Atlanta Marathon - My 1st Marathon

Finally got around to writing my race report. The trouble with the Garmin delayed it and my trip to spectate at Ironman Florida.

Atlanta Marathon - 26.2 mile

Date of Race: 10/30/2011

Total Time = 4h 20m 30s

Overall Place = 500/1128

Age Group = Male 40-44

Age Group Place = 60/99

Pre-race:  Had my normal breakfast of cereal, soy milk, banana & cup of coffee. Race start was at Atlantic Station, so it was convenient to get to. I was a bit worried about traffic and parking. E-mail from the race said to use 16th street or Market street entrance and only pay $5 for parking in the garage. There was no one collecting for parking, just the normal grab a ticket and pay at the parking station. I thought that parking would still be $5. Turns out it was $12 and I was charged by the hour. There were several posts on Atlanta Track Club's Facebook page and some paid up to $14. There was a mix up or someone didn't show up in time. Hopefully they'll take care of this for next year.

Parking was not a problem. There were plenty of spaces. I drank about 16oz of Gatorade on the drive and before the start. 30 minutes before the start I had a gel and walked over to the staging area. 

Warm-up:  I did some stretching and 15 minutes before the start I did some light running. Temps were in the low 30's & were expected to get up to the mid 50's. I had an old sweat shirt on that I would toss as soon as I was warmed up. I still had 2 light layers underneath.

Run: I lined up in Corral B and was surprised at how small the corral was. This race is small compared to Publix. Publix has 10 times as many runners. Hopefully they'll grow in next couple of years. 

My Garmin (FR60) is not a GPS version and uses a footpod. A couple weeks prior to the race I found that around 6 miles the Garmin goes "Wonky" (That's a technical term. Right?). I replaced the battery, re-calibrated and sure enough, right after 6 miles it starts giving me wrong pacing. Way off. Like I'm really running a 3:15/mile pace (in my dreams). Anyway I started keeping track of laps on my own and ended up with 50 something splits and had to figure out my actual splits which is why it's taken so long to write up this report.

Race starts and I'm running about a 9 minute mile. Trying to keep a steady pace and not start out too fast. I'm warm about mile 2 and toss the old sweat shirt. Around mile 4 I start feeling my IT Band that started giving me trouble 3 weeks before the race. It wasn't painful, but it was a nice subtle reminder that I had ITB problems. Focus and keep moving. Around mile 5 Bobby catches up to me and we run together until we exit Grant Park (mile 8). I had my first gel around mile 7. I was feeling good. ITB was still the same. I thought Bobby was right behind me or nearby, because I don't think my pace picked up (turns out it did just a bit). Since my Garmin was off, I started doing the math in my head trying to figure out my current pace. That killed a little bit of time.  Saw Vanessa around 10.5 miles at Inman Park. Had my 2nd gel before mile 13. I walked through all the aid stations while I drank 2 cups of water. I tried the Powerade at the first stop and it was weak so I stuck to water for most of the race.

Mile 1-   8:58

Mile 2 -   8:44

Mile 3 -   8:44

Mile 4 -   8:48

Mile 5 -   8:37

Mile 6 -   8:25

Mile 7 -   8:31

Mile 8 -   8:37

Mile 9 -   9:01

Mile 10 - 8:12

Mile 11 - 9:06

Mile 12 - 8:20

Mile 13 - 8:38

Mile 13.1 = 1:53:38

At the halfway point I was feeling good and looking at my watch, I knew I was 6-7 minutes slower than my Publix half time. I was really optimistic about my time and thought I may actually do better than my goal.

