RACE RECAP: Run As One 4M

• By loramarie03
• 29 April, 2012
• 10 Comments

Pre-race preparation: Yesterday was a busy day. We went to our second Yankees game of the season (and saw our second loss, boo) and then headed to a new bar, Beer Authority, near Times Square. It was busy, but we managed to get a table. We were home early — around 11 p.m. — so got a lot of sleep! I somehow got glutened and ended up not feeling well last night, and woke up feeling OK around 6:30 a.m. For some reason, MTA decided to do construction on what seemed like every train headed to Manhattan from Brooklyn, so it was kind of a zoo to get up to Central Park. I arrived at the race about 30 minutes before, enough time to stretch and hang out with the other runners.

Actual race: Can you believe that this is only the second time I’ve ever ran in Central Park, and we’ve lived in New York City for more than a year and a half? Yeah. It was a fun race and featured many of the rolling hills that Central Park is known for. I felt like I started the first mile off relatively quickly, but ended up being at a 7:30 pace. I tried to push it in the next mile, but again, a 7:30 pace. My calves felt tight as I hit the hills, and wondering if it’s from yesterday’s 8-mile run (remember I mentioned I don’t race well if I run the day before… hmmm…). The last mile and a half was nice because the crowds started to thin out.

What I loved: I love how organized NYRR races are and the fact that they always start on time (we had a tight schedule today so I seriously couldn’t afford a ten, or even five, minute delay. It was fun to finally have a reason to head up to Central Park for a run. And, apparently, they announced before we started racing that it is one of the largest 4M races in the world? The race raised funds for lung cancer research and awareness. About 20 percent of people who get lung cancer never smoke. It was great to join 12,000+ other runners on a beautiful spring day to raise money for such a great cause.

I was slightly disappointed that there was only water at the finish line. There may have been more goodies at the post-race party, but it would have been nice to at least have some bananas.

Time: Remember how I set my PR at the Al Gordon Classic a few months ago for a 4M race? I beat it my 11 seconds, so another PR. I improved my time per mile pace by two seconds for future NYRR races… no complaints!

Overall rating (4 out of 5 ups):