PRR Recap

I waited to write this recap because this race was really special and fun.

First of all, I broke 1 hour, which you guys know has been a goal for a while now. I felt great and ready to run 3 more miles at the same pace.

But let me get back to the beginning. We stayed all weekend at our friends Tim and Christina's apartment. They are moving and this was their last weekend in Atlanta after living there for 10 years. We had so much fun, and the Peachtree was kind of the icing on the cake. Christina was my boss before she was my friend, but we have become good friends and more recently running buddies. They have officially visited us in Huntsville more often than anyone else, including family.  We have so many memories together, and I can't wait to visit them in their new home (with their new addition!) in October.

Excuse me for being nostalgic, but seriously, this whole race made me miss the college years.

The three runners pre-race

John did the robot to wish us good luck before we left for Marta at about 6:30 AM.

We had to buy a Marta pass for me for the day and I paid with a $20. Marta gives change in gold coin dollars. I had $13.00 of coins jingling in my shorts for 6.2 miles. Well, actually, about $6.00, Tim and Christina thankfully lightened my load. They're so sweet.

We arrived at Lenox Mall/the Start Line around 7:30. We spent about 15 minutes in a random porta potty line (TMI? sorry) before we found the porta potty farm where there was no line. I then booked it to Corral F and met with my peeps about 5 minutes before we took off at 7:55. (Elites left at 7:30)

Mile 1: 9:40

There was a little jockeying for position. I had to pay a lot of attention to my footing and didn't take too much notice of the world around me. I was looking for my friend's mom a little bit, but once I hit the 1 mile, I assumed I wasn't going to find her and marched on.

Mile 2: 8:56

Mile 2 is mostly downhill. I started getting a lot of "Go Jackets" for the shirt I was wearing. I passed a lot of radio station trucks playing music like "Eye of the Tiger" and the "Rocky" theme. I was feeling great, but once I saw my split, I told myself to slow down and save some energy for cardiac hill.

Mile 3: 9:04

Again, mostly downhill. By this point, I had passed so many old GT haunts like Cafe Intermezzo, the Cheesecake Factory, etc. I had so many college memories rolling through my head.

See, I told you this race made me ultra-nostalgic!

Mile 4: 10:07

Cardiac hill + some other random hill. Didn't pay attention to much except "where's the next water stop?"  Total ascent: 189 ft. Doesn't seem like much, but it just kind of drags...

See what I mean? That's the elevation for Mile 4.

Mile 5: 9:53

The climb continues. More "Go Jackets" yells. I look at my watch and realize I'm so close to my sub-60 goal. I tell myself to just push it up this hill and you are there!

Mile 6: 9:15

Get it girl! The course made a slight downhill turn again and I was making good time. You cross the fake photo op finish line at about mile 5.8. My pictures are bad, but here is one anyway

Thanks, MarathonFoto, for getting me AFTER I raised my arms in triumph. Blerg.

Still, carry on, Carol. Half a mile to go.

Mile 0.3 (Junior measured the total race to be 6.3, which makes sense considering bobbing/weaving and the fact that you can't run tangents in a race with 55,000 folks): 2:23 

I turned onto 10th Street and booked it as fast as I could for that finish line. I made it. I lapped the Garmin at 6.2 and it told me I finished 6.2 miles in 58:42 and 6.3 miles in 59:22. My official chip time was 59:19. I couldn't believe that I did it. I marched over to the table and got my finisher's shirt. Then I waited for Tim and Christina while chowing down on a banana and listening to the band play. I reminisced about my 4 years at GT, I dreamed about calling John and telling him  my news (I don't carry a phone when I run) and how proud he would be. 

Final stats: 6.3 miles, 59:22, Average Pace: 9:27, Average Speed: 6.4 mph

It may seem silly to more serious runners to be thrilled about running a 10k in less than an hour, but I am proud. I have been working hard. 

We decided to walk back to their apartment, but gave up halfway there (about a mile) and decided to take a Taxi. Best decision we made all morning. 

When we did arrive back to the apartment, Christina and I iced our feet (our dogs were barking!)

How their whole apartment was cleaned out but they still had a bucket is a mystery to me! :) Just kidding, love you guys.

We showered, finished packing and headed back to Huntsville.

Final thoughts: This race means so much more now after living in Atlanta for 4 years than it did before my time at GT. It will never be the same. It may be my favorite race so far.

Also, no more wearing light shorts to races. I started sweating and it looked like I peed my pants. :)

Lastly, I took a picture with a dude dressed as a giant peach at the finish area, but it's not posted on the MarathonFoto site. I am so mad!

All in all, this race was so much fun and I would have had a blast whether I PR'd or not. I'll miss Tim and Christina being a 3-hour drive away, but I'm glad they decided to let us crash their last weekend in Atlanta. I hope they had as much fun as I did.