an unofficial PR, and I think that I can realistically say that I've broken through my 25-minute barrier.   

Bonnie and a couple of friends from our WeightWatchers group were also running the 5K, and Bonnie got us together for a few photos after the race. 

Montage of 4 happy and healthy "Sunday's beautiful losers"
- the unofficial name of our Weight Watchers group -
collectively losing at least 150 lbs. in the past few years! 

video of a Dixieland band playing near the finish line 

Goal C: To finish the 5K on Pi Day, 3-14-15 before 9:26:53 am; not possible (for me) due to the 9:04 start, but I'm not complaining, because ---

Goal B: To run a 5K with negative splits; ACHIEVED!! 8:03, 7:32, 7:58.  The second mile had a nice long downhill, so I think that it's a success that I ran the last mile a bit faster than the first mile.  

Goal A: To break my 5K PR of 25:06; ACHIEVED!!! (probably ...)  extrapolating 4.89 km in 23:57 to a full 5.00 km, it comes out to about 24:30.  And while I doubt that I could have run one more full mile at that pace, I'm certain that I could have made it a couple of hundred more meters without slowing down too much, so I'll take it! 

March 7, 2015: The Chattahoochee Road Race 10K

Goal C: To beat my 10K PR of 54:22

Goal B: To finish in less than 54 minutes

Goal A: To run the second half of the race faster than the first half

Inside the packet containing my bib for the Charles Harris 10K two weeks earlier, I found a post card advertising the following race:

Of course the race that I had just finished was said to be one of the fastest Peachtree qualifiers, but having just fallen a few seconds short of my PR, I was vulnerable to advertising for one more chance prior to registering for the Peachtree Road Race!  I had originally planned to defend my "title" in the Dental Dash 5K (2nd place in age group in March 2014).  But I checked out the web site and the elevation map for the Chattahoochee Road Race, and the downhill finish although significant did not seem to be quite as steep of a slope as kilometer 9 in the Charles Harris, so I felt that I might do better on this course.  The right knee was also feeling better in recent training runs, and so I was hopeful for a good experience in this race. 

This probably sounds silly to regular folks, but among the runners in Atlanta, it's not uncommon to hear talk about improving one's Peachtree qualifying time.  Obviously the organizers of the Chattahoochee Road Race are counting on that interest to draw a larger field, on a weekend when there are quite a few competing races.  It really shouldn't matter for me - or for the other 99.9% of Peachtree Road Race participants.  My chip time won't be any faster or any slower whether I begin in group B or group E.  Last year I began in group C by submitting a 5K qualifying time, but by mile 5 a substantial number of group D runners were starting to pass me, even though I had a 4-minute head start.  So I decided a few months ago that I would only submit my best 10K time, after all the Peachtree Road Race is a 10K race.  

March 8, 2014: Dental Dash 5K

2014 Peachtree Road Race

February 21, 2015: Charles Harris 10K

The latest issue of Runner's World arrived in the mail last night, and two timely articles were advertised on the cover: "The Right Warmup for Every Race" and "Pain-Free Knees".  I read both articles over my pre-race breakfast this morning, and resolved to follow the advice.  On the drive to the race start, I kept reviewing my plan to aim for 9-minute miles for the first 3 miles, so that I would have some energy for a strong finish.  

Getting the last bit of warmth in the car before heading to the starting line!

After picking up our race packets in a parking lot near the finish line, I jogged uphill to the starting area, about half a mile from the finish.  I took it fairly easy until I got to the parking lot behind the starting area, then ran three laps turning up the pace for a couple of hundred feet in each lap.  This wasn't quite as thorough of a warmup as recommended in the Runner's World article, but certainly it was a better and more purposeful warmup than what I usually manage.  

We gathered for the start, and I took a position about halfway back from the starting line.  I figured that would help me to avoid going out too quickly.  A couple of minutes before the 8 am start, we heard an airhorn!  It turns out that the race director didn't have a megaphone, but the airhorn got everyone's attention.  He gave a one-minute advance notice (but I thought he had said something indicating that we were about to begin immediately) so I started my tracker and put on my gloves.  I decided not to worry about the early tracker start, as I could subtract a minute from every alert and still follow my progress.  

It was a beautiful morning, if a bit crisp, with temperature around the freezing point. 

Then the airhorn sounded for real.  It took about 15 seconds to get to the starting line, and then we began moving in earnest.  Although the start was a little crowded, I resolved to just move with the pack at least for the first half-mile, even though it seemed a bit slow.  That was a good move, as I covered that first half-mile in 4:20, and mile 1 in 8:51, even though it felt like I was running really slowly.  The route was rolling hills, but none of the hills were very challenging, and I was feeling good.  In fact I think that my legs benefitted from the three different levels: flat, moderate uphill, and moderate downhill, using different muscles for each level. 

