Race to Deliver

This morning was the Race to Deliver, a 4 miler in Central Park.

I've targeted the Joe Kleinerman 10K coming up in a few weeks, and this was a chance to check my progress. My target for today was to run at a solidly sub 7 minute pace, but I did not plan to shoot for my PR 6:38 pace. 

The race started on the 72nd street transverse in the park, which meant that we were more cramped than usual for the first 100 yards or so. I was fortunate, but I heard reports from many friends about collisions at the start. Once we made the turn onto East Drive, it was all clear. 

I ran an aggressive pace, but not too crazy. It would have been easy to go out too fast, especially since Cat Hill was right near the start. When I checked my watch at the first mile marker, I didn't really know what to expect. The time -- 6:36.  

Realizing that I was two seconds faster than PR pace, I went into PR pursuit mode. My strategy was clear: 

 - Maintain effort level for mile 2, and hope for a faster mile since it is downhill. 

 - Tough out the West Side Hills in mile 3, but expect to lose some time.

 - Pick it up to make the last mile my fastest and secure the PR.

Here's how it went:

6:36 Mile 1

6:32 Mile 2

6:48 Mile 3

6:27 Mile 4

26:22 (0:13 PR)

Net Time	Pace per Mile	Overall Place/ Total Finishers	Gender Place/ Total Males	Age Place/ Total in Age Grp.	Age-Grd. Time	Perf. %
26:22	6:35	224 / 5981	210 / 2742	21 / 246	23:37	71.3%

Toward the end of mile three, I saw AW, one of the Flyers I run with regularly in the mornings. He just finished the NYC Marathon 40 minutes faster than I did, so I was very happy to be anywhere near him. Of course, he was probably just taking it easy after the marathon, but still... 

At the end of the race, I was exhilarated. In fact I still am. I love beating my previous best times. I love running a hard fast race. It just feels good.

After the race, I saw AW and DW, another morning Flyer, and my friend PL. It seemed like everyone had a good race. It was especially great to see DW all fired up. He's back in training for his next marathon. I guess that means that the pace of the morning runs is going to pick up over the coming weeks. I'll just have to do my best to hang.