Race Report: AJC Peachtree Road Race

Stats/Goals
Distance: 10 km
Location: Lenox Mall to Piedmont Park, Atlanta, GA
Current PR: 44:01, (7/4/2015, AJC PRR, Atlanta GA)
90% Goal: 45:00
50% Goal: 44:00 (new PR, sub-7:00 pace)
10% Goal: 43:00 (top 1000)

Result: 42:02 (https://results.chronotrack.com/event/results/event/event-16223)
GPS: (https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1241115326)
Mile Splits: (2015 in parenthesis)
6:29 (7:03) -0:34
6:24 (6:45) -0:21
6:28 (6:33) -0:05
7:07 (7:23) -0:16
7:09 (7:29) -0:20
6:53 (7:15) -0:22

Summary
My preparation was a lot better this year than last.  I felt so strong going into the race that I was a bit worried my expectations were too high and I was going to burn myself out on the downtown hill (yet again).  I fought through it and wanted to stop for most of the last two miles, but I got there.

Training
I had two huge changes this year to my training:

1. I reduced my miles and increased my pace.  May/June 2015, I ran 46 times for 260 miles at an average pace of 8:55. May/June 2016, I ran 45 times for 214 miles at an average pace of 7:56.
2. In 2015, I did a lot of running inside on a treadmill when it got "too hot".  Now, I try to tough it out on the Greenway where at least it's shaded.

Until I looked at the numbers to write this blog, I didn't realize I had dropped that many miles (nearly 20% less).  I knew I was running significantly faster which is a combination of the lower mileage, me pushing faster more often, and having faster trainees at the ATC training group that I get to run with.

To expand on that last point, I was typically running in the 10-11 min pace range with the group last year.  This put me in an awkward position where I didn't truly get a "long" run in those weeks, so I had to try to either make up for it on Sunday or miss out on a long run completely.  My body also took a lot more of a beating because I don't naturally run in that pace range.  Excluding ITFP runs, I was a bit shy of 200 miles at a 8:24 pace in 2015

The day before most races, I try to get a short, fast workout.  Typically, 0.5mi warmup, 1 mile fast (race pace), 1 mile cooldown.  This year, my 1 mile fast clocked in at 6:35.  I felt strong, I felt awesome, but, most of all, I felt scared.  I was scared how easy it felt (even though my heart rate data supported it).

Pre-Race
I woke up at 4:00, downed a Clif bar, threw on my gear, and drove down to North Springs MARTA. Since I didn't want to run with my handheld, I took a bottle of Gatorade with me which I nursed the hour before the race. (Amusingly, the only thing I changed in this paragraph from last year was that I woke up at 4:00 rather than 4:30)

Skies were clear and the weather felt very nice.  It was a little on the warm side, and the sun wasn't up yet.  I did my standard warm-up running from about D wave to the back nice and easy and doing a few fast striders on the way back.  I waved to a bunch of trainees and other run leads.

Waves A to E Represent!

A corral seemed a lot smaller this year than in the past.  I remembered it extending well beyond where they hang the huge flag at the start and having a small area to run around in.  Instead, the divider between A/B was right under the flag and there was almost no room to move around in A, even 30 mins out from the start.

Race
The first half of the race felt very easy.  And it should, it's downhill.  The first mile a lot faster than last year, which was actually the biggest mile-over-mile difference in last year's race (34 seconds).  I spotted on of my ambassador friends a bit in the distance during the first half and just tried to keep him in sight.  The 5k split (which they added a strip this year!) was 20:05, only 10 seconds off my PR from a month ago, and the second fastest 5k I've ever run.

Seeing that made me very nervous for the second half of the course.  The first half is very generous with a long, easy downhill.  But I was afraid I had taken too much advantage of it.

Climbing Cardiac Hill was a lot more awesome than in recent years.  It wasn't raining, so they actually got to let the patients out of the hospital to cheer the runners on.  It was awesome seeing so many out there.

