Race Report: Gridiron 4 Miler, February 3, 2019

I ran the Gridiron 4 Miler this morning, finishing in 25:16, which was good enough for the age group win and a new PR. 

(It's worth noting that my old PR from a few years back was 26:35 -6:39 pace, or slower than my half-marathon PR pace.  And I tempo 4 miles in 25 minutes and change when I'm in shape.  So PR-ing this morning wasn't all that surprising....)

The race was held in New York City, in Central Park.  So why would I head all the way up there for a 4 miler?  Well, there aren't very many 4 mile races these days, and I've also always wanted to do a Central Park race.  This race had a start time of 9 am, which made it very doable as a day trip if I took the 3:15 am train.  

When I tell people I'm taking the 3:15 am train, they look at me like I'm crazy.  Honestly, it's not bad at all.   Go to bed between 6:30-7 pm, with one's bag already packed and clothes laid out.  Roll out of bed at 2 am, get dressed, brush teeth, and drive to train.  

By 3:30 am, I'm asleep again on the train, sprawled across two seats with a blanket and an eye mask.  I then wake at 6:10 am have breakfast (which I packed) and brush my teeth again, and step off the train at 6:40 am into Penn Station.  It's not the best quality sleep, but the quantity (nearly 10 hours) balances it out, and I don't feel sleep deprived at all.

Once in NY, I grabbed the 2 train uptown, to go to 116th St in Harlem and my home-for-the-day - Blink Fitness 116th St.  

I'll digress here to note that only in NYC does one have to ignore the signs for the 2 train and go to the 1 train platform instead.  Why?  Because the 2 train routes to the 1 platform for "late night" service, and apparently this is common sense and obvious and everyone knows this.  Except me.  Because I come from a land where trains always use the platforms labeled for them.

Also, only in NYC is 6:55 am considered "late night."

Once at Blink Fitness, I bought a day pass for $15.  Took me all of 30 seconds to buy the day pass, plus another 2 minutes to confirm that I was paying $15 for a day pass, instead of committing to $15 a month for a membership.  

Did some stretching and locked my bag in a locker (keeping my driver's license, credit card, and cash on me - I always figure that no matter what happens, if I have those three things on me, I can get home).  Then I jogged the mile to the start in northern Central Park.

***

Bib pick-up was quick and easy.  A slight hiccup when I noted they had placed me in corral A, and not at the front in AA.  I tried to convince them to move me up, but they didn't care about any non-NYRR races I had run.  Oh well, it wasn't worth fighting too much for, since I probably wasn't quite in good enough shape to start up there anyways.

The good news was that they weren't handing out shirts until after the race, so I didn't have to use bag check.  That was 10 minutes saved.

More jogging, plus some 45 second pick-ups.  One interesting thing I noted was how hard it was to find an area to warm-up.  Every possible route was patrolled by volunteers who would point in a random direction to indicate where I should warm up (usually the opposite of where I had been headed.  So... I'd head that direction, and run afoul of another volunteer.  Eventually, via ping-ponging along East Drive, I was able to get an adequate warm-up.  Then, into my corral - A (*sniff*).

***

The gun/horn/whatever went off, and after a few seconds I crossed the line.  Though I've run in Central Park a few times over the years, it's always been at easy pace, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I knew there would be hills, including the OMG Cat Hill in the third mile.  But I didn't know how bad they would be.  So... I went out conservatively (a fair bit of crowding in the first mile helped here).  Then I started to build - working the downhills and holding steady and positive on the uphills.  I didn't feel all that sharp, but I did feel strong - like the marathoner I've been for the last umpteen months.

As I ran, I noted (smugly) that several of the women in the AA corral were with or just ahead of me.  Shallowness can be very helpful sometimes - I decided I was going to beat as many of them as I could.

The course was a very simple one, basically a big square with rolling hills throughout.  I knew that OMG Cat Hill was in the 3rd mile, and that was where I really started racing.  From there, I smoothly hammered home.  Well - as best I could.  I just lacked a top gear.  

The finish line snuck up on me, and I didn't see it until shortly before I finished.  I'd like to pretend I could have kicked harder with a bit more warning, but the truth is that I doubt I could have.  I finished the race feeling like I could have held on for at least another mile, but couldn't have gone faster.

Not surprising - again, I think that's all that marathoning.  I've experienced the same thing in my recent workouts, where 6:4x at the end of a long run didn't feel too challenging, but 3 minute 800s were very hard.  That should change with several more weeks of focused training.

***

Afterwards, I jogged back to Blink Fitness, sent a few texts, changed shoes and removed my bib, and headed back out for a Central Park cooldown on a glorious Sunday morning.  Then back to the gym for injury prehab, foam rolling, and a shower, followed by Chipotle (plus black beans and hot sauce, since this was post-race), a stop at Midtown Comics, a NY Sunday Times purchase, and the 1:15 pm train home.  Really, a very fun day.

Splits were:
Mile 1: 6:33 (started watch a bit early, I think, but still a bit too cautious).  Starting slow is important, but this was a bit too slow for this short a race)
Mile 2: 6:16
Mile 3: 6:24 (OMG Cat Hill)
Mile 4: 6:05

As I noted above, I won my age group, and was 4th master behind three women in their 50s.  I am making a considered choice to take inspiration from this.  And am choosing to conclude that if I continue to train patiently and intelligently and with a long term mindset, I have more PRs at all distances ahead of me in the coming years.


I'm also really happy with how I executed this race.  Yes, I'm out of shape, and this is still out of sync with my other PRs.  And, I was probably too cautious in the first mile.  At the same time, I ran a coldly calculating, strategic race, free of the OMG-this-sucks-why-do-I-do-this that I often wrestle with in my first race or two post-break.  So that was nice.  The fitness will continue to come, and this was a good step back.
***

Other notes:
-We had great weather - mid 30s and sunny.  Some wind, but not really a factor.
-Debated what to wear, and went with longsleeve and light tights.  A few years ago, this would have been shorts/sportsbra weather, but my cold tolerance seems to have changed as I've aged.  I was a bit worried that I would feel overdressed, but I felt just fine - it was the right choice.
-Once again, very happy I did this as a day trip.  The 2 am wake-up sucks, but doesn't detract from my race, since I sleep so well on the train.  And it's really nice to be able to race in New York without giving up my whole weekend by traveling up the day before.  The only risk is missing my race if the train gets delayed en route.  So...if I really cared about the race, I'd likely go up the day before.  But the early train isn't bad overall, and is less draining than an hour+ drive.
-My 4 mile PR is still at a slower pace than my 10K PR.  I need to find a 4 mile race when I'm fit (easier said than done).
-Wrote this report on the cell phone.  Again.  I'm sure there are typos and other errors, and I doubt I'll get around to correcting them.  My blog, my sloth.