Last 2 Races

The month of July has been an scorcher here in New York City. Needless to say running has not been easy at all. I have been trying to do my runs either very early in the mornings or during the evenings afterwork when it is not as hot or humid.

But the weekend NYRR races take place around 9am. While it may not be as warm, humidity is already high at that point. Forget about PRs. With these conditions it is all about running as strong as a race one can muster.

Last week I raced the Splash and Dash 10K which I had been targeting to run fast. Originally I had wanted to run at a 6:10 pace, however given the weather conditions I had to downgrade my expectations and hoped for a strong sub-40min race -- that proved to be a more feasible goal. There was no way I would have been able to run the entire race in the pace I had wanted. The first 5 miles I was averaging in the 6:20-6:30 range and only the last 1.2 miles was I able to run below a 6 minutes pace. I finished 4 seconds off of my official 10K PR at 39:23, which surprised and pleased me.

Yesterday was the Race for Central Park 4 Miles and as expected weather were similar than last week and again it was a major factor. But in many ways it was a satisfying race. Firstly, I managed a PR. This is a race I have hardly raced since 2005, so I knew a personal record was possible. The 24:42 final time was a 40 second improvement from an earlier 4 miler race I ran this year. Secondly, I actually beat Robert in short event. It has been a long time since I have been able to manage that. In longer races (half and full marathons) I still expect to pass him at some point during the race, but as we have both improved as runners few have been the occasions where I am able to catch him in a short race. I know he started too fast and the humid conditions got to him, but still passing him with a half mile to go made me smile.