As usual, downtown was my weakest point.  After climbing Cardiac, there's a bit of a reprieve, but the climbs from the Interstate to Spring (I think?) and then 17th to 10th is just the worst.  I still had my ambassador friend in sight.  He walked through a couple water stops and I was able to catch him and give him a "Let's go" pat on the back to get him back in the game.

I was not actually feeling two-thumbs-up at this point

He passed me back shortly after the turn on 10th, and we started the descent to the finish.  After making it through downtown, I knew I wouldn't have to stop at all on 10th.  Looking at my watch in the closing quarter, I realized I was going to be very close to 42.  I halfheartedly pushed for it and fell a bit short.  All in all, completely please with my effort.

Effort down the stretch

Post Race
Wandering towards Park Tavern, I was tricked into posing with one of the finish pictures.  She even got me to whip out the guns.

Doing my best #BradStrong impression

Best part about being fast: you're one of the first ones to the post-race party.  No one in line for beer and first picks at the food.  Shortly after I got there, the race and elevated warnings levels to red.  There were 30-some heat related injuries on the course.  While unfortunate, I'm glad it wasn't more.

Some of the awesome runners I hang out with every weekend

PRs were in short supply due to the weather.  You may notice I didn't really touch on it much, because I didn't really feel hugely impacted by it.  There were a few stagnant parts of the course, but between getting an early start in wave A and being acclimated to afternoon running, I didn't feel like the heat impacted my performance a whole lot.

To circle back a moment, I primarily run in the afternoons.  Sometimes, that means 90-100 degree weather in June in Atlanta.  Instead of holing up in a gym, like I've done in the past, I sucked it up, got hydrated, and went out and ran outside.  Some runs I had to cut short because it got that uncomfortable, but I feel all that effort paid off in spades at the race.

I was very confident I had finished in the Top 1000.  When I had looked last year, the cutoff had been between 42:30 and 43:30 for the past five years.  This year, with the weather, 1000th place was 44:38.  I ended jumping up into the top 600 overall.

I AM THE 1%!!!

The night after race and into the following day, I've had really back neck and shoulder pain on my left side.  Dr. Google tells me this is probably related to inadequate warm-up, lack of strength training, or poor form.  All of these are very real possibilities.  I know I did very little upper body warm-up, I've been slacking on all of my strength work lately, and running without my handheld might have made my body got a little wonky.  Something to keep an eye on going forward.

Oh, hey, it's that thing I've been wanting the past few years:

Got my mug!

Conclusion
I accomplished everything I thought I would be able to do last year and then some.  In terms of pace, this PR jump was my biggest PR since 2014 when I dropped my half from 1:51:35 to 1:40:56.

#YearOfThe5k is in full swing.  The two remaining target races on my calendar are Jog Days of Summer (8/6) and the Chicago 5k (10/8, the day before the Marathon).

Race Report: Braves Country 5k

Stats/Goals
Distance: 5 km
Location: Turner Field, Atlanta, GA
Current PR:  20:10 (February 6, 2016, Hearts and Soles, Atlanta, GA)
90% Goal: IDK, pace someone?
50% Goal: 21:00
10% Goal: 20:00

Result: 19:55 (Result)
Mile Splits: 6:12, 6:30, 6:29, 0:39 (GPS Link)

Summary
I had no expectations for this race.  I asked around to a bunch of people ahead of time, mostly trying to find one of the faster Run Leads to pace.  However, just about everyone was looking to take it easy. I had tossed around a bunch of goals in my head over the past month, but ended up walking to the start line without anything particularly in mind.  Coach Amy dropped into the corral next to me and changed everything.  All of a sudden, I was getting challenged by our Olympian coach, so I HAD to perform.  I ended up turning in a great time and broke a new barrier.

Pre-Race
My dad has been in town the past few nights and with about two-and-a-half glasses of wine last night, it was pretty clear to me that my performance at Braves was not at the top of my priorities.  I've been nursing a hamstring injury the past few weeks and only just had my first "good" runs this past Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday was speedwork (6x1000m), which I took easy because of my leg, but had no issues.  Thursday was 3.5 "garbage" miles just for maintenance to help shake off speedwork.  Friday was a rest day (got mah hairs cut).

Friday night wasn't too late of a night.  Had some fish, potatoes, and wine.  Grandma had the kid this weekend, so, even though we chatted until about 10:30, I ended up getting decent enough sleep.

I had a Clif bar in the morning before driving down and felt generally good.  Nothing spectacular.  I asked around trying to find someone to pace.  A few were already going to be running with Angelina, and I had already been forbidden from running anywhere near her.  Others were taking it easy or running with training participants.  Either way, I had zero direction on what to do.

Training Group!

I ran about a mile warmup, nice and easy with a few fast striders thrown in.  Everything felt like it was in the right place with my hamstring, so I wasn't worrying about my body coming apart.

Standing at the start line, ATC's head coach (Amy) walked up to me with ~30 seconds before the gun.
Her: "Hey, so, I'm running with you , today, and I'm going for 20 minutes today."
Me: "Sounds good, I'll try to keep up."

She's well versed in my goals for the year and knew exactly what she was pushing me for.

Gauntlet Thrown

Race
One doesn't get challenged by an Olympian and back down.  I had to respond.  I managed to stay on her shoulder for nearly the first mile.  Eventually, I realized we were around a 6:00 pace, which I knew was unsustainable, so I backed off and let Amy go.  My goal was to keep her in sight, which I managed to do for the most part.

Like usual, I started with a very fast mile.  However, it wasn't debilitatingly fast.  Looking back, I started with a 5:55 mile last year.  This year's 6:12 was much more manageable (and sustainable).

The end of mile 2 and most all of mile 3 felt downright awful.  While I know the course has a few dozen foot drop, it really doesn't feel like it when trying to climb out from Grant Park.

If you've run with me, you know my go-to mantra playing in my head is "the faster you run, the faster you done".  The last mile, I turned on one of Angelina's training partner's: "it's going to hurt".  And it did.  My body wanted to stop the entire third mile.  Every warning siren was going off in my brain to stop, but nothing was ever actually wrong.

Making the U-Turn into the stadium, I passed the 3 mile timer that was just ticking 19:00, so I knew I could make it to the finish in time.  My watch had me at 19:49, but officially I'm down for 19:55.  6 seconds is a pretty big spread, but I'm guessing my bib triggered the start a bit before I actually got across the line.

Post Race
I hung around near the finish as much as I could to watch Angelina come in.  This was her first target race since Holden's arrival last Fall, and she had very high hopes.  She ended up notching a 90 second PR, exceeding her goal for the day by over a minute.  Both her and Brandi should solidly be in B wave for next year's Peachtree.

The Kilometer Kids tailgate was a blast afterwards.  A bunch of people broke some awesome times and it was great swapping stories about the run.  We had some drinks, played some corn hole, and helped the New York group pull in nearly 10% of their fundraising commitment.

Dooooon't stop, belieeeeevin.  Hold on to the feeeline

Conclusion
Sometimes you just have to go for it.  When the perfect person gives you just the push you need, you have to take that opportunity.  I did very few of the things I normally do to physically prepare myself for a PR race, but I was completely mentally locked in today.  I know I have more I can pull out of myself.

We are all works in progress.

2016 Q1 Goals Review

So, I'm trying to better account for my goal progress as the year goes on.  Below, I've copy/pasted the goals I set for myself in 2016 with how I'm doing at the quarter-point.

2016 Goals

1) Run 1000 miles: I'm sure my mileage will drop this year.  No marathon training plus a kid that I want to spend as much time with as I can will mean the time I put into running will go down.  I don't know if this goal is going to be super easy, super hard, or just right.  So I'm going to go with just right and wing it.

