Ran the Joe Kliernman 10k today, which is an outer loop of central park. I lingered a bit too long before getting to the starting line and the corals were closed, so I was forced to go to the back of the pack. As this is my first 10k after a recent successful marathon, I tried not to stress — surely I wouldn’t let my sprits drop by having to fight my way to a reasonable pace!
Alas, although my sprits never dropped, my race never recovered. My splits were 7:24, 7:00, 6:36, 6:41, 6:43, 6:33. I finished with a 43:03. Based on McMillan, I should have done 6:40s throughout for a 41:30. Based on the end of the race I think I had it in me.
It’s frustrating because there’s no way to push through a crowd of 800 or so people to others running the pace I want to be running. It’s just grin and bear it. The good news is that now I’ve got a sub-7 minute time with New York Road Runners so next race I’ll be in the first coral. If I can manage to get out of the porta-potty in time!
I’m part of the Taconic Road Runners, a great local running club. We did well today. I’m not a competitive person. Really. I just want to do better for the team!
Leave a Reply