Category: Races

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!

Darn … Missed a PR …

This morning I ran the Percy Sutton Harlem 5K. It was 74 degrees with about 85% humidity under cloudy skies. I finished in 20:40 (6:40s), which was 37 seconds off my PR for a 5K set on this course in 2009.

Here are my unofficial Garmin results, which imply I ran more around 6:33s rather than 6:40s:

This morning I did a quick measure of my prior record on this course (20:03). I resolved that I wanted to run a sub-20:00, which equated to sub-6:26s. Having only run once this week (a 10-miler) and only about 29 miles last week (after two 60+-mile weeks in a row), I figured I’d have some fitness in me but I did feel flabby and weaker. The question would be about my cardiovascular health in trying to go faster.

I decided to think this way about the race:

a) the last .1 mile would need to be run in about 45 seconds, which would probably feel fast
b) I should try to manage 6:26s or lower
c) I should avoid the temptation to go too fast in the beginning of the race
d) the first mile has some long inclines from what I remembered, so plan for those
e) the last mile of the race has some steep downhills from what I remembered, so take advantage of those
f) calculate the seconds you need to shave off in light of your prior miles in order to achieve your goal
g) and cut tangents

I tried all of that.

Tangents weren’t that important in this race–I hugged the curb and generally cut diagonals where I could.

The first mile I held back on my pace (it’s downhill from the beginning and the excitement can make you push your speed, only to encounter a steep uphill around the .5-mile mark and drain you), which allowed me better push up the hill (a trick I learned in my last 10K in Central Park).

My Garmin said my first mile was run in 6:33, which was a good sign for what I thought would be my slowest mile, but my slowest mile was actually my second mile, which showed me unnoticeably “sluggisher” and unable to really push my speed much, and which had some unfriendly uphill climbs at least two, maybe three times. (I lost about 5 seconds on the second mile.)

I took advantage of the downhills, but I found that I really couldn’t push myself much. Part of it was mental, brought on by my inexperience training these last couple weeks: I was relatively afraid of what sprinting a bit would mean to the rest of my race. I only gained about 4 seconds relative to my first mile, which surprised me because I thought I would end up with considerably more seconds banked here.

I did do the math. At one point I realized I needed to shave off 18 seconds to match my record, which seemed like just an insurmountable task for me at this pace unless I could capitalize on the hills. When I saw I wasn’t shaving off these seconds on them, I realized pretty close to the end of the race I wouldn’t achieve a PR. I pushed myself as best I could to the end, not even able to do my usual sprint finish (suggesting I put my all into this race). All in all, I think this ended up being my second-fastest 5K (I haven’t run many 5K races), though I may have run faster 5Ks inside longer races in my life.

Before the race, I warmed my legs up with a jog for about 5 blocks to the race start. After getting my bib and checking my baggage, I also stretched then ran a couple sprints up a steep park hill next to the start of the race. Things seemed pretty good in my legs, and I was happy to warm them up. The humidity didn’t seem to be too much of a factor, though it was more humid-feeling than I was expecting. I don’t recall the exact weather from my 2009 PR, but I do remember it as humid and cloudy, perhaps more humid than today was.

The prior day’s caffeine intake led to a very dehydrated body and dry mouth at the beginning of the race. Knowing this would be the case ahead of time, I took in some water right out of bed. I had a 2x caffeine PowerGel just before 7am, then about 10 minutes before the race I had an uncaffeinated PowerGel for some extra help. I took in a couple cups of water before the race and I felt fine. I wasn’t affected by the caffeinated PowerGel during this race (shallow breathing, heart palpitations, etc.), so that was a good thing, and my breathing was relatively measured (though I tried to quicken it to quicken my pace at times).

Anyway, shows to go ya. This race is a good measure of my fitness level and my marathon training goals, especially relative to my banner 2009 year. It implies what kind of focus I need in my next training, both nutritionally and physically. Specifically, I think I need to work some speedwork in more. I still wrestle with doing that, especially considering that I’ve fallen in love with LSD running (“long, slow distance running”). It quickened me for the Boomer’s Run to Breathe PR, but probably not enough for these shorter races. I need to really focus on the Fifth Avenue Mile, which is another favorite race of mine and where it would be incredible if I PR’d this year. Can I do it?

PR! PR! WTF?!

This morning I ran Boomer’s Cystic Fibrosis Run to Breathe 10K in Central Park. I ran it in 42:51 (6:55s), which is a race PR for me for this distance.

(And I don’t know how I did it!)

Here are my unofficial Garmin stats. I turned off my Garmin after the finish line.

There were some wonderful components going into today’s race. First, it was extraordinarily cool–65 degrees at the start, with the 87% humidity unnoticeable. Second, I was grumpy and tired and not in a good mood to race, which historically tends to say I’ll do well. I was also rested for two days after a 16-mile run in 98-degree heat at the worst, which may have toughened me up a bit.

I started out this race with pretty low expectations. I actually thought I might just jog this one and have fun with it. However, I ended up basically at the start line and my cardiovascular fitness seemed pretty good in the first mile, so I thought that maybe I should push myself. I also tried out a new strategy I’ve figured out on my long fun: to actually get excited when my brain presents me with issues about my run. I realized that I should get excited because when I’m sedentary, I’m not presented with running challenges, so running gets me to different mental places and challenges me to get by them.

My first mile was done in 6:32, and I only lost about a second in my second mile. In my third mile, which included Harlem Hill, I told myself to slow down around the pool area so that I could build up some energy to climb Harlem Hill a bit faster. It kinda worked: I slowed myself down and a lot of people passed me, and then when I hit the hill I tried to sprint a bit up it. I didn’t overtake many people and eventually lost some steam about halfway up it, but all in all that mile was done in 7:07, which was a positive surprise. A negative surprise was the next mile, which turned into a 7:25. I think that was because I didn’t have as much fight in me during that mile, but losing about 20 seconds (which I interpreted as 30 seconds) suggested to me I wasn’t going to have much speed the rest of the way.

However, I didn’t let that happen. I challenged myself to fight, and when I saw that I was crossing the 5-mile mark at 34:45, I figured that I might be able to finish a little above 41 minutes, which I knew would be incredible. I kept up the pressure on myself hard, trying to shave off footsteps and run smartly (because extra footsteps and lost tangents could mean a lot). Toward the end a man was challenging me and pulled ahead–I don’t remember if I caught him at the end. Why? Because a tall speedy guy directly challenged me and we fought to finish before each other. I felt him and myself lock into each other as we sprinted, and he was taller and stronger than me and lost me but it was thrilling. I crossed the finish line in my typical loss-of-breath/must-lose-shirt feeling, and I saw Jono and grasped his hand. I later thanked the guy who sprinted with me, and I thought I have have PR’d.

I had … if you don’t count longer races where I probably did a faster 10K. I am thrilled to drive down my Central Park 10K time, and to think that I did it without running as much mileage yet this training period and weighing just shy of 177 lbs. this morning, which is a lot heavier than I want to be. The temperature helped and the rest helped, but apart from those two factors, I am baffled that I could accomplish this fast of time at this state of my body. Will I ever run a sub-40:00 10K? I’m curious!