297 miles through the end of March at a 7:58 pace.  I'm on track for just under 1200 miles and are 44 miles ahead of the rate I'd need to get 1000.  The biggest thing I've been surprised about is the pace.  I've been doing a lot more regular speed work, but even my long runs have been dropping.

2) 20 minute 5k: I've had this goal in the back of my head for a long time.  It has been a long time since I've specifically trained for a 5k.  I plan on making 2016 the year of the 5k.  I'll probably run a half (Thanksgiving), but I'm not going to make it a centerpiece of my running year.

I've already run more 5ks this year (3) than last year (2).  Two of them are my two fastest 5ks ever, but still 10 seconds slower than the 20 minute goal.  This is in reach, but will take more effort to get.

3) Peachtree Subseed Qualifier: I doubt I can accomplish this prior to registration in March, so I'll probably stick in A Wave this year.  However, if I can get the 20min 5k, this should follow along with it (subseed qual time last year was 20:14 for the 5k, 9 seconds faster than my time at Braves).

If wave qualifications stay about the same, my Hearts and Soles times SHOULD qualify me for the subseed wave for 2016 (WOOO!)  Last year, the cutoff was a 20:14 and I ran 20:10.  There's not a lot of room for error, but goal (possibly) accomplished.

4) Top 1000 Peachtree.  This was a goal I threw in a couple months before Peachtree last year.  I ended up around 1200th I believe.  I would have had to run about 30 seconds faster to get there.  I'll have to do more faster runs this year on actual hills, not just speed work at the river.

Nothing to report here, but I was seconds off of a 10k PR during one of my speed workouts at Ocee park, which I didn't even realize until after we were done.  That included all warmup and in-between-interval times.  Progress.

5) Run all of the ATC Grand Prix races...: This is more of a logistical goal than anything else.  Hopefully I can make the All Comers meet work out.

Still on track here, though there has only been two so far due to Peachtree City getting cancelled.

6) ...and finish top 3 in my age group for the Grand Prix: This will be a lot harder.  For those unfamiliar with the Grand Prix, you get 10 points for showing up at an event, 100 for winning your AG, 80 for second, yadda yadda.  I snagged 80 points at Resolution run and there are 4 or 5 more races that I can realistically expect to get into the top 5.  Third place last year was 360 points.  If there are 12 events, I will currently have 190 points (80 from Resolution + 110 from the other races), so I'll need to scrape together at least 150 bonus points from placement.

...and more on that.  PTC was one of the races I was counting on 40-60 points in Grand Prix standing points.  I'm in 4th right now, but there are a lot more races to go and a lot of fast runners out there.  I still like my chances if I can snag participation points everywhere, but this one will be close.

Water Drop Dash 5k and Publix Georgia (Half) Marathon

Water Drop Dash Stats/Goals

Distance: 5k
Location: Roswell, GA (Riverside)
Current PR: 20:10 (Hearts and Soles, Jan 2016)
90% Goal: 21:00
50% Goal: 20:30
10% Goal: 20:00

Result: 20:21 (http://tinyurl.com/jzre2rz)

GPS: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1090616262

Publix Half Marathon Stats/Goals

Distance: Half Marathon
Location: Atlanta, GA
Goal: Successfully pace friend to her goal time (1:50)

Result: 1:48:47 (http://tinyurl.com/zoragjb)

GPS: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1092449373

Summary

I'm writing this a few weeks after the fact, and all I remember was a super busy weekend.  Water Drop was a 5k PR attempt that I wasn't too sure about.  Publix was the day after and was just a long fun shake out run pacing a friend.  While I missed a PR at the 5k, I still got second in my AG and had a blast at Publix the day after.

Water Drop Dash

This race popped onto my radar about three weeks out.  Two weeks out, I finally decided to sign up.  It was local and flat, so it had a lot going for it in terms of a PR race.  A few others from my local group were running, so it'd be a blast.

A couple days after I signed up, our 3-month-old brought home Montezuma's Revenge.  Fortunately, he was spared the brunt of it, but mom and dad were awfully sick for about 48 hours.  I'm not too sure how much this impacted the race (since it was 10 days or so out) but it certainly didn't help.

Race day rolled around.  Weather was supposed to be awful (rain forecasted) but it held off.  Weather was actually pretty ideal.  Organization at the event was fine.  I eyeball-guessed no more than 1000 people and the results had about 550.  What really stood out was the large contingent of middle-school runners.  The female 10-14 winner finished around 18:15 (!!!).

I started out a little too strong (~6:15 first mile).  By mile 2, I was still on pace for a 20:00 finish, but wasn't able to hold onto it much into mile 3.  I think the biggest thing I need to do is more long intervals.  When doing the speedwork at Ocee, I was able to do four 1milers at a 6:15 average.  It was certainly hard, but I should be able to  translate that better to a race.

I was a little disappointed at not hitting my big time, but, for how I felt going into it, I'm content with my performance.

Just before 1 mile, still loose and feeling OK

Around 2.5.  Form has gone to hell (left arm crossing over, right arm super tight), PR is already missed

Post-Race Bling!  All of us took home age group awards

Publix Georgia Half Marathon

Publix was the day after water drop.  I was pacing a friend through the race, so my only goal was to run easy and for my heart rate to reflect that.

Water Drop 5k

Publix Half

Heart Rate Success!

This was probably the most fun I have had at a race since last year's 10 Miler (where we had a group that ran the race really easy, only to run up Cardiac Hill as fast as we could to snag a super-cool mug).

We started out with the 1:50 pace group, but we ended up taking the early miles a bit faster and put them behind us.  I was trying to focus on keeping even pace and making sure we weren't going too fast.  I had a few spots where I couldn't stop myself from blazing down a hill, but that's just fun.

I don't think we slowed down much, but the front of the 1:50 group managed to catch us in the Georgia Tech area (about 3 miles to go) and I said something along the lines of "it's put up or shut up time", and we ended up powering down the last few hills.

Over the last mile, I was completely out of any kind of motivating things to say.  My friend was on pace for a PR (on a much more difficult course) and was completely out of her conversational range.  To keep her mind off things, I started reading every sign we passed.  Street signs, race signs, parking signs, you name it, it was free game.  At one point I said, "Look!  Parking only $10!"

Something must have worked, because we ended up closing the distance and finished with a completely unexpected PR which was completely awesome.

Down the stretch

Finish Bling

Women's 5k

The following weekend, Angelina did the Women's 5k (pushing the stroller, like a Boss.)  I'm not going to go too much detail (I didn't run or anything) but I will close with this:

Shamrock 'N Roll 5k/10k

So, this was my first race as self-titled "Peachtree Rex".  It.  Was.  A.  Blast.

GPS of run

If you aren't following Peachtree Rex already, WHY NOT?

Having no concept of how fast I'd be, I had the idea of 30 mins as a good target.  I got up to a 12 min pace with no issues on the treadmill (of course, that lasted less than a minute).  It just seemed like a nice, round number.

I'm going to depart from my normal format and just have a point/counterpoint for T-Rex running:

Pro

You're a friggin' T-Rex

Con

After the 1 mile mark, I had a lot of difficulty seeing out of the viewing window

Pro

Tons of people wanted to take pictures with me

Con

I got incredibly hot and had to step out of the costume briefly to cool off

Pro

Starting at the very back of the "runners" wave and hearing the surprised reactions of people as you pass them

Con

For the first time in years, I fell while running

Pro

When I fell, I caught myself pretty well because I had to run with my hands holding the front of the costume so I could (kind of) see

Con

While running, I had my forehead pressed against the front of the costume to keep the viewing area steady, which ended up rubbing it raw.

Reflections

Running a race in a T-Rex costume is awesome, but not without its challenges.  I spent most of the race trying to follow any runner in front of me that I could find.  I would not recommend this costume on a sparsely populated race or one open to traffic where you would have to respond to police directions particularly quickly.

I would also recommended a headband or sweatband of sorts.  Both as a sweatband as well as for protecting your head against the inside of the costume.

Heat-wise, I was OK as long as I was either not running or in the shade.  It was only about 45 out, so I doubt I will take this out in much warmer conditions, or significantly dial back the pace.  I'm also not sure I could handle distances over 5k.

The costume did fine, overall.  One pre-race concern was how the tail would hold up being dragged on the ground for 3 miles.  At the end, there was a small hole.  I'll probably put a layer of duct tape on it before the next race.  Seeing out of the costume was bad, but probably not worse than what I expected.  I tripped once (probably on a pothole, not 100% sure), but was uninjured.

I had a great time taking pictures with people, entertaining (and sometimes scaring) kids, and frightening every single dog there.  I even had the Atlanta Hawks guy come over and have me shoot some baskets at their tent for a while (I think it took me 15 shoots before I actually made one).

Flat family picture

Just a T-Rex...shooting some hoops

The most majestic starting line you'll ever see

Hearts and Soles

Stats/Goals

Distance: 5k
Location: Atlanta (Decatur), GA
Current PR: 20:23 (Braves 5k, 6/20/2015)
Previous Course PR: 21:36 (2/9/2013)
90% Goal: 22:00
50% Goal: 21:00
10% Goal: 20:00

Result: 20:10 (http://tinyurl.com/hywakar)

Mile Splits: (https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1041085467)
6:11
6:28
6:49
0:40 (0.12mi)

Summary

I had quiet optimism going into this race, but had a bit of a gut check over the past week.  Conditions ended up being cold, but not unbearable.  I think I've gotten better at starting out in the cold without all of the layers.  I ended up having an awesome race.  I died a bit in the last half mile, but I still managed a PR.

Race Prep

With my hamstring injury in the rear-view mirror, I was hoping Hearts and Soles could be a good effort 5k.  I've been able to fit speed work in most of the past month, so I felt mostly prepared.  I ran a 3k indicator run last weekend and had a bit of a reality check.  I ran it about 40 seconds slower than my 3k last spring.  It was cold; I had extra gear on; I pushed too hard on the 2 mile warmup; I did speedwork 2 days prior; blah blah blah stupid reasons.

I, unintentionally, had a 3 day taper prior to this run.  Ideally, I would have had run either 4 easy on Wed or 1 hard Friday morning.  Wednesday didn't happen because I came home from work super stressed; Friday didn't happen because I was lazy/cold-averse and didn't wake up.

Given the conditions and my recent performance, I set my sights a little lower.  I kept the same 10% goal that I've had for a while, but I relaxed my 50/90% goals because I wasn't too sure how I would handle the cold.

When we arrived, the car said it was 28 outside.  Brr.  Once I got moving around some, I felt a lot better.  I managed to shed my jackets and ended up in tights, under armor, light jacket, hat, and gloves.  I started with the speedy people from our 8 min group.

Race

As usual, I was a bit on the fast side out of the gates.  I fell behind the trainee I was trying to keep up with on the first hill, but managed to catch back up to him on the downhill.  He slowly pulled away from me for the rest of the race (wha whaaa).

I felt really good on the first half, but, at the turnaround, the course had changed from what I ran in 2013.  Instead of using a roundabout as a turnaround, the course went through the roundabout and had a hairpin cone turn instead 50m or so beyond the roundabout.  Not a big deal, just a tougher turn than I had expected.

From about 1.5 to 2, one of the ATC employees was running right around me and between her and I, we had an awesome cheering section from the runners that were still on the first half.  I didn't actually see her, but I heard Angelina cheer for me at some point.  We were going into the sun, so it was hard to make out any faces.  I didn't even see the water stop until I was passing it.

Another trainee caught up to me around the 2.5 mark and I managed to stick with her for a little but, but I faded up the last hill.  I ended up having to walk 30 paces or so to catch my breath before cresting the hill.  I felt I finished well, but was just behind my reach goal.

Post Race

There were a ton of people sporting new PRs today.  I managed to drop mine by about 15 seconds, but I heard as big as 3-5 minutes I think.  Awesome day for a run.

Most of the training group went out for 7 more after the race.  I might have been able to slog through, but my body was better served sitting in the car for a bit and changing into dry clothes.  After the race adrenaline and numbness wore off, I realized pretty quickly that I had pain in both little toes.  I'm afraid I'll lose a couple toenails, but it's nothing I haven't gone through before.

Had an awesome time at the Fun Sized Tailgate Birthday Celebration.  People brought food and shared in fun times.

Conclusion

20 minutes has never been closer (quite literally).  I kept my pace for the first 2.5 miles.  Had I not stopped to walk up the last hill, I think I would have been just behind the mark.  I need to keep my speedwork up and keep putting in the miles.

Race Report: Resolution Run, 2015 Recap, 2016 Goals

Stats/Goals

Distance: 1 mile
Location: Atlanta (Brookhaven), GA
Current PR: 5:55 (6/2/2015, ATC All Comers Mile)
90% Goal: 7:00
50% Goal: 6:30
10% Goal: 6:30

Result: 5:44 (http://tinyurl.com/ocxrfnx)

Quarter Mile Splits: (From watch)
1:16
1:28
1:31
1:40

Summary

Last year, I came into the Resolution Run nursing a calf strain.  This time, I hurt my hamstring in late November and have been on the mend since.  I had a few good runs the week before, but expected to take it easy.  Oops.

Race Prep

I had very low expectations for this race.  I've been injured most of the winter (I put up 24 miles in December after averaging well over 100 per month for rest of the year).  I had finally gotten back into the swing of things the week before the race.  I had a few run/walks with Angelina and Holden that went fine and then a pair of four milers where I pushed to the low 8/high 7 range.

This was Holden's first appearance at a race.  It was a little on the cold side, but we had him bundled up tight.  Angelina was going to walk the mile with him.  This was the first time most of the runner friends had a chance to meet the little guy.

A half hour before the race, we took Holden back to the car for a quick change/feed and loaded him into Angelina's carrier.  I ran the stroller back to the training tent so she wouldn't have to carry him around post-race and got to warming up.

I felt like 10 kinds of awesome after my warm-up.  I did some quick intervals and everything felt like it was firing on full.  My biggest worry following my injury was running up hills more than it was running fast.

Race

For once at an ATC race, I toed the line at the start.  The race is paired with a 4 miler, which most of the serious runners gravitate towards.  To my right was the woman who went on to win the race and to my left was a 8 or 9 year old that I nearly tripped over at the start.  Fortunately for everyone, no one got tangled up at the start went off without a hitch.

The course itself was pretty flat, but the first half was downhill making the latter half up.  I had a pretty torrid pace off the start, mostly because I wanted to avoid the aforementioned sprinting kids.  I was around 5th at the first quarter, 6th at the half way point, and fell two more spots to 8th in the final straight away.  With the uphill finish, I didn't want to push any harder than I felt comfortable.

The clock that I assumed was the mile clock was registering about 5:30 as I approached.  That seemed super fast, but wasn't unreasonable.  My watch had the course about 0.03 miles short.  I coasted for the last hundredths so my watch registered the full mile (which was about 20 seconds past my actual finish time at 6:03).

Post Race

I didn't actually SEE the finish, but I had assumed my friend at the start line had held onto the lead she had at the final turn.  I could tell she was super pumped.  I ran over and yelled "YOU WON!" right in her face and she yelled "I KNOW!"  Great excitement for all.  The biggest excitement was that it was her first race since being injured in June.  Rock Star.

