Year of Races

Peachtree Shirt

There are certain races I have mentally marked on my calendar as “premiere” events.  The Peachtree Road Race is definitely one of them.  I moved to Atlanta in 1979 when I was 5 years old.  I’ve lived here (with some years in Athens) for 31 years and I’ve never ran the world’s largest 10k.  Quite a shame really.  It was fantastic and I wish I could have been a part of it sooner.

My biggest concern going into the race wasn’t the course or the distance; it was getting to the starting line.  With 50,000+ runners, it’s no small task getting downtown Atlanta.  I woke up at 5 AM, had my coffee and was out the door by 5:40.  My plan was to take MARTA from North Springs down to Buckhead.  Initially, Alysia was going to go with me and hold my stuff, but I talked her out of it the night before.  I just didn’t want her walking from the Midtown MARTA station to Piedmont Park on her own at 6:30 in the morning.

I crowded onto the train along with a crowd of other eager runners and we started the ride into downtown.  We picked up more runners at each stop and all of us exited at Lenox Mall.  Emerging from the train tunnel, I couldn’t believe the spectacle that was the Peachtree Road Race.  The Lenox Mall parking lot was just full of people milling about.  One section of the lot was roped off and runners were actually running warm-up laps in a continuous loop.  There were probably 50+ just running around and around.  Hundreds of port-a-potties were available, so I hit one early on to get it out of the way.

I was in wave B because I didn’t get my sub-50 time in until after registration closed.  I was pretty bummed about this because I knew that it meant I’d have to pass a lot more folks than I should have to.  I decided to head over to the corral and wait until the start.  I immediately ran into Nate and we hung out in the back of the wave B group until it was time to start.  We had the national anthem and a cool flyover.  Helicopters hovered in the air above us and there was this sense of excitement that could be felt as we waited for the gun.

Wave B started about 5 minutes after the elites took off.  The first mile was TOUGH.  I side-stepped onto uneven sidewalks, lunged through tiny cracks in the moving human wall, jumped off curbs, sprinted, slowed and dodged my way to an 8:06 mile.  Nate and I were trying to stay together, but it was pretty tough.  We found that hugging the left side seemed to give us the best path, so that’s where we lived for the first mile.

Somewhere during the second mile we started to free up a bit.  With so many runners, you’re never really completely clear of people, but we did have some more breathing room and could get into a rhythm a bit.  Mile 2 is downhill, so it’s one of the easier miles and I was able to significantly speed up to the tune of 7:04.  I think this is where Nate and I got separated.  He ran fantastic though and set a new PR.

By the third mile, I was feeling great.  The temps that morning were in the high 60s to low 70s and it just felt fantastic out.  Mile 3 is downhill as well, and I knew I needed to make up more time from the first mile’s problems, so I jetted to a 6:58.

Miles 4, 5 & 6 are where the majority of folks struggle.  After a few downhill miles, the second half of the race is uphill.  The famed Cardiac Hill is here.  For whatever reason, I cruised up the hills.  I passed hundreds of runners going up the hills.  They didn’t bother me in the least and I gained more and more confidence as I climbed.  My splits were 7:33, 7:26 & 7:10.

As I rounded the turn to head to the finish, I knew I was on pace for a near-PR.  As I came into view of the race clock, I checked my watch and decided to finish as strong as possible.  I came in officially at 46:09 and subsequently set a new 10k PR!  I felt great and I’m really looking forward to running it again next year.  Next time I’ll be in Wave A and won’t suffer so much on that first mile.

I walked over to Piedmont Park to get the famous Peachtree Road Race shirt and was in awe at the number of people already standing around.  Lots of them were family and friends, but I can only imagine what that park would look like in another hour.  I finished in 1,808th place and the park already seemed crowded.  I didn’t stick around for long.  I started to walk back to the Midtown MARTA station.  I was surprised at how long the walk was.  I was thankful that Alysia hadn’t come with me because I would have worried about her making that walk alone.  She’ll be there next year though…running.

