Race Report: Atlanta Half Marathon

I look happy here. I like that! My pants look like highwaters for some reason. They aren't. I don't like that!

I ran the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day.  This is half marathon #2 of 3 for me in 90 days.  I am so close to being a Half Fanatic I can taste it!

This particular half marathon was actually the first half I ever ran.  Sister P challenged me to run a half back in January of 2007.  I was not a runner at all (but something of a cardio freak).  She had completed a few 10Ks already.  The plan was to run this race together because my family was going to travel to ATL to have Thanksgiving at my home.  I accepted the challenge, became a runner and never looked back.  Sister P bailed on the race (sucka!).  She finally ran her first half last year.

The race I ran back in 2007 was not the race I ran this year.  The Atlanta Track Club got some big bucks sponsorship dollars and decided to make this a thing.  What used to be a fairly small low-key race, turned into a big deal.  Almost 9,000 runners took on the half this year.  The full marathon component was dropped, a 5K and several kids races were added, and the course was totally changed.  When I ran the race, it was basically the Peachtree Road Race plus.  It ran from Peachtree Rd in Chamblee to Peachtree downtown to finish up at Turner Field.

This year, the course was more of a tour of downtown Atlanta similar to the ING Georgia Half that I ran back in 2008.  Knowing that course had some hilly bits, I had no real performance expectations going into this race.  I was sick during the Silver Comet Half so I hoped to do better than I did during that race.  I wasn’t sure if that would happen given the rolling nature of the course compared to the flatness of the trail.  Also, my training (3 weeks worth!) had been kind of uneven.  I took a week off from running after Silver Comet to recover and get better.  I never quite found my groove during training.

So I went into this race wanting to perform like I should be able to perform (sub 2:05, 2:02 at the absolute amazing best) but not sure it would happen.  This made for a surprisingly relaxed race day morning.  I wasn’t really nervous or amped up either.  I met DiscoDiva (who was volunteering and running the 5K) crazy early that morning to ride in together.  We arrived with about 1:30 to spare.

This was a large race and with MARTA not operating in the usual manner, the parking situation was uncertain.  It was good to get there early.  In hindsight though, I remember why I don’t get to races that early.  I ended up drinking a ton of water in all the downtime – Mistake #1!  I was up at 4:30AM and the race didn’t start until 7:45AM.  The temperatures were predicted to be in the mid-60s (not good to me) so I wanted to hydrate.  I drank way too much before race start.  I ended up at the port-a-potty 3 times before my wave started.  I really, really, really wanted to go again at Mile 6 – so much so that I was uncomfortable.  That feeling especially sucked since I’ve gotten myself to the point where I can run 13 miles without a bathroom break.

Mistake #2 was also made early.  I re-adjusted my bun before the race started and my Goody band snapped in half.  Doh!  Thank goodness I was wearing my Bondi Band because it turned into a handy ponytail holder.  I have a lot of hair and if I had to deal with it flopping around I wouldn’t have made it.  Lady runners, always carry extra hair bands (and toilet tissue ‘cuz you never know…more on that later).

It was warm at race start time.  Like so warm I took my jacket off and was in short-sleeves and not the slightest bit chilly.  In fact, I was wishing I had on a tank and capris.  Why is Atlanta weather so freaking fickle?  It is November for God’s Sake!  It was 35 degrees during the Silver Comet in October and it is 60-ish in late-November? Come on!  Don’t the weather gods know I suffer in the heat?

Anyway, the race started and I was grooving along.  My new race tune “Like A G6″ by Far East Movement came on early and I was making tracks.  The wave start worked out well.  There wasn’t that much crowding early on considering that there were 9K runners.  It got a little tight at the point where the 5K and half marathon courses split but I stayed on pace.

My target pace was 9:32 min/miles for sub-2:05 or 9:21 min/miles for a super amazing race of 2:02.  My first 5 miles were run in 9:53, 9:24, 9:19, 9:11 and 9:15.  Around Mile 5, Mistake #3 reared its ugly head.  My Ipod started skipping and acting funny.  A song would start and then stop.  I would press Play and it would come back and then stop again.  My shuffle had been acting janky all week long.  I should have stopped being cheap and bought a new one.  I ended up just turning the thing off to hopefully preserve whatever juice was left for the end of the race.

The “no music” miles began in Atlantic Station and continued as we are headed up some rolling hills on 10th street and into Piedmont Park.  I decided to conserve energy by speed-walking the hills and making up the time on the flat areas.  I still felt good energy-wise but it was warm and at this point I was feeling the need to go to the bathroom too.  I started to slow down a bit.  Mile 6 was done in 9:54 which was off pace.

After we ran through Piedmont Park, we were greeted by lots of rolling hills on 10th street and then all the way up Juniper/Courtland.  I was hot and getting tired and wishing for some tunes to motivate me.  I speed-walked a lot.  This walking the hills strategy was working against me having a speedy race because the rolling hills just did not stop.  I never got a chance to run fast because the inclines were so long.

It all kind of went downhill (uphill?) from there.  The last 7 miles went something like this 10:44, 10:40, 10:02, 10:32, 11:18, 10:04, 10:33.  I say something because I re-calibrated my running watch incorrectly and instead of 13.1 miles, it says I ran 12.6 miles.  It was getting warmer still, the sun was beaming overhead and the rolling hills kept on coming.  I had flashbacks to the full marathon I ran in 2008 where it was so hot and humid and sunny.  Thank God that I was only running a half!

I rallied a bit in the last 3 miles because my Ipod miraculously started working again.  I still did some more walking (darn Capital hill and the huge steep hill!).  We finally turned onto the last street and I could see the Olympic arches in the distance.  Who wouldn’t get inspired to push it when you see the Olympic arches?  I booked it to the end and finished in 2:06:03.

From the finish line, all I could think about was the Port-A-Pottys!  I didn’t want to stop running earlier to wait in line so I just sucked it up.  Bodily functions relieved, I sat down on the ground and stretched.  My quads were super tight from the hills on the course.  I was so sweaty and hot that the salt was dripping down my face and stinging my eyes.  My BondiBand was holding my hair back, instead of the sweat, remember?  I could hardly see straight!  I stumbled over to find DiscoDiva who offered her cotton T-Shirt sleeve so that I could wipe my face off.  Thank you for being a friend!

In the end, I finished this race about 30 seconds slower than the Silver Comet half.  I wasn’t sick this time…I just sucked at the hills and the temps were not agreeable for me.  I felt good about the race I ran when I finished even though I walked a lot.  I still want to get my 2:02-2:05 though.  January is my last shot!

Oh yeah, I mentioned bringing toilet paper earlier.  I keep a little baggie with some in my CamelBak because you just never know.  I saw a girl in Mile 5 who had literally crapped her pants.  I mean you could see it all over her black pants.  I’ve heard about this sort of thing happening but I’ve never seen it in person.  I felt so bad for her!  It stank y’all!  What would you do if this happened to you?  I personally would have quit the race and called The Mister to come get me.  You?

Update: It happens to famous runners too.  Maybe this isn’t always such an easy call?