Alarm went off at 4:30 or so. Yawn!!! It was cold and windy and the rain was still coming down as we headed to Marta. I fashioned a lovely little garbage bag dress that kept me warm until the start. We made our way to the bag drop and then hit the potties. The race area in general seemed more organized than last year, but there were still problems getting from Marta into the park as several of the sidewalks were closed off. Lots of bottleneck.
I met up with a running group friend and we made our way to Corral 7 to run with the 5:30 pace group. We figured we'd hang with them until the split. We got into the corral pretty early and I probably should have ducked back out to hit the potties before the race started. This would become evident around, oh, Mile 1.
It took us about 17 minutes to cross the finish line, but things were fairly wide open when we hit the Start line. (We taped the race coverage and you can see me crossing the start!). We had to weave a bit in the first few miles until things opened up. I could tell we started out fairly quickly when the first mile was a 10:50 or so when we hit Piedmont. We were actually well ahead of the 5:00 group until Mile 2 or so, and the 5:30 caught up with us near Auburn Ave (Mile 3.5 or so). There were a few decent hills that kicked my butt early on, especially with the quicker pace.
I was feeling pretty good until we hit Inman Park and Little 5 Points. Had a little bit of knee pain and told my friend to go on ahead since it was her first race. I had to go to the bathroom so badly, and managed to hold it off until we hit Va-Hi and Mile 7ish. I really regret not hitting the bushes earlier because I think I'd have had a PR. Live and learn!
I ran a few miles with a guy who was pushing his son in a jogging stroller. Man, that guy is awesome. I felt guilty even stopping to walk because he was working so hard. He'd clipped a pair of aerobars onto the stroller so he didn't have to bend over when he pushed. I hit a tough spot coming out of the park until we got near 5th St. That was a tough hill (and I've run it numerous times in training).
Felt good overall though and just kept thinking about seeing my Tri-Club at Mile 12. They cheered me on and it pushed me to get to the finish.
Chip Time - 2:53:54 (5 minutes off my best time, which was on a flatter course). So, all in all, it was a great race considering I had no expectations. Several of the first few miles were averaging 12:20 or so, which I haven't seen in a while!
I don't plan on running a marathon this fall, so I'd really like to focus on shorter distances, as well as pace. Immediate goal is to work towards 11 minute miles (for a 10K) and then eventually 10s. I know that sounds painfully slow to some of you, but that's what I'm hoping for!
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