Date of Race: 01/01/2011
Total Time = 0h 53m 03s
Overall Place = ?
Age Group = Male 40-44
Age Group Place = 25/44
Pre-race: Race time was noon, so I had plenty of time to get up to Kennesaw. I went out the night before with some friends to a neighbors house for New Year's Eve. I had a couple of beers and then switched to water the rest of the night. I had at least 2 8oz glasses of water and then 16oz from a water bottle when I got home. I made sure I was hydrated so that I wouldn't wake up hung over or feel any effects from the beers I had. Didn't work.
I woke up with a mild headache. Mental note, stay away from high gravity beers the day before a race. Had a bowl of oatmeal and some coffee and then started drinking water. Started feeling a little better when I left the house and made the drive up to Kennesaw. Then it started to rain. It stopped a bit and I thought that would be it and maybe a couple sprinkles through the race. As I got closer to the race site, the more it rained. I wondered how many people would not show up because of the weather. Turns out a lot of people still showed up. There was a long line to pick up race numbers and there was no way to stay dry. I was wearing my Atlanta Triathlon Club racing kit and my KSwiss K-Ona racing flats. This gear is made to dry quickly and not retain water. I was also wearing a light cycling jacket, but it didn't repel the water and was completely soaked. Temps were in the high 50's.
Warm-up: I stretched out and tried to stay warm by jumping up and down. Being wet and cold didn't help and I was shivering just a bit. I had a Cliff Shot and some water 10 minutes before the start of the race and then ran down the block a couple times trying to stay warm.
Run: Based on my Atlanta Half Marathon experience, I decided not to go fast from the start. I tried to keep a 8:00 - 8:15 minute pace. I was doing this race for fun since I've only run twice since the Atlanta Half. I was feeling good and strong but kept my pace in check. If I was going to pick up the pace, I wanted to save it for the last mile. It rained throughout the entire race and it took me a couple miles to warm up. Around mile 3 I unzipped the jacket as I was starting to feel warm. Right before the 5 mile mark I removed the jacket and tied it to my waist. I didn't run with any water or sports drink. I made sure to drink at each water stop. My heart rate was in the mid 170's and I was a bit surprised as my LT is 174 and I was feeling really good. I started to pick up the pace during the last mile and really stepped it up on the last 1/2 mile. I think my pace was around 7:30 during the last 1/2 mile. As I turned the corner to finish up the race, I couldn't sprint to the finish, I still maintained the fast pace I was doing but couldn't squeeze any more speed and I was feeling it in my quads. I figured I would finish around 54-56 minutes before the start of the race, but as I evaluated my time, pace and how I felt, I thought I could finish faster.
Total Run Time: 0h:53m:03s
Post Race: Grabbed some Powerade and a bag of pretzels then picked up my finishers shirt. Stretched out briefly and then headed to the car to put on some dry clothes. It was still raining and I didn't want to stand around in the rain.
What would you do differently: Not drink beer the night before. I was doing this race for fun and I wanted to use it as a way to measure my progress over the last year and use it as a time to improve on the rest of the year. I had no expectations. Later I found out that I actually beat last year's time by almost 2:30 minutes and I missed a new PR by :11 seconds. Had I known that beforehand, I might have pushed a little harder. I might have skipped a water stop just to save those 11 seconds. As I mentioned, this was just for fun and I'm more than happy with my performance considering I was slightly hungover. I got my PR doing the Charles Harris last year and I should be on track to get another one there this year.
Rate your overall experience with this race: Despite the rain, this is a great race. It's small and there are not a lot of participants compared to other 10k's. The course is in great condition. It's two loops in an office park. There are no big hills, just some small rollers. If you run hills in town, this is an easy course. Atlanta Track Club volunteers were great and they put on another great event as usual. They were standing in the rain and still cheering everyone on. Right before the turnaround point a volunteer had a cowbell cheering for everyone. I would do this race again. It's a great way to start off the year, measure your ability and set goals for the rest of the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment