Race Recap: Rise Up & Run 5k

I've gotten away from race recaps because let's be honest, they are usually pretty boring. Howevah...last weekend I ran a road race and since that happens about as often as the Whale beats Vancouver I figured it was worth a quick recap. Seriously, the last road 5k...maybe the last 5k I ran was this same race last year.

Rise Up & Run 5k | Walk Like MADD

After a few years of finishing at the 50-yard line of the Georgia Dome, this race moved next door to the outstanding Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The appeal of finishing at midfield of the new 1.6 billion dollar home of the Falcons and Atlanta United was evident in the fact that more than 7,000 people signed up for this 5k/1 mile event. Seriously 7,000+ for a 5k. That's more than double what they had for the same race a year ago.

To Atlanta Track Club's credit, they put together a really nice course this year. I've run this race three or four times and it's always had slight variations in the course due to construction. This year they really nailed it. The course started out on Falcons Landing and followed Andrew Young International Blvd out to Centennial Olympic Park before turning right past the CNN Center. The route continued up Marietta street then took a right on Forsyth St. past the Five Points MARTA station. A right on Peters St saw you through the first mile and then a long stretch of relatively straight road brought you to two miles and a looping right-hander put you on Northside drive for the final mile to MBS. The course followed the rollers on Northside before you entered the stadium and finished with 50 yards on the field after coming out of the Falcons tunnel.

I was a pretty straightforward route, which was nice. Last year, there were a few more turns and we had to run under the Georgia World Congress Center (a big convention center) and into the loading dock to finish, which meant a lot more rollers on Northside Drive. This course suited me well. With its long stretches of straight road I was able to settle in and run a good rhythm. I was also able to see everything unfolding in front of me. No one was ever out of sight.

I got to the race nice and early to avoid any traffic issues or number pick up lines. I was able to catch up with a few people from work and able to get in a good two-mile warm up. Having won the race last year and having everyone at the office see me run in the morning before training camp meant I came into the race with a lot of expectations...from co-workers at least. Based on my recent workouts I figured I would come in somewhere in the low 16 to 16:30 range. While I was warming up I saw a group of three or four guys from Atlanta Track Club that looked legit.

With this race offering the chance to finish on the field at a brand new stadium, I figured there would be a few fast guys in attendance. I told myself not to worry about anyone else and just go out and run. I told myself to let them take the race out and settle in. I figured my best shot at a strong finish would be to really work the last mile and a half. Turns out I was right.

The start was a little wonky for me. Arthur Blank took the mic to start things off, and I assumed he was going to say something beforehand. Nope. He picked up the mic and said "Runners set. Go." with a split second pause between set and go. My fault for not being ready. Hand up on that one. As I predicted, the ATC guys got out quick along with the usual fast start youngsters and a couple guys that I don't know but recognized from different races.

I told myself to relax and just stay awake. No need to be at the front this early. Once we made the first right-hand turn at Centennial Olympic Park the pecking order started to shake out. Two ATC guys were running stride for stride up front with another trailing just behind then myself and a couple others in a group behind. I felt okay and figured I needed to at least maintain contact with the ATC pack if I wanted to race versus just run tempo. I picked my way through some of the others and got on the shoulder of the third ATC guy where I settled in.

The two guys up front started to open things up as we ran past Five Points, but I decided to hold off on trying to close the gap until I got through the first mile. I waited exactly that long. We passed through the mile around 5:08 and while I wasn't certain I could maintain that pace I decided that the long stretch of road between mile one and two was going to be my best shot at moving up. I took over third place and started trying to pull back the two leaders.

I felt like I was running strong but I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to hang in the final mile. As I rounded the turn onto Northside, I could feel the guy in fourth closing on me and it didn't appear that I was gaining any ground on the guys in front of me. I went through two miles in 10:20. That put two things in my head. One, oh boy. Not sure I can keep this up for another mile. And two, I'm right on 16-minute pace, let's go.

