I'm not a big fan of the New York Road Runners races in Central Park.  Don't get me wrong--they do a fine job.  It's just that the races are SO CROWDED!  That said, I have to confess I thoroughly enjoyed today's City Parks Foundation Run for the Parks 4-miler.

As of yesterday morning, I had no plans to run this race.  I had planned on running the Sybil Ludington 50K yesterday, but decided against that after injuring my calf at the BUS 6-Hour Run a couple of weeks ago and having the pain return at last week's Scotland Run 10K.  Instead of running Sybil, I ran 9 miles with the club yesterday morning with a plan to head down to 91st Street for a massage afterwards.  However, I felt so good after the run that I decided to stop at the NYRR clubhouse on 89th Street and register for the race.  Damn those endorphins!  Registration was quick and painless.  Admittedly, the last thing I need is another uninspired white poly/cotton race T-shirt but I was thrilled to be assigned to the second corral (#1726) for the first time!   

I prefer to use public transportation whenever practical, but it makes more sense on Sunday mornings to drive into Manhattan.  I made it down in less than 20 minutes and found a spot right away on 74th Street & Fifth Avenue, just two blocks from the park entrance closest to the race.  I had plenty of time to walk up to 90th Street and jog back down to the start as a warm-up.  After dropping my bag at the bag check and visiting the surprisingly uncrowded portable facilities, I made my way over to the start.  I spotted fellow VCTCer Rick Bloomer in the corral and joined him for the race start.  As I planned to limit my pace to no faster than 7:20 per mile due to my injury and Rick was looking to break 7 minutes per mile, I knew we wouldn't see each other after the race's start.  But it was still nice to start the race with another club member.

For most races, I set an ideal goal and a more practical but satisfactory goal.  Ideally, I would break 30 minutes or a consistent 7:20-7:30 pace for the race, a remote possibility given my injury.  Practically, I hoped to break 32 minutes and set a new PR for the distance.  I made it through the first mile in 7:29 with no pain.  Even though the temperature was only 54 degrees, I was starting to warm-up quickly.  Given that I was only wearing shorts and a singlet, the only way I can run cooler is by whittling away at that last 8-10 pounds of fat I am carrying around.  I made it through the second mile in 7:26 feeling physically fine if uncomfortably warm.  By this point, fellow VCTCers Beni Veraz and Dominic Lombardo had flown by me.  While I'm competitive enough to dislike being passed by anyone, I do get a boost when I see other club members out on the course.

In my mind, the second half of the race going down the west side of the park is all downhill.  The reality is bit different.  It seems that the older I get, the more hills there are on this course.  There was enough uphill in that third mile for me to start feeling some discomfort in my calf, but no real pain.  I clocked that mile in 7:58, 22:53 for the first three miles.  At that point, I knew I couldn't possibly break 30 minutes but could break 31 minutes if I held on to an 8:00 pace.  After cresting the final real hill near the reservoir, I was confident I'd do this.  I hoped to have a final kick in me as I neared the finish line.  However, the combination of the warm temps and some overall stiffness from having not run the previous week precluded that.  (I had only managed a slow 3 mile jog between the Scotland Run and the Saturday morning group run.)  I finished the last mile in 7:53 for an overall time of 30:46 or 7:42 per mile, a PR for 4 miles!

After crossing the finish line, I was suddenly winded, a bit dizzy and very nauseous.  I had to head over to a lamppost to support me for a minute while I caught my breath and waited for the nausea to pass, which it did quickly.  I then made my way towards the bandshell, picked-up a free Zico coconut water and met-up with Rick, Dominic, Beni and Ed James, another (long-time) VCTCer.  Along the way, a photographer from Zico took pictures of Rick and myself holding up our bottles of coconut water in our VCTC singlets.  Look for us on their website.  Finally, the post-race raffle prizes were round-trip tickets on JetBlue to anywhere they fly.  I had already decided that I would use my free ticket to fly to Puerto Rico next February for the 50th running of the San Blas Half Marathon.  The day was going so well, I was sure I would win.  I didn't.  But overall, it was definitely a winning morning.  Kudos to the 10 other club members (Rick, Dominic, Beni, Ed, Carlos Lopez, Ramon Ruiz, Edith Jones, Hannah Lipman, Fernando Ruiz, and Sal Carretta) who were out there with me.