Shortly after passing the mile-1 marker, the lead runner in the 5K passed us on the return leg.  He had opened up at least a 30 second lead on the second runner.  Then a fairly steady stream of 5K runners passed us as we crossed the overpass over the I-285 Perimeter.  I had been running along the left side of our lane so I could watch the returning 5K runners, but when I realized the split for the 5K and 10K races was coming up, I managed to move over to the right side of the lane.  The last thing that I wanted was for a 5K runner to cross in front of me at the turnaround.  It seemed that a majority of the runners in my part of the pack continued forward on the 10K.  

My right knee started bothering me a bit in the second mile, but the pain wasn't too bad.  I remembered what I had read earlier this morning about a shorter, quicker stride on the Runner's World article on knee pain, and that helped.  The pain came and went during the run, but it was never too bad, and I felt that it might not slow me down today.  From the Runner's World article, it appears that I have a bit of iliotibial-band syndrome (IT-band), which is a common complaint among runners.  I was relieved to read this morning that it's not an injury and simply an indication that I need to strengthen my glute and core muscles, which I've already begun working in earnest over the past couple of weeks.  That probably helped with today's run. 

Runner's World, Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS)

I reached the mile-2 marker at 17:52 (9:01 for mile 2).  I commented to a runner next to me that I had achieved my first goal of passing the 2 mile mark before the 10K leader had completed 4 miles.   Things continued smoothly through the mile-3 marker at 26:42 (8:50 for mile 3).  At what was probably the 5K mark, I saw a clock reading 27 minutes, then spotted a timing mat in the right part of the lane.  I moved over to cross the mat just as a runner ahead of me made a quick piroutte to return to the mat, which he crossed just in front of me.  He apologized although we didn't collide, and I mentioned that we probably didn't have to cross the mat, but perhaps they would post our 5K times along with 10K results.  According to my tracker, 27:38 at the 5K mark meant that I was on a pace to finish in just over 55 minutes.  Hmm, I was definitely going to have to speed up to achieve my goals, but of course that precisely fit my A goal and the overall race strategy, to run the second half of the race faster than the first half. 

The route was a partial out-and-back, taking a spur in the final mile to give us a downhill finish. 

I made a sharp 180-degree turn at the turnaround point.  I was still feeling good but had to push myself a bit to maintain some speed.  By focusing on staying with the runners around me, I continued at a good pace.  There was a water stop shortly before the mile-4 marker, which I ran through but pulled over a couple of hundred feet past the water stop to take a couple of sips of water from my bottle, while taking a short, 15-second walk break.  As I returned to speed, I reached the mile-4 marker at 35:46 (9:04 for mile 4).  

The short walk break really helped me as we began the fifth mile.  At this stage, I began to pass a few runners.  I was listening to the breathing cadence of the other runners around me, and I was definitely breathing better, usually exhaling every 7th or 9th step.  At that moment I realized that my musical training might be helping me to think in 7/4 or 9/4 time!  I recently learned that one should not exhale on even step counts, as one tends to step harder when exhaling, and repeated exhaling on the same foot can lead to injury.  I found myself passing more runners, and no one was passing me. As we crossed the I-285 overpass again, I saw the mile-5 marker, passing it at 44:32 (8:46 for mile 5).  This was about the same time that I had run in the Cartersville 10K, my first sub-55 minute race. 

I decided to take one more short walk break and a couple of sips of water, to fortify me for the sprint to the end.  It's amazing what a 15-20 second walk break does, lowering my pulse rate just a bit, and giving my leg muscles a momentary break.  I felt really strong and ready to run fast as I went back up to running speed.  

The course features a downhill finish, for the final 0.7 miles.

I began the tracker too early, and crossed the starting mat at 1:06.
Look at the paces that I was running on the downhill sections near the end of the race! 

At the turn onto Hammond Drive, I could see the road ahead drop rather sharply in elevation.  I started to build up some speed, lengthening my stride, and I zipped past another runner.  I was flying down the hill, it seemed that my feet were only occasionally touching the ground, and gravity was doing most of the work.  Hopefully my running looked impressive to any spectators.  At one point I was concerned that I might fall, at another I wondered if my left shoe was coming untied, but I just kept moving as fast as I dared.  But this wasn't the end of the race!  To my surprise, we went uphill again, although I managed to maintain a decent pace, back to 9-minute mile pace, and passing a few runners.  Then we went downhill again, and I started flying again, passing yet another runner.  The road levelled out briefly as we made the final turn onto Sandy Springs Circle, with one more steep downhill section.  Having gained some confidence from the first two downhill sections, I rocketed down the final stage at full speed, passing several other runners.  I was shocked afterwards when I saw that my pace was faster than 6 minutes per mile, hitting 11 miles per hour going into the finish.  And the clock clicked over to 54 minutes shortly before I finished, with 54:07 the last number that I saw on the finish line clock.  When the results were posted, my official chip time was 53:54!! 

