SATURDAY, JULY 19, 2008

RUN TO PARK 4 MILE RACE

Sorry this is so late, with company this weekend, dealing with the kids, and having computer problems (I keep losing my internet:( Not sure if it is the heat, but we are losing the internet and our phones constantly for the past 4-5 days. ARGHHHHH!!!! Thank God for cell phones. LOL

Well, Saturday was my 7th race this year. It was HOT. And I was still feeling some ill effects of my left calf from the previous weekends 10K race, but nothing too bad. Did the same pre race rituals I usually do, met my brother at 6am, and we were in NYC by 6:20a.m. Driving up Madison Avenue, I saw a bunch of people waiting in a line, and I realized it was for the Apple store on 5th Avenue. People were already lined up around the block for the iphone, and it was only 6:20am, and the store wasn't due to open till 9am. No wonder hubby and I don't have our phones yet. We're not willing to wait on line, and as they say, patience is a virtue. LOL

Anyway, we got up to the race with plenty of time. We could already feel the humidity at this hour:( and we still had 2 hours till race time. We met up with our group, and got over to the corrale with about 15 minutes to spare. Again, we lined up a little toward the front, but my brother tweaked his back the day before, and with this humidity, we decided we'd just run it. Yeah right, that lasted about 10 seconds. LOL I was feeling good while running, but the heat was starting to take it's toll. At each water stop I stopped and drank and poured water over my head. I didn't lolly gag around like I did last race, and got right back in there pretty quickly. I thought while I was doing this, it's probably not the smartest thing to do (but I've been told I'm not always the smartest one in the bunch), but this was the 4Mile course I PR'd in on Mother's Day with an 8:22 pace. Just wish the weather wasn't so hot. But I hit the 3 mile marker right at 25:00, so I was on pace for an 8:20 per mile. The only thing was, I was now HOT, and I walked from the hose to the water station to the 3 mile marker, not sure how long it took, but it was about 200 yards. But I needed this walk. At this point my left calf was throbbing/cramping. But when I hit the 3 mile mark and saw that I did it in 25:00, an 8:20 pace so far, I said, damn I can do this. So I took off again. I felt strong and I tried to keep the pace up, but I was fading. I then saw the last turn to the finish and I took off. I finished as strong as I could and I finished in 33:38, an 8:24 pace. So no PR this time, but I am so happy. It was HOT, I had my menstral friend (first time during a race btw), and my left calf hurt.

Run for Central Park 4 Miler
Distance: 4.0 Miles

Date/Time: July 19, 2008, 8:30 am

Location: Central Park, NYC

Weather: 79 deg., 65% humidity, hazy.
The official stats from the website:http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/23138.1.532047486800001318
Bib # 3140

Gender/age: F43
Distance (miles): 4.0
Finish Time: 33:38
Pace Time: 8:24
Overall Place: 1678 (out of 4.609 people)
Gender Place: 424 (out of 2,281)
Age Place: 43rd (out of 239 women ages 40-44)
AG Time: 31:44

AG Gender place: 373
Age-Graded%: 60.5%

My mile splits were as follows:

Mile 1: 8:35 156bpm Cardiac Drift: 172

Mile 2: 7:55 166bpm Cardiac Drift: 173
Mile 3: 9:03 167bpm Cardiac Drift: 176 because I walked the last 200 yrds:(
Mile 4: 8:04 168bpm Cardiac Drift: 181

Overall, I am extremely pleased with my results. It is silly for me to think that I could have run this race without walking. It was so hot out there!! Now I am getting ready to watch/run with my hubby in his first 5K race ever, one week from today. I know you are going to do awesome. I can not wait to be there with you at the finish line:)