Year of Races

Etowah River Run 5k

I had a great time this Saturday at the Etowah River Run 5k at Cherokee High School.  It’s a well-known fact that the course is downhill and flat, so it’s a pretty popular event.  It also falls right into the conditioning period for high school cross country, so it draws a good crowd of teenage runners.  This was my first year running it, but it was one of the races I’ve been looking forward to this year.  My buddy, Jason, who ran Sawnee Mountain with me last week was running as well.

My plan was to try to hang with Jason.  Didn’t work out too well, but I still ended up with a good time.  Jason ran a 19-something (with a shoe untied the whole no less) and there was no way I could keep up with that.  I was with him through the first mile at 6:34, but he said something along the lines of “let’s go” and he went.  I didn’t.  My next mile was slower at 6:43 as we cruised the Boling Park parking lot.  The last mile was on the flat trail at Boling Park and I could only manage a 7:18.  I wish those splits were reversed so I could say I finished strong, but I was struggling at the end.

I ended up running a 21:36 to finish 5th in my age group and 11 seconds off my PR.  Not too bad for a HOT and humid summer morning in Georgia.

My good friend, Tim, also ran the race, but, unfortunately, I never saw him.  We finished less than a minute apart (he ran 22:09), but just never crossed paths.  Nate also showed up and put down a great time of 23:55.  The race was well organized and had plenty of fluids and food afterward.

Best part of the day had to be seeing Jason’s son absolutely dominate the 1K fun run.  9 years old and the kid can fly.  He won easily and ran up front the entire race.  Really cool to watch and cheer him and his sister on.

• Official Results
• Garmin stats

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…

Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k

Saturday I was just 2 miles down the street from my house for the Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k.  It was shaping up to be a fun race with Nick, Christina and Nate also running.  The race got started at Holly Springs Elementary school.  It was a little windy during the race, but really the weather was pretty nice.  No rain with just a hint of chill in the air.

And they're off!

The course was a bunch of rolling hills.  Just one after another.  I started off pretty fast and, about a mile into the run, kept hearing this guy behind me yelling out pace times.  He was so loud I was wondering who this guy is with the mouth.  I’m moving at about a 6:45 pace and I hear “come on!  The guys ahead of us have nothing on us!  Especially not for my man, Tony.”  Yep.  I knew him.  It was my neighbor, Jason.  I hadn’t had a chance to run with him yet and apparently he’s a talker.  So, Jason and I ran together for about a quarter of a mile or so, but I couldn’t keep up with him and he slowly pulled away from me talking the whole way.

Me finishing

My pace really slowed over the second half of the race, but I picked it up on the downhill finish and came in with a solid 22:05.  Not a P.R., but a good 7:02 pace.  I finished about a minute or so behind Jason.  He won our age group and I claimed second.  I added another medal to my collection.

Holly Springs 5k Medal

Nate came in at 24-something.  Nick was at 27:04.  Christina at 29:33.  Good times on a tough course.  Here are a couple pics of Nick and Christina finishing up.  Thanks Trey for coming out early in the morning and getting some pictures for us.

Christina Finishing

Nick Finishing

After the race we hung around for the awards ceremony.  It turned out that Christina had won her age group!  That’s awesome.  I have 10 medals/trophies/plaques and I am still looking for that elusive 1st place award.  Congrats Christina!

After the run - Me, Christina, Nick

Christina and I with our hardware

• I’m not sure we’ll ever have official times posted.  I’ll keep my eyes open for them, but don’t hold your breath. UPDATED: results (page 37)
• The shirt is grey cotton with the Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k logo
• Here are my Garmin stats because you’re dying to study them.

Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k Shirt

One other thing.  Most races hand you a bag when you check in with various items inside.  Usually you’ll find inside the bag things like your race shirt, other race entry forms, a pen, a water bottle, coupons to local business.  Stuff like that.  Well, the Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k gets the award for most random bag item:

Rice?

It was a great race Sunday morning in Kennesaw, GA for the Full House 5k.  This was the second race in The Time is Now Series.  The premise of this race was that at each kilometer you would be handed a playing card.  At the end of the race, the people with the best poker hands won prizes.  Pretty cool, huh?  Well, they ended up not handing them out on the course and just dealt you five when you finished the run instead.  Still a novel idea and an interesting twist to the 5k.