As I hit mile 15, I knew I had to pee and figured there would be porta potties inside Piedmont Park. I was correct. Apparently stopping to take care of business was enough time for my ITB to tighten up. As soon as I started running again it felt painful. I tried stretching it out a bit. As I was doing this, I saw the 3:55 pace group go by. Damn! I'm losing time. Cheryl is going to yell at me for taking a pee break. I started running again and eventually the ITB loosen up, but this was the start of things going in the wrong direction. Passed the 16 mile marker running out of Piedmont Park. My goal was to try catchup and keep pace with the 3:55 group. I kept up with them until we hit Morningside. Little by little they pulled away as I was slowing down. Okay, just keep them in my sight and I can still finish under 4 hours. When I ran this course 3 weeks before the race we only ran through Piedmont Park before returning to Atlantic Station for 20 miles. I was told that the last 6 miles were the hardest and the hilliest. They weren't kidding. I lost sight of the 3:55 group around Johnson Rd. I remember running a short section onto Briarcliff near Podium Sports and this is where I started feeling the hardest part of the hills (mile 19). I started walking up the hills and then running down them.

Around mile 21 (Lavista & I-85) as I was walking a section and taking a gel, Bobby came by with the 4:00 pace group. Okay, re-evaluate. No way I'm making it under 4:00, let's shoot for 4:10. Kept going with the strategy to just keep moving. No stopping or the ITB will tighten up. Quick walk up the hill, run down the hill, and repeat. On Linbergh and past Sharondale. I actually thought it would be easier to run up Sharondale and finish at Lululemon. I think at that moment, I thought TNR runs on Sharondale were cake compared to what still laid ahead. I was starting to get warm. While walking I took off the bottom layer and kept my ATC long sleeve. I held onto the other layer. I wasn't going to toss a fairly new tech shirt I picked up a couple week prior. Finally onto Peachtree. About 3 miles left. Almost there. I've never walked up Cardiac Hill, but after 24 miles of hills, I had to. Ran to the next water stop (mile 24.5) and hit the last aid station. I had only been taking water since the first aid station and wanted some Powerade. Luckily this was mixed properly and had some flavor. I needed it. Right turn onto Deering. I knew what lay ahead. I used to live at the top of this road. I tried to run, but as soon as I started to climb, my legs would burn. I walked. Even walking I could feel the burn in my quads. I could feel my glutes working as well. At the top of the hill, I see Ron & Amy. I had to laugh. This was the worst spot to take pictures. Just about everyone was walking. I didn't have it in my to run the last 30 yards up this hill for a picture of me running. It is what it is. It's a tough course.

With only 1 mile left, I didn't care about any time goals. All I wanted to do was finish. Walked up the 17th st. bridge behind Ikea. Almost home. All downhill. Start running. Right before the Arch, I feel a twitch in my calf. The kind of twitch that lets you know a cramp is coming on. Stop. Massage it. Start running. Make the turn on Market St. No stopping now. There's only the point 2 left. Cross the finish line. I'm so out of it, that one of the volunteers was talking to me (someone I knew from back when I did TNR at Big Peach) and it didn't register what they were saying. They handed me a bag and I just walked as they put food in it. I was handed a finishers pint glass That's the real reason why I signed up for this thing. I put myself through all this training and 26.2 miles for a piece of glass and a chunk of metal around my neck. Of course when I saw the medal and pint glass  before signing up, I thought it was worth it.

Mile 14 -  8:47

Mile 15 - 10:42

Mile 16 - 12:04

Mile 17 - 12:29

Mile 18 - 11:40

Mile 19 - 12:38

Mile 20 - 12:35

Mile 21 - 10:43

Mile 22 - 11:36

Mile 23 - 12:57

Mile 24 - 12:06

Mile 25 - 14:34

Mile 26 - 13:23

Mile 26.2 = 4:20:30

I kept my heart rate LT -10 for the majority of the run. Of course as I walked the hills my average dropped to LT -15.

