August 19, 2017: Atlanta's Finest 5K

The Atlanta's Finest 5K race involves the Atlanta Police Foundation and members of the police academy, in a race that starts and ends near the Georgia Aquarium, just north of Centennial Olympic Park.  It is advertised as one of the flattest 5K races in the area - although there is no such thing as a completely flat race route in Atlanta.  I had run this race in August 2014, near the end of my first year of running, but in 2015 I had volunteered, as I was running a half-marathon the next day, and in 2016 I skipped the race to focus on the early weeks of the marathon training program.  

Bonnie and I, shortly before sunrise at Pemberton Place

I felt that I would easily improve on my 2014 time of 26:14, and was aiming to run another sub-25 minute 5K.  Around 6:45 am, I joined a few friends including runningnerds Brian Minor, Beverly Ford, and Kristi Swartz for a warm-up run.  As my two best 5K times were set after running the race course at an easy pace in the hour before the race, I proposed the same for today's warmup, and as we all needed some extra miles for our respective half-marathon / marathon training programs, we all agreed.  One of the things I noticed along the route (and had also seen during the Peachtree Road Race) were the giant garbage trucks blocking major intersections.  I guess this is going to be the new normal, especially with two bad incidents just in the past week, with terrorists deliberately driving vehicles through crowds of pedestrians resulting in fatalities and many injuries: one last Saturday in Charlottesville, VA; the other a couple of days ago in Barcelona, Spain.  Runners are advised in pre-race materials to watch for hazards or potential trouble "see something, say something", but in the heat of competition, none of us will be thinking about outside dangers, we're just trying to avoid bumping into other runners or twisting an ankle on a pothole, so I was relieved to know ahead of time that the police were taking extra precautions for our safety

It was quite pleasant during our warmup run, 66 deg F, and other than a tiny short cut to stay on the safety of the sidewalk, we covered 3.03 miles of the race route, arriving to the start/finish area 13 minutes before the first wave was to begin.  I stretched a bit, talked with a few friends who were in wave B, listened to the National Anthem and pre-race announcements, and then wave A began their race.  I had hoped to get closer to the starting line before today's race, but at about 10 rows from the starting line, I would have had to push my way to get any closer, and it didn't seem appropriate to do so.  

Before we began our 3-mile warmup jog, around 6:45 am, with Brian Minor,
Beverly Ford, Kristi Swartz, Bonnie and me.  Brian and Beverly have a big day ahead:
this evening we're attending their engagement party! 

As we began our wave of the race with the loud toot of an air horn, the announcer shouted "Go! Go! Go!" and we were racing a few steps before we had crossed the starting line!  The Atlanta Track Club hires a fantastic announcer for its races.  He maintains a high level of enthusiasm throughout the event, beginning well before the start of the race, and continuing to the very last finisher.  I always enjoy listening to his patter!  Most impressively, he doesn't seem to repeat himself as he finds new ways to encourage runners to their best performance, especially as we approach the finish line.  

Within 50 yards of the start, the entire pack made a left turn onto Marietta.  I spotted an opening in front of me and began to rocket forward, then suddenly there was a young woman trying to cross the street, perpendicular to the fast-moving current of runners.  I managed to pull up and twist a bit to the right to avoid running her down; whew, that was a close call!  I guess she didn't know that there would be a short break between the back of our wave and the next wave of runners.  Anyway, I managed to get back up to speed, and quickly established my target pace, just under an 8:00 min / mile pace.  The warmup had been perfect.  Nothing was sore, and I was feeling strong and moving well.  At 7:57 elapsed, I passed the 1 mile marker just past Means Street, which marks mile 25 of the Georgia Marathon heading toward Centennial Olympic Park in the other direction.

It's not a picturesque route, but as a central location it's easily reached,
with plenty of parking, and permanent and clean restrooms in the park

We took a slight right turn onto Northside Drive, and then headed for a sharp right hairpin turn onto Tech Parkway, marking the southern border of the Georgia Tech campus.  I had watched the elite runners make this turn when I was volunteering a couple of years ago, and tried to hang to the left while speeding up a bit to make sure that I would have room to make the turn without cutting off anyone to my right.  Despite the "advantage" of moving a few miles per hour slower than the elite runners, I didn't manage to make a nice smooth curve going around the turn, and really had to dig to straighten out onto Tech Parkway.  At first we were going downhill under a railroad underpass, but as we started to go uphill, I began to feel the first bit of tiredness.  Funny, I had hardly noticed this when we were jogging at an easier pace 45 minutes earlier.  

In the 2014 race, I had remembered feeling extremely thirsty shortly after missing the water stop, so I made sure to get to the right side of the road as I approached the water station.  Unfortunately the cup that the volunteer handed me was only 1/4 full, if that!  Fortunately I had hydrated well before this race and wasn't really thirsty, but it was nice to take a 20 second walk break.  But with the two mile marker ahead, I discovered that my overall pace had dropped to 8:09 for the second mile (16:06 elapsed).  And that was including a short burst at a 7 min/mile pace before making the hairpin turn. 

