Ceviche, Storms, Rodents, and Shamrocks

Karnak: What is a Shamrock n Roll 10K Race Report?

Friday night, I stopped off at the pool on the way home to get my swim workout completed. I thought rather than kicking my arse first thing in the morning and being tired all day, I would kick it on the way home and only be tired for a quarter of the day.

I picked out Endurance Workout 4, set A, which called for 3100 meters. The first 300 meters was swim, the second 300 meters was kick. God, I hate kick. Then it was on to the main set. The main set consisted of 8x150, 8x100, and 8x50. Now, the instructions were 2-2-2-2 descending. For those of you who don't know, this means every 2 intervals gets faster. For future reference, when you see this on your own plan. Be afraid. Be very afraid. By the time I got done, I was grateful I was only doing 50s. I was toast. I threw in another 300 meter straight interval to get my swim up to 3400 meters, along with my 100 meter cool down. When Dee Dee got home from work Friday night, she asked me why I was so red. LOL!! The only thing I could think of was that the chlorine in the pool cooked me like cerviche for an hour and fifteen minutes.

After setting the alarm clock for a 6:30 AM wake up call, it was off to bed. Around 5 AM, the crack of thunder and lighting woke me from my sleep. I listened carefully to the approaching storm. I didn't hear the tornado sirens going off, so I killed the alarm and went back to sleep. When I woke at 8:30 AM, I hurried downstairs to check the radar. I saw the storms in Alabama, and I figured I had three to four hours to get my workout in. I hurriedly ate breakfast, packed the car and drove out to the Silver Comet. I heard on the radio about the devastation from the tornado that hit downtown, and I worried for my friends, Sarah and Akshaye.

The brick on the Silver Comet went well. The plan called for 90 minutes, 30 at race pace, followed by a 30 minute run off. I was very sore and intentionally took it easy in the first and last thirty minutes of the ride. The thirty minutes at race pace went fine, but hard. You could tell that I worked hard this week. I usually do my entire ride on the SCT at twenty miles per hour. This time, I could only muster a 17.5 mph average over the whole ride. On the way back to the car, I unfortunately ran over a squirrel. Poor fellow. There were lots of squirrels and even chipmunks out because the trail was nearly deserted. He was sitting right in my path, and I waited for him to scamper away. By the time he decided to move, he dashed directly into the path of my bike, and I got him with both wheels. I turned to look behind me, expecting to see the poor critter in convulsions, but he scampered off the trail. I was sick to my stomach and hoped that he would be alright.

As I drove home to the house, the north Georgia skies were filled with ominous black clouds. The tornado sirens went off when I pulled in the drive way. I hurried into the house and flipped on the news. A line of thunderstorms, one with a tornado in it, was moving in a bee-line across Cartersville and on to Canton. The edge of the storm barely brushed my house. We were not in the danger area. We did call the store, however, and instruct the kids to take evasive maneuvers. Fortunately for us all, no damage or injuries occurred in our part of town. My heart goes out to those unfortunate people killed and their families in North Georgia.


After the drama Saturday, including the brick, I hit the bed early Saturday. Dee Dee got us up at 5:15 AM. We got this pre-race stuff down now. We were in the car and on the way to Atlantic Station by 6:15 AM, Sunday. We got there a little early. The temperature gauge on the car said it was 49, but the wind was blowing strong. I had dressed in tights and my Mizuno shell. The weather channel said it FELT LIKE 39 degrees out. This figured strongly in my decision on how to dress, but I would regret it later.

We picked up our race packets and then went back to the car for twenty minutes or so. Dee Dee wanted to use the restroom. We managed to get in before the crowds. We picked around in the athletic store for a while and when we came out, the line stretched into the park. Dee Dee and I did a warm up lap then moved to the middle of the pack at the starting line. Neither Dee Dee nor I heard the start, but the crowd up front yelled, and the mass of people started moving forward. It took us around thirty seconds or so to cross the starting line. I hit start on my Garmin and tried to find room to run.

The race wasn't a huge race, but the narrow streets of Atlantic Station made the initial going hectic at best. Since I was running the first mile in zones 2 and 3, the pace suited me. I usually start out too fast. We ran clock-wise around the square. I had a little trouble keeping my heart rate at or below 153. I think it crept up to 155 a couple of times. I saw Sarah cheering on the runners at the first music station. I crossed the first mile marker at around 9:30, which I thought was OK for zones 2 and 3 (my Garmin appears to be non-functioning now, for some reason).

The group of runners made a left turn and then a right and took seventeenth street down towards Northside. There was a very nice downhill section here and one moderate up hill. I allowed my heart rate to creep to the stop of zone 3 and I held it there (157-160). When we made the right turn onto Northside, a huge steep hill stared us right in the face. I refused to walk it this first time, and my heart rate crept up to 170 and 171 before I finally crested. There was one more little hill (a bridge) to get over before we started heading back downhill to Atlantic station. I passed mile marker two with a 9:16 for the second mile. I was starting to sweat profusely.

The middle part of the race was definitely nice. Some long gentle downhills and flat out and backs along Atlantic Station. We ran past Sarah again as we headed to the square. I didn't get too excited about the nice downhill there. I knew I needed to do another lap, and that meant going back uphill again. The finish is actually beneath Atlantic Station. The 5Kers peeled off to the right, and the 10Kers went straight ahead for another lap.

Sure enough, as we made a right turn, back onto the previous loop, we had a challenging little uphill to climb. I had passed mile marker three in 9:15, but now, I was free to let my HR roam wherever it wanted. As it turned out, my heart rate climbed into the 170s going up the hills, but settled into 168-169 range on the flats and downhills.

Miles 4 and 5 were more of the same. I ended up having to walk the monster hill halfway up, and I jettisoned the Mizuno shell after mile 4. We got to see a live band around mile 4.5. Then it was on past Sarah again. She was all smiles cheering me on. About a half mile from the finish, I really picked up the pace. I knew I was in the PR range, but not by much, and I definitely wanted to take advantage of that nice downhill to make up some time. I crossed mile 6 with a time of 8:35, my fastest mile yet.

When I made the right turn into the finish chute, I had about a tenth of a mile to go. I kicked it in and began the final sprint. I wasn't racing anybody. That's just the way I roll. I saw 56 on the finish line clock and was a little disappointed, but I crossed the finish line in 56:24, a one minute PR over my last 10K.

Dee Dee and I meandered around the finish line for a while. We watched the Irish dancers and listened to the band. The sun was out and it was glorious morning. After checking out all the attractions, we packed up the car and headed home. Matthew was still sleeping when we got home. He never even knew we were gone. Funny thing, when he came down for breakfast, he asked us when we were doing our race :-)

How best to summarize? I think I did pretty damn good :-) I've been busting my chops all week with this training plan, and Friday's swim and Saturday's brick was especially tough. I executed my race plan perfectly. I didn't start out too fast. I PRed. With an overall pace of 9:04, what's not to love?


Dee Dee had a good time at the 5K as well. She finished in 35:15. It wasn't a PR for her, but then again, she hasn't run AT ALL since the marathon. She did real good too :-)

Wes

ORN: 6.2 miles, 56:24, 9:04 mmp