I got up at the early hour of 5:00, packed up all my stuff and headed for downtown Atlanta. I got there a lot quicker than I thought and was surprised at the number of people who were already in the parking deck over an hour before the start.
I made my way to Underground Atlanta, which is where the race was starting. About 45 minutes before race time I ate my Clif Bar, drank some Powerade and started to warm up. It was not as warm as it could be for this time of year, but I knew from training runs that I was facing an uphill battle with the humidity.
The race started right on time, and the first few miles went really well. I was right under the 10 minute/mile pace I had set for myself. This probably had something to do with a few good downhill stretches this first few miles. Then at mile 4, the hills started, and in the humidity, nothing drains you quicker than the hills.
Miles 5-7 brought a brief respite from the hills as they were on the pretty flat Atlanta Beltline Trail. However, upon exiting this section, the long, slow climb up to Piedmont Park began, and this hill was tough. I was glad to finally enter Piedmont Park for another flat stretch. This was short lived as when we exited Piedmont, another long uphill climb awaited for mile 9-10. At this point, I needed to take short walking breaks, and I was pouring water over my head at every water stop. Anything I could do to stay cool was being done.
While there were still hills between miles 11 and 13, nothing compared to what had come before it. Turning left for the final stretch, I could see the finish line, and it was up a final 2/10 of a mile hill. I powered up this final stretch to finish in 2:25:59. No where near what I want to do, and a good 13 minutes over my PR time.
I will say that the race was very well organized and went very smoothly. I do not think I would do it again as all those hills in the heat are just not fun. After all the training I did, I feel fairly confident I would have pulled off a PR under good racing conditions. This was far from it.
Time to move onto the next challenge and race, which will probably be the Goofy Challenge in January. While I would like to get in one more race before the proof of time date Disney has in place, right now, I am not sure if my schedule and the kids schedules will allow for that.
