Mother's Day 10-miler 5.11.08

Hi all,

Race number 12 was the Mother’s Day 10-miler. We started on the East Drive, just south of the 72nd Street Transverse, ran the lower 5-mile loop, crossing the Park at the 102nd Street Transverse, then continuing the loop all the way up to the north end of the Park, then down the West Drive to finish on the 72nd Street Transverse.*

Goals: to run between water stations and to run at marathon goal pace (10-minute-miles). I ran a half marathon PR last weekend, so I knew I couldn’t run a 10-mile PR this weekend, so I wanted to use it to practice running slowly.

I had planned to run the 4-miler as a warm-up, but my leg was hurting, so I quit after about a half mile. Since I’ve had to abandon my plans to run the Rio Marathon, I don’t need to do distance training right now, so the extra 4 miles weren’t necessary. I went to the finish line to see if I could cheer Roxy in, but didn’t see her cross. I headed over to the start and did some stretching. There weren’t very many people in the 10-mile race, but I’m sure that’s because the 4-miler is shorter and was a coed event and the 10-miler was women-only.

I’ll keep this short, because it wasn’t really a race for me. I had a lot of difficulty keeping my pace down to 10-minute miles. My plan had been to run the first 3 miles at 10:30 pace, then try to keep the rest at 10, maybe running a little faster at the end. Even with stopping at every water station, I was running too fast. My slowest mile was the 3rd mile and I only managed to slow down because there were 2 water stations in that mile and I twice tried to tuck myself behind slower runners. Every time I lost concentration, though, I found myself moving up to pass my pacers. Anyway, I don’t like the idea of using pacers. I took long walks at each water station, but was annoyed about that, too, because that’s not running slowly, either. I tried to rein myself in on the last mile, chanting “no finishing kick” to myself, but I ended up running my second fastest mile then.

So, that brings me to my current dilemma. Do I work harder at running more slowly or do I work harder at running my current pace for longer distances?

After the race, I brought a Krispy Kreme doughnut and a bottle of water to Mark, who volunteered for the race. I passed him twice during the race, because he was stationed at the turn onto the 72nd Street Transverse. Thanks for keeping the road safe for us, Mark!!

Official stats: my official time was 1:38:27 for an average pace of 9:50. My splits were 9:45, 9:03, 10:49, 9:57, 10:06, 10:12, 9:15, 10:18, 9:59, and 9:06. I was 892 out of 1347 runners, putting me in the 34th percentile. It was 50°F, 80% humidity, and 7 mph winds.

Consolation treats: I ate a Krispy Kreme doughnut when I finished, but it was cold and I could taste the fat, so I decided it didn’t count. I walked down to the Time Warner Center and picked up a slice of antipasti pizza at Whole Foods. I also went to Bouchon Bakery and got some pastries and a hot chocolate to drink on the way home. When I got home, I slushed up a Dr Pepper, before heading back out to a chocolate tasting.

Next up: Wall Street Run 5k (5/20), Media Challenge #1 (5/21), Japan Day 4-miler (6/1)

Race pictures are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7411850@N04/sets/72157605005759718/. I went to a chocolate tasting later and pictures from that are available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7411850@N04/sets/72157605010522109/.

*In honor of the 150th anniversary of the Greensward Plan for the Park, the 72nd Street Transverse was renamed Olmsted and Vaux Way, but I’m referring to it by it’s old name to avoid confusion.