There is a New York Road Runners race nearly every weekend, most of which take place in Central Park, but the buzz around this race was different. In an effort to increase the profile of the city as a runner's mecca, the Road Runners organization extended invitations to the world's fastest 10k runners, luring them to the city with a prize purse totaling $45,000, $25,000 for winning the race and an additional $20,000 if the winner broke the course record of 27:42.
While my ambitions don't include breaking course records, I did wake up that morning with the intention of shattering my 10k personal record. I woke up before the alarm, excited to launch into my pre-race routine, get to the park, and get running. However, the clock said 4:00 so I decided to stay in bed and try to rest up for a couple more hours. When 6:00 finally rolled around I hopped out of bed, popped my bagel in the toaster and began the routine that has rapidly become tradition. Braid hair, wash face, apply sunscreen, brush teeth, clip toenails, stretch out, put on race clothes, double knot shoes, pack post-race supplies, head out the door.
I was confident I had controlled every variable that I could to ensure a great race. I was fueled, rested, energized, my injured hip was recovered and my mileage base and cross training were nearing their former levels. In addition to my standard race prep, I had studied the locations of the bathrooms along the course so I knew exactly when and where I would be stopping so as to not have to walk half a mile of the race with a full bladder. Surely a new personal record was guaranteed, there was no way it was going to take me longer than 50:49 to finish this race.
When I got to the park I lined up in my designated corral along with the 8,000 other people eagerly awaiting the start of the hilly clockwise trek around Central Park that constituted the day's 10k course. From the front of the pack, this is what the race looked like. Three of the recruited Kenyans who were favored to win ran together for the first two miles of the race before Leonard Patrick Komon pulled ahead, covering the first 5k in 13:26. He crossed the finish line at 27:35 to break the record and win the purse. I understand it was an inspiring sight.
While Komon was breaking records, I was just south of 107th Street coming to about the halfway point of the race. My splits for the first three miles were as follows: Mile 1 - 9:01, Mile 2 - 8:08, Mile 3 - 9:01. My goal heading into the park was to run an average pace faster than 8:11 per mile. Halfway in I was not pacing to accomplish that goal.
I don't know if it was the stress of the week leading into the race, the disgusting strawberry energy gel I tried out that morning, the two week hiatus I took from training in mid-April or the new armband that was housing my iPod but something about that race was off. Given the energy I had heading into the park I didn't expect the challenges of that route on that day and somewhere after the Harlem hill a voice in my head started bombarding me with all the things I'd done wrong in preparing for this race. My broken record that day had nothing to do with the time I ran, mine was the list of things I could have done differently that repeated over and over in my head like a Milli Vanilli concert track.
I ended up finishing with a time of 53:31 and a pace of 8:37 per mile. My worst race pace to date.
But, I need to be okay with that. Race #4 is over, there's no second chance to run it, it's just done. There are multiple factors that could have effected my pace, I can't possibly control all the variables, I just need to go into Race #5 with a goal and try to accomplish it. Before June 11th the only thing that I can do to better my chances of beating my personal record is to wake up each morning for the next two and a half weeks and train. Just try to do better than the day before and keep building from the base I've established.
This isn't going to be a journey with predictable improvement at every event, the game is going to change each time and I need to be just as prepared for that as I am for the elements of racing that are within my control.
So, while I fully intend to wake up on June 11th, eat my bagel, braid my hair, and pack my post-race banana and chocolate milk in Sid's backpack, I know that on that morning all I can do is run the best race that I have in me. I'll either end that day with a new personal record to beat or a more clear idea of what I need to do to improve before June 25th's Race #6.
Either way, I'll be one step closer to qualifying for the marathon.
"What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the day gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate." -John "The Penguin" Bingham, Runner and Writer
In my eight years of competitive running there were around 4 races I felt good about....most of the time I felt like this.
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