Chickamauga Success!

I met with personal success the morning of the 10th.  My foot gave me an ache on Oct 30th and I've been off it ever since... except for a single 1-hour elliptical workout last weekend.  I did a 1.5 mile "stretch" around the block friday night.  My goal for the race was a 9:00 mile / 90min overall, which I have not done for that distance before.  In the final analysis I wound up with a 1:24:24 time (8:27 pace), which is about a minute faster pace than I expected - VERY HAPPY VERY SORE.

 

Saturday morning my neighbor Z and I, and our wives, woke up pre-5am.  We loaded in the SUV and barrelled northward to Chickamauga.  After getting some directions from local Chickamauga cops (the Google maps failed us!) we found the Oakland Street Church and the Start of the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon and 10 miler.

 

We got checked in, used the potty and even got race chips  for this one (a nice but unexpected touch for a 10-miler).  Before I left Atlanta the temp in Chickamauga was reported as 49F.  I think they were about 10 degrees off.  Definitely felt thirties and was slow to warm up.  We started the 10 miler about 30 mins after the marathon.

 

The race starts by winding out of small neighborhood and over a highway to enter the Chickmauga Battlefield area.  In general the 10 mile course is almost flat, but definitely 1 or 2 real hills and many slow inclines and declines.  We finally enter the Battlefield area, staying on paved roads.  It is strange that during race it is apparent why they call it the "Battlefield".  Yes, of course there was a battle there, but its almost like the area was laid out to have battles - Looks like before being a battle field it was an agricultural area (not just forest).  The whole place is diviied up into large 20-acre open fields spearated by strips of woods.

 

We passed several deer that did not seem to mind us.  Someone spotted a coyote.  Most of the roads were canopied but several stretches in the sun.  Unfortunately no houses around and very few cheering us on.  There were plenty of water/powerade stations and the course was very well marked.  Our split times were taken at the halkway / turnaround point.

 

At mile 7 my foot started hurting again, but not as bad as previously.  It didn't really slow me down but boy does it make you anxious!  At mile 8 I was starting to run out of gas at this quicker pace.  I checked the iPod clock though and could afford to back off a little. Finally the last mile came and the steam was quickly exiting.  For the last 200 yards I had no juice left to sprint, only enough to jog a little straighter and smile a little more.

 

I finished and stood on the chip mat extra long to be sure - Over 5 mins faster than my goal.

 

Great Day.  Great Race.  WIll definitely shoot to make it back next year.