Before the race I met up with Nate, Nick, Christina and my mom.  It was great to see everyone out running again.  It had been a few races since I last had some company.  It definitely makes the race more enjoyable.

Mom, Me, Christina

I feel like a broken record, but once again the course was pretty hilly.  I guess if I’m looking for flatter courses I should move.  Atlanta isn’t really the place for fast, flat tracks.  The worst hill came about midway through the race.  Here’s a pic of the elevation changes.

Elevation Chart

I ended up running really well.  My Garmin put me in at 20:56, which is a new 5k PR.  There was some question on whether the course was a full 3.12 miles, but Nate seems to think it was after measuring it on mapmyride.com.  I’ll trust him.

Nate, Nick, Christina and my mom all set new PRs!  Everyone’s been working really hard and it’s starting to pay off with some impressive times.  Nate and Nick finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 30-34 age group.  I finished 3rd in the 35-39 age group.  All in all, a very successful day for our little group.

Nick, me, Nate with our medals

We earned a nice little medal for our effort.  So far, I’m 2 for 2 in medals in the Time is Now races.  Hopefully I can keep the streak going in August at the Summer Harvest Gallop 5k.

3rd place medal

You may be wondering what’s up with the purple shirt I’m wearing.  Good question.  The Time is Now race series supports Cystic Fibrosis research.  One of my dear friends, Katie, is currently battling CF and she volunteered to make me a shirt for the race.  It turned out great!  Not only did I get to stand out in my purple shirt, but I also set a new PR!  By my book, that makes the shirt lucky.

The Full House 5k shirt is pretty nice….if you’re a chick.  Seriously, what’s up with the flowers?  It’s a nice technical shirt, so I’m still going to wear it.  I’m not afraid.  I just ran a 20:56 in a purple shirt for crying out loud.  What’s a few flowers gonna hurt?

Full House 5k shirt

• OFFICIAL RESULTS
• True Speed Photos was there:  Me #1, me #2, me #3, Nate, Nick #1, Nick #2, Mom.  Christina was apparently too fast for cameras to capture her.
• My poker hand sucked.  King high.  I think the best overall hand was a King high straight flush.
• Reviews of the race.  I always like reading what other people thought of the race.
• I had a great time.  I think everyone did really.  I know Nate, Christina, and Nick are all in for this Saturday’s Holly Springs Memorial Day 5k.  Anyone else running it?
• I’m kind of doubling up this weekend again.  I’m doing the Celebrate America 10k on Memorial Day.  Good way to start Memorial Day.  I can be guilt-free later on as I eat hamburgers and drink beers knowing I burned a good 600 calories.

Run the River 10K shirt

We were in Roswell Saturday morning running the Choate Construction Run the River 10K.  It was a beautiful morning with perfect running weather.  The course was advertised as fast and flat, so I was hoping to finally get that sub-50 monkey off my back.  My PR for the 10K was 50:09 set way back in February.  If you remember, I had a near miss at the Jog for a Cause 10K, but the course measured in at 6.45 miles and I missed my mark.  So, I really wanted to get it done Saturday.  Also, Alysia & Nate were running the 10K as well.  It’s much more fun to have some company with me.  This was Alysia’s FIRST 10K!

We got lined up for the race.  I stayed back near the middle of the pack with Alysia.  When the gun went off, I spent the first half mile or so weaving in and out of folks.  Once we got some spacing, I settled into a low 7 minute mile pace.  After last week’s hilly Operation Yellow Ribbon 5K, I had some confidence on being able to maintain that kind of pace.  I figured if I could run a hilly 5K at 7:21/mile then I could do a flat 10K at about the same.

Really the run was pretty uneventful.  I passed a bunch of folks at the beginning having started in the middle of the pack, but I did eventually end up with a group of runners that were at about my pace.  At around 2 miles we veered off onto a dirt road.  This was a bit more challenging with the loose rocks, but nothing to really slow me down.  I hit the 3 mile mark at 23-something.  I was feeling great and knew I could keep it going.  The only challenging hill came just after 3 miles.  It was short but fairly steep.  The good thing was that it marked the turnaround point for the course, so we got to then cruise back down the hill.