The experience of running the Peachtree was incredible.  I’ve never run a more relaxing, easy-going 10k.  Time just seemed to fly by.  There was so much to look at.  From costumed runners to sidewalk bands, the entertainment for the entire 10k is great.  I only wish I would have paid more attention to some of the more historic landmarks.  I have a tendency to not really notice my surroundings and just focus on the run.  Maybe next year I’ll pick up on more of the scenery and tradition.

• Official Results
• Garmin Stats
• Photos of me (You can see in the first photo that I’ve caught up to a lot of the wave A runners.  Next year…)

Tomorrow (July 8th) is my 10-year wedding anniversary.  Alysia and I will be heading to St. Simon’s Island for a weekend getaway, but, don’t worry, we’ve found a little 5k to run while we’re there…

Harris Jacobs Dream Run

I had my first 4-mile race this weekend at the Harris Jacobs Dream Run.  First time running the distance, so automatic PR right?  Gotta like that.  The race was headquartered at Zaban Park in Dunwoody, GA.  I was very impressed with the facility.  Nice, clean community center.  They had baseball fields, a gym, a pool and more.  Really nice place.

I got down there a bit early and got checked in.  I ran around a bit to loosen up and get prepared for the event.  I felt pretty good and had gotten some quality sleep the night before.  I really felt like it was going to be a great run.  I’m starting to see some of the same runners at these events each week.  It reminds me of when I used to play racquetball.  I’d see the same guys at each tournament and we were our own little group of racquetball junkies.  I guess every hobby has it’s own set of groupies.  I suppose I’m one now.

At 8:00 we took off.  This race had a lot of fast runners participating.  It’s part of the Run & See Georgia series, so you had your usual suspects that run all those races, but there were also quite a few Atlanta Track Club folks.  Pretty cool seeing all the ATC unis.  The first portion of the race was downhill.  I ran a solid sub-7 first mile and felt good.  Lots of folks huffing and puffing around me, but I was doing ok.

The second mile we got into some rolling hills and they started taking their toll on me.  It was one small hill after another for the remainder of the race.  My mile splits just kept going up and up.  I had set a goal of breaking 30 minutes before the race and I barely squeaked in at 29:33.  Two runners that I’ve beaten lately both finished ahead of me in this one, so I guess I just didn’t have my A game that morning.  I had one kid try to out sprint me at the end, but I showed him my olympic-caliber speed burst and edged him at the line.  That was pretty fun actually.  Gotta keep those high schoolers in their place.

I hovered around the timing table at the end to see if I placed in my age group, but no such luck.  I wasn’t too disappointed though.  I saw the awards before the race and I think they were mouse pads.  uggh.  Who uses a mouse pad anymore?  I probably finished about 5th in my age group.  Not too bad, but I can definitely do better.  Luckily next week is another 4-mile race (Magnolia Run), so I’ll have my chance to improve on my time.

Great shirt

• OFFICIAL RESULTS – I finished 5th in my age group and 37th overall.  29:32 
• The shirt is really nice.  A blue technical shirt — probably in my top 5 favorites so far.
• In the first .5 mile This guy veered off to the side wheezing and huffing.  He might have been having a stroke.  I hope he was ok.  I didn’t hear any emergency vehicles, so I’m assuming he made it.
• I kept gaining on the runners around me on the uphills and then losing significant ground on the downhills.  What’s up with that?  I guess I’m not letting it all out on the downhills.  Maybe I’m leaning back too much and using too much brake…
• Overall, I really thought this event was extremely well run and organized.  They had a nice indoor facility to hang out in the A/C if you wanted.  I also met Harris Jacobs’s widow when I first arrived.  Very sweet little lady and it made me feel even better about contributing my $$ to her cause.
• Garmin stats.
• The race advertised that they had the best goodie bag around.  I was anxious to see what they considered the “best”. Toothpaste, toothbrush, mints, 2 koozies, chip clip, cup, dandruff shampoo (sweet!), emory board, and a Wheaties Fuel sample box of cereal.  Not bad.  How about an iPad next time?  :)

Nice goodie bag indeed

With March in the books, I thought I’d take some time reflecting on the first quarter of 2010. I’ve put together a list of some of the highlights & lowlights from Q1:

Proudest Accomplishment: Finishing my first half marathon. I’m proud to have finished in under 2 hours and I’m looking forward to attempting to better my time in the Fall.

