For the second year I joined 54,999 fellow runners, walkers, and crawlers on July 4th for the annual Peachtree Road Race.  This 10k boasts to be the largest in the world and with 55,000 entrants and 51,000 finishers, they may be right.  My time last year was 54:31 and I was planning to go for a 10k PR this year by finishing under 54:27.

After talking it over with Dale we decided that I would be better served to use this race as “practice” for running in a controlled manner based on my heart rate.  This is what I will have to do in the NYC Marathon later this year, and I need to get used to doing this in “race conditions”.

I did OK running in a controlled manner… for most of the race.  I finished with an average heart rate of 154, just slightly over the 140s that Dale wanted me to target.  It really is my fault.  I felt so good after Cardiac Hill (big hill, half way) that I started to speed up.  Then, when I got to mile 5 I still felt good so I sped up even more.  I completed mile 5 to 6 in 8:27, and I finish the last .2 of a mile in under a 7:00 pace.  The only point in the race were I felt some fatigue was when I ran across the bridge over I-85.  I think it was the longest section of time I spent in the sun which probably caused this feeling.  I also completed the whole race without stopping at any water stops.  I kept telling myself I would stop at the next one but I felt so good that I didn’t want to waste the time since they were all pretty busy.

Overall it was a great race and I still felt pretty fresh when I finished it.  I felt like I could have run 10 miles without any problems.  Maybe this heart rate training idea that I was doubting a few weeks ago is actually starting to work.  I am already looking forward to next year’s Peachtree and getting my 3rd t-shirt.

Now that I am running based on heart rate zones I needed a new running watch.  Enter the Garmin 405cx.  This is essentially the same watch as my older Garmin 405 except that it comes with the heart rate monitoring built in.  Now, beside being able to track times, distances, laps, pace, etc I now can tell you what my instant heart rate is as well as my average heart rate for a run.

It has been interesting getting used to running based on my heart rate rather than just killing myself on every run.  When I am done with a run I can sync the watch with my computer and analyze my run.  I can even share the data with Dale so he can see how I am progressing on his training plan.

Now that I have a running coach, Dale, the first thing he needed to get was a baseline of my fitness so that he knew how to construct a training plan.  To do this he used VO2 max testing.  VO2 max is the point where your body cannot consume or transport any more oxygen to your muscles.

To do this test I got on the treadmill and was hooked up to a VO2 testing machine with both a face mask and heart rate monitor.  It was a little awkward because not only do you look funny, but you don’t normally run with wires and hoses connected to you.  (Well, at least I don’t normally do that!)

In the end we found that my resting heart rate was 54 BPM and my max heart rate was 187 BPM.  From the data collected Dale was able to create 4 heart rate zones that he will use for my training.  They are:

• Zone 1: 115 to 123 BPM
• Zone 2: 123 to 134 BPM
• Zone 3: 134 to 144 BPM
• Zone 4: 144 to 157 BPM

This was an interesting experience to say the least.  The “good” news is that Dale says that we will do the testing again in a few weeks to see how things have improved on his training plan.

My NYC marathon training started with a trip to the physical therapist.  About 2 weeks after the Georgia half marathon I felt something “odd” in my left hamstring near the end of a 5 mile run.  After a few weeks of very light running, and mostly resting, the hamstring was still bothering me.  On a recommendation from someone I play soccer with I went to see Emily Yakes at PT Solutions.

Emily instantly went to work on the hamstring.  The first day she did this deep tissue massage that had she not been pregnant I might have slapped her.  Then she did acupuncture (or dry needling as she called it).  I was not a fan of either procedure but the combination of the massages and some strengthening exercises had me back up and running in no time.  After about 4 weeks I was able to stop going to see Emily.  I am not sure who was more relieved… me or her!!  (Honestly this is best physical therapist experience I have ever had so if you need physical therapy and there is a PT Solutions near you I would recommend trying it out.)

On my last day I asked Emily if she knew any good running coaches.  Turns out that her husband Dale is a USAT Level 1 triathlon certified coach.  I am not sure what all that means but since running is part of the triathlon I figured he could help.

Now I have a physical therapist and a coach so I guess I am ready to tackle the marathon on my bucket list.  The coaching process has been interesting, but I will write more about that later.

My friend David and I decided a couple of months ago to sign up for an event called The Warrior Dash just to see what it was.  It seemed interesting, it was more than just a 5k… it was more like an obstacle course.  The only downside was the 2+ hour drive to the event, but since I was not driving it alone it didn’t sound so bad.

The event was tough, but a nice change from the standard road race.  The course was only 2.4 miles long but with all the obstacles it was still very exhausting.  I finished in 24:54 and David finished in 23:46.  I was right behind him, ready to make a race of it, going into the mud pit but got stuck up to my armpits in the mud.

The festival afterward was great as well; with drinks, turkey legs, and live bands.  There was even an axe throwing class in case you are ever in the need of self defense and all that is handy is an axe.   Overall this was an awesome event and I am planning to do it again next year and take a bunch of friends with me.

Two suggestions for the organizers for next time:

1. Make the area just after the start wider.  I was near the front at the start and still had a lot of bottlenecks to content with during the first half mile, or so, run.
2. The hoses that were promised to clean up at the finish line never materialized.  If a part of the lake was at least open to rinse off in it would have made clean up a lot easier.  Plus, the buses were not letting people who were wet or muddy get back on to go back to the parking areas.

Even with these minor problems the organizers did a fantastic job and I can’t wait to do it again.