Day 4,717: Leftover 5Ks and 2,000 miles for the year

Put a sticker over an unused race bib and voila! A new race bib!

Since running in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Oct. 13 (I know, marathons take a long time for me to process) I haven't stuck to much of a schedule, preferring to just get regular runs in for Strava badges or even volunteering in the Thanksgiving half marathon (that post soon to come as well).

This race, however, intrigued me. Run Social Atlanta offered up the post-Thanksgiving Leftover 5Ks, two 5Ks that consisted entirely of leftover race bibs, T-shirts, medals and swag from the other races they've hosted over the year. Better still, a 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. race allowed the wife and I to participate while the other watched the kiddos.

Although I've owned it since before I ran in the 2018 BMW Berlin Marathon, I've started training with a Stryd foot pod. It basically calculates wattage of power similar to power meters for cyclists. The intent is to provide you with a smoother guide during your race to allow a very even experience without bonking.

A week before, I calculated my critical power doing a virtual 5K on a track at St. Pius X High School. This gave me a base number with a recommendation to run at 279 watts per kilogram for a 5K. So when this race came, I only had three sets of data on my Garmin -- the distance, my race power and the time elapsed. It would be the first time that I ran a race without knowing my pace.

The race started in Piedmont Park and we looped around The Meadow before heading down past the dog park and up the ramp next to the splash pad. Then we came down the hill, looped around the tennis courts and around the outside of the Active Oval before running back around Lake Clara Meer to the Meadow and the finish.

When the race started I saw I needed to back off, as I was running at 322 watts! I settled myself into about 272 and found it was nearly impossible for me to run at my recommended wattage. One lady passed me up the ramp next to the splash pad -- I let her go since I was running close to the power that I needed to run. Two men had passed me also during the race and I was able to pass one with less than a quarter-mile left in the race.

Since this was more of a community race, I opted to leave the Vaporflys at home. Instead I wore a pair of Nike Zoom Fly/SP shoes that I bought on sale on Amazon. They had been intended to be a replacement for the two previous pairs of Zoom Flys that I've owned; instead they appear to be some kind of hybrid that lends itself to faster running. I decided to wear those to test the shoes out. I found they were comfortable to run in although for the last mile it felt like my right shoe might come off my foot at any moment. Additionally, I didn't like the plush squish of the shoes as I was kicking my way to the finish.

I finished in 21:53 which is the first time I've run under 22 minutes in any 5K in Piedmont Park. Using the power meter kept me from using too much energy early on in the race and I felt pretty fresh during all points of the run. I need to find out how to be more comfortable running at my recommended wattage.

It turned out my time was only good for fourth in my age group -- if I'd run the 10 a.m. race instead I would have won the whole thing since, a male took that down with a time of 26 minutes. (EDIT: Actually the first male masters ran in 27:10, the male winner ran 22:44).

Still it was a great idea for a holiday weekend with great weather! With that race I reached my goal of 2,000 running miles this year with a month to spare and am only 50 miles or so away from running 20,000 miles for my near 13-year-old running streak.

Time: 9 a.m.
Temp: 55 degrees
Gear: Technical T-shirt, short (rabbit), shorts, Nike Zoom Fly/SP.