Written by Today’s Joe Klinerman 10K race in Central Park was NYRR’s first race of the season, the 47 degree temperature in Central Park this morning made it feel more like the opening day of a baseball season than a January race. Since Esther was working today and Coach Leo is training for an Ironman Triathlon I flew solo and decided get to the park by subway.
Following the long line of colorfully-clad runners, bags slung over their shoulders and orange d-tags on their shoes from 102nd Street and Lexington to the park at 7am was a new experience. Once in the park it was the usual pre-race routine, first a stop at the Porto potty for a quick pit stop. Around me in line were the usual conversations, runners on their cell phones trying to find friends, “I’ll meet you at bag check and I’m wearing a bright blue fleece,” and “this is much nicer than Tuesday.”
Heading to bag check I started synching my Garmin, while some were running light warm ups bathed in the golden morning sun. Peeling off layers and stuffing gear in my bag my phone rang, it was Esther. She called to wish me luck as well as settle the butterflies. Not having raced since November the butterflies were swirling gently and I had the usual pre-race aches and pains — the type that all goes away when the race starts.
Today’s my plan was, don’t go out too fast or waste energy slaloming in and out of slower runners at the start of the race — wait for the pack to open up. Go slowly up the big hills, Suicide Hill and Puma but don’t walk them either. Don’t run too hard on the down hills — ride them down — let gravity do the work. Find a group of runners at my pace or slightly faster and stay with them as long as possible. Since this was the first race of the year, I didn’t think about a p.r., I wanted to finish in under an hour. I wanted to run 9:30 splits.
I started out easy taking advantage of the curving down hills in Harlem, staying with a large pack of runners as we steadily worked our way up the big hill. I ran a 9:09 first mile, a little faster than planned but I felt fresh. My next three miles were 8:45, 8:26, and 8:39 and Puma lay ahead.
Shortening my stride I steadily worked up Puma, today there was no way I was walking , just slow and steady up the hill, roaring PU-MA upon passing the statue as it looked down at me. At five miles, I looked at my watch and it said 44 minutes and change, my 10K p.r. is 55:57, “I have a shot at this,” I thought briefly passing the reservoir. Although my legs still felt good, I held pace, and decided to see what happens. At six miles, I checked my time again and I saw 53 and change and pushed a little finishing in 54:49.
I was happy with my time for the day, happier that I stuck to my plan. I handled the kept my head and the voices in check handling the hills and was pretty fresh at race’s end. After a string of frustrating fall races where I struggled, I felt good about this one. Hopefully it’s something to build on.
30 Minute Club – Day 7 – 10K run in Central Park in 54:49. I felt great physically and mentally.