Just as I thought the second thing, I got passed. That was a blow to morale. Fortunately, I didn't give up much ground and I was able to hang on until I got through that mental low point. Once I snapped out of it, I noticed that we had started to pull back the guy that was running in second. With about a half mile to go, I said 'Screw it. I'm going for it,' and surged. The move instantly opened a gap on the now fourth-place runner and cut into the lead of the second place guy. I kept closing and eventually moved into second. I tried with everything I had to make my move stick.

Unfortunately for me, the guy that I passed for second - Patrick Peterson - is a 4:02 miler and made the finals in the 800 at the 2016 US Indoor Championships. Try as might, I had no shot of out wheeling him.

Second place running away.

After the race, he said that I woke him up when I passed him. Smooth move Matt. I was really grinding the last 400 or so but I just didn't or - probably more accurately - don't have the gears to close like I used to. When we emerged from the tunnel, I knew that second place was gone but I also knew that I had been running well. I looked at the finish line when we hit the turf and I could see the clock ticking up towards 16 minutes.

Desperately seeking sub-16

The finish was like something from Alice in Wonderland. The clock looked huge in my mind and it seemed like the green and white turf stretch out for a mile in front of me. The finish line getting further away with each stride. The seconds ticked slowly 54, 55, 56. I crossed the line and hit my watch. I looked down and saw 16:00, but I knew I snuck under. I hit my watch well after I crossed the line. I was pumped.

The winner of the race went 15:42, so he was rolling. Peterson was 15:55 and I came across two seconds down at 15:57. I couldn't have been happier with the race. Going in, I didn't think there was a chance I'd run sub-16. I thought, on a good day, I'd go low 16, maybe dip under 16:10, but more likely I'd be 16:15-16:30. I don't think I was sandbagging going into it. I've had some good track sessions but the days when I've been able to run five-minute to 5:10 pace have been difficult. I have been feeling more comfortable at 5:20-5:30 pace. I figured this would be one of those days where you finish and feel like you could have run twice the distance at the same pace but there is no way you could possibly go any faster.

Not the case. It definitely helped that I raced. The early decision to follow the ATC guys, at least the guy that was running in third ended up making the race for me. If I had let them go. I would have run the time I expected but I probably would have been kicking myself for not going for it.

Here's what the race looked like on Strava.

Video Race Recap: 2015 Peachtree Road Race

Things didn't go as planned but after looking at the overall results it was a slow day for pretty much everyone. I finished 61st, which was actually a little more frustrating at first because if I'd been able to find any kind of gas in the last mile I would have been able to meet my goal of top 50 despite having a crappy day. I'd be more mad if I felt like I just packed in it, but I battled, I just didn't have it yesterday. Full write up to follow.

Back to the Basics

The New Year has started for fairly well for me training wise. I took two weeks off in December after the final XTERRA race of 2014 and after about a week of running three miles a day and working on gluteus medius exercises I graduated to running five or six for the second half of last week. I put in 32 miles for the December 29 to January 4 week, which wasn’t half bad considering I started the week out with three days of three mile runs.

This week, I feel like I am finally getting back into the swing of things. I logged 39.5 miles on seven runs and got back to a rhythm of getting up running and then heading to work. It’s still a little tricky with timing out my runs because the sun doesn’t come up until about 7:20 or 7:30 and it’s been even later some days when we have a lot of cloud cover. All that means is that I had a few days where I got to work later than I would have liked, but I ran the Flowery Branch 5/7 mile route more than 200 times last year and I’m just not feeling like running that route right now. Unfortunately, there’s not much in terms of route options from the office and even though I’ve been running the same out and back run on the greenway, running from home at least gives me a few more options. Running from home also allows me to run on trails, which has been a welcome change.