Total Run Time: 4h:20m:30s

Post Race: Found Bobby & Ann at a table. They had several large tables off to the side of the finishers chute. As soon as I sat down I took my shoes off.  I drank my a bottle of Powerade, ate some cookies and pretzels that were in the bag. I liked that they had all the food in a large ziploc bag that you got after crossing the finish. You didn't get extra and it insured that everyone got something in the end. I remember hearing that they ran out of food at Publix and that early finishers got extra food. We sat and talked about the race, then Ron and Amy showed up and we talked more about the course. Ron asked me if or when I would do my next marathon. I think I replied that at that moment, was probably not the best time to ask. Wait a couple days when I could answer a bit more objectively. The finishers medal is big. I thought last year's Atlanta Half Marathon was big. It's a solid chunk of metal with some weight.

For comparison:

 Publix 1/2 Marathon = .19 lbs

Atlanta 1/2 Marathon = .30 lbs

Atlanta Marathon        = .44 lbs 

If I recall, Ron commented on the medal and the pint glass. I think he may run it next year. I definitely got my money's worth. Yes, it was worth it. Not because of the medal and pint glass, but knowing what I was able to accomplish. The medal and pint glass will be a reminder of that accomplishment.

After sitting for a while I had to pee again. Getting up to walk was painful. I had my ITB tighten up on my left leg and I had pain in my right foot. I was afraid that I had a stress fracture on my right foot. After a couple days the pain would come and go, so I didn't think it was a stress fracture. It felt like the pain was at the top of my foot. I reached down to massage it and felt no pain. As I went towards the inside arch, I felt a knot. As soon as I massaged it, I felt the pain. I worked through it and grabbed an cold beer bottle and rolled across the arch. It wasn't easy, but by the next day, pain was less and two days later it was all gone.

What would you do differently:  Looking back, although I did not go out too fast, I think I could have gone a little slower.  Looking at the numbers, I was strong through the first 14 miles. Half marathon is my perfect distance and I can continue to get faster at that distance. 26.2 is completely new and requires a lot more work to get under 4 hours. I know that now. I felt my quads and glutes burning on those hills. Even though I trained on hills, to run 26.2 miles of hills will require some strength training. The ITB issues are a sign of weak glutes. I started doing some strength training on my legs 3 weeks before the race and although I don't think it help in my performance, I think it helped in minimizing ITB issues and allowing me to finish. I'm going to incorporate strength training in the off season and as much as I can when the season starts. I'm not disappointed in my performance. I had set some high goals for a difficult course that I didn't meet. I know I can do better and improve. Will I do another? Yes. But on a flatter course. I'll do this course again, but I want to get sub 4:00 first. I'll probably need additional fuel for this distance. I carried 6 gels and only had 5. That may have contributed to the fatigue in the second half of the race. I probably could have done with one less layer. If I was a lot faster, I probably would have been okay. Once the sun came out and temps started climbing, I felt warm.

When I did my first 70.3 (GCT) I didn't have a great race, but I learned a lot and I used that to focus my training. By the time I did Augusta, I had taken what I learned and the training I had done to take over 42 minutes off my Gulf Coast time. Now I need to do the same and see how much time I can take off my 1st marathon.

Rate your overall experience with this race: It was a small race compared to some of the larger ones across the country. Despite the small numbers, I thought thought the Atlanta Track Club put on a great race. I never felt like I was running alone and there were plenty of supporters along the course. They had 18 cheer zones along the course, plus the relay exchange points. Going through the neighborhoods had a lot of spectators on their front lawns as well. I hope the Atlanta Marathon grows larger each year and becomes as well known as some of the other in the US. I would recommend this race. However, if you're a 1st timer this might not be your race. It's a tough course. I don't want to discourage anyone from not doing it. I just want to let you know what to expect. I'm glad this was my first and on a tough course. It makes the accomplishment that much better. Having now done my first marathon, I have a greater respect for the distance, this course and anyone that has ever run a marathon. Thanks to all the ATC coaches and teammates who ran with me, gave me words of encouragement and believed in me. I could not have done this without you.

Next up: Atlanta Half Marathon!