Sunday, May 9, 2010

Remembering how to race, sort of.

Sunday morning I continued my folly quest to qualify for a future NYC marathon (I'm already in for this year assuming the miracle cure is found in time). I signed up earlier this week for the NYRR RBaby Mother's Day 4m race in Central Park. The ART I've having on my leg is making me feel a little less pain (afterwards, during it I almost cry) so I decided to run this one a bit and see what would happen.

I found I've forgotten how to race. Not the basics like starting line and finish line but more of the things that you don't really even think about that you do naturally. The following are examples:
  • The rain yesterday led to wind today (weather advisory said sustained 20-30 mph with gusts over 45 mph) and it was cold in the morning (44 degrees). I thought I brought enough variations of clothing and ultimately decided shorts, long sleeve technical tee and waffled about the hat (others were having their hats blow off). I was cold in the corral but perfect during the race itself.
  • I got to Central Park early but the only tee shirts left were size small, medium and kids. There were kids races after the 4m. While I have shrunk a bit over time, medium is still a stretch (ba dum dum).
  • I couldn't get my hear rate monitor to work so I decided to scan for it. When the message came up "MULTIPLE HR MONITORS DETECTED," I realized this wasn't the wisest thing to do with thousands of runners around.
  • When the race started I thought I hit start on both my Garmin and my timex (the backup) thinking I was smart.
  • About a quarter mile into the race I felt I was going to fast up "Cat Hill," looked at the Garmin and found the pace was 10:03 (a little fast for me) and the elapsed time was 0:00. I didn't hit the right start button. Duh.
  • I walked a lot and thought about doing an official run/walk schedule. A 5/1 kept going through my mind but somehow it never went beyond the thinking stage


The net was I finished the 4 miles in 46:10 for an 11:32 pace per mile. I was running well (for me) when I was actually running but two things stand out: 1) my knee didn't hurt more than usual except for a couple of twangs: 2) I got number 5 of the 9 races required to get into a future NYC marathon.

But wait, to paraphrase Ron Popiel, there's more. My training day wasn't over. Since there will be no running at Eagleman for me, I needed to get some more time in the saddle. I hopped on the bike and rode an additional hour on the computrainer in the evening at a recovery L1/L2 effort. Every little bit helps.

PS: Shout out of healing vibes to EagleTim who went down on his ride Saturday separating his shoulder. His season now, at best, is in a state of ambiguity before it even started.

PPS: While watching the Mets v. Giants this afternoon, my daughter walked by and said why one guy using a pink bat and others had pink armbands. Then she remembered that today was Mother's Day. Luckily I remembered earlier. Happy Mother's day to all!

10 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Well done on the 4 miler!! NY is one I'd love to do one day should I decide to tackle the marathon again. Wishing you continued healing!! :)

Unknown said...

Good job.

I have to laugh about 2 garmins and a timex and still not hitting the correct start button.

Big Clyde said...

Sounds like your training is really working. Good for you!

chris mcpeake said...

congrats on your 5 races.
Great that your knee was fine

Jess said...

Congrats on another great race! I'm glad to hear your knee isn't acting up too much! Hope things continue in that vein!

Ewa said...

I would be funny if you ran with your HR reading somebody else pulse.
BTW, you are more than half way done with your races. Only 4 more to go.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

You should have raced in a pink outfit.

My son and I were watching the Phillies and we saw all those pink bats, sweatbands, necklaces, ribbons, etc., too.

Sounds like you're on the road to a recovery of some sort. Don't over do it!

KovasP said...

Oh don't you just hate not hitting the button? I wear a Nike+ Sportband and half the time I forget to push the button and then realize it when I look to see what my pace/time/distance is. Good thing I'm not OCD, but I guess if I was, I'd probably remember to push the button.

Julie said...

Awesome job on your four mile Central Park run:) You had a great time for not racing in some time! Bummer about the t-shirts...I love my race shirts.

Tricia said...

great job!