From previous experience, and this morning's warmup run, I knew that the third mile would have a gradual but relatively long uphill section.  I kept pushing myself hard, but in this section I realized that I was now being passed by as many people as I was passing myself.  For a short time I tried to keep up with a guy wearing a black shirt "El Oso Blanco" (nickname for a former Atlanta Braves baseball player), but The White Bear opened up a good lead and I eventually lost sight of him.  The long stretch up Luckie Street was familiar from the final mile of the Hotlanta Half.  This time I stayed near the cones down the middle of the street, staying far away the divider separating the bicycle lane from the roadway, over which I had nearly tripped in the half marathon earlier this summer.  In this part of the race, a runner probably around my age wearing a blue shirt passed me three times - I didn't recall passing him twice in between, but I'm sure it was the same guy.  

You can see where I took the walk break (1.8 miles),
and how I struggled near the end of the third mile.
But (spoiler alert) I fired up the jets for the last quarter-mile! 

As we crossed Ivan Allen Boulevard, on the back side of the Georgia Aquarium, I began to accelerate, and was pleased to find the higher gear.  I managed to pass a few more people as we reached the mile 3 marker (8:13, 24:19 elapsed).  I wasn't checking my time at that moment, but figured that I was close to a 25 minute finish if I had run each mile around 8 minutes.  Making the final left turn to the finish, I could hear the announcer saying "Look for the Finish Line, Look for the Finish Line!"  Someone rocketed past me on my left - amazing, I will never be able to move my legs that fast - but I was gaining ground on a couple of other runners ahead of me.  Running directly east into the sun, I couldn't see the finish line at all, but could see the silhouettes of a cluster of people not too far ahead who seemed to be standing still, and then I saw the timing mats just a few steps before I finished.  

As I stopped my watch, I was surprised and then momentarily disappointed to see 25:08 as the time (25:04 was my official time), but quickly put the disappointment aside: I ran a good race for me, I ran my best, and I was happy that I was able to finish strongly.  Looking over the stats, my fastest mile (mile 1) was 20 feet net downhill, my slowest mile (mile 3) was 25 feet net uphill, and in between (mile 2) was 4 feet net uphill, so my effort was probably fairly even throughout.  I did make the best use of the 15-foot downhill finish, covering the last 0.11 miles in only 45 seconds. 

Next weekend I will run my first relay, a 20K race with four 5K loops, as the captain of a Tucker Running Club team.  I'm looking forward to the relay, but am hoping that I can run my 5K stage in less than 25 minutes.  

Celebrating our finishes under the giant Coke bottle cap at
Pemberton Park, just outside of the World of Coca-Cola.

August 12, 2017: The Vinings Downhill 5K "Run for the Kids"

I've heard of the Vinings Downhill 5K for a few years, but have never run it until now, preferring to run a free Atlanta Track Club race typically held on the same day.  However, this year the races were on successive weekend, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to sign up. 

The race is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Vinings, which is a small suburban town with the large Cumberland Mall, just across the Chattahoochee River from one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city of Atlanta.  We don't visit Vinings very often, although the town has some nice restaurants.  Notably, we bought the cupcakes for our 2010 wedding in a cupcake shop in downtown Vinings.  More recently, Bonnie worked for a short time at an office in Vinings, just downhill from the start of today's race, until the firm moved to a renovated space just west of midtown Atlanta.  

The Rotary Club of Vinings supports an amazing number of organizations and projects, with the Vinings Downhill 5K as their main annual fund-raising event.  While it's nice to support such an organization, I'll be frankly honest that it was the downhill course and the prospect of a gravity-assisted personal record that drew me, and perhaps many of the other participants.  In the words of the organizers: 

"This fast 5K course begins at the top of Mt. Wilkinson in Vinings, winds around the Cumberland Mall area, and ends at the Lovett School (280-foot net drop).  The first mile is downhill, but in the second mile before Cumberland Mall there is an uphill.  It is a fast course, but not all downhill."

Duly warned, I paid my registration fee, and carefully studied the race route and elevation map the night before the race, to pick out various points to gauge my time.  I found a number of "checkpoints" at turns where I could compare my progress based on a 24 minute projected finishing time.  That was an ambitious goal (my 5K PR is 23:52 from April 2016) but I felt that this was the course to try for a new PR.  

We arrived around 6:45 am, in plenty of time to park, and just a few minutes before traffic began to build in the area.  There were a few members of the Tucker Running Club, as well as Daniel a.k.a. Kurokitty, who writes a fantastic blog "The Running Cat" documenting a daily running streak more than 10 years at this point.  I had plenty of time to run through dynamic stretches and a short warm up, probably no more than a mile, but my legs felt good and so I was ready at the start.  

As usual for most 5K races, the start was crowded, but fortunately I seemed to have started in the "right" place, based on the speed of the majority of the other runners around me.  The first half-mile was a relatively steep downhill, 150 foot drop, although I never felt that it was so steep that I couldn't run well or safely.  At one point a runner bumped into me from behind before going around - I wasn't going that slowly myself - but no harm, no foul.  Fortunately it was crowded only for the first 1/4 mile or so, then I was running at my own pace.  

We had been warned of a steep uphill before the end of the first mile, and while it was a challenge, I was prepared and made my way fairly strongly, taking care to run a rapid cadence with shorter steps, so I passed a fairly large number of people in this zone.  I had hoped to make the right turn onto Cumberland Boulevard by 5:45, but it was 6:15 elapsed when I made the turn.  Oh well, I was running my best and was hoping that I had not measured carefully enough from the race map that had been posted on mapmyrun.com.  7:43 recorded for mile 1.   

