Wednesday I raced the Atlanta Track Club Grand Prix Cross Country (XC) 5k. This was the target race for my recent training cycle and the final points-earning event of the grand prix series. I have participated in this event eight times during its varying formats. This was my second time racing it in person in its current format at Legacy Park.
- Official time
- 24:57
- Average pace
- 8:02 min/mi
- VDOT
- 42.3 (@ 82°F)
- Splits
- Mile 1
- 8:00
- Mile 2
- 7:47
- Mile 3
- 8:13
- Final 0.1
- 0:55 (7:23/mi pace)
- Ranking
-
- Overall
- 68/227
- Male
- 53/129
- Age Group (M40–44)
- 5/12
- Event Page
- Grand Prix Cross Country 5K
- Strava Activity
- ATC Grand Prix XC 5k
I find these XC races difficult to strategize for. The Legacy Park course is windy, up-and-down, and spends about half the time in woods. A target pace is going to be all over the place in terms of effort, and the gps probably isn’t accurate anyways (though my watch recorded 3.13, so it must have done pretty well). Additionally, this race is on a Wednesday evening. Not my usual running time.
My strategy was basically that of Jack Daniels in Daniels’ Running Formula: go out conservative, pass people in the second mile, hold on for the third. By the time I got to the start line, I had settled on aiming for 8 minutes for the first mile. I thought I had averaged in the 7:50s per mile for pace last year, though now that I’ve looked at it, I averaged 8:13/mi.
I hit the first mile in 8 minutes even. I started picking it up to try and pass during the second mile and ended up passing 19 people and not being passed at all. I faded hard in the third mile, but was only passed by 6 people, so it was a net win for the last two miles.
Such a slow down in the third mile would normally indicate that I went out too fast, but also the middle mile is usually my hardest (and slowest), so making it my fastest feels like a win.
I think doing one of my weekly workouts on the course was a big benefit this year. I had the mile marker locations memorized, and I knew where I was and what to expect. I also think I did a good job hydrating. In the immediate weeks leading up, I ran my workout in the evening. I was always so beat up by the heat and dryness. I made sure to consistently drink water throughout the day of the race, and I think that paid off.
My time and 42.3 VDOT were both better than last year, and it was also a better VDOT than the Refuge Coffee Run a couple of weeks ago. It was not better than July’s Decatur DeKalb, though. But XC races are hard to compare to road races.
