10K in the ATL, time to see if I can do it.

Today is Halloween and I think I better dress up as a runner.  Having a 10K race on Saturday and having not run 10K outdoors in about fifteen months, I am finding it somewhat imperative, if not for a state of ataraxia, to give it go.

I am still in Atlanta visiting my daughter, so I have to plan out a route that is going to be 1) accurate in distance 2) not overly hilly 3) heavy on trails (you know how much I love bike paths) and 4) ending up somewhat close to my daughter's apartment while at no point being too far from said apartment in case I have to abort.  After checking the local maps, I decide on starting on the Stone Mountain Trail, then switching to the Beltline Trail to Piedmont Park, then somehow getting back on Tenth Street to Argonne Avenue, which turns into Central Park Place.  The issue seems to be leaving the park with three-quarters of the run complete; while the park seems to have an extensive network of roads and trails, it is somewhat difficult to get a handle on distance or continuity.  But finding out is half the fun, right?

Stepping out, some quick leg swings, and time for another weak warmup run.  I have been having some trouble with this lately, the warmup route was somewhat uphill but not too much.  I decided to "walk-run" about 1K and let the chips fall.  After navigating a brutally busy intersection, I am at the start of the Freedom Park Trail at the corner of Boulevard NE and Route 10.  Here we go.

I start off at a pace of about a 10:30 mile.  I am not too concerned about time or speed, this is going to be strictly a distance run, but I am feeling good about the pace.  I am also pleasantly surprised that the trail is both downhill and virtually empty.  After a mile, I am surprised to find that the trail follows an offramp and circles around to the bottom of an overpass.  Taking a right as planned, I find myself on a new trail, the Eastside Beltway. 

I am immediately struck by the sudden, almost instantaneous, increase in trail traffic.  Mostly bicyclists, at this point.  I go below the overpass and am struck by the overwhelming graffiti on the side walls.

I didn't want to lose too much time, so I only took one photo.  I really should have taken a picture of the giant pink elephant on the other wall, but I didn't want to look too touristy.  On we go for about a mile and a half. 

The difference between this trail and the previous trail is unmistakable.  As mentioned before, the amount of traffic could best be described as heavy.  Bikers and runners blowing right be me.  Walkers not blowing by me.  Rollerbladers and even a guy on what looked like a modified Segway.  Since this trail was a railway many years ago, you can also find some abandoned railroad structures, such as platforms and standpipes, the latter sometimes affixed with modern steel art sculptures.  (I promise, more photos next time)  There were also quite a few posters depicting events from the civil rights movement of the 1960s and Dr. Martin Luther King.  I also found it interesting that some housing units had gated entry to the Beltway at certain points.  Still generally downhill, my pace fluctuates between 10:00 and 11:20 before hitting the Monroe Drive intersection at about 2.5 miles. 

I decide to take Monroe Drive north to Park Drive and enter Piedmont Park over the bridge.  I am wanting to leave the Park at about 7.5K, but have no real plan on where to run in the park grounds.  I pass some bocce courts and hit an office building and a much-needed water fountain as my Garmin beeps 5K.  Still having no plan, I do a sort of U-turn, blow by some tennis courts, and to my surprise, see an oval gravel track enclosing four soccer fields.  Can't get lost here, right.  It turns out the track is marked at 800 meters, so I give it a lap and step off to circle Lake Clara Meer (I still have no idea who Clara Meer is), hitting about 7K at this point.  My pace is still about 10:30 to 11:00, but I am definitely feeling my quads.  I'm still going slightly downhill, but that is all about to change.

I leave the park at a little over 7.5K as planned and head west on 10th St.  Time to pay for the downhill.  Just about all of 10th St. is uphill, at some points reaching about a 13% grade.  My pace drops to between 11:30 to 12:30 and my legs are feeling heavy.  My search for Argonne Ave.  starts to get critical, however, it was only about a half mile and I was turning left for the last leg of my run.

Argonne Ave. sees hills at the beginning and the end, with a downhill in between.  The real problem here is uneven surfaces on the sidewalks.  I navigate it pretty well, hit the final hill, and get an unexpected, if not very much needed, break at the intersection.  The Ponce is very busy, and instead of chancing it, I wait for the signal.  I can feel my bpm decrease to about 120.  But we're almost done. 

Central Park Place is my final road, and only for about .8K.  My pace varies wildly, but the final steps are uphill, so I decide to kill my run at 10.01, scaring the bejeebers out of a couple of city workers.  The final pace was 11:13 mi., with an end time of 1:10:29, and a Strava suffer score of a whopping 190.  I also crossed a total of ten segments, mostly on the Beltway, and I am mostly way, way down on the speed charts.  No matter.  I got the outdoor 10K I wanted, getting my psyche ready for my first race on Saturday.  And I burned quite a few calories, so much so that I felt absolutely no guilt about having chicken & dumplings and Georgia Peach Pie at Mary Mac's with my wife and daughter. 

 Full race report on Saturday.  Thanks for reading.