Race Report: Sandy Springs Lightning 10K

Phil M. wrote in message ...

Quoted message said:

Race: Sandy Springs Lightning 10K
Location: Sandy Springs, GA
Date/Time: Saturday, September 18, 2004. 7:30 AM
Benefit: Williams Payne Museum
Weather: sunny, 62° F, 88% humidity

This is the final tune-up race in the marathon plan that I'm following.
One thing about these tune-up races is that since they are in the middle
of marathon training, there is little if any taper. I did an easy 7 on
Thursday and an easy 5 on Friday. I'm doing 19 miles on Sunday. Then the
3-week taper begins.

After tropical storm Ivan passed through on Thursday it was quite a
relief to see the sunshine at the start of this race. The race was in
Sandy Springs GA, a suburb on the north side of Atlanta. The race is
USATF certified. The race director calls it "mostly flat." IMO there were
very few flat portions. I grew up in Illinois so I am somewhat of an
expert on flat. Anyway, for Atlanta it was "reasonably" flat. The weather
was perfect-low 60s with no noticeable wind.

I haven't been sleeping well for the past week and the night before the
race was no exception. Several times I considered not doing the race. At
any rate, I decided I would at least go through the motions of laying my
stuff out, planning a time to leave and checking on the map to get there.
Even on the drive there I found myself thinking that I might be late and
not have to run this race. I made it there with time to spare and before
I knew it I was at the starting line with 1,000 other runners.

The race is an out and back course. It starts fairly flat then quickly
starts a 1 to 2% downhill grade (just guessing since I didn't wear my
Forerunner). There is a steeper downhill to the turnaround point, then
the race heads back uphill. This you can see by my mile times with the
abrupt slow down on the 4th and 5th mile. Normally I am able to pick up
the pace after the 5th mile, but I just couldn't talk myself into pushing
it faster. Maybe my brain is what needed the sleep, more than my body. I
finished in 42:34 and placed 52 out of 1,000+ runners.

Here are my mile times and average heart rate for each mile along with
the change in HR from my last 10K:

Mi Time HR
1 6:46 140 -10
2 6:45 153 -4
3 6:42 154 -7
4 7:07 156 -3
5 6:54 159 -3
6.2 8:18 159 -6

I compared this to my last 10K 4 weeks ago in which I finished in 42:32.
I found it interesting that my average heart rate was less for every
mile, but the result was virtually the same. So even though I didn't get
a PR, I feel that I could have easily done much better if I had the
motivation to push it just a little during the last 2 miles.

One of these days I'm going ot finish a race and be able to say I gave it
100%. Has anyone (besides Steve Prefontaine) ever done this? ;-)

Thanks for reading. Next stop: 10/10/04, Steamtown Marathon, Scranton PA

Phil M.

I never sleep well before races either, but I don't think it slows you down
much. Of course bad sleep over a period of day's can't be made up for, so
that will mess you up. Looks like a good steady effort. Just curious,
what's your estimated LTHR?

- Tony

Tony' qtrader2@(remove)hotmail.com said:

I never sleep well before races either, but I don't think it slows you
down much. Of course bad sleep over a period of day's can't be made
up for, so that will mess you up.

Yes, about 5 days of 5 hours sleep per day. I usually get 6 to 7 hours a
night.

Quoted message said:

Just curious, what's your estimated LTHR?

Estimated at around 150 BPM. So a majority of the race in the 155 to 160
range makes sense to me.

Phil M.

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Race: Sandy Springs Lightning 10K
Location: Sandy Springs, GA
Date/Time: Saturday, September 18, 2004. 7:30 AM
Benefit: Williams Payne Museum
Weather: sunny, 62° F, 88% humidity

--- read before snipping ---

Quoted message said:

One of these days I'm going ot finish a race and be able to say I gave it
100%. Has anyone (besides Steve Prefontaine) ever done this? ;-)

Thanks for reading. Next stop: 10/10/04, Steamtown Marathon, Scranton PA

Phil M.

Great job Phil.

As for the 100%, all I like to see is a 200 on my HRM during the race, then
I feel like I gave it my 100%. However, I doubt if I'll try for that during
my next marathon.

Have fun at Scranton.

-2k-

Phil M. said:

I compared this to my last 10K 4 weeks ago in which I finished in 42:32.
I found it interesting that my average heart rate was less for every
mile, but the result was virtually the same.

Good job, sounds like you're in fairly good shape.

Quoted message said:

So even though I didn't get
a PR, I feel that I could have easily done much better if I had the
motivation to push it just a little during the last 2 miles.