Biggest Improvement: Cutting 4 1/2 minutes off of my 5k time.  I went from a 27:35 on 1/1/2010 to a 22:59 on 3/20/2010.

Best Shirt: ATC Resolution Run 5k. It’s a black, lightweight, long-sleeve technical shirt.  It’s also the first shirt I got in this crazy adventure and I think it means just a little bit more to me.

Worst Race: Etowah Soccer 5k. I enjoyed Reid’s company for sure, but the race didn’t even have bibs, the course was insanely hilly, they didn’t publish the results anywhere, and the age groups were dumb.

Best Course: Chattahoochee Challenge 10k. Flat and fast!  It’s still my 10k PR and I could have easily pushed myself harder if I hadn’t been blindly following the pace group leader.

Worst Course: Jog for a Cause 10k. Advertised as a Peachtree Road Race Qualifier, the course measured in at 6.45 miles. How can a course be a PRRQ and not even be an accurate distance?

Best post-race food: Run for the Children 5k. Great spread. Could have easily eaten 5x as many calories as I burned during the run.

Best post-race schwag: Chattahoochee Challenge 10k. Very cool freebies that included free energy bar samples, a tree to plant, earth-friendly bags and more.

Biggest disappointment: Mardi Gras 5k. Because of the snow and ice in the Atlanta area, the race was canceled. This crippled my plan to run a race every weekend in 2010. I’ll still be doing 52 this year, but now I’ll have to double up one weekend.

Firsts: 10k & Half Marathon

Race Miles: 59.2 (7 5k, 4 10k, 1 HM)

Race Time: 8 hrs 14 min 52 sec

New gear:  Garmin Forerunner 305 & Asics Gel-Trail Attack 5 WR

Friends/family I’ve had the pleasure of running with:  Alysia, Christina, Nick, Reid, Nate, Tim

I’m still loving this challenge and I’m grateful I’ve been able to stay healthy so far.  I hope I can hold it together and make it through Q2.  Maybe even set some new PRs.  I’ve got at least 2 new distances that I’ll be running this quarter:  a 4.5 mile trail run and a 6k.  Here’s my schedule.  I’ve got quite a few “TBDs” on the board, so, if you know of a cool race coming up, let me know.

I get asked all the time “why are you running a race every weekend?  Why not just go out and run on your own?”  Well, the short and pathetic answer is that I’m too lazy to get out and run on my own.  I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work.  By registering (paying) for a race, I’m locked into running it.  I can’t make an excuse not to run, I’ve already signed up.

Hope to see everyone out there!  Tomorrow is the Dirty Spokes Running the River’s Ridge 4.5mi trail run.  Wish me luck!

I participated in the Atlanta Track Club Resolution Run 5k in Kennesaw, GA this morning.  It was my first race for 2010 and it was great to get started.  According to my watch, I ran a 27:30.  Not my best, but the good thing is I have lots of room for improvement.  It was only my 3rd 5k ever, so I’m still a newbie.

About the race:

• The temperature was in the mid-40s and windy.  I decided to ditch the sweat pants and run in shorts, UA pullover, gloves and beanie.
• We had a few hundred participants in the 5k.  (There was also a 10k being run.  Maybe one day I’ll get there.)
• Very well organized and run.
• DAG timing chip
• T-shirts handed out AFTER the race which is always better IMO
• Water station at the halfway point
• Timely award presentation.  We didn’t have to wait around too long.  As I said, I’m still a newb at this running stuff, but I’m assuming this is because of the DAG timing chip.
• Long-sleeve technical shirt.  Very nice actually.
• Route had some rolling hills, but nothing too steep
• The port-a-potties had a bit of a line, but I’ve seen worse

All in all, I felt like it was a great race to start the year with.  I’d grade it an A.

The results are already posted at www.atlantatrackclub.org.  I guess the time they’re posting is the clock time.  They say I finished in 28:40, but it took me about a minute to cross the starting line.  I finished 7th in my age group (35-39).  Hopefully as the year progresses, I’ll start seeing some improvement.

The AJC also has some photos up from the event.  Alas, none of me.

UPDATED:  More pics here.