I ran on the greenway six days this week, but I did get in a good eight miler at Little Mulberry on Sunday. It’s always tough starting over after taking extended time off, so eight miles might not sound like much, but right now running eight on trails and feeling pretty good felt like forward progress. It’s always hard mentally when you see what other people are doing for their training or racing when you aren’t in shape. I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s all part of the process and my goals are for races and runs down the line, not tomorrow. I just have to stay the course, work on building things back up and I will be ready to roll when my goal races come around in the coming weeks and months. Still, there’s nothing worse than starting from scratch.

The polar vortex didn’t help the starting from scratch thing either. Last year, when it got cold I was going from running five miles five days a week to between 5-10 seven days a week, so it wasn’t as big of a deal, but when the temps dropped to single digits and below zero, that wasn’t fun. I have to admit though, I saw a lot of tweets and facebook statuses from people back home running in -20 wind chill, so I had to suck it up. I refuse to let myself get soft of cold temperatures.

Weekly breakdown
Monday – Greenway five + weight room
Tuesday – Greenway five + weight room
Wednesday – Greenway five + weight room
Thursday – Greenway five
Friday – Greenway five
Saturday – Little Mulberry eight
Sunday – Greenway five

I almost took Sunday off, but Amanda made homemade doughnuts so I felt like I needed to get something in. The two biggest things for me this week were getting in the weight room and staying off the roads. The greenway is only paved for ¾ of a mile and rest is gravel or trails which was awesome. I need to keep getting in the weight room to work on leg strength and start working in some core next week.

One final note on this week, I ran most of my runs in my La Sportiva Helios. I really like that shoe and I’m probably going to invest in a new pair, but I must admit I was pretty stoked to get a fresh pair of Saucony Rides. I put about 500 miles on my last pair and hadn’t replaced the since before training camp, so it felt nice to get my feet into a new pair of shoes. I’ve been running in Rides since I worked at GBRC and served me extremely well over that time. It was more fun when I was running for Saucony Hurricanes and got them for free/50 percent off, but still that’s my go to everyday trainer. I am looking forward to checking out the breakthru when those come out though.

On to next week…
Next week will be more of the same for me. Work is in a bit of a holding pattern right now, so I’ll be sticking close to home or the office for my runs this week. Once we hire a coach, then I can start to mix in some different things after work. Training wise, I’ll be looking for more of the same consistency in terms of pace and distance. I also plan on working in one workout, either hills or a light tempo run. The first race of 2015 the Dirty Spokes Frosted Foot race at Central Park on Saturday. I’m going to get tuned up, but I’m not really looking at any race as a race until February, so I just need to go out there and get used to running hard again. It’s a 7.5 miler though, so a blow up is probably in my future.

2014 Year In Review

I don't know where to start or where to begin...how many people get that reference? I guess I'll start by saying that 2014 was an interesting year. It was fun, but frustrating. There were times were I really felt like a certified roller (Peachtree) and times when I questioned what I was doing (pretty much first four months of the year), but in the end it was another year of trying to push myself to new limits and I'll take that.

I covered 2,479.4 miles, according to Strava, which included 2,230 miles of running and one incredibly ill-advised 50 mile mountain bike race...errr...ride. Despite being a little down on myself early, I did accomplish my main goals. I won the XTERRA Georgia Trail Series and the Dirty Spokes Trail Series, I ran really well at Peachtree, and I stepped up to a competitive regional race at Rock/Creek River Gorge and made statement. I also got out of my comfort zone with two mountain bike races and a triathlon. Looking back, it was a pretty solid, eventful year. Rather than bore you (aka the three people that will read this) with the details, here's a short rundown with some pictures and a video.

My year according to Strava:

Here's my year in photos:

It got cold in Georgia

I won a zombie trophy 

I was fortunate enough to be a Strava Ambassador

I crossed state lines to Tennessee and finished third in one of the toughest races I've ever run.

I joined a friend for a 6 hour mountain bike race

I did a little running in the City of Angels

I ran my best race of the year in the biggest race of the year 

I ran in Aruba 

I went to Vermont and did Vermont things 

I survived another tri

I AM THE GUY ON THE STANDIE! 