Looking back up the final hill

Shortly after the race, high on endorphins! 

It took me awhile to slow down after that blazing fast finish, and I could feel it in my legs when I was walking immediately afterwards, hoping to keep from getting stiff.  But I was exhilarated with the race!  Subtracting a few seconds for the start, I knew that I had definitely achieved all three of my goals!  The downhill section at the end definitely helped, but I'm sure that I would have been unable to take full advantage if I had been too tired after 5 miles. 

Goal C: To beat my 10K PR of 54:22:  Achieved, 53:54!  28 seconds better than my previous PR!!

Goal B: To finish in less than 54 minutes:  Achieved!!!

Goal A: To run the second half of the race faster than the first half:  Achieved for the first time!  First 5K, 27:38; Second 5K, 26:16

Mile splits: 8:51, 9:01, 8:50, 9:04, 8:46, 7:58; 6:03 pace for the final 0.22 mile

Chattahoochee Road Race

February 21, 2015: The 35th Charles Harris Run for Leukemia

Goal C: To improve on my 2014 time of 55:30

Goal B: Working toward my 'dream' time of 53:59

Goal A: To run the second half of the race faster than the first half of the race  

Last year I ran the Charles Harris 10K as the second 10K of my short running "career".  It's known locally as one of the fastest 10K Peachtree Qualifiers, thanks to the net 100 feet descent.  At this time last year, I knew nothing about pacing.  I remember happily dashing off to a quick start, only to struggle after the 4-mile marker.  Last year I was so tired by the time that I reached the long downhill sixth mile that I couldn't take advantage, and was demoralized by a steady stream of faster (and smarter) runners passing me in that stretch.  Nevertheless, my time in the 2014 race was my 10K PR for 8 months, so the 2015 race could potentially be the site of my dream goal of 10K in less than 54 minutes.  

2014 Charles Harris Run

However, my top goal changed after last weekend's semi-fiasco in the Inman Park 15K.  I've finally taken to heart that my lack of discipline at the start has caused me to finish slowly in too many races.  I have to remember the big-picture goal of my running, which is for my health and fitness, and my desire to enjoy every single mile that I run.  

For today, the plan was to maintain a pace no faster than a 9 minute mile, until passing the 4-mile marker, at or after 36 minutes.  My intention was to run a smart and patient race to that stage, then turn up the speed a bit in the level or slightly downhill fifth mile, and have enough in the tank to fly on the steeper sixth mile.  The last quarter-mile would be moderately uphill but I could probably power through that final stretch for a strong finish as long as nothing was hurting.  I wasn't going to be that focused on finish time, but also realized that an excellent finish time was likely to come from successfully executing the negative split strategy. 

ATC Spring Tune-up 15K

It was cold at the start, around the freezing point, but fortunately there had been no precipitation overnight other than a few light flurries, and so the road was dry and safe, other than quite a few potholes.  It was difficult to stay warm while we were waiting to begin, but I didn't feel the cold once we started running.  I had positioned myself about 75 feet behind the starting line, slightly behind the middle of the pack, hoping that would help me to avoid starting out too quickly.  As we began running on Lavista Road, it seemed like we were all moving pretty slowly.  I just had in mind to jog easily, like it was a training run.  I did manage to avoid passing people in the first half-mile.  As we made the turn onto Lawrenceville Highway, the 1/2-mile alert sounded indicating 4:20 minutes elapsed.  So in fact I was still running faster than a 9 minute/mile pace despite my best attempt to keep my speed down at the beginning, but I considered that a successful start. 

The race route, with mile markers in magenta

I managed fairly good discipline throughout the first four miles, covering miles 1 - 4 with splits of 8:49, 8:29, 8:53, and 8:38.  I did allow myself to speed up a bit on downhill sections in the second and fourth miles, lengthening my stride while still relaxing, and focused on technique on the few uphill sections.  There is a fairly substantial hill in mile 4 between Northlake Parkway and Interstate-285 (The Perimeter), but it didn't seem to slow me down very much this year.  As I approached the mile-4 marker, I realized that I was feeling pretty good this year, whereas last year I was already beginning to struggle.  Even though I was about 1 minute ahead of schedule when I passed the mile-4 marker (at 34:49 elapsed), I felt that I had executed a good plan to this stage.  I wasn't tired at this point, and felt as strong as I did in the Peachtree City 10K (34:30 at mile-4) and the Cartersville 10K (35:25 at mile-4), which have been my best two 10K races. 

