4 for the Holiday

Today was the NYRR Holiday 4 Mile race in Central Park. It was my last race for 2007, and I've been gearing up for a while to really push it to the limit in this race.

I jogged over to the race with my buddy PL, and met up with the H's. Three members of the H family were racing and KH generously served as pit crew for us and her son's schoolmates. She even had an extra pair of gloves and a headband for the tragically under-dressed PL.

When the race started I went out fast according to plan. I hit the first mile marker at 6:46, a pretty good clip for me if I could hold it. I was already feeling winded though, and glad that the next mile was mostly downhill. The second mile went by in 6:44, but holding steady on this mile was a sign of fatigue, given the mostly downhill slope. Knowing that mile 3 was the toughest mile, including Cat Hill, I had my doubts as to whether I would be able to hold pace.

As I approached the base of the hill, I flashed back to the many workouts I had done with the morning Flyers at this very spot. We run hard up the hill, jog down and repeat, usually 8 times. I got my head into training mode and powered up the hill.

Around the top of the hill, Flyer GW spotted me from the sidelines and ran along side me for a bit. Now, the way I was breathing (panting) at that point, most of my friends would have suggested that I step out of the race and sit down on a couch (or hospital bed) where I belonged. GW however, is a running friend, and he took a different approach. He yelled at me, insisting that I push harder. When I tried to make some sort of clever remark back, he suggested "less talking, more running!".

Inspired by GW, I continued to push, and at the end of mile 3 I was surprised to find that I had kept pace pretty well (6:48). Then it was just a matter of what I could pull out for the last mile. With about a half mile to go, I heard a runner behind me call out my name. A few seconds later I was passed by MT and RJ, two fast young runners that I train with. They were obviously not running their hardest races, but it was still great to be approaching the finish of a race anywhere near them. I did my best to hang near to them as they led the way to the finish line.

When it was over, I was completely out of breath, but happy with my effort. I ran the last mile in 6:29, making my total race time 26:45. Average pace: 6:41/mile. I wasn't the fastest guy out there by any means, but I absolutely gave it my all. I was a PR for me, and I finished 20th of 242 men in my age group.

I grabbed some hot chocolate, and met back up with PL and the H's. PL, TH and I walked back to the West Side together. It was a great end to the the racing year. I'm already dreaming about racing in 2008. See you out there!