Making a left turn onto Akers Mill Road at 9:15 elapsed, I was closer to the projected time of 9:00, and was encouraged to push hard as this road was fairly short.  But in one block, at the right turn onto Cobb Parkway at 11:00 elapsed (projection 10:30), and I was pretty sure that my projections were just not going to be that helpful.  Fortunately I knew that a long, gentle downhill was coming up ahead, beginning around 1.75 miles.  There was a water station at the top of that hill, where I took a short walk break, and then got back up to speed, enjoying the downhill section of the race.  My heart rate monitor had sounded a couple of times on uphill sections, but was now blissfully silent, staying just under 170 bpm.  I had not checked my time as I passed the mile 2 marker, but when I thought to check a moment later at 16 minutes elapsed, I realized that was doing OK (actually 7:53 for mile 2).  

The road began to flatten out as we reached the flat bridge across the Chattahoochee River, crossing from Cobb County into Fulton County and from Vinings to City of Atlanta.  My goal was the Chattahoochee River bridge at 20 minutes, and I had made it at 20:02 when I checked!  But, was my projection at the start of the bridge, or at the middle?  It took nearly a full minute to cross the bridge, so I estimated that I was probably still off the 24 minute pace by about 30 seconds.  And the downhill part of the race was now over.  I was going to have to gut it out to the finish line. 

A new contender for worst race photo ever.
The expression on my face looks like
I must have passed an open sewer, although
I don't recall any bad odors approaching the finish line.   

Here I told myself, "I've run two marathons, this is only a 5K!  I can dig deep and finish strongly."  I pushed myself to the last turn onto Northgate Drive.  Checking my watch, seeing 22:20, I had estimated last night that I would be two minutes from the finish line.  I kept running as fast as my legs would move, occasionally passing another runner, but mostly keeping up with the others.  As we approached the grounds of the Lovett School, I was looking for the mile 3 marker, surely it must be ahead, no? did I miss it?   Then a curve in the road led to where I thought that finish line would be, and there was the mile 3 marker!  0.11 miles to go?  I had not looked at my watch (7:53 for mile 3, 23:29 elapsed) but knew that there wouldn't be a PR today.  Nonetheless I kept running as fast as I could, even over a few little uphills - oh, those were big speed bumps - and finally the finish line came into sight.  It seemed a long way away!  Then I thought I heard footsteps behind me and to my right, and heard someone cheering for a runner just behind me.  I accelerated a bit, and thought I heard a groan from the runner behind me.  Ha!  Then I started hearing the footsteps again, but determined that I wasn't going to be passed.  I found one last burst of speed - and was rewarded with another groan from behind!  Don't slow down, I told myself, drive through the finish line with every last bit of energy, the race clock had not yet changed from 24 to 25 minutes - and FINISHED!  

I've cleared the last hill and have seen the Promised Land, a k a the Finish Line.

I checked my watch and was pleased to see 24:31 (official time 24:26) and 3.14 miles elapsed, so the course length was accurate, considering that I had done a decent job running the tangents, i.e. covering the shortest possible race route.  But, that run was hard.  Really hard.  I walked for a full block to cool down, then realized that I hadn't actually stopped my watch until over 26 minutes had elapsed.  No problem, I would be able to figure out my time from when I slowed down.  In fact the race organizers had posted all of the official results by the time that I checked in the evening.  

No PR for me today, but when I checked results on Athlinks, it was my 4th fastest 5K time (disregarding a couple of races that were clearly less than 3.11 miles), and possibly my best time in a race run at a temperature above 70 deg F.  I'm not sure how much the downhill sections really helped, as I didn't feel that I was able to move my legs any faster, but they probably helped keep my heart rate down for much of the race, so that I had enough energy to push in the last quarter mile.  

After a breakfast / early lunch at the Oy! Cafe on Cumberland Parkway, we headed home to clean up and get dressed for the memorial service for Janet Pickney.  It was an emotional experience, given the tragic circumstances of her death, but I appreciated that the minister acknowledged the difficulty of mourning such an unexpected tragedy, and provided some practical advice for grieving and supporting each other.  I was glad that the church was filled, probably 200 people present, including a good showing from the Tucker Running Club.  Hopefully the large number of attendees was of some comfort for her husband and the large number of family members and close friends that were also there.  It was wonderful to hear anecdotes of Janet's life from several members of her family and friends, some of whom had known her for 60 years, and I learned many more dimensions of Janet that I had missed by just seeing her on Sunday morning runs.  In addition to showing a photo of Janet with her dog at the table where we signed the condolences book, and sharing a couple of photo albums with family and her foster and adoptive children, her husband / family also displayed a pair of her running shoes, along with a 1st place age group medal that she had won a few months ago.  

August 5, 2017: 680 The Fan Tailgate 1-miler

In early August each summer, the Atlanta Track Club hosts a 5K at Chastain Park.  It's one of the hilliest courses in town, held on one of the hottest days of the year.  I've run it only once (in 2015), but registered for it this year, as one of the free races for Atlanta Track Club members.  I hoped that I would be ready for the challenge, trying to improve on my previous time of 26:04, when the possibility of a "reprieve" arose in an e-mail sent by the track club on Wednesday evening:

I was joking that they could fill the sinkhole with water and make it a steeplechase race, but by Friday morning, the switch to the one-mile race was official: 

and a race route was posted: 

Although I don't know the area that well, surely it couldn't be as hilly as the 5K route, given that the difficult was climbing a hill from the south to the start/finish area, around which the 1-mile was routed.  

