“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” – Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Let’s start with the latter. I did not post yesterday after my brief shakeout run because, frankly, I was freaked out. Freaked out to the point where I was uncertain whether I would lace them up for the race this morning. My goal yesterday was self-explanatory … brief jog, a couple of quick pick ups and get back inside (threat of rain all day). The 1.6-mile jog went fine at around 8:10 pace. Next up was to get some fast twitch fibers awakened with hill sprints. I felt limber enough so I lumbered on over to Cat Hill to get after it. The first one felt decent and on the walk back to the start, I figured maybe 2 more and I’ll shut it down. After the first step of the 2nd, a stabbing pain in my hip (not hip flexor, but the side) ended the day. Now, all runners experience nicks here and there, but I’ve never been injured or experienced anything like this 20 hours before a race. Therefore, the rest of my day consisted of Advil, ice, Advil, ice, stretching and ice. By the time I went to bed I figured I did all I could to remedy myself, but if I did not feel right I would not race.
I woke up and worked thru the pre-race plan … cappuccino, left over pasta, protein bar, irrigation and stretching. Since it was 42* when I left my apartment, I dressed like a Kenyan – running pants, long-sleeved shirt, winter cap and gloves and carrying my flats, singlet, etc. in a backpack. Sufficiently fueled and clothed, I walked to the Reservoir as I was afraid to stop and start on active streets. The first mile of the warm up was nerve-racking and a major slog. A combination of fear and extra weight made me even more apprehensive about racing. After a couple of pick-ups on dirt, I loosened up a bit. Quite honestly, this was the worst I’ve ever felt before a race … just off kilter and sluggish. To top it off, while my confidence in my hip was improving, I was still nervous. Today was just a nondescript 4-mile race and I would rather not start than not finish. That said, I quickly changed my gear (singlet, half-tights, lightweight gloves, flats and I kept the cap on … it was chilly).
All of this weighed on me as I waited in the 1st corral (yay!) for the start … my excitement was definitely tempered. I did feel relaxed in the sense that I wasn’t even certain I would finish the race so while I had a goal time, it was not really important. If this race screwed up November, I would be furious. Therefore a DNF, while shameful, I could live with it.
1st Mile: The terrain for this race was more favorable than the Scotland 10k … with a counterclockwise middle loop in Central Park and only a couple of rolling hills to speak of. However, it was the first mile which I was most concerned with as it presents the joy of Cat Hill … the seen of yesterday’s aborted hill sprints. After about 800m, I hit the hill and felt a minor stabbing in the hip, but then it went away. I know the issue is one of form. I have no idea what I’m doing when sprinting so my alignment gets thrown off (yes, I will not sprint as hard going forward), but when I run with my normal form, I’m ok. Once I got thru that mental and physical hurdle, I was good to go. Crowding was not really an issue at the time because I wanted to go out conservatively. Mile 1 = 6:56
2nd Mile: This portion of the route has a slight downhill so I could open it up a little. Not press the pace, but let it come naturally. I was feeling pretty solid here and decided to skip the water station as we moved to the west side of the park. Mile 2 = 6:46
3rd Mile: A CPTC teammate who ran a 4-miler last week on the same course noted that mile 3 is “a little bit of work”. Now, everything is relative here … for this guy who is a 2:50 marathoner, “a little bit of work” means 5:50 pace vs. his normal 5:35 pace. Still, I took that little nugget into consideration as I started the race and certainly as I approached mile 3 as there are a couple of rolling hills before you get to the largely downhill mile 4. My goal here was to keep it relaxed, but focused. I needed to stay mentally in the game. I didn’t have any mantras or anything, but I did lock onto the shoes of a woman a stride or two in front of me. It seemed to help. Passed up the final water station. Mile 3 = 6:59
4th Mile: Buckle Up. I made it thru the first 3 miles without doing anything stupid and physically feeling solid. Time to let it all go. In addition to the favorable downhill, I started to pump the arms a bit to force some turnover. I refused to look at my watch because, frankly, it did not matter. In fact, whatever it read at the time would have served as a distraction anyway. I didn’t have the “self-talk” issues that cropped up during the middle and late stages of the Scotland 10k. I just kind of honed in on giving it a good hard push at the end and let the time be what it will be. I knew I ran a smarter race when I started flying by folks with 800m to go and don’t recall anyone passing me. Mile 4 = 6:29
Overall, 27:08 or 6:47 pace. My goal for this race was 27:00. I’m slightly annoyed that I was so close, but it is progress nonetheless … another nice big PR. From the first to last mile, today was the best-executed race to date. I might have gone out too conservatively given the strong final mile, but at this stage of my development, it’s all about building confidence. Big negative splits build confidence. I’m not sure it’s enough to keep me in the 1st corral / blue bib for club points races, but it was still a solid effort. Therefore, it’s hard to really be upset at all. In terms of pace, 6:47 is faster than the infamous Coogan’s 5k (6:54) last month which is encouraging given that today was a mile longer in distance.
Next up … rest. I’ll do the team workouts this week, but probably won’t run on the other days until next Saturday or Sunday. It’s time to recharge mentally and heal a bit. Also, another 10k on the same brutal course as Scotland looms on May 15th followed by the Brooklyn HM on May 22nd. I’ll need to speak with my coach and give it some thought on how to approach the 10k, as the HM is more important to me in terms of confidence building. Right now, I’m thinking of using the 10k as a good hard tempo and let the results be what they will be and go for blood in Brooklyn (and crushing the current PR of 1:48:33).
A quick check of McMillan’s Calculator with today’s result “predicts” a 3:22:14 marathon … inching closer to BQ territory. It’s all about BQing on 11/7/2010!