I’m serious. If I harbored ANY notion that I had some talent at running, I would have walked away from tonight’s group run with Central Park Track Club absolutely crushed, demoralized, destroyed! Instead, I accepted that I am where I am and this is my first time out with very talented, serious runners. Like any rookie, I was nervous and arrived 15 minutes early at Daniel Webster Statute in Central Park. Before you knew it, at 7pm there were 30 extremely fit looking people (young and old), plus me all listening to the road running coach (Coach Tony). A couple of the old timers said Coach always gives inspired speeches prior to workouts. He did not disappoint. I was fired up and ready to go!
The plan was for us to run 2×2’s at 10K pace on pretty aggressive terrain … the rolling hills of Central Park. Coach said it’s important to maintain an even pace over the splits. Since the first 2 miler was over a few tough hills, he said you need to exert that much more energy to balance out the easier 2nd split.
I took the advice to heart as I started out with the slowest group (10K @ 42 min+). I hit it as best I could … not a sprint, but definitely getting my hustle on. As we hit the incline of Harlem Hill to finish off the first split I accelerated to make sure I was not last. I wasn’t … 3rd from last. The three of us chatted as we jogged during our recovery, but before you knew it, it was time to hit the second 2 miler. Coach was 100% correct that the second split “felt” easier. I’ve run that route hundreds of times by now and going down the East Drive of Central Park is less taxing than going up the West Drive. However, while I didn’t bonk (pride would not let that happen), I did tire for a bit. My two “slow” buddies left me in the dust … as they should have done. I kept my composure and began to think of why I wanted to join a club … to get better, to be pushed, etc. I couldn’t care where I “placed” in my first group run with arguably the fastest running club in NYC. I was out there giving it all I had. At that point, a second wind kick in and I pushed on and finished up.
Oh yeah … Coach said should be running 2×2’s at 10K pace. What were my splits?
1st: 14:32 (7:16 pace)
2nd: 14:29 (7:15 pace)
Ummm, folks those splits are 30 seconds faster than my 5K PR. Again, I finished dead last! That is how much talent was in this group. It was friggin’ frightening. My fitness level is not bad and I was the fat kid bringing up the rear. Amazing talent. Amazing. Even better was the encouragement I received as I finished and from Coach Tony afterward. He recognized my name from emails and generally seemed excited that I came on out. He told me he had a plan for me and I did a nice job. Very cool. Including a longish warm up and cool down, tonight I ran a total of 7.75 miles.
Since I have the half-marathon next Sunday, I won’t do a group speedwork run next Thursday (taper week). I’ll rejoin the team the following week for another thorough ass kicking. From then on, you can check back every Thursday evening for The Chronicles of Me Getting My Ass Kicked & Loving It!