NYRR Team Championships – Race Report

DISTANCE: 5 Miles

DATE/TIME: August 5th, 2017, 7:00 AM 8:00 AM (rain delay)

LOCATION: Central Park, Manhattan

WEATHER: 70% Degrees, 97% Humidity with calm winds

FINISHERS: 1,076 Men; 809 Women

MY RESULT: 42:40, 8:32 min/mi

Who has the best team in town?!!!

Dr. Swosei12 almost missed this one. Since most NYRR races are on Sundays, I thought this race was on Sunday too. I am so glad that I did not ignore my calendar notifications Friday evening.

As expected, it was such a struggle to wake up at 4am, be out of the apartment by 5am, and make it to the upper part of Central Park by 7am. *Random: Once the fall semester starts, it is going to tough running races on Saturdays and Sundays, because my classes are from 12:30 to 3:00.

Just waiting for the train at 5 AM.

Getting on the train there was a light rain, but soon after there was quite a deluge. Upon getting out of Subway, I saw this message.

Man, I would have been so upset if the race was cancelled. Never mind, I probably would have been 45% upset and 55% relieved.

Pre-race shots:

Looking forward to the finish.

Getting ready.

And we are off.

Ok, on to the race:

Actually it was really nice to see all of the different teams supporting their teammates. Of course, all of my Front Runner stuff was dirty (I was planning to do laundry on Saturday, since I thought the race was on Sunday) so I could not sport my Front Runner’s gear. The race itself had a different vibe, because:

• I was running with men.
• There were fewer participants (I believe there were only five corrals).

I do not know why I really struggled with my first mile; I probably was tired from waking up super early and being a little cranky from the rain. After my first mile (and hydrating at the 1st fluid station), I started to get into my grove a bit, and I ran a little stronger, without pushing too hard. I did not want to give 100% during the race, because I planned to do a 12-miler the next day. The original plan was to do my long run on Saturday and use the 5M run on Sunday as a recovery run. Obviously, that plan did not work out because I mixed up the dates for the NYRR race.

For the most the part, the run was pretty basic, and I ran just to finish the race. It was a little different running in a smaller race, because there was not too much congestion during the first mile, which is a good thing. For the last mile, I incorporated some fartleks using the various light posts on the course. I did notice that the fartleks helped me catch up to and pass some folks during the last mile. As a matter of fact, my last mile was my fastest mile. At least this effect shows that my training program is making me a somewhat stronger (and faster) runner . . . It’s about freakin’ time.

The course.

I did a hard sprint for the last 300 meters, because I really wanted to have a sub 8-minute mile for at least one mile during this race. One of the other runners (I’m going to call him James, because he looked like a James or Jim) randomly congratulated me on my hard finish. “James” and I pretty much were passing each other during the entire race. Perhaps, he was using me to pace himself.

All and all, another race on the books, and I have three out of my nine races completed for guaranteed entry into to next year’s TCS NYC Marathon.

Post-race pics:

Ugh, a terrible panorama shot. 😦

Team pride I

Team pride II

Team pride III

Yea!!! The Front Runners

Post race “breakfast”.

Top jams during the run:

For marathon training during race season, how do you incorporate your long runs with your races?

• Do you run easy for the race and run hard for the long run.
• Do you run the long run easy and use the race as recovery.
• Do you combine the two? Run the race and keep going once your finish.

Next Race: Percy Sutton Harlem 5K Run: Saturday, August 26th, 8:30 AM

I may have to get some hill work in before this one, because there are two steep hills within the first half of this race.

Happy running and racing.