this 5-miler is put on by the front runners, a running club/team for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender runners and their allies. it's been run for 32 consecutive years but this year is a team points race so i signed up for it. not sure why, since only the first 5 finishers in a division actually count toward the score for that division and i am not among the top finishers on my team, but i like supporting the team overall. so even though it was a 5 miler in central park in summer (triple ugh), i registered anyway.
race day dawned warm & muggy, same as the previous few days as we've been stuck in a very humid air mass. i hoped at least the clouds might stick around to keep the sun off us, but it was not meant to me. i caught a ride with joann and jill, and we caught up with a few other folks prior to the race, all bemoaning the less-than-ideal conditions.
went for a short warm up jog of about half a mile, then headed for the corrals. sure enough, the clouds started breaking up and the sun intensity increased. i had just about decided to drop my pace down to 9 minute miles but instead decided not to check my watch at all and just run it as comfortably as i could. i also decided not to carry water with me but to use the water stops as needed.
turns out that last part was a mistake. the race was crowded (more than 5500 finishers!) and getting to and away from the water tables was a real drag. but so it goes.
coming down the west side, i saw a couple teammates out cheering which was a great pick-me-up.
i thought about quitting several times during this race, it was just so muggy and disgusting. the course clocks suggested that i wasn't doing too bad timewise but i wasn't really paying attention. around mile 4, my thoughts finally turned from quitting to finishing, and right about then i saw my teammate rick, who had come to the park with his camera in tow to cheer & take photos.
what great pics he got! thanks rick!!
i finally finished and checked my watch to see 41:18 (unofficial). not a PR but not awful, so i was ok with that. we got rainbow popsicles, plums and pretzels at the finish, in addition to water. we all gathered back at baggage claim to compare notes and take silly photos.
then we all headed home. after a shower and a nap, i checked the results online to see my official time of 41:15. not only that, but i realized i was actually the 5th female finisher for my team, so my time counted toward our score! shocking! obviously too many of the fast ladies didn't race this one, so it kind of sucks for the team that they had to use my less-than-stellar time, but nevertheless i was happy that i got to contribute.
celebrated that with some recovery food. yum!
splits show that i struggled mightily during mile 4. had i been able to pick it up a bit, i was on pace for a much better time. at least i brought it back together during the last mile.
| 1 | 8:04.0 | 1.00 | 8:04 |
| 2 | 8:03.6 | 1.00 | 8:04 |
| 3 | 8:01.7 | 1.00 | 8:02 |
| 4 | 8:42.5 | 1.00 | 8:43 |
| 5 | 8:02.2 | 1.00 | 8:02 |
| 6 | :24.5 | 0.05 | 7:50 |
