Today I ran the NYRR’s Annual Father’s Day Race Against Prostate Cancer Presented by ABC7. It was a 5-mile race in probably about 78-degree weather with about 65% humidity.
I didn’t do as well as last year (click here and scroll to June 21st), but last year was in 63-degree weather. While it was 97% humidity that day, it didn’t feel bad then. I also didn’t precede that race with a 12.3-mile run the day before.
What seemed to match today’s race was the speediness I had in the first part of the race, a negative split for the second mile, plus Ming. Who’s Ming? Ming was this Asian guy with a ponytail I remember from the race last year. I would trail him then he’d walk, then pass me when he ran again. After that race, I asked him about his training, and I incorporated some of his advice into my training last year. This year, he passed me and stayed solidly in front of me. I didn’t talk to him this year, but I almost wanted to!
Unofficial Results per Garmin:
So what were my official results for today’s race? I did this 5-miler in 35:26, which meant I averaged 7:05s. However, by Garmin, my first mile was in 6:44, and my second was in 6:40! After then, I started tapering a bit. My huge blister on my left foot wasn’t much of a problem, nor was my back, which is so messed up with inflammation I had to take ibuprofen last night to make it through the night.
You can see my finish video here. Click on the second video and around the 1:16 mark (about 36:00 on the race clock) you can see my having just crossed the finish and whip up my first to expose my stomach. I was so hot!
Last year I did this race in 34:03, or 6:48s. Considering my training level around this time last year, it seems my current shape is around the shape I was then despite the difference in performance today (which seems attributable largely to heat and humidity and maybe the long run yesterday).