Mile 5 was slightly downhill, so I thought about speeding up a bit, but so did a few of the runners around me, who slowly passed me.  Nonetheless, I felt that I was running at a steady pace (43:34 elapsed, 8:45 for mile 5).  Immediately after passing the mile-5 marker, I could see ahead the beautiful long downhill stretch to the Home Depot.  I lengthened my stride to take advantage of the slope, but then the right knee began to bother me again.  Oh no!  It wasn't as bad as last week, but it was certainly annoying.  To get some relief, I shortened my pace to a rapid turnover, and that seemed to help a bit.  Although I wasn't moving as fast as I wanted, and a few of the other runners passed me heading downhill, at least they weren't streaming by as in last year's race.  Susie Kim passed me early in mile-6, and at that moment I thought that I would aim to keep up with her.  But it didn't take any time for her to open up a lead of 20 feet, then 50 feet, and then she was out of sight as she passed other runners.   It was actually a relief to reach the bottom of the hill at the intersection with North Druid Hills, where we made a right turn and the elevation started to increase albeit modestly.  

The elevation map, showing net 125 feet downhill. 

After turning the corner onto North Druid Hills, I took a walk break for about 15 seconds and swallowed a swig of water, then resumed to a steady jog.  Amazingly the knee wasn't hurting as much now that I was going uphill, although it remained sore for the rest of the race.  As I turned into the neighborhood on Mistletoe Drive, and within a block made another right turn onto Mt. Olive Drive, we came upon one small but noticeable hill that has surprised many first-time runners of this race.  This year I had no real trouble heading up and over the hill, although I wasn't moving as quickly as I would have liked.  As the road curved to the left and began heading upwards again, I saw the mile-6 marker at 52:39.  So the sixth mile, which I had hoped would be my fastest, was in fact my slowest, although 9:05 per mile is still a respectable time for me in any run.  

To beat my 10K PR of 54:22, I would have to cover 0.22 miles in 1 minute, 42 seconds.  That wasn't going to happen.  I could see the finish line in the distance, but it would be a steady uphill run to the finish.  However, I was now pretty sure that I wouldn't have trouble bettering last year's time of 55:30.  There was no one immediately in front of me, although I felt footsteps behind me.  Indeed when a spectator shouts "Kick it, Carol!" immediately after you pass that spectator, you just know that "Carol" must be gaining on you.  Although the knee was still bothering me a bit, I managed to push a little faster, even though I was going uphill.  The policeman guarding the last intersection was cheering us on.  Somehow I managed to reach the finish line without anyone passing me in the last hundred yards.  I heard Susie Kim call out "Go Frank!" as I neared the finish line.  Bonnie was at a conference this morning and so she wasn't available to cheer or to photograph me.  The last time that I saw on the clock was 54:59.  I was delighted to finish in less than 55 minutes on the clock!  My official time of 54:42.84 is my third best 10K time and only 21 seconds slower than my PR from four weeks ago.  Three out of my last five 10K races (since October 2014) have been under 55 minutes, which is a good trend. 

It wasn't until I checked the official results that I saw that one of my running coaches from last spring, Wallace "Chuck" Carr, crossed the finish line literally 1.5 seconds behind me.  The next time I see him, I'll be sure to thank him for giving me the impetus to push harder at the end of today's race!  

As soon as I stopped running, there was no pain in the knee.  What has become apparent is that I'm not a good downhill runner.  I think that it was on a long downhill stretch on Glen Iris in last week's 15K that the knee began to bother me, and looking back at last year's Charles Harris account, the same thing happened in that race.  Fortunately there are probably some exercises that I can find to strengthen the muscles around the knee, and so it's probably more of a conditioning issue rather than an injury, thank goodness.  The other good thing was my cardiovascular stamina was strong throughout the race.  I felt a bit winded immediately after finishing, due to the attempted sprint in the final yards, but I recovered so quickly that I regretted not pushing a bit harder in the final mile! 

The performance shirt from the 2014 Charles Harris Race is one of the
most comfortable running shirts in my collection, and I expect
to wear the 2015 shirt quite a bit this spring and summer.
Smokey also approves! 

Goal C: To improve on my 2014 time of 55:30:  Achieved at 54:43! 

Goal B: Working toward my 'dream' time of 53:59:  Not quite, but I learned a lot from today's race that should help me eventually get there.  

Goal A: To run the second half of the race faster than the first half of the race:  First 5K: 27:11; second 5K: 27:31.  

That is a big improvement over my typical performances.  And while I didn't quite achieve "A goal" of a negative split, now I know that it isn't because I started too quickly, but instead I need to strengthen my knees and legs to better handle downhill stretches without feeling pain. 

When I compared detailed records on the 2014 run with today's run, although I was a full minute behind last year's pace after mile 1, I was only a few seconds behind by the time that I had completed mile 4.  At the end of mile 5, I was approximately 25 seconds ahead of the 2014 pace, and at mile 6, 35 seconds ahead.  So while my finish was not quite as strong as I would have liked, I definitely ran this race from start-to-finish much better than in 2014. 

Charles Harris Run for Leukemia

Video

February 14, 2015: Atlanta Track Club Spring Tune-up 15K

Goal C: To finish faster than 1:30:00
Goal B: To run the second half of the race faster than the first half
Goal A: To finish faster than 1:23:00 (old Peachtree Road Race qualifying time for wave C)

In the run-up to the Publix Georgia Half-Marathon, I've been selective in my choice of races.  Last weekend I completed a solid 13 mile training run along the actual half-marathon race route, at a slow but steady pace to finish just under 2-1/2 hours, and felt quite good afterwards.  So with the mileage training in hand, I felt that a 15K race would be a good way to work on adding some speed to the regimen.  When I had decided to run this race, I had resolved that I would try for on a negative split for this race, as good training to pace myself for the half-marathon.  Bonnie was going to try her first 8K, and she was well-trained having run the hilly circuit of Stone Mountain on at least a dozen occasions before today's races. 

The main problem for this race? This past week was really busy and rather stressful.  On Thursday afternoon, I had made a quick trip to Florida State University in Tallahassee to present a lecture on Friday afternoon, five hours driving each way.  I returned to Atlanta around 11 pm Friday evening and didn't wind down to sleep until nearly 1 am.  So my first goal was simply to wake up in time to get to the race!  That was accomplished thanks to the alarm clock and the runner's habit of waking early on Saturday mornings.  But unlike some other races, I wasn't that well-prepared mentally.  I had decided on the goals stated above several days ago, but frankly I wasn't thinking about them at all on the morning of the race, especially the most important goal B, trying for a negative split for each half of the race. 

We arrived about an hour before the race, when parking was still available near the start/finish area.  I warmed up fairly well and was feeling strong as I lined up for the start.  This week there were four waves.  Wave B was for 8:30 min/mile runners and faster - appropriate for me for a 5K, but I can't run a 10K at that pace, much less a longer distance, so I lined up with wave C (9:30 min/mile), in the second row.  We began about 4 minutes after the first wave.  Right before we started, the fellow in front of me had to retie his shoelace!  Rich Kenah, the Atlanta Track Club director, held up the start for a few seconds, which saved me from finding another position to avoid running over the shoelace guy in the first seconds.  I also started my timer about 30 seconds before the start, so that I could get my glove back on my hand before we started running.  The temperature was around freezing and so for the first time in a race, I decided to start with gloves.  

The race route, with favorite restaurants along the route! 

As we began, I found myself in second place in the wave, then out in front.  Obviously I had completely forgotten to remind myself to avoid going out too fast.  I did try to slow up my pace a bit, but covered the first 0.62 miles (1 km as it turns out) in 5:00 minutes.  Most of this section was on Edgewood Avenue in the heart of Inman Park.  At that stage I was starting to get into the back part of the wave B runners and zipped past quite a few of them, especially after turning onto Waddell Street at BoccaLupo, going downhill where I was really able to stretch my stride and let gravity do most of the work.  Shortly after turning onto Irwin Street, passing the new Krog Street Market and the southern entrance to the Eastside Beltline, we passed the mile-1 marker, at 8:14 elapsed.  I was trying to maintain a 9 minute per mile pace, but clearly had started out too quickly.  But I was feeling really strong, and so I maintained that pace.  Turning onto Randolph Street, we entered the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood.  We went up a decent hill at the south end of the street, but it didn't bother me too much and I felt that I maintained good speed without letting my heartrate go up too high.  After crossing Highland Avenue, near the Highland Bakery (which prepared our wedding cake), the street changed names to Glen Iris Drive with a long downhill, which again I took at high speed.  As we approached 4th & Swift at the corner with North Avenue, I passed the mile-2 marker at 16:33 elapsed (8:19 for mile 2). 

Turning onto North Avenue, we could see ahead the first big hill rising ominously just beyond the old railroad bridge now supporting the Eastside Beltline.  I managed to maintain a steady pace and even passed quite a few runners in this stretch, as we went up a total of three hills, with the first two being the most significant challenges.  Near the top I passed Susie Kim, a veteran marathon runner and an old friend of Bonnie's, but who I had first met through my running coaches Curt and Kathie Walker.  I had a feeling that she would probably pass me later in the race, since I had probably started too quickly, but I would just see how things would go.  Shortly before we reached Highland Avenue, I slowed to a walk to accept a cup of Powerade from the volunteers in front of Manuel's Tavern.  I walked for about a full minute, crossing Highland Avenue and then returning to my previous speed shortly before passing the mile-3 marker at 26:03 elapsed (9:30 for mile 3).  That was actually a pretty good time considering the uphill rise of approximately 120 feet. 

Elevation map for the 15K race.  When I was running the race, it felt like the hill at mile 8
was at least one hundred feet higher than that same hill had been at mile 3. 

We ran downhill along North Avenue parallel to Freedom Park, which was created from a planned interstate highway that was blocked by neighborhood associations in the 1970's.  It's a nice park, and I definitely understand the problems with having another interstate highway pass through the heart of the city, but as I ran through this section, I also wondered what Atlanta traffic might be like today if the interstate highway had been built.  Upon reaching Oakdale Road, we turned right to head southward, to begin closing the loop for the first 8K.  This is one of the few streets in the area that I've never run, although I've driven it a few times.  The houses are brightly painted and it looks like a pleasant middle-class neighborhood, known as Candler Park.  As we crossed McLendon Avenue, I recognized the Flying Biscuit, where I treated my groomsmen and my Mom to brunch on my wedding day.  Before long, we had passed the mile-4 marker at 34:55 (8:52 for mile 4), about 1 minute ahead of the original plan of a 9 min/mile pace.  Around this time, I removed the gloves, and that helped me to stay a bit cooler. 

Turning onto DeKalb Avenue, a busy thoroughfare that I have never run (and probably will never run outside of a protected race), I had to be careful of many potholes and drainage portals along the right side of the protected lane, but all of us in my area seemed to get through that section without mishap, as we passed Fox Brothers BBQ.  It wasn't clear if the place was open yet, and there were only a few cars in the lot, but I was thinking that some barbecue would taste really good right about now.  Anyway, crossing Moreland Avenue, we began receiving instructions as the 8K runners were nearing their finish line and the 15K runners would continue to the left.  I started to wonder if there was any chance that the 15K winner could pass me before we passed the split, and if he was running a 5 minute mile, that could potentially happen!  Just then a speedster zipped past me on my left.  Could that be the 15K winner?  To my relief, he moved over to the right lane for the 8K finish. I guess he must have arrived to the start a few minutes late.  

Immediately after passing the split 8K/15K split, we came to the next water stop.  They didn't have Powerade so I accepted a cup of water.  It was too cold to drink, in fact I choked a bit on the first sip!  That was an unfortunate and needless error on my part, as I was carrying a water bottle on my belt that was still nearly full.  But I managed to clear my throat after a couple of minutes.  Shortly after passing the mile-5 marker (44:02, 9:07 for mile 5), I spotted Ray Ganga, the volunteer crew chief.  He recognized me as well, and we exchanged high-fives as I crossed the intersection with Edgewood Avenue.  I felt that I was running at a really good 10K pace of about 55 minutes as we turned down Euclid Avenue.  Passing again through the Old Fourth Ward, I passed the mile-6 marker at 52:57 (8:55 for mile 6), and calculated that I might just achieve my 'dream' Goal A time of 1:23:00. 

But somewhere along Randolph Street, I began to feel some pain in my right knee.  It wasn't terrible, definitely not a major injury, but it was more than a minor passing twinge.  I had no choice but to slow down.  As I ran down Randolph and Glen Iris, taking a couple of short walk breaks (and swigs from my water bottle), I realized that the only important goal that I could afford would be to finish without making the injury worse.  After all, my principal running goal is to prepare myself to have the best possible half-marathon experience in five weeks from now.  For the rest of the race, I was steadily passed by other runners, many of whom I had undoubtably passed earlier in the race.  I was grateful that none of them taunted me as they passed, and my negative self-talk was more than making up for their silence! Mile-7 marker at 1:02:39 elapsed, 9:42 for mile 7.  

Turning onto North Avenue, the hill ahead was now truly intimidating.  That hill had grown at least 100 feet higher than it had been 45 minutes ago!  I took my time on this mile, taking several walk breaks when needed.  Shortly before reaching the summit, I realized that I had made yet another error: I had forgotten to eat a gel in mile 7, as I had originally planned. I moved to the far right side of the road and pulled out a raspberry caffeinated gel, squeezed the contents into my mouth, and washed it down with a few swigs from my water bottle.  Amazingly, I began to feel a little better.  The knee pain didn't seem that bad!  So while the knee pain was real, it had been exacerbated by a bit of hypoglycemia!  As I began running again, I admitted my error to another runner sharing my pace, and he mentioned that he had had some pain that had all but disappeared after he had taken some jellybeans a mile earlier (which is when I should have eaten the gel!)  Feeling a bit better, I took another cup of Powerade at the water station at Highland Avenue, and passed the mile-8 marker at 1:14:06 elapsed (11:27 for mile 8).  

For the final stage of the race, we turned onto Moreland Avenue, shaving a kilometer from the first loop.  After climbing another modest hill (which I walked more than ran), we entered Little Five Points, Atlanta's attempted imitation of Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.  I was amused by the contrast between Sevananda Organic Vegan Coop Market on the left, and The Vortex on the right, home to the Triple Coronary Bypass Burger.  As we crossed Euclid Avenue, I resolved to at least jog the rest of the way in.  (In the original plan, this is where I had hoped to shift into high gear for a fast finish, but that wasn't going to happen today.)  Earlier on Moreland Avenue, Philip Limoncello had passed me - even though he has two decades on me, he was running at a good consistent pace, about what I had hoped to be running all along.  Then Susie Kim passed me as we approached the entrance ramp to DeKalb Avenue, just as I had predicted an hour earlier.  It just goes to show that a successful race comes from consistency.  I basically had run the first half of the 15K race at my 8K - 10K pace: big mistake! 