Bonnie and I arrived around 6:30 am, in plenty of time to pick up our bibs, say hi to a few friends, and stretch.  I wanted to warm up carefully, and also reconnoiter the race route. The beginning was a nice downhill, then the route along Wieuca Road seemed to be mostly level.  There was a sharp left turn onto Dudley Lane that was a steep uphill, but it was a fairly short stretch, only about 100 meters.  Another left turn continued at a gentler uphill, but then the race concluded with a gentle downhill into the finish line.  

I ran one more mile to the car and back to get thoroughly warmed up.  I decided to run without my cellphone, to avoid having any weight jostling around my waist.  Since it was only a mile and would be largely shaded, I also decided to run without a cap or sunglasses.  I also deliberately left the heart monitor strap in the car: in a 1-mile race, the alarm was going to sound after 1/2 mile, and I was going to ignore it for the last 1/2 mile, so why bother?  I joined the Tucker Running Club for a quick group photo, and then caught up with the wave aiming to run under an 8 min/mile pace as they headed to the starting line.  My goal was to run under 7:00 minutes.  Although I didn't know if it would be possible, my legs felt good this morning, and I felt that I would have a good run.  On the other hand, the temperature was 72 deg F, and humidity 88%, due to rain that had fallen overnight. 

While we waited for the fastest wave to begin (faster than 6 min/mile), I tried to keep moving, to keep my legs warmed up.  I noticed that the number of runners appeared to be much smaller than I remembered from the 5K two years ago (actual numbers: 489 finishers today; 1008 finishers for the 5K in 2015).  I was in the second wave.  With the announcement "Runners set; GO!" the airhorn sounded and we took off.  

0:00, 901 ft elevation: Everyone around me seemed to begin running around the same pace, which was good.  After a slight downhill start, the road turned more steeply downhill within 100 feet of the start, and I rocketed forward to the first turn.  

1:00, 858 ft elevation: I made the left turn onto Wieuca Road, crossing the lowest point of the course at 1:15 (0.21 mile).  During my easy jog 30 minutes earlier, I had not noticed that Wieuca Road was slightly uphill, but certainly felt it as my pace began to slow.  Nonetheless I was moving well, not falling behind, and passing the occasional runner that had sprinted faster than he/she could maintain.  

4:35, 900 ft elevation (0.63 mi): I made a sharp left turn onto Dudley Lane and looked up the steep uphill, but I was ready for it!  Pumping my arms vigorously, I made good time up the hill.  

5:00, 930 ft elevation (0.70 mi): Having conquered Dudley Lane, after turning onto Chastain Memorial Parkway, I started to feel a bit tired.  My average pace was measuring slower than 7 min/mi.  

5:50, 956 ft elevation (0.78 mi): Upon nearing the highest point of the race route, I forced myself to speed up.  I knew that I didn't have much further to go.  As the road leveled out, my breathing became easier, and then I picked up the pace again.  

6:50, 951 ft elevation (0.90 mi):  I caught the first glimpse of the finish area through the trees.  Not much further!  I found a faster gear and began to accelerate.  Now into the downhill part of the finish area, I saw Curt Walker and Brian Minor cheering me on!  And then I thought I heard footsteps behind me.  I wasn't going to be passed if I could help it!  Encouraged by my friends and spurred by the fear of being passed at the finish line, I rocketed ahead with one last sprint, crossing the timing mat just ahead of the unseen competitor.  

7:16, 942 ft finish (1.00 mi):  I was a little disappointed to finish more slowly than in any other 1-mile race run in the past few years (6:52, 6:59, 7:03, 7:07), despite feeling that I had run pretty well.  But I joined Curt and Brian just short of the finish line to cheer on other friends as they finished the race.  As a result, I missed the drama of a runner collapsing after the finish.  An ambulance came down the hill through the finish line just a few minutes after I had finished, with runners that had begun with the 10 min/mile group.  I learned that he was approximately my age (although for his privacy I won't share more about his identity on this site).  Fortunately I heard that he was revived, but it was certainly a sobering conclusion to the race.  

It wasn't until I checked the Garmin data at home that I discovered that the race was 41 feet net uphill!  The Morningside Mile route was steeper but was 20 feet net downhill.  With that information, I was very satisfied with today's run.  In fact I enjoyed the route and wonder if in future years the 1-miler might be an attractive alternative option for participants not wanting to run a 5K in summer heat and humidity.  

After the race, about 20 of Beverly Ford's friends joined a small party
to celebrate her birthday!  I'll post a larger group photo when received,
but here is Bonnie, me, Brian, and Beverly. 

July 29, 2017: Red Top Roaster, 9.9 mi trail run

What are the differences between street runners and trail runners?  You can test by the answers to the following questions: 

1) What does the abbreviation DNF mean? 
      a) Did Not Finish 😞
      b) Did Not Fall 😄

2) Which photographed runner has the best body art? 

My last trail race, the Thrill in the Hills 21K, wasn't a great experience.  I actually went to Urgent Care the next day to get X-rays, and was relieved to learn that I only had bruised and not broken ribs.  But I also knew that I was going to try at least one more trail race.  My first trail race was the Red Top Roaster in 2015, and while it was physically the toughest race that I had run to that point, I had also enjoyed the experience of running in the forest, and appreciated the excellent organization of the Dirty Spokes Productions.  Tim Schroer takes great care of all the details, from grooming the trails to greeting virtually every runner as they arrive for his events, and I highly recommend his events. 

