This race was interesting because of the lead up to it with lots of warnings about heat and severe weather.
Even the local news was harping on the expected heat at race day, the only thing was ... it was exactly this warm last year (61 degrees). How quickly we forget.
Like many races, I had no expectations starting out. The one advantage of having run in LOTS of races is that I wasn't too worried about race day. I even ate food I don't think I've ever eaten before a race -- fish -- and for once went to bed early and actually could sleep.
For this iteration, we booked a relatively inexpensive room at The Omni, right across the street from the starting line. This time around, I ran with my cell phone so I could meet up with the wife after the finish.
My plan for the race was to try to take it easy in the first part of the race. There are nine of what I call very major hills on this course and really they come every few miles.
My dilemma was when to really open up but after a while I decided that I liked my pace and I knew what I would get from it.
Even though it was warm and the humidity was up there, I drank no water or Gatorade during the entire race. I'd done this before along this course. I even delayed eating a pack of GU -- usually in a half marathon I'll eat it at Mile 9 and it will be good for about five miles. I ate mine close to Mile 10, on Juniper and 5th Street. I'd forgotten though that they give out the GU gels on North Avenue closer to Mile 7 in this race.
It turned out it seemed that I had maybe too much energy at the end, because during my last mile, I passed everyone I could see -- there were a few people I'd hoped to just fall in behind at the end but I ended up passing them, too.
The course changed in a few places, probably to eliminate a bottle-neck between marathon and half-marathon runners in Piedmont Park. It also had an extra block in Georgia Tech, probably to add to whatever distance was lost running through the park.
The food situation was a little different this year, too. This year they gave you a food ticket and you turned it in for a reusable bag that contained: a banana, a bag of pretzels, a bag of something else and M&M's. I drank a bottle of chocolate milk and a bottle of water before I'd even gotten there.
All in all, a great race, although it's probably the hilliest one that I've run on in Atlanta.
Time: 7:01 a.m.
Temp: 61 degrees at start
Gear: Tech T, short (CS yellow), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 28.
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