Category: 4-Milers

A Little Heavy, Not Quite a PR, But Alright …

This morning I ran the men’s version of the Fitness Mind, Body, Spirit Games 4-Miler in Central Park. I ran it in 26:31 (6:38s).

Below are my unoffficial Garmin stats. I forgot to turn off my watch right after the race so the end time and true distance is compromised a little bit:

The weather was quite gorgeous though I didn’t quite get to notice it as I raced to get to the start line before the corrals closed. I set out on bike this morning to the race, but just before I left I found out that (again) my Garmin 610 discharged while it was charging so I took a few minutes to see how much juice I could get into it. I got into my corral with 30 seconds to spare before they were supposed to be closed! A bit hectic but probably a good thing so I didn’t stew impatiently for the start.

Suddenly, I was off. My first mile was a fast 6:22, which was exciting to see but implied it would be hard to beat my PR for this race (6:22s back in 2009 for a 25:29). I thought my second mile would be on that pace, and while it was a 6:25 that wasn’t so bad. However, mile 3 is the toughest of this course, and sure enough I lost a lot of my speed there. I ran 7:05 (ugh!) for my 3rd mile given all the hills, but I also felt that my body was slower, too, and I couldn’t get it going much faster. That feeling, plus the large number of men who were speeding past me even at my fastest, reduced my confidence to achieve a PR (not that I really believed I could today) which almost zapped my speed. I was able to push myself a bit more in the 4th mile (6:42), with an exciting sprint at the end when I was challenged by someone who met each little nudge I tried to do past him. I have no idea if I won or he won!

I did something not so great last night and it could have spelled disaster today but fortunately didn’t. I had a senna tea last night to help me this morning and it just didn’t work before I set out. During the race I felt a little instability there but it held back. Phew! I shouldn’t try that in the future. I did that because of all the junk I’d eaten in the last few days that I was still carrying. In fact, my weight pre-race ballooned to 180 lbs.! I was 177 after the race and bike home (though some of that weight might have been from treating myself to a Slurpee on the way back) but my eating has been ravenous and reckless of late and my weight is not where I want it to be right now.

6:38s weren’t all that thrilling to have done, but in writing this I realized that’s actually pretty cool. Not counting the 5th Avenue Miles, I’ve only done 3 previous races under 6:40s. My AG percentage was at 65.32% which is pretty good for me at this time of year considering my training.

I couldn’t help but think that also a drain on today’s speed was that I ran not one but TWO marathons last week! I never have done that before! Granted, they weren’t races but marathon-distance training runs, and I did them in 3:30ish, shaving off only 7 seconds in the second run. Those 26.2-mile runs with less than a week of rest between them probably did a number on my body in ways I don’t know (a small but significant number, I should think…), and they probably were a factor in my running 6:38s and not something faster. At least that’s what I was thinking when I couldn’t muster speed in the 3rd mile.

So, woohoo!

Trotting in the New Year

This morning, I ran(g) in the new year by running in the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run 2012 in Central Park. If you know the race, it’s a 4-miler that starts at the stroke of midnight on the new year. It’s a great experience, so fun, and I ran it with Elizabeth, her boyfriend Chris, and her sister Martha. It was Martha’s first race ever!

Here are my Garmin stats:

This is my first race, much less RUN, since the Philly Marathon in late November. I ran with my legs feeling slightly drained about 1.5 miles in! However, I felt generally good. I was running with or around Martha for most of the race, letting her set the pace. She was great! She’s a natural talent like her sister, having only taken to running very recently. We did 8:46s with a final mile at an 8:07 pace. Martha was a superior sprinter and took off before seeing the finish line as we rounded onto 72nd Street!

I was feeling soreness after the race, which is understandable but I was still a little surprised. Ah well! I look forward to getting running back into my life in the new year. Not there just yet!

Photos coming soon. Check my Photos page at the right.

Yea! I’m Getting Better

This morning I ran the Central Park Conservancy Run for Central Park 4-Miler. I did pretty well! I ran it in 27:43 (6:56s), which in running sub-7:00s is a testament than I’m getting better in my training. I moved my AG% into the 60% range!

The weather was pretty decent this morning. It was sunny and not that humid (it said 68% but felt better than that) at around 72 degrees. Generally I felt good apart from a little grogginess from sleeping with melatonin and getting up a little early. I biked to Central Park and I could see that my legs had gained some definition. I happened to sit down right next to Jessica Ecklund when I was putting on my bib and D-tag; Jessica and I did a film together some years ago, and separately her husband and I are friends from acting and running. (Her husband Jimmie is sort of one of my running role models!)

I had a feeling I’d do pretty well today, and I made sure I kept up my pace. I decided to push myself a bit today, and I felt a first mile under 7:00 was a possibility. Sure enough, it happened (around a 6:40), so then I thought I need to keep my pace up so I don’t burn out. I managed around a 6:48 for the second mile–I lost 8 seconds but still not back. The third mile is the toughest on this course, and I slowed to about 7:23. I did the math and the 23 seconds didn’t completely erradicate my first two miles’ savings, but I needed to make sure I sped up in the last mile. Fortunately, the course is more cooperative, I was up for the task, and there’s my infamous final sprints. All came together and I was able to pick up some speed (though noticeably I couldn’t simply barrel on in that last mile), and I pulled off around a 6:44 final mile. I even got a pretty great sprinting finish this time, finishing in the middle of the mat with no one crowding me and no one overtaking me (at least from what I recall). I saw my old co-worker Jono working (as usual) at the race, and he said a lot of people finished I think around the 23-minute mark, given all the track clubs’ participating today.

Here are my unofficial Garmin stats: