Revised Goal: Run hard. Not "leave it all out there" hard, but tempo pace hard.
Result: 53:00
Goals (written pre-race)
At the beginning of the year, I'd planned on trying to break 50 at Peachtree. Hitting that goal (totally unexpectedly) at Flying Pig, lightened the burden. Instead, my focus shifted to running with friends and helping them hit the sub-50. I haven't been seriously training for a sub-50 Peachtree because I feel like my general training and fitness will enable me to hit that time... barring any crazy weather.
Well, Code Red was issued the day before the race. Temps at the start were forecast at mid-to-high 70s, 98% humidity, and FULL sunshine. By 9am, we'll be in the high 80s. Not exactly the crisp 40s/50s I had at the Pig, or the high 60s/low 70s I was hoping for. I've decided that sub-50 isn't going to happen for me, and just want to have a comfortable push the whole way, knowing that I might need to do some serious slowing down since I haven't run in the heat at all this cycle.
Pre-Race
This was a special race for me, and the whole 10KTuesday group. Why? Because Peachtree happened on a Tuesday, and it's a 10K road race. It's basically the ULTIMATE #10KTuesday :D We had shirts made to share the love of the hashtag, and, bonus, my friend Beth, who comprises the South Carolina contingent of 10KT, came into to town to run too.
I made sure to hydrate and eat well the day before the race, doing whatever I could to prepare help myself have a good race day.
After our 10KTuesday picture, Brandi, Beth and I headed out for a short warm-up. It wasn't very hot yet, but I could already tell today wasn't going to be a good run day for me. Still, I lined myself up in Corral B (weee, first time I've ever started beyond Lenox Rd!!!) with Beth, Brandi, and Brad. Brad was pacing Brandi, and Beth and I had an understanding that we'd start together and just see what happened.
Race
I've never started in the middle of a corral before, and it was NOT fun. For the first mile, we were all trapped behind slower runners, desperately trying to make breaks for it and slide between people to get ahead and into more open territory. Beth and I lost Brad and Brandi somewhere in there, but stuck together for about the first two miles. I felt like I was running very comfortably, but when Beth started to push the pace below a 7:50, I said I'd see her at the finish.
First 5K was a pretty solid 7:51/mi. I knew I wouldn't get faster, but thought I might be able to finish only a minute or two over the 50:00 mark.
...and then Cardiac Started. As I made the first climb, I started feeling the heat, and feeling bad. It wasn't a 'hard effort" bad, it was a "this isn't right" bad. So, I walked a hundred paces (something Jerry does with success) and then resumed running again... and then did that again. When I was in the shade, I had moments of "okay, if it's like this, I can run to the finish", but those moments always ended too quickly.
I walked somewhere between 4-6 times over miles 4 and 5. As much as I hated to "just walk" by all the spectators, it was definitely the right call. I hadn't trained for this weather, and I knew it. I figured I could let myself recover for miles 4 and 5, and then try to push the last mile again... if I felt better.
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| Hello, "Kick" |
When I hit the Mile 5 sign, I had planned on running until the line... but took another walk break before turning onto tenth. I knew I wanted to finish strong, and that I couldn't do that even just "jogging" (ooh, that word makes me shudder) the entire way.
Even turning onto tenth, I knew I still had such a long way to go. It's about 1200m to the finish line, with so many "looks like the finish line should be here" places. I ran into a runner friend and let him pull me along for the last 800m, thinking the entire time how great it would be to just be done already.
Despite my many walk breaks, I didn't have a single mile approaching 10:00, which I find amazing: 7:51, 7:40, 7:43, 9:37, 9:24, 9:01
...and the last 0.22? 6:47/mi pace. It didn't feel like I was running that fast.
Post-Race Reflections
This was the worst race I've ever had. I'm not conditioned for hot running, and even less so for hot, FAST running. I'm grateful that this wasn't a goal race for me, because it's another reminder that, just like marathons, you can train all you want, but race day conditions are something you have NO control over.
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| #10KTuesday girls, including Beth! |
That said, I still feel awesome about what I accomplished. I had a great first 5K, much faster than I thought I'd be able to pull off when we started. I shared my city's premiere race with a good friend. Birgit and I passed the "Pregnant at Peachtree" torch onto our friend, Shelly. Plus, we just had 55,000 people participate in #10KTuesday (albeit most of them unknowingly... but it still counts)!
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| "Baby on Board" |
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| Roswell Riverside Runners/half of our Bourbon Chase team |
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| #10KTuesday Founders We made it a THING! :D |
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