I was feeling really strong, so I kept up my low 7 minute mile pace and started passing some more runners the last 1.5 miles.  It was nice to finish strong.  I ended up coming in at 46:09 on my watch.  The official time will be a little off probably.  As I mentioned, I started in the middle of the pack, and they weren’t using timing chips.  Either way, I crushed my previous PR by about 4 minutes.

• Alysia did fantastic in her first 10K.  She only walked 3 times for a minute or so each time.  She crossed the line in 1:04:30.  Really good time for her first and I’m so proud of her.
• Nate also set a PR by coming in at 50:18.  Great Job!
• The shirt is a nice technical material.
• There appeared to be a decent crowd for this race.  I’d say around 400-500.
• There was an 80-yr old guy there trying to set the Georgia record in the 10K for his age.  I saw him cross the finish line as I was waiting for Alysia, but I’m not sure if he broke the record or not.  I hope so.
• Official results (Don’t have them yet).  Not sure where I finished in my age group.  Probably top 10 I’m guessing. (UPDATED:  Here are the results.  46:18.  Turns out it was a weak 35-39 group and I finished 3rd out of 32 and 38th out of 377 overall.  Guess I should have stuck around for the awards…)
• Pictures (UPDATED: Photos are at the Collages.net site.  Username is “Run the River” and password is “19065″.)

Yesterday, I was <10 minutes from my house running my first trail race at Boling Park in Canton, GA.  Dirty Spokes does a trail running series of races during the year and this was race #2.  It was a 4.5 mile run that had the following course description:

Start at Kiosk.
Parade lap around field for 1.12 miles
Hard left to single track that parallels field
1.68 follow sewer line
1.70 first hill
1.91 take left fork
1.94 left
1.96 first creek crossing (you will get your feet wet it was at about 18″ today)
2.09 Hill #2
2.24 Top of Hill #2
2.26 Hill #3
2.36 bottom of Hill #3 (very steep)
crossroads stay straight to 2.36 “The Wall” (you´ll know it when you get to it)
2.40 top of “The Wall”, turn right
2.45 right onto Yellow blazed trail
2.71 water station, hard right
2.81 right follow Yellow blazed trail (all down hill and single track from here following the “River Ridge”)
3.14 back at crossroads stay straight (don´t go up “The Wall” again)
3.18 small creek crossing
3.27 log crossing
3.28 small creek crossing
3.40 last small rise
3.65 left
3.68 left to Boy Scout Bridge (White blaze trail)
3.70 over Boy Scout Bridge
3.72 right (back onto single track that follows the parade field)
4.33 End at Kiosk.

Sounds fun, right?  Actually, it was a lot of fun and I’m really wishing I could have made it to the first race in the series.  Dirty Spokes puts on a great race — well organized with timing anklets that you just velcro on, a well-marked course, timely water station, and instant race results as they print out updated results every 5 minutes or so.

The shirt is probably my favorite so far.  It’s a light-weight, technical, short-sleeve shirt.  It fits me well and will be great to run in.

Dirty Spokes - Running the River's Ridge Shirt

I ended up doing pretty well considering the challenges the course presented.  I finished at 44:08 and 7th out of 25 in my age group.  I actually ended up ahead of a couple of serious local runners that typically thrash me on the roads.  They may have just been out for a leisurely stroll through the woods, but it still gives me some confidence that I’m improving.

The first mile+ we start out on an open crushed gravel path.  I really started out fast and clocked my first mile right at 7:00.  From there we hit some single track trails and I felt things were going pretty well.  Nate and I had come out earlier in the week and tried to identify “the wall” and the creek crossing, so I had a good idea what was in store and I didn’t think it was going to be too horrible.

We were wrong.