As before, the race was held at a state park overlooking Lake Allatoona, near Cartersville, about 1 hour drive from our home (without any traffic at 6 am on Saturday).  I arrived early enough to thoroughly stretch, jog easily to warm up the legs, and take a few photos of the lake at sunrise.  While waiting for the race to start, I ended up eating the protein bar that the organizers had given us with our bibs at the check-in, even though I had eaten a good breakfast at home, and also had a banana with me to eat a few minutes before the start of the race.  

My only goal for this race was: DO NOT FALL!  I was hoping to finish in less than 2 hours, improving on my time from 2015, but the time wouldn't matter if I failed to stay on my feet for the entire race.  So with the mantra DO NOT FALL! firmly in my mind, I joined the other runners at the starting area.  When I ran this race two years ago, the 9.9 mi and 3.1 mi racers began together, with a volunteer directing us at a split point about 1/2 mile into the race.  Today the 9.9 mi runners got a 5 minute headstart - a nice change that made the start a little less crowded, and undoubtably also avoided confusion between courses.  The course would have essentially three loops of similar length: a loop on the Homestead Trail near the summit of Red Top Mountain, a loop on the Sweet Gum Trail to the south (which was the 3.1 mi route), and another loop on the Homestead Trail, before a short dash to the finish line.  

Tim started our race at 8:00 on the dot, and we took off across the field toward the lake, then made a right turn onto an asphalt trail, through the parking lot, and onto the Homestead Trail.  DO NOT FALL!  I remembered that I had run the first loop of the Homestead Trail much too quickly in 2015, and so I took it fairly easy today, taking plenty of walk breaks as we went uphill, not worrying about anyone passing me.  DO NOT FALL!  It had rained the night before, and so the humidity was relatively high, but the path was relatively dry, no standing water anywhere, and I felt I was off to a decent start, finishing the first mile in 11:40.  DO NOT FALL!  I was determined to finish the first loop of the Homestead Trail without feeling tired.  I had settled into a good rhythm, looking out over the forest 

all of a sudden my toe caught on a root and i began to stumble trying to keep my feet under my body just as i was thinking i was going to have to take a roll i saw nice big pine tree ahead of me slightly to my right and i managed to gently bounce my hands on the tree trunk to brake and regain balance oh thank goodness i didnt fall heart racing catch a few breaths start up again dont look around the forest look straight ahead DO NOT FALL!  

I was lucky that I didn't blow it in the second mile.  I resolved to pick up my feet continuously for the rest of the race, taking short staccato steps when I was running uphill, very cautious short side steps heading downhill, not letting my guard down again on more level ground.  DO NOT FALL!

Unfortunately I began to develop another problem that I had never before experienced in a race: some lower gastrointestinal discomfort.  Then the protein bar that I had foolishly eaten before the race started to bother my upper gastrointestinal.  I was carrying a bottle of Nuun that was still ice cold and was accepting water at every aid station, so it wasn't a problem with hydration, in fact that probably helped to keep the protein bar and any other undigested breakfast safely in my stomach.  But I was uncomfortable for the rest of the race.  I knew that the discomfort would only distract me if I tried to run faster  DO NOT FALL!  and so I just took it easy for the rest of the run.  From the Homestead Trail, we crossed a road and were immediately onto the Sweet Gum Trail.  This was not quite as hilly as the Homestead Trail, but not as scenic, as we couldn't see the lake, not that I was looking around  DO NOT FALL! 

Homestead Trail until about 39 minutes in,
Sweet Gum Trail until 1:12, then Homestead Trail again.
Since the graph is elevation vs. time, you can see from the
breadth of the tallest peaks that it took me nearly twice as long
 to get to the top on the last loop.  

As we came off the Sweet Gum Trail, we passed through the parking lot.  We ran right past my car - there was an empty spot next to my car, the truck that had been parked next to me before the race had already left, I guess they were 3.1 mile runners.  I could hear the awards ceremony to my right, then realized that was for the 3.1 mi race.  As we approached the beginning of the Homestead Trail, a young woman was dashing downhill toward me.  I realized that she was going to be the first female finisher, I clapped my hands and said "Great job!" as she raced to the finish line.  She was followed a minute later by another woman, and then several men also quickly moving downhill.  I was careful to stay to the right side of the trail - and was congratulating the faster runners as they passed, until we reached a water station where our trail crossed to the left.  Looking carefully to ensure that I would not be run down by a speedster, I started heading up the mountain again.  Despite my plan to save energy from the first two loops to run the third loop strongly, my GI problems were still with me  DO NOT FALL!  and I decided that I wouldn't worry at all about my time.  I did recognize many parts of the trail on the second loop, but felt that I had much of the forest to myself.  On occasion other runners would catch up to me and pass me, no worries today, let them go.  At one point, I heard my Garmin signal and saw "run paused" on the watch, even though I was still moving my feet, I think.  That forced me to speed up a bit more than any concern about other runners passing me, strangely enough.  Around the 8 mile mark, I caught up with a man around my age who was walking - I was still doing walk/run  DO NOT FALL!  and we chatted for a moment about how tough today's race was.  It turns out he had suffered the flu in June and had not yet recovered his strength.  He asked if he could pace off me, not that he needed to ask permission, I wasn't even sure of what he was asking or how I would help, but I said "Sure."  I doubt that he got any benefit if he was trying to draft off of me, as slowly as I was moving!  He caught up with me a few times, I didn't mind and wouldn't have cared if he had moved ahead of me, but he seemed content to stay with or just behind me.  

