I drove up to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech Pi Mile 2016 5K. It was my 4th consecutive year there and my parents and best friend joined me on the course. It was my mom’s 3rd Pi mile and my dad’s 1st Pi mile. My best friend (and freshman roommate at Georgia Tech) started running last year and you can find her on her blog Running, Travels & Trails.

The racers

This Saturday marked the halfway point of my 8 week 5K training program and a prescribed 5K “test” race. In a perfect world with linear progression, I would be halfway to my PR goal.

Running is not in a perfect world with linear progression.

Georgia Tech Pi Mile 2016 Race Recap

I woke up after little sleep and to nausea. I couldn’t finish my peanut butter toast or coffee, let alone a Stinger waffle or any additional caffeine.

Shirt and Bib

We arrived to easy parking a couple blocks from the start. The event offers Zumba for a warm-up, but Rheanna and I jogged a few blocks and I did some strides instead.

Heat and humidity reflected off the asphalt. My Savannah legs were quick to point out the long hills on the course. I will need to do bridge or stair training if I’m going to compete outside the low country.

I ran the first mile with Rheanna in 9:02 and then decided to push the pace. The heat and hills pushed back. I ran the second mile in 8:38 and the third in 8:27. I worked hard to hold those paces. I kept repeating,

Races aren’t easy.

and

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Georgia Tech Pi Mile 2016 Race Results

My final result was 26:50.99. It was a personal course record (the fastest I’ve run a GT Pi Mile), but 26 seconds slower than my baseline 5K, 4 weeks ago.

Besides massive blisters from my orthotics and a little fluid on my knees from the hills + no recovery work done after, my body handled the race well. It just didn’t perform very well.

Ramblin’ Wreck and Me

I love this race at my alma mater. It’s a tradition I plan to continue. It was even better to have my parents and best friend on the course with me. Perhaps one day I’ll convince TH to run, too.

In my next post, I’ll do a mid-training checkup. Spoiler: This race is pretty indicative of my current progress. I still have a lot to sort out in this last half of training.

Further Reading:

• Rheanna’s race recap
• My 2015 and 2014 Georgia Tech Pi Mile Race Recaps
• Georgia Tech’s Pi Mile History
• My current 5K training program

Did you race this weekend? How’d you do?