I ran up and over what we thought to be “the wall” without incident and then took a left which was different than the path we had scoped out on Thursday.  We came to the creek crossing and it was a good 4-5 steps across in mid-calf deep water.  It was a blast running through the creek, but, immediately upon exiting, my shoes were obviously sloshy and heavy.  My Asics didn’t drain nearly as well as I had hoped.  Unfortunately, the ill-placed creek crossing was but a mere .13 mile from the first hill which meant I was going to have to run up the hills with heavy shoes.  As soon as I saw the first hill, I thought “holy cow” this must be “the wall.”  So, I trudge up the first hill in heavy and wet shoes and end up having to walk up the 2nd hill.  My heart was pounding and I can’t imagine how anyone could RUN up those suckers.

Next thing I know, we have a decline that is just as steep.  So, in wet shoes, I go flying down this hill doing everything I can not to lose control and careen off into a tree.  There was so much downforce on the fronts of my shoes that I could feel the insoles sliding (another negative for the new trail shoes).  I safely reach the bottom and look ahead to what is actually “the wall.”  Straight up.  I took as many “running” steps as I could and then walked it.  This was probably the closest I’ve come to throwing up in a race.  I had my hands on my quads helping to push myself up this dang hill.  It was so tough I felt like reaching out for small branches to try to help me up the slope.  Even after cresting, I still had to walk for a good minute to calm myself down.  I actually think this ended up helping me in the remainder of the race.  My heart and legs needed that break.

I worked myself back into a nice pace and passed a couple of folks.  I ended up finishing the remaining 2 miles or so at around a 9 minute pace.  I hooked up with another guy and basically followed on his heels for those last 2 miles.  He was laboring too and, at one point, he yells back to me “How old are you?”.  “36,” I replied.  He threw his arms in the air, let out a big sigh of relief, said he was 44 and that he could let me pass without a fight.  I thought that was pretty funny.  I just told him I was good where I was and that I was using him for his pacing. I followed him all the way home, and he finished a couple seconds ahead of me.

All in all, I had a great time.  Although this was the first time I had to stop and walk in a race this year, my body needed it at the moment, and I was able to finish stronger because of it.  I’m looking forward to some more trail races in the future.  Also, after the race, Nate decided to rename our “wall” as “the curb.”  Very accurate.

• Defiant Photography was out taking some pictures.  (UPDATE: Pic 1, pic 2, pic 3, pic 4)
• Official Results
• Garmin Stats

Running the River's Ridge - Crossing the Boy Scout Bridge

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 ran the Run for the Children 5k this morning in downtown Canton, GA.  The race was put on by the Cherokee County Service League raising money for local needy children.  Temps were not in my favor as it was in the mid-40s with blustery winds.  Other than that, it was a great race.  I arrived around 7:30 and headed over to the registration table to get checked in.  The shirt is green, cotton, and short-sleeve.  Nice looking shirt.  As a bonus they were also handing out cool little Publix drawstring bags.  Not sure what I’ll use it for, but it’s better than the typical plastic Big Peach Running Co. bag.

Run for the Children 5k Publix Bag

Run for the Children 5k Shirt

Before the race, I met up with Nate, Christina & Trey (Trey was kind enough to come out for moral support in the cold), and Nick.  I didn’t really have a goal in mind for this race, but everyone else had theirs locked in.  Some PRs were destined to be set.  I obviously wanted to break 23 again, but, with the wind and hills, didn’t think I was up for killing myself trying.

The beginning of the race we did a parade lap around downtown and then headed out to see some of the older houses.  Downtown Canton’s a pretty cute little place.  Kind of reminds me of a small town you’d see in a movie.

The whole course was fairly hilly.  You were either going up or down at almost all times.  Some hills were just steeper than others.  The worst was around 1.5 miles into the race.  You’re heading down this stretch of road and the only thing you can see is this gigantic wall of a hill at the end of the road.  I did my best to shorten my stride and pump my arms, but I was gassed at the top.  The nice part was you had a nice section of downhill following.  The only problem for me was that I was so burned from the uphill that I couldn’t fully floor it down the descent.

We made our way back to the downtown district and had a nice steep downhill finish.  I came in at 23:15.  All in all not a bad showing.  I had a miserable stomach stitch for the last mile or so that was really annoying.  I ended up getting passed by a few folks in the last half mile or so which is always disheartening.  I’ve gotten into a bad habit lately of going out too fast and fading at the end.  I need to try to turn that around.