As we passed the 9 mile marker at 1:58, I knew that I would be much slower than last year's time, but  DO NOT FALL!  was still my focus and was still realistic.  I decided that I would probably have enough energy to speed up a bit at the very end, when the trail would be smooth and would then turn into the road to the finish line.  As we passed the last water station, about 0.2 mile from the end, a woman in just front of me stubbed her toe on a tree root but managed to catch herself.  I said "it would be a shame to fall so close to the end" and was careful myself as I reached the same point, but the same root did not try to catch me as I passed.  Remarkably the woman in front of me sped up and was soon out of sight.  I simply stayed with my plan, running slowly and steadily, and then began to speed up as I could hear Tim announcing that the awards ceremony was about to begin.  I emerged from the forest, sped up a bit more - hearing my heart rate monitor sound for the first time - and made a good finish, although I think I was only running about a 9:30 minute/mile pace in the last few steps.  I could have been disappointed to see 2:10 on the clock (official finish time, 2:10:32) but I allowed a little fist pump of victory, because I DID NOT FALL!  and acquired NO NEW BODY ART!

The other runner who had paced off of me finished just after me.  He introduced himself as Chuck and thanked me for letting him pace me into the finish.  Frankly I didn't think that I was able to help but if he felt that it was beneficial for him, I'm glad that worked out.  It turns out that we were in the same age group, men 55 - 59; ages were based on October 2017 as this race was part of a series.  We were the last two in our age group to finish.   165th out of 197 finishers was pretty slow outcome for me, but given my GI problems, it was the best that I could do.  I just wish that I had saved that protein bar until l had finished the race!  

July 27, 2017: In memory of Janet Bradley Pickney

On Tuesday evening, I was devastated to learn that Janet Pickney, a regular in the Sunday 7:15 am runs with Tucker Running Club, had passed away after being severely injured during her morning run.  Janet had started her day with some exercise shortly after sunrise and before the temperature had gotten too warm.  Unfortunately a terrible chain of events unfolded, probably within just a few seconds.  And it really didn't have anything to do with running: it could have happened to any of us with the misfortune of being in that place at that exact moment, walking a dog, pushing a stroller, waiting for a bus.  Runner's World has posted a story about Janet that I encourage you to read (link). 

I've run with Janet on dozens of occasions.  She was a regular participant in the 7:15 am Sunday morning runs with the Tucker Running Club.  In the month of July alone, I found five photos (taken by others) in which I was with Janet.  

This was a subset of the large contingent of Tucker Runners taken 30 - 45 minutes
before the start of the Peachtree Road Race, on the morning of July 4.  Janet had run the
Peachtree Road Race many times: just this evening, I read an account from one of
Janet's friends remembering when she ran the 1986 Peachtree Road Race. 

On July 9, Bonnie and I joined the Sunday morning run with Janet and 13 others,
at 7:15 am.  After I had warmed up in the first mile, I remember with some chagrin
that I passed Janet near Northlake Mall, thinking that I was going to run a slightly faster pace.
Unfortunately I had not yet recovered from a cold.  Somewhere in the fourth mile
when I ran out of energy, Janet caught up with me going up the long hill on Midvale Road.
She asked if I was OK and ran with me for a moment, until I took a walk break and I told her to go on. 

We had a great turnout of the Tucker Running Club at the Decatur-DeKalb 4-miler on
Saturday July 15.  Janet was front and center on that warm morning!  After I finished the race,
I went to cheer on some of the other runners along Clairmont Road, and got there just in time
to see Janet.  I don't remember exactly what I said, it was probably something like
"Go Janet! Just 100 feet to the finish!" but I do remember that she looked up and smiled at me
 when she heard her name called. 

Janet won an age group award at the 4-miler!  She was so tickled to win an award.
I'm glad that I was invited to join this photo with a few of her closer friends
in the Tucker Running Club. 

My last run with Janet, Sunday morning 7:15, July 16.  Unfortunately I don't remember
a conversation with Janet that day, I was more focused on having a good recovery run,
and sweating off a few pounds over the course of 9 miles total. 

This is from Janet's last run with Tucker Running Club, on Sunday July 23.
I had run 12 miles on Saturday, and decided to rest (meaning I slept in)
instead of running on Sunday, so I'm not in this photo.
A couple of the women in this photo, Becky and Teresa,
have recounted how much they enjoyed sharing that day's run with Janet.  

What I regret the most is that I didn't get to know Janet better.  I knew her only through the single dimension of running.  And while running was an important and enjoyable activity for Janet, I wish that I had learned about other parts of her life: her family, her work as a teacher, her volunteer work in the community, her earlier life and childhood.  Janet was always gentle, kind, friendly, upbeat, and generous.  And sadly, I did not realize how extraordinary of a person she was until she was unexpectedly taken from us.  

My resolution is to be more like Janet, to be more consistently gentle, kind, friendly, upbeat, and generous.  That doesn't always come easily to me, but in difficult moments, I hope that I can summon my memory of Janet and strive to be more like her. 

One of Janet's good friends has recently set out some water on
Wednesday evenings, for any of the dogs that occasionally
join their people on the Wednesday evening runs,
when I'm more of a regular participant.  Last night,
her friend added a small sign in memory of Janet. 

