So on Sunday night (July 1), Justin tells me about this 10K that
happens on the Fourth of July, the Peachtree Road Race (the
biggest 10K in the world - 50,000 registered participants), and asks
if I want to run it with him. I give him this look, like what the
hell are you thinking. I have a decent fitness routine going this
summer (running 30-40 minutes 5 days a week, lifting 3 days a week,
yoga on Thursdays and ultimate on Saturdays) but I had NOT been
training to do a road race that is about twice as far as I usually
run. But then somehow, he convinced me anyway...something about what
do I have to lose, which really was nothing, since registration had
ended months ago so I wasn't going to pay anything and if worst came
to worst I could stop and walk - big deal.
So Justin and his friends picked me up at 6:45 (yes, a.m. - I know...I
actually got up early to do this to myself...), which was really nice
of him, because the race ended on my street and I could just walk home
afterward instead of worrying about where my car was. We took the
MARTA up to Lenox Square, where it started, and sort of wandered
around, avoiding the people who were checking to make sure we had
numbers pinned to our shirts, split up into smaller groups, and
eventually just disappeared into the middle of a crowd. The race
actually began at 7:30, but our group didn't get started until almost
8:30 - I jumped in near the end - the 80,000s bunch. It was pretty
crowded at the beginning, so the first few blocks were running/walking
on and off, waiting for the crowd to thin out enough that everyone
could have their own space. The 80,000s group ended up being a slower
time group than I should've been in, so I spent the first two miles or
so just passing people, trying to get to a group that was more my pace
so that I could find a good rhythm. The first half of the race wasn't
bad - I was used to running that far, so I did fine. The fourth mile
was the hardest - when you stop thinking about the halfway point and
start thinking about the finish line and realize that it's still
pretty far away. Also that was starting to approach a distance that I
wasn't used to, which was a little intimidating. But once I got to
the fifth mile I was okay again, realizing that there were only two
miles left and I had already done twice that. It's also exciting
having all the people cheering you on. Lots of the spectators really
are just cheering for everyone, and there are bands and radio stations
playing music at various points along the way. And crossing the
finish line was so exhilarating! The whole race took me about an
hour, which was what I was hoping for, given that I'm working my way
up from a ten minute mile on short distances and didn't expect to run
this very fast, especially with all the crowds to deal with. I wanted
a t-shirt from my very first road race, but they wouldn't give me one
because I didn't have a number. Oh well...I guess I'll live. Then I
just walked home - very convenient how it ended so near my apartment -
to put ice on my knee, which didn't enjoy the race as much as the rest
of my body. Overall though, I liked it so much that I'm thinking of
extending one of my running days each week to a longer distance like
that. Many thanks to Justin for convincing me to do this!
My First Road Race Ever! (which I did sans training - I'm dumb like that...)