After turning right onto DeKalb Avenue, I recognized Bonnie's friend James by his Korean flag bandanna.  I sped up to chat with him for a minute but then had to fall back as he glided toward an easy finish (at least it looked that way!)  Passing the mile-9 marker at 1:24:56 (10:50 for mile 9), I resolved to speed up a bit more for the final 1/3-mile.  The pain wasn't too bad although I found myself biting my bottom lip at times.  As I passed the first entrance to the MARTA parking lot, I heard the loud pealing of bells, and then realized that it was 9:00 am on the dot.  After I turned right onto Hurt Street (ironic name to finish the race), I could see the finish banner about 100 yards ahead.  To the right, a large group of runners who had already finished were waiting for the awards ceremony.  I passed an 8K runner and then there was no one else at all between me and the finish line, still 50 yards ahead.  Knowing that I was the front runner in whatever group I was in, I sped up a bit more.  I was looking for Bonnie but didn't see her, and then heard Susie Kim shout something encouraging to me as I was about 10 - 20 yards from the finish (thanks, Susie!).  Finally I crossed the line to cheers, with 1:31 and some seconds on the clock.  Subtracting 4 minutes for the wave C start, I had finished in less than 1:28:00, which I was pretty happy with considering my struggles in the final miles.  Indeed my official time was 1:27:38, at an average pace of 9:25 minutes / mile.  And if I've calculated correctly, I covered that last 1/3 mile at an 8:11 minute/mile pace. 

Whew, that was more challenging than I had expected!  But the good news was that the knee pain was virtually gone once I stopped running.  I turned to walk back to the main gathering area near the start, when I saw Bonnie coming up the finish.  I pulled out my camera to take a few photos and was relieved that I could actually jog back to the finish line without pain.  So fortunately I think that I will be good to go as soon as next weekend.  We wound down our Valentine's Day morning with second breakfast at Parish, one of our favorite Highland Avenue / Eastside Beltline hangouts. 

Bonnie's finish - better than her best time around Stone Mountain (same distance)

This race was an important learning experience for me: 

1) I should never begin a race without reviewing my plan for the race while I wait for the start.  It's probably even more important at my age, to minimize the chance of injury. 
2) I still need to find a good way to run the first half-mile at a slow pace, when a pace group is not available.  I wonder if I might have done better if I had started into the middle of wave B and just kept pace with some steady runners in the middle of that wave.  

Goal C: To finish faster than 1:30:00   Achieved! 
Goal B: To run the second half of the race faster than the first half  Nope, and this is really the most important thing that I need to work on to improve my running and my running experiences.  
Goal A: To finish faster than 1:23:00 (old Peachtree Road Race qualifying time for wave C)  Nope, although that was a "dream" pace and probably not realistic until I've mastered goal B 

http://atlantatrackclub.org/events/view/2015-spring-tune-up-8K-15K

February 7, 2015: Volunteering at the ATC Hearts and Soles 5K

This morning, the Atlanta Track Club hosted one of their free races for members: the Hearts and Soles 5K, on and around the Panthersville campus of Georgia Perimeter College.  I ran this 5K last year with a time of 26:14. 

Hearts and Soles 5K, Feb 8 2014

But right now, I'm focusing on preparing for the Publix Georgia Half Marathon on March 22.  I'm concerned that running a 5K as fast as possible will prevent me from doing a long run in the same weekend, and I want to prepare myself as well as possible so that I will have a better experience in my next half-marathon.  So I thought, I can still be a part of the event if I serve as a volunteer, which will save my legs to do the scheduled long run later in the day.  Several of the other bloggers that I've followed also volunteer at a few races each year, so I decided to follow their example.  Atlanta Track Club events are always well-organized, so I figured that an ATC race would be a good venue to volunteer for the first time.

One of the perks of volunteering is great parking, since the volunteers must arrive before the runners.  I had received an e-mail earlier in the week assigning me as a course monitor, which was what I had hoped for, so that I could see all of the runners including the leaders.  As a middle-of-the-pack runner, I miss out on watching the speedsters, so as a course monitor I would be able to watch all of the runners from start-to-finish. 

Bonnie decided to run the race, so we both arrived early, between 6:15 and 6:30 am.  The temperature was right around the freezing point, but the gift for volunteers was a pair of running gloves - perfect!  ATC also provided hot coffee for the volunteers, and even some donut holes (and I managed to stop with just one).  As I had hoped, things were indeed very well organized.  Each course monitor was issued a green visibility vest.  Ray, an experienced volunteer chief, gave each of us very clear instructions on locations and what course monitors at the various locations would need to watch for.  As I had run the race last year, I also knew the route, which was at a key turn and also near the top of the only hill in the race.  This would be an out-and-back route, so we would see every runner twice. 