July 15, 2017: The Decatur DeKalb 4-Miler (year 4)

My last good run was a 5-mile jaunt around the Stanford campus on June 30, about two weeks ago.  Since then, 

     July 4: I suffered from a cold during the Peachtree Road Race;

    July 9: I set out to do a 6-mile run, but was out of energy after 4 miles and walked much of the way back;

     July 11: I was relieved to finish a 4-mile run in evening heat, hills, and humidity;

    July 12: On a 6-mile run, I felt like I was developing blisters on my toes, and walked the last mile back to avoid making the soreness worse. 

But when I awoke for this morning's race, I felt rested, and was optimistic for a good run.  I stretched before we left the house, and again when we arrived at the Decatur YMCA well before the start of the race.  In a 2-mile warmup jog, my legs were sore for the first mile, but as the blood began to circulate, I was able to get loose and was pain-free in the second mile.  

Another good turnout by the Tucker Running Club! 

Last year, I started much too quickly in this race, and was exhausted by the 2-mile mark, struggling to get through the hills in the later part of this route.  Despite my difficulty, I was pleasantly surprised to cross the finish line having improved my time on the route by 35 seconds over the previous year.  So my goal for this year's race was to take it easy for the first 2 miles, running slower than an 8:00 min / mile pace, and then see what I could do for the second half of the race. 

I started near the front of wave B this morning, for runners between 7:30 to 8:30 min / mile paces.  In the first mile, I was passed by most of the people in my wave.  When I took a quick look behind me near mile 1 marker, there weren't many runners behind me.  But I finished the first mile in 8:05, right on plan.  The first half of the second mile was uphill, and I took it fairly easy heading up the hill to the Fernbank Elementary School, probably around a 9 min / mile pace.  Fortunately I knew from running this race several times before that I would enjoy a mile downhill once we passed the school.  Indeed I started to speed up on the level stretch and took advantage of the downhill legs, passing the mile 2 marker in 8:25, 16:30 elapsed.  

Does the race route resemble the contour of the continent of Africa?!
And if so, is there any symbolism to the location of the start/finish line in Eritrea?
Eritrean runner Zersenay Tadese is the current world record holder for the half-marathon. 

With the warm weather, I decided to carry a small towel soaked in ice water, wrapped around a few ice cubes, and it felt good to wipe my face with the cold towel in the first two miles.  Approaching the water station around 2.5 miles in, I opened the towel and tucked it around my neck, securing it under the back of my singlet, as I took a short walk break through the water station.  Between the cold towel and the gentle pacing of the first part of the race, running up hill in the last part of mile 3 didn't seem too bad, much better than last year's experience.  Turning onto North Decatur Road, I passed the mile 3 marker in 8:25, just under 25 minutes elapsed. 

At this point, I knew that I could better my personal record for the 4-mile distance (33:30) if I knocked out another 8:30 or faster final mile.  Unfortunately the North Decatur Road hills were a substantial challenge, and I decided that I had better take a couple of short walk breaks on each uphill section, to make sure that i could make my overall goal of a strong finish.  Indeed I was able to get back to a fast pace after each walk break.  It was hard to tell if I was passing as many people after the walk breaks as had passed me when I was walking, but I don't think that I would have covered the distance any faster if I had not taken the walk breaks.  

The overlay shows how my pace slowed going uphill after mile 1,
and how I began working hard (heart rate) after the water station around 2.5 miles in.
You can also see the three walk breaks (blue trace) as we ran uphill,
and a nice acceleration at the end of the race.  

Passing the second water station less than a half-mile to the finish, I was able to get into a higher gear, as we ran through the McDonald's parking lot at the corner of North Decatur and Clairmont Roads.  The volunteer announced "Two minutes to the finish from here!" which wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, especially when I stole a look at my watch and saw 32:00 elapsed on my watch.  I was thinking two numbers at this point: 33:30, my PR for the 4-mile distance (January 2016), and 34:16, my PR on this course (July 2016).  If the volunteer was right about 2 minutes, I would at least set a PR for this course.  Motivated by this thought, I was passing other runners at this stage, and knew that I had enough energy for a strong finish.  As I was familiar with the street, I knew exactly how far the YMCA would be even before it came into sight, and I was enjoying the sense of acceleration in the final stretch.  Shortly before reaching the YMCA, I saw 33:10 on my watch, and realized that I probably would not finish under 33:30, but ran as fast as I could through the final turn into the finish chute, crossing the finish line at 33:38!  38 seconds faster than last year, and a much better overall experience over last year's struggle! 

I'm really happy that I keep chipping away at my time with each successive year: 

2014, 35:49

2015, 34:51

2016, 34:16

2017, 33:38

I don't know if this is due to getting a little stronger each year, or if it's purely that I'm learning how to pace myself better, but it's very satisfying to see improvement since I began running 4 years ago.  

A more consistent pace has resulted in a better overall time! 

July 4, 2017: Peachtree Road Race 10K

For the first time, this year I was placed in wave B for the Peachtree Road Race, based on my 23:52 finish in the Atlanta Hawks Fast Break 5K back in April 2016.  I had also run a 50:20 10K in April 2017 that would have qualified me for wave B by 1 second, although that was after the registration deadline.  But I was hardly in wave B condition for today's Peachtree Road Race.  We spent the last week in California, enjoying cool breezes along the ocean, eating far too much good food, and seeing old friends and close relatives.  I did run twice while we were in California, 5 miles along the beach in Los Angeles on June 25, and another 5 miles around the Stanford campus on June 30, and we did a few hikes while we were in Big Sur, so we were physically active during our travels.  Then I came down with a cold during our last few days in California.  We returned to Atlanta on Monday morning (July 3) on the red-eye flight, so that we could get to the expo to pick up our race bibs on Monday afternoon, but that left me with a bad case of intercontinental jet lag, assuming that really exists.  We went to bed on Monday night at 9 pm, hoping to get a good night of sleep before a 4 am race day wakeup, but I awoke at 1 am and couldn't get back to sleep.  

