This morning I ran the Front Runners New York Lesbian and Gay Price Run 5-Miler in Central Park. I ran it in 35:47 (7:10s says the NYRR website, but more like 7:09.4s).
Here are my unofficial stats per Garmin, which didn’t shut off until a few seconds after I finished:
It was sunny, humid, and a little warm (but not too warm) for this race. It was my first time running it (a marathon qualifier), and last year when I watched some friends running it it seemed fun. There were people then dressed in colorful costumes and today was the same but not as obviously. One of the colorful standouts passed me around the 3-mile mark, and I mustered enough speed to sprint past him at the finish line.
That sprint felt very fast and strong, and my first mile was fast despite Great Hill (somewhere around 6:30-6:55), but those were about the only great things to share about my accomplishment … other than that I was able to take on the challenge I made to myself when I saw I was running past the 4-mile mark at 29:00: to finish below 36 minutes. Between, I’ve been fitter and I have lots to go. Heck, my Age Grade Percentage was only 61.3%, which makes me feel I’m only mildly more fit than when I’m inactive! But I know I need patience to get back into running shape, so I have to be careful in how I think about my racing.
I really didn’t know what to expect for today’s race so that I finished doing 7:09s (my marathon pace some time ago!) felt not that bad. Also pulling off a couple sub-7:00s felt good. The humidity was also a factor yet I pushed on through it. Perhaps the secret to my success today was focusing on my breathing rather than the other runners–I did very measured breathing throughout most of the race, and even tried to pick up its pace in that last mile, a strategy that seemed to work.