I Ran the Peachtree Race, and Zucchini Pizza

They hand you a perfectly
ripe peach at the finish line!

Yesterday, I crossed off a big bucket list item- I joined over 40,000 people and ran in the famed Peachtree Road Race! It was a thrilling and unforgettable experience. This was the 55th running of the Peachtree- an iconic Fourth of July tradition in Atlanta, the biggest 10K race in the world, and a race that is infamous for three things- heat, humidity, and hills. 

The first two features were very apparent yesterday, with one of the warmest starts in recent history. (As for hills, my town where I train is so hilly that I somehow barely noticed the hills in the race.) It turned out to be the very first heat advisory day of this year. We stayed overnight at a hotel right at the start site. The wheelchair athletes took off at 6 AM, then the elite athletes at 7 AM, and then the rest of the runners in waves that set off every 5 minutes. My turn came around 8 AM and it was already sweltering- I felt like I was swimming in warm soup.

At the start line

The race is one big party, like you're in a parade going down main street. Streets are lined with cheering spectators hollering and holding signs. Sweet little kids hold up homemade posters saying "Touch the button to power up". I spotted inspirational quotes on perseverance, funny signs saying "You look hot" (accurate) and "That's a lot of hard work for a banana" (more like a lot of hard work for a peach and a T-shirt). 

Some spectators hand out treats, everything from pieces of banana to power drinks to mimosas and beer! Musicians and DJs hype up runners are at different points on the route. There were runners in themed costumes- I spotted Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty, King George V (top half of the costume worn with shorts lol), a bride in a veil. The whole spectacle is wonderfully distracting. The hardest part was weaving through throngs of people, many of whom are walking or jog-walking. 

Watching the early waves through
an 11th floor hotel window

Heat watch at the
Peachtree yesterday

For me, it is simply a dream come true to participate in a big sporting event for the first time in my life. My goal was to finish without puking or passing out. In fact, I felt fine throughout as I ran very conservatively with a "safety first" attitude, stopping at every single hydration station (thanks, volunteers), running through every fire hydrant sprinkler to cool off, and taking a few walking breaks. My secondary goal was to finish in under 75 minutes (1:15:00), and I finished in 1:13:16 with an average pace of 11:48 min/mile. This is entirely unimpressive in an objective sense, but for me personally to do <12 min miles over this distance in these crowded conditions with the heat index being what it was...I couldn't be happier or more surprised or grateful. 

The oldest race participant was a 99 year old woman named Betty! Watch this 3 minute video about her- what an inspiration.

In fact, the race was ended early ("black flag") because of weather conditions. Luckily, >95% of people had finished by then.

Southern hospitality is very apparent as you finish the race in Piedmont Park- we were greeted with cold water, perfectly ripe peaches, and troughs of soda. And the coveted finisher T-shirt. 

I don't think I will do this race again. Racing in the heat requires training in the heat and that's just not fun. But am I glad I did it once! 

This year's lovely T-shirt design

* * *

I've been trying some new recipes lately- here are two that had pleasing results. It is zucchini season and I tried something unusual- a zucchini pizza, recipe from Smitten Kitchen. First off, the pizza dough is wonderful for a pan pizza of any sort. And the topping of zucchini and cheese is lovely and seasonal. This reheats beautifully in a toaster oven or on a cast iron pan. Neither of my kids were fans but the grown ups all loved this take on pizza.

I found a bag of beautiful baby potatoes on sale and used them to make something I've wanted to try for years- hassleback hasselback potatoes. I took them to a friend's house; she admired them and asked if they're called "hassleback" because they're a hassle to make! In fact, they are much less of a hassle to make than I anticipated. Putting a pair of chopsticks under each potato makes it very easy to get the tops cut without going all the way through the potato. I simply roasted them with salt, pepper, and olive oil, and stuffed them with pesto. A lovely little treat.

* * *

Reading: A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, a 2005 novel by Marina Leywcka. This work of fiction is in the domestic fiction genre and was a very quick and engrossing read. The reviews keep describing it as hilarious and comical but I don't know...at best it is tragicomic. The book is written in first person by the younger of two Anglo-Ukrainian sisters; she is the peacetime baby and her older sister is the wartime baby. The family has endured harsh struggles and are survivors of tough political times before she came along. The sisters are at feud over- what else but- inheritance, but they put their feud aside when their 80-something widower father wants to marry a 30-something Ukrainian woman who they label as a golddigger. The book depicts the struggle of family relationships- an elderly dad asking his middle-aged daughters to mind their own business about his new relationship, even as he asks them for money to buy his girlfriend the fancy cars and stoves and vacuum cleaners that she demands. 

Watching: Schitt's Creek on Prime (Freevee). It is a great little sitcom about a filthy rich family that finds themselves penniless overnight, and living in a motel in a forgotten town that they bought as a joke years ago. I watched some episodes as in-flight entertainment some time ago and am happy to watch the whole series now. 

Tell me what you're up to, during this first week of July.