In addition to my own lack of preparedness, the race was run under
code RED conditions, due to heat, hills, and humidity. 

On the morning of race day, I even considered not running the race, due to my cold.  But with this being "The Peachtree Road Race", the event around which the Atlanta running year revolves, it seemed unthinkable to miss the race.  Before leaving home, I fortified myself with enough cold medicine to disqualify the entire Olympic team in a drug test.   I also carried a 16 oz bottle of ice-cold Nuun, to ensure that I could stay hydrated throughout the race.  Although carrying a hand-held would probably slow me down, I wanted to ensure that I didn't get dehydrated during the race, especially battling a cold.  

Emory chemistry colleague Simon Blakey saw us as we were walking to the start.
He finished in 44 minutes, just outside of the top 1000 finishers! 

It was amazing how much more of the start I could see from the vantage point in wave B, vs. my starting position in previous years in wave C.  The organizers had placed a large video screen in the middle of our corral from which I watched the finish of the women's wheelchair race, and the start of the elite women's 10K.  The race officially began at 7:30 am with the elite runners, with wave A participants hot on their heels.  After the military race began at 7:33 am, it was already time for wave B.  I started in the middle of the corral - I probably should have started near the back due to my poor conditioning - but with the start at 7:35 am, I was able to get off to the desired pace.  My plan was to run fairly easily for the first three miles, no faster than 8 min / mile pace, and hopefully save some energy to run strongly up Cardiac Hill.  I covered both miles 1 and 2 at an 8:20 pace, a little slow for wave B but that was about right for me for today.  Shortly after the mile 2 marker, a woman passed me moving fairly quickly, wearing a wave C bib.  Considering that I had a 5 minute head start, she was probably running at a 6 minute / mile pace.  

I skipped the mile 1 water station but walked through all subsequent water stations, supplementing the Nuun I was sipping during the race.  The mile 3 marker appeared after we had begun to climb Cardiac Hill, 8:50 for mile 3, although my Garmin was registering miles about one minute before I actually reached the marker.  As I approached the timing mat for the 5K split, I deliberately took another walk break, to gather my strength for a strong push up the rest of Cardiac Hill, crossing the 5K mark at 26:57.  But as I tried to push myself up the hill, I realized that wasn't going to happen today.  I was carrying the residue of the giant ice cream "banquet" cone in Los Angeles, and the complementary breakfast donuts at Big Sur, along with too many delicious macadamia nut cookies at the symposium at Stanford.  I barely noticed when I crested the first hill at the Shepherd Center, wiping sweat from my eyes, as the road briefly leveled out leading up to the mile 4 marker, 10:19 for mile 4, 35:49 elapsed.  At this point I was taking 30 second walk breaks every few minutes, and was grateful for the well-stocked water tables, taking a couple of sips and then pouring the rest on the back of my neck, to stay cool.  I was running low on Nuun by this stage, and was glad that I had not elected to rely solely on the water stations.   Mile 5 was even slower, 10:57 and 46:46 elapsed on the Garmin, but actually around 48 minutes had elapsed when I passed the marker.  

At that point I realized that I still might be able to finish in less than 1 hour, but had to run the last 1.22 miles faster than a 10 minute / mile pace.  Normally that isn't a problem in a 10K race, but I wasn't sure if I had it in me today.  But fortunately I had taken it easily enough to this stage, so I found a little reserve of energy.  I began to speed up after passing the high point of the race at 12th Street, and turned the corner onto 10th Street at 54 minutes on my watch.  This is about 1 km to the finish, which I can normally easily cover in 6 minutes or less.  I was able to find a higher gear in the final stage of the race.  A few speedsters (probably from waves D or E) passed me in the last half-mile, but I also passed several people that were struggling at the end.  My heart rate monitor had not sounded at all until the last half-mile, which left me wondering if I could have worked harder today, but then I passed a runner who was getting assistance from a medic on the side of the road (fortunately he was sitting up and was conscious as I passed) and was thankful that I wasn't a victim of heat stroke.  As I crossed the finish line, I saw 59:30 on my watch (59:23 official time), gave a small fist pump of celebration, and staggered into Piedmont Park.  I had run mile 6 in 9:42 and the last 0.36 miles (as recorded) at an 8:28 pace.  It took me awhile to recover from the heat, but a couple of bottles of cold water and standing in the shade at the Atlanta Track Club post-race party helped.  

Bonnie found great amusement in snapping this candid photo
(above) as we were returning from the race on MARTA.
As did our friend Deb, who took another photo (below):

I had bib #5156, but finished in 9515th place.  If I were to submit today's time as a Peachtree qualifier, that would have put me in wave F.  I decided to spin today's disappointing performance as a personal record of sorts, my slowest 10K to date.  I had too many factors working against me today, a couple of which were under my control.  So I have resolved to work on getting my weight back down and my conditioning back up - once I have fully recovered from this cold.