Colon Cancer Challenge 4-miler
Today was the first true “double” cardio weekend of the year, with a 30+ mile NYCC C-SIG bike ride yesterday followed by today’s 4-mile NYRR run. I’ve been concerned with burnout on days where I had overlap between NYCC and NYRR, though yesterday’s bike ride was more casual / getting-to-know-you than a serious workout. I was in bed early last night, before 11 pm, and felt well-rested when I got up this morning and walked over to the start.
The first thing that hit me was that the race was less crowded than usual, by a lot. NYRR must have capped the combination of the 4-mile race and the 15k that followed at 5,000 entrants, as opposed to allowing 5,000 entrants for each. Only 2,037 people finished this race vs. 2,339 in the 15k, and this eased up the congestion at the start considerably. (Wait a second: 2,037 + 2,339 = 4,376! where’d those other 600 people go? Honestly, I don’t know. Maybe they all just did the 1.7 mile remembrance walk that followed the 15k. Maybe they all slept in.) The second surprising thing was that, probably because of those fewer 4-miler entrants, I started with a bib number in the 3000s. They allocate start numbers based on your historical best time vs. everyone else in the race, and it was nice being in the 3000s instead of the 4000s even if it’s a difference of, say, 50 feet at the start.
My goal was sub-34:00, or an 8:30 pace, which would be a little bit better than the 45:00 five-mile runs I’ve been taking for the past two weekends. I felt great for the first two miles, running a sub-8:00 Mile 2 according to the NYRR clock. The 3rd mile on this course is always where I slow down with two long inclines, though I still got through mile 3 in about 8:30. Missy and our friend Lee were waiting right where I suggested they go, on the West Drive right near the 72nd Street turnoff, and gave me the quick cheer. I finished at 33:30 on the big clock, but 33:01 (8:15 / mile) on the Champion Chip.
That’s over four minutes better than my Gridiron Classic 4-mile time on the same route, only seven weeks ago, and it’s 24 seconds per mile faster than my Brooklyn Prospect Park time at the shorter 5k distance.
Generally, I feel good - not great since I was flagging on Mile 3 and I need to build stamina to get over those hills better, but good enough. The next 4-mile race is only two weeks away.
2 years ago