Difficult to interpret heart rate data. But if you're a little uninspired,
it's probably a result of heavy training. That's not necessarily anything to
be concerned about at this stage -- it just means that you're more or less
ready for a well earned taper.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

finished in 42:34 and placed 52 out of 1,000+ runners.

It looks like we are close. My only 10k was 42:47 and 42 of 300.

Quoted message said:

I compared this to my last 10K 4 weeks ago in which I finished in
42:32.
I found it interesting that my average heart rate was less for every
mile, but the result was virtually the same.

In all fairness to yourself how did the races vary in terrain?

Quoted message said:

Thanks for reading. Next stop: 10/10/04, Steamtown Marathon, Scranton
PA

There's three from my area that I know going to Scranton. Good luck.

-DougF

Doug Freese said:

In all fairness to yourself how did the races vary in terrain?

This race was slightly more hilly as far as gradient. However, there were
numerous shorter hills on the last one.

Quoted message said:

There's three from my area that I know going to Scranton. Good luck.

Thanks. So far there are 1,425 registered (21 from Georgia).

Phil M.

"Phil M." <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Race: Sandy Springs Lightning 10K
Location: Sandy Springs, GA
Date/Time: Saturday, September 18, 2004. 7:30 AM
Benefit: Williams Payne Museum
Weather: sunny, 62° F, 88% humidity

This is the final tune-up race in the marathon plan that I'm following.
One thing about these tune-up races is that since they are in the middle
of marathon training, there is little if any taper. I did an easy 7 on
Thursday and an easy 5 on Friday. I'm doing 19 miles on Sunday. Then the
3-week taper begins.

After tropical storm Ivan passed through on Thursday it was quite a
relief to see the sunshine at the start of this race. The race was in
Sandy Springs GA, a suburb on the north side of Atlanta. The race is
USATF certified. The race director calls it "mostly flat." IMO there were
very few flat portions. I grew up in Illinois so I am somewhat of an
expert on flat. Anyway, for Atlanta it was "reasonably" flat. The weather
was perfect-low 60s with no noticeable wind.

I haven't been sleeping well for the past week and the night before the
race was no exception. Several times I considered not doing the race. At
any rate, I decided I would at least go through the motions of laying my
stuff out, planning a time to leave and checking on the map to get there.
Even on the drive there I found myself thinking that I might be late and
not have to run this race. I made it there with time to spare and before
I knew it I was at the starting line with 1,000 other runners.

The race is an out and back course. It starts fairly flat then quickly
starts a 1 to 2% downhill grade (just guessing since I didn't wear my
Forerunner). There is a steeper downhill to the turnaround point, then
the race heads back uphill. This you can see by my mile times with the
abrupt slow down on the 4th and 5th mile. Normally I am able to pick up
the pace after the 5th mile, but I just couldn't talk myself into pushing
it faster. Maybe my brain is what needed the sleep, more than my body. I
finished in 42:34 and placed 52 out of 1,000+ runners.

Here are my mile times and average heart rate for each mile along with
the change in HR from my last 10K:

Mi Time HR
1 6:46 140 -10
2 6:45 153 -4
3 6:42 154 -7
4 7:07 156 -3
5 6:54 159 -3
6.2 8:18 159 -6

I compared this to my last 10K 4 weeks ago in which I finished in 42:32.
I found it interesting that my average heart rate was less for every
mile, but the result was virtually the same. So even though I didn't get
a PR, I feel that I could have easily done much better if I had the
motivation to push it just a little during the last 2 miles.

One of these days I'm going ot finish a race and be able to say I gave it
100%. Has anyone (besides Steve Prefontaine) ever done this? ;-)

Thanks for reading. Next stop: 10/10/04, Steamtown Marathon, Scranton PA

Phil M.

Phil,

I was also at the race. I ran a 40:56, and placed 35th.
It was a beautiful day for a race. It was quite windy at 6:40am, when
I got there. It did die down a bit at race time.
That fourth mile was a tough one. I would not consider the race to be
"mostly flat", either. The Chattahoochee Road Runners 10K (first Sat.
in March) is a much faster race, and the course is the same as the
first half of this race.
I did wear my Forerunner. The course dropped 125 ft. from 0.8 to 1.0
miles.
The altitude, over the length of the course, varied from 1141 to 1036
ft.
Good luck in Scranton. I'm thinking of running the full Atlanta
marathon this year. I've run the half the past two years- 1:35, and
1:33.

Frank

(Red Dot) said:

I was also at the race. I ran a 40:56, and placed 35th.

Maybe I'll run into you one of these days. You must have been filling out
your race card as I was finishing.

Phil M.

--
"Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make
them all yourself." ­Martin Vanbee