I ran back along the course to find Angelina and Holden and walked the two of them in.  She came in ahead of her 20 minute goal.  Not to shabby for walking with a baby strapped to your chest.

Conclusion

Even though I haven't been able to run much lately, I'm still a lot stronger than I thought.  I continue to show that I'm a lot better in the middle distances.  This new mile PR was a 65% age-graded percentile rating (vs 63% 5k, 61% 10k, and 61% half marathon).  I am looking forward to this year's all-comers meets.  Maybe 5:30 is within reach this year?

2015 Review

This is mostly a copy/paste from my Facebook status, with a little more commentary.

1) Run a marathon (4:00 goal): completed on a very hard Publix course.  My body certainly struggled with the training (193 miles in February, would have had my first 200 mile month had it been a 30/31 day month).  If there was any doubt that I'm a middle distance athlete, this erased it.  I'm not that eager to train up for another.  It takes a lot of time and dedication which I'm unwilling to put in at this point.  I'm sure I'll do another one eventually, but it's not going to be a priority.  At this point, I'm going to wait until I'm down to 1:30 in the half.

2) Run 1500 miles...: I came up short on this one.  I was on pace at the end of October, but then ran 74 miles in November and 24 in December due to a hamstring injury.

3) ...at a faster pace than 2014: Despite running 300+ miles more than 2014, I dropped my average pace about 15 seconds (to 8:39).  I had hoped to be around 8:30, but I'm content.

4) Mile PR: I took 7 seconds off of my fastest mile form high school at an All Comers meet.  Then, I took off 11 more seconds at a race this morning (5:44)

5) 5k PR: Besides my mile, this had been my oldest PR (a super flat race in Savannah from when I was just starting to get more serious about running).  I took off 19 seconds off on a much more challenging course (20:23).

6) 10k PR: I had hoped for a bigger PR here, but a PR is a PR.  I took 4 seconds off of my previous PR, but this time I had to slow down a walk a bit on a stretch during mile 5 of Peachtree.

7) 1/2 PR: Missed on this one.  I had a great first 10k in Savannah (30 seconds faster than the 10k split on my PR), but the weather got to me and I died in the second half.

2016 Goals

1) Run 1000 miles: I'm sure my mileage will drop this year.  No marathon training plus a kid that I want to spend as much time with as I can will mean the time I put into running will go down.  I don't know if this goal is going to be super easy, super hard, or just right.  So I'm going to go with just right and wing it.

2) 20 minute 5k: I've had this goal in the back of my head for a long time.  It has been a long time since I've specifically trained for a 5k.  I plan on making 2016 the year of the 5k.  I'll probably run a half (Thanksgiving), but I'm not going to make it a centerpiece of my running year.

3) Peachtree Subseed Qualifier: I doubt I can accomplish this prior to registration in March, so I'll probably stick in A Wave this year.  However, if I can get the 20min 5k, this should follow along with it (subseed qual time last year was 20:14 for the 5k, 9 seconds faster than my time at Braves).

4) Top 1000 Peachtree.  This was a goal I threw in a couple months before Peachtree last year.  I ended up around 1200th I believe.  I would have had to run about 30 seconds faster to get there.  I'll have to do more faster runs this year on actual hills, not just speed work at the river.

5) Run all of the ATC Grand Prix races...: This is more of a logistical goal than anything else.  Hopefully I can make the All Comers meet work out.

6) ...and finish top 3 in my age group for the Grand Prix: This will be a lot harder.  For those unfamiliar with the Grand Prix, you get 10 points for showing up at an event, 100 for winning your AG, 80 for second, yadda yadda.  I snagged 80 points at Resolution run and there are 4 or 5 more races that I can realistically expect to get into the top 5.  Third place last year was 360 points.  If there are 12 events, I will currently have 190 points (80 from Resolution + 110 from the other races), so I'll need to scrape together at least 150 bonus points from placement.