It’s interesting how quickly one falls back into a routine. Whereas I put days of thought into preparing for the Joe K 10K a few weeks ago, I sort of showed up to the Manhattan 7 Mile. I raced it – and I had a good race – but I spent my energy on the parts that mattered, and managed the rest so it didn’t require stress, which was nice.
The day before, I stretched and rolled a bit extra after my workout and ate a bit of extra rice at dinner. I used the checklist I’d put together for the Joe K 10K to make sure I had the necessary gear set out before I went to bed, commenting about how much easier a running race is to get ready for than a triathlon. I set two alarms for 5:30am and went to sleep, with minimal nerves keeping me awake.
After a decent night’s sleep, I woke up at 5:30, didn’t snooze (a struggle for me), and got up to make coffee and oatmeal. I grabbed a water bottle and headed off to the subway at 6:15.
I made my way to the A/C but found that I’d just missed one train and it’d be another 15 minutes before the next would show up. The E, however, was right there, so I decided to take it with plans to transfer to the B. I made the transfer a couple of stops later and was trying to relax and visualize my race when the conductor announced on my alleged B train that it would be switching to the E line. So, I hopped out, thanked myself for giving myself plenty of time, and grabbed a cab to the park entrance closest to the race village.
I made it just after 7 as the race tents opened so there weren’t lines. I grabbed my number, thanked the volunteer, located the bag drop area, and tried to find a reasonably sheltered spot to hang out while I finished my water and killed time until I wanted to relinquish my coat.
After a quick port-a-potty trip, I reluctantly gave the bag drop volunteers my coat. As I exited the bag drop area, security commented, “You don’t look warm,” to which I said, “I’m definitely not.” I had carefully checked the weather the night before and was optimized for 40 degree weather, with running tights, wool socks that covered most of my ankle below the pants, two long-sleeve shirts, one of which was a half zip (that I’d fully zipped), fleece gloves, a hat, and ear warmer. The sun was still working its way up, however, so I tried to focus on how pretty the sunrise was and tell myself that it just needed a few minutes then we’d be back on track with the forecast.
I started a slow-paced jog at a fast cadence and started to “warm” up. I made my way over to the start and identified my corral entrance, then meandered around the park for a while, jogging at first then doing some strides, dynamic stretching and the drills my coach had had me practicing the last few weeks. While doing so, I caught a glimpse of a building’s temperature display and understood why I felt cold. Instead of the expected 40 or so degrees, it read 29 at the beginning of my “warm”-up. Cue kicking of self for not having a thermal hat, my Buff, or warmer clothes. It was still only 30 when I finished my warm up and headed to the corral, but at least I could feel my hands again, and wasn’t almost painfully stiff.
I had timed things well, so was only in the corral for a few minutes before the national anthem was sung, the gun went off, and we started the truffle shuffle to the start from corral I. It was quite crowded, and remained thus for the first mile and a half or so, making it hard to fall into a good rhythm. I felt chilly and a bit on the stiff side as a result, making it a bit harder to not be irritated by all of the people. But I managed not to snarl at or bump into anyone, and suddenly I found myself at the second mile marker with my target heart rate and cadence.
In short, that’s how I spent the rest of the race. I hovered around 170bpm and 90 cadence aside from some spikes on hills and a dip to grab a sip of Gatorade in the third mile. I wouldn’t say I ever felt warm, but I didn’t feel as cold – which sort of balanced out to “motivating.”
I had to restrain myself to keep from stepping it up in the 5th and 6th miles. 170 felt like a push and I wanted some energy to kick it up at the end, so targeted the 10k marker to let loose. As I finally got there, I concluded that was a good plan, as I was digging deep to get into a faster pace at the end.
I crossed the finish line at a respectable pace, with an overall time of 1:04:18, only a few minutes over my time for the Joe K 10K. Between the relatively efficient start and my efficient pace, my parents, sister, and brother-in-law didn’t make it in time to see me cross the finish, but my partner did and we all went out to a nice brunch after at which I enjoyed a recovery hot chicken and savory pancake after some stretching in their waiting area.