Ray Ganga, our volunteer crew chief. 

Shortly before Bonnie took this photo, I had told her the story
of my father's advice when I first began driving lessons:
"Speed kills."

There were three other volunteers with me at the turn, along with a policewoman to coordinate the road closure, right before the start.  Although the main race was to begin at 8:00 am, a wheelchair racer would begin at 7:45 am.  We had the cones set out shortly before he started.  With a police escort in front of him, he was moving pretty quickly until he got to the very top of the hill, and when I think back on it, he probably had to slow quite a bit in order to make the turn, since there isn't a steering mechanism on a racing wheelchair.  He had a police escort and so that was a good dry run for our corner before the mass of runners began their race. 

I was wondering if we would be able to hear the airhorn from our station, approximately half a mile from the start, but the sound didn't travel up the hill.  However the policewoman was receiving reports from other locations on the race route, and so we could hear through her radio when the race had began.  The first wave suddenly appeared down the road as a big pack, rolling steadily in our direction.  We made sure that the cones were oriented as well as possible, as the racers would have to pare down from two lanes to one lane upon making our turn.  Indeed Ray had been a bit concerned about that ahead of time.  Fortunately there was just enough distance between the start and our turn so that the runners were spaced out far enough by the time they reached the turn, and the lane compression wasn't too difficult to manage.  Indeed it was very important that all runners stayed in the right lane, because before long, the wheelchair racer was returning from the opposite direction.  I guess I was expecting that the lead runners would be moving a little faster, but didn't have a good way of estimating speed, and they were running uphill coming in our direction.  Afterwards I calculated that the winner had maintained an average speed of just under 12 mph.  (For comparison, my own PR time in the 5K is at slightly better than 7 mph average speed.)

Wave A has started!

Wave A began to peter out, just as we saw wave B roll up the hill.  A few minutes later, wave C appeared, and I could definitely see some thinning before the final wave D came by.  As I had hoped, I was able to recognize a few runners that I had met at other ATC races and cheer them on my name, including my lovely wife as she passed my turn.  Shortly after the last runners made it past our turn, we heard over the radio that the lead runner was passing the softball field.  I wasn't quite sure where that was on the race route, but we began looking ahead along the race route.  After a few more minutes, the blue lights of the police car appeared at the top of the hill, followed by the first runner.  We started cheering as he approached, and now he was definitely moving quickly, perhaps accelerating as he crested the hill and began moving downhill.  He had at least a 100 yard lead on the second runner, and a total of four more runners passed in quick succession.  After a short break, a slowly increasing stream of runners steadily approached, including the lead woman runner, within the first twenty runners.  I sneaked a look at my watch and it was 8:14 am.  We noticed that every runner in this elite group was cutting the corner incredibly close to the curb, to save every possible fraction of a second.  I became concerned that some pine straw at the corner might be slippery, so a couple of volunteers dashed out to put a few cones on top of the straw. 

 

Today's winners, in 16:08 and 17:44 respectively

As the remaining runners passed our station, we would cheer every time a new group crested the hill.  We had a great spot for cheering because we could truthfully tell them that it was all downhill from here.  More than a few runners seemed really happy to hear that, and some of them probably heard it a couple of seconds before they made the turn and could see indeed that the road was heading downhill.  Many walkers began running again once they made the turn.  The only problem emerged later in the hour, as the faster runners ran back along the route in their cool-down run, crossing the later runners at our turn.  We tried our best to warn the cool-down runners and remind them to keep to the right, out of the way of their fellow runners. 

Of course the average pace of the runners slowed over the hour that we were working the turn, but I was able to reflect on my progress over the past two years.  Two years ago, I would definitely not have been in the middle of the pack.  I'm pretty sure that I could have walked 3.1 miles in an hour, but I'm also certain that I would have been quite tired.  So it was great to see everyone working on their own fitness regardless of their position in the race.  One of my favorite moments of the morning was seeing the oldest participant pass our turn on the return leg, at around 9 am.  He's 88 years old and a regular at ATC events.  Every time I see him, I remember the main reason that I'm running: it's to give myself a better level of fitness, hopefully so that I might age as gracefully and healthily as the oldest participants in today's race. 

Our day was done as the truck came up the road to pick up the cones along the route.  I jogged back toward the finish area but trying not to get in the way of the last finishers.  

And in addition to enjoying my experience as an ATC race volunteer, I also had a great long run a few hours later, covering the 13.1 miles of the Publix Georgia Half Marathon route starting and ending at mile 9, at Piedmont Park.  Although I will be running races for the next two weekends, beginning with the Spring Tune-Up 15K next Saturday, I plan to volunteer again soon, probably for the Atlanta Women's 5K on the last Saturday in March.