I finished the Fools Gold 50 mountain bike race 

I rolled 

I went to the UK and explored London and it's amazing country side

This was just a cool picture. 

It was a pretty fun process going through all the pictures I took last year and to find some of the best running related ones that I had. As I embark on another year of trying to push myself to the next level, I hope to share my experiences with the vast community of runners both in the real world and online through this blog and social media.

Let's roll. 

Peachtree City Classic – USATF Georgia 15k State Championship

This race was a last minute decision. I got an email from USATF Georgia about their Long Distance Running (LDP) Grand Prix a couple days before the Ft. Yargo XTERRA race and saw that the Peachtree City Classic was the 15k state championship and that there was cash on the line for placing in the grand prix overall. I originally thought there was a cash prize for the 15k, but that was wrong. Regardless, I’ve wanted to checkout Peachtree City and its extensive network of golf cart paths for a while, so Amanda and I decided to drive down and check this race out.

 

I ran well at Ft. Yargo, so I figured if I ran smart I would have a chance to place high and maybe get the win. Despite missing the first race of the series I still had a shot at the purse because no USATF members ran as open runners.  The worst I could do was tie for a place in the overall and still possibly win it. Since it was a game-time decision to go to this race, I really didn’t know much about the course, other than the fact that it was almost entirely on golf cart paths. I felt like that would be a good middle ground for me. Paved trails, I might like trails more but I’m probably better on pavement.

 

We got to the race a little later than I would have liked, which made parking a little bit of an issue, then it took forever to find the check-in table since I had to make sure to register my USATF number. Once I got that settled I only had about 15 minutes to get a light warm up in and hit the portos. I jogged around a little and did a few strides then made my way to the start. The weather was a perfect, a little wet and overcast, but the rain stopped pretty early on so it was perfect for racing. Before the gun, I mentally marked a couple of guys that I figured would be at the front, manly an ATC guy and a couple of the other masters’ runners. When I checked in the USATF people told me I was the only open runner, so I knew I had that win wrapped up but I still wanted to win the race if I could.

 

At the gun I got out towards the front of the lead group, but immediately backed off as I could sense it was a little on the fast side and from the looks of the group I thought I could pull it back once we got settled in. I had to fight the urge to run to the front a few times early on after the lead group of six runners started to open a gap of about 30 to 50 meters on me. I didn’t realize it until I saw the GPS data on Strava, but the first mile was a gradual downhill, so I probably could have run with the front group from the get go, but mentally I think it was a good decision to stay relaxed early on.

 

I ended up closing the gap on everyone and catching up to the two leaders just after the two mile mark and my first two splits were 5:26 and 5:40. My plan going in was to try and run 5:40’s so I was a little fast on the first mile, but not really since it was downhill, and right on with the second mile. I ran with the two leaders for about half mile before moving into the lead. I could tell that they didn’t want to set the pace after I caught up to them fairly easily. One guy actually asked me if I had decided to take the first two miles off. The first 2.5 miles were run on the main roads of Peachtree City, but after that we ran to the end of a cul-de-sac then hit the golf cart paths for the rest of the race.

 

Once we got onto the golf cart paths I put in a little bit of a surge and opened up a small gap on the second place runner and dropped the guy that was in third. I slowed down a little bit too much over the fourth mile, due to a long gradual climb. After an up and down first four miles I got back on track and started running in a really good rhythm and opened up a big gap on the guy in second. From mile five to the end of the race I ran pretty much exactly what I wanted to run.

 

My splits from miles 5 to 9 were:
5:42
5:45
5:40
5:42
5:49

 

I know that’s not blazing fast but it was right on pace for what I felt like I could run. It was nice to be able to get into a rhythm and roll like that. I haven’t run a road race that long in a while and it’s a lot different than racing on the trails. The course was really cool. The cart paths were all set back in the trees but they weaved behind houses and every time you had to cross a main road they had tunnels running underneath. It was pretty cool to see the spectators out in the golf carts all along the course.