Nate & Nick both beat their goals, so congrats to them!  Christina had some stomach issues and ended up missing on hers.  I’m sure she’ll get it next time though!  I was impressed with the post-race food — bagels, cookies, donuts, etc.  It was actually one of the more impressive spreads I’ve seen at a race.  Well done.  All that food and I think I ate one chocolate chip cookie afterwards…

The volunteers were nice.  The miles were marked.  No chip timing, but the event was organized very well.  It’s really a nice event and great, challenging course.  Maybe next year the wind will be a bit kinder.

• Reviews
• Official results (UPDATE: Page 38 of this pdf)
• Pictures (UPDATE:  Nate pointed out this collection of photos – I’m at about 1:47.  This was right after cresting the nasty hill.)
• Here are my Garmin stats.  (I forgot to stop my watch at the end for a while, so the charts look a little goofy and the time isn’t right.

Downtown Canton:

Downtown Canton Gazebo

Downtown Canton Storefront

More Storefronts

UPDATED: Here’s a pic of me crossing the finish line.  I look tired.

Finishing up

After the race, I headed over to Boling Park to try out some trail running in preparation for next weekend’s Running the River’s Ridge 4.5 mile trail run.

Jog for a Cause

UPDATE: 10k Official Results

I was in Alpharetta, GA this morning running the 7th Annual Jog for a Cause 10k.  The weather was kind of chilly in the 40s and fairly windy.  The streets were still wet from the rain the past 3 days.  Overall, not really ideal running conditions for me.  I’m not sure if I’m still sore from the Half Marathon last week or what, but I just didn’t have it this morning.  The race was advertised as fast and flat, so I was really hoping for a sub-50 time, but, honestly, I wasn’t even close.  51:42 on my watch.

Alysia and I

Both Alysia and Christina came out to run the 5k, so that was cool.  This was Alysia’s first 5k EVER, and she rocked it coming in at about 32:53.  Christina was aiming for a sub-32, but came up a hair short at 32:20.  Outstanding effort out of both of them.  I love having friends/family out there running with me.  I also got to meet Nate, a co-worker of Alysia’s, who has been running quite a bit lately.  Nice guy and I look forward to seeing him at some future events.

So, the course was a loop around the North Point area.  10k’ers did the loop twice.  I guess it was flat, but there was a long hill on the back stretch that took a lot out of me.  The weird thing is that this was a Peachtree Qualifier event, yet my Garmin Forerunner 305 measured the distance at 6.45.  I thought that maybe it was just a malfunction on my end, but then a fellow DailyMiler said that her Garmin measured in at 6.46?  So, was this a “long” 10k or were both of our devices going wacky?  Not sure.

I’m not sure what’s up with me this past week.  I’m assuming my body’s not fully recovered from the Half Marathon, but I just don’t feel right.  My hamstrings and calves have been tight all week, and, during the race this morning, they felt really tight again.  I think I need to incorporate some better stretching routines into both my pre-race and post-race activities.  I’m getting too old to just go out and run 6 miles without ample warmup.

Jog for a Cause Shirt

The shirt is great.  A short-sleeve light-weight technical shirt.  Just the kind I like.  Unfortunately, Alysia didn’t get hers today due to the large amount of race-day registrants (including Alysia), but the race volunteers assured her they would drop it in the mail.

• Official results
• Garmin stats.
• Reviews of the race.
• Photos from TrueSpeedPhoto (UPDATE: Pic of Alysia and I)
• They had really nice post-race food:  cookies, muffins, bagels, smoothies
• File this in the TMI file if you want, but I had to pee the whole race.  Problem was that the line for the port-o-potties was like 50 people long.  That’s ridiculous.
• No timing chip, which meant for us middle-of-the-pack runners, we had no idea where the actual starting line was and the official times won’t be as accurate.

I have no idea yet which race I’ll be doing next week.  Any suggestions?  There are 2 5ks in Powder Springs that are possibilities.  There is the ING Half Marathon in Atlanta on Sunday.  I’ve been torn on which one to do, but now I’m thinking my body’s just not ready for another long event.  Maybe a 5k is in order…  Stay tuned.  I’ll pick one eventually.