 

I think I read that Peachtree City has something like 90 miles of golf cart/multi-use paved trails. I’m thinking about trying to convince my parents to retire down there. It’s a little bit of a hike for Amanda and I, but it would be a great place to run and bike every now and then.

 

The red is the 15k course, the green marks all the golf cart paths

The final stretch of the course rounded a lake then dropped us back out onto the main road that we started on. It was a cool feeling to come down the final stretch in front of a pretty good crowd despite the wet weather. I was pretty pumped when I crossed the finish line, as I picked up my first state championship.

 

Check out my sweet USATF Gold Medal

I also ended up winning the USATF Georgia Long Distance Running Grand Prix since no USATF members ran the Dalton Half Marathon the next week. As the great Dominic Torretto once said, it doesn’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile, winning is winning.

 

Strava data from the race.

 

A Look Back: September

September marks the end of training camp and the beginning of the NFL regular season, which means a slightly more normal work schedule. With that, training becomes easier and the possibility of racing returns. Surprisingly, I managed more miles (207) in August than in September (170), but I chalk that up to having road trips to Baltimore and Nashville that allowed me to run 10+ miles and the fact that I took a few more days off in September.

 

September was definitely successful for me. My mileage may be down substantially since the summer, but I still ran nearly every day (I take a day off either on game day or the day after depending on schedule, travel, etc.) and ran two solid races.

 

The first race was a road 5k down in the city, the Back to Football 5k presented by the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta Track Club. I got a free entry for this race through work so I figured why not go down and run it. It was a pretty standard 5k, except for the fact that it finished inside the Georgia Dome at the 50-yard line. Amanda and I headed down the Dome early for the 8 am start, grabbed my number and set out for a short warm up. I warmed up about two miles, a little shorter than I would have liked, but enough to loosen up a little bit. I caught up with a few people from the office who also came down for the race before hand, stretched and then made my way to the start.

 

We started at Falcons Landing between the Dome and Phillips Arena, then ran around the Omni Hotel and CNN Center out towards Castleberry Hill and Morehouse College then back down Northside drive to and into the Dome for the finish. At the start, I surged to the front. I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of competition, so I just planned to go out and try to run between 5:05 and 5:15 in the hopes of trying to run under 16:30 and maybe make a run at sub 16. I had control of the race pretty early on and as we climbed the slight rise past the CNN Center and Phillips Arena I started to stretch things out. By the mile mark I had gapped the rest of the field, coming through in 5:05.

 

At this point, I felt like I was going to be able to cruise to the win, but I really wanted to try to get under 16. I tried to keep pressing the pace, but slowed down a little on the second mile, running 10:14 (5:09) through two. I relaxed too much during the last mile and slowed down to 5:18, hitting three miles in 15:32 then crossing the line in 16:01 on my watch, 16:03 officially. Damn! So close. I miscalculated the finish a little bit, not realizing how close the 50 yard line is to the service entrance of the Dome. I held just a little bit back, wanting to really rip coming onto the field, but what I thought was a good 400 meters was really only about 200. Once I hit the loading dock ramp I started sprinting. I knew I was close to getting under 16, so I didn’t really take in much of the fanfare except for the fact that I knew I had to make sure the mascot, Freddie the Falcon, didn’t out kick me in the final sprint. On second thought, for the sake of the story, let’s say I got distracted by the cheerleaders and let off the gas too much and that’s why I didn’t get under.

 

After crossing the finishing line, I got a few high fives and cheers from co-workers that were helping to run the event on the field. I cooled down with a couple of laps on the turf then walked up to the stands to meet Amanda. We waited for the majority of Falcons employees to finish before heading out to Falcons Landing for the awards. Amanda was quick to correct someone that said “The Falcons president ran and none of his staff beat him.” Her response was, “that’s not exactly true.” We hung around for the awards, four tickets to the Falcons-Rams game and a Julio Jones signed ball. Amanda took the ball as a birthday present for herself and I was able to give the tickets to a friend, since I work every game, so overall it was a pretty good haul for a Saturday morning trip to the city. We headed home, stopping at Whole Foods for some pumpkin and apple spice treats, because I was ready for Fall to officially start.

 

Here’s the Strava data from the race:
 

 

I was impressed my Garmin worked inside the Dome. Kudos to Garmin on that one.

The next weekend it was back to the trails for the first race of the XTERRA Georgia Trail Series, my de facto cross country season. I roped a few friends from work into doing this one since it was on the relatively easy trails at Harbins Park. I conveniently “forgot about” the half mile climb in the middle of the race and that the second half was steadily uphill when I told them about it, but they still had a blast and are now hooked.

 

Once again Amanda and I set out early, getting to Harbins about an hour before the race. I warmed up on the first mile of the course then met up with our group for a bit before the start. I ran into Jesse Rappole, Brennan Pratt, Matt Shechtman, and Woody Dover at various points before the race, so I knew it was going to be a battle. All of those guys have the ability to win on any given day and that led to everyone being on the gas from the gun.

 

My plan was to stay relaxed and see how the race panned out, so early on I settled in behind Woody and Jesse. Once we started making our way downhill towards the main trail I moved to the front. I hit the trail with a small lead over Matt, but Jesse made a big move early to get up on my shoulder. The two of us ran together trading the lead and working together to stretch the race out. We were able to string things out a little bit because the wide track allowed us to run a little more compact, similar to a road race. That helped with trading off the lead and kept us from running into each other in some of the turns.

 

I tried a couple of short accelerations out of turns to see if I could stretch the lead at all, but Jesse was up for the challenge and stayed right with for most of the first half. Once we had gotten away from the other leaders, I wanted to make sure we stayed on the pace to try and make it a two person race. I wasn’t 100 percent confident in my fitness going in, so I was hoping that the fact that we strung the race out would give us a better chance at surviving until the end. We hit the main climb in the middle of the race together, but as we started to crest the hill Jesse let a small gap open up and I decided to try and use that to jump away. I was able to get clear at the top of the hill and that move ended up propelling me to the win. I probably went a little too early and the fact that I didn’t allow myself much time to recover at the top of the hill came back to bite me later in the race, but I was able to build up a big enough lead to hold on for the win. I kept repeating the Jens Voigt mantra in my head for the last 2.5 miles “Shut Up Legs!”

 

I think that the fast early pace probably helped as much as it hurt because no one really seemed like they had much left in the tank at the end of the race. Brennan ended up catching and passing Jesse, so I was definitely trying to keep an eye out for him over the last two miles. I had this grand plan of really hammering the final paved section, but by the time I got there I was just on a mission to get to the finish first. I was fortunate to hold on for a really exciting win. Going into the race I wasn’t sure how well I could run because my training has been mostly maintenance miles. Once I got into the race I just went for it. Anytime I am fortunate enough to win its special, but to be able to win against such a deep field was really exciting and it was a great confidence booster. Also the 12 pack of Terrapin Recreation Ale and the Rudy Project gift certificate were pretty sweet. 

 

Huge win for me and a big confidence booster for the rest of the series this fall. However, it was a little rugged the last few miles. With the next race being 8.75 miles, I’m definitely going to have to run a little smarter.

 

Here’s the race video, featuring a sweet commercial for Saucony for the first minute or two of race action.
 

 

I also was interviewed by XTERRA for getting the win. Here is a link to XTERRA’s race coverage:
http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/dsp_content.cfm?id=3705

 

September wrapped up nicely with two solid races coming off of training camp will hopefully lead to a successful fall season. On the upcoming calendar, I’ve got XTERRA Georgia races at Ft. Yargo, Big Creek and Little Mulberry parks and I’m toying with the idea of running the Peachtree City 15k, and possibly the Georgia Cyclocross race in Marietta in November.