a pair of weekend road races in new york city

this weekend i ran a pair of short races: the nyrr team championships on saturday and the sgt. keith ferguson 5k over the brooklyn bridge on sunday. after the first, i ran another 6 miles to bring the total mileage up to 11 for saturday. on sunday i followed up the 5k with another 10 miles for a 13.1 mile day. i thought i'd post a combined race report/training diary for the weekend.

the 5 miler:

while i didn't have the leg speed to race this one, i was pretty sure i could bring it in under 35 minutes. my only plan for the race was to run 7 minute miles. it had been a low mileage week in terms of training miles, although i did run 6 miles (47:24) after work on friday night. 35 minutes would have been faster than my time last year (35:20), but it seemed doable.

after a 6:57 first mile i knew it would be a stretch. that wasn't because of cat hill waiting in mile 4, but because i put in too much effort for a 6:57 mile. while the second mile came in at 6:54, i was still working too hard for those splits. i slowed to a 7:09 in mile 3, for a 21:00 split. then cat hill took it's toll in mile 4 (7:30). i rallied back in the last mile with a 7:09 - and finished in 35:39, a 7:07 pace.

here are the splits:

6:57
6:54 13:51
7:09 21:00
7:30 28:31
7:08 35:39

7:07 pace

afterwards we cheered on the women's team. then we all relaxed with some post-race food, which included sandwiches and beer! when i got home i ran 6 more miles (48:20) that afternoon, at an 8:03 pace.

the 5k:

i really looked forward to the run across the brooklyn bridge the next morning. i was surprised to see how large the turnout was at city hall park! the race, held in honor of slain police officer keith ferguson, had over 600 finishers! the start was a bit iffy, with way too many people trying to squeeze through the narrow entrance to the bridge walkway. aside from that issue, the event was fantastic.

there were no mile splits, so it was difficult to gauge my pace. the morning was much more humid than it was on saturday, but there was a slight breeze mid-span. mentally, i was a little off because the course went to the end of the pedestrian walkway on the brooklyn side. i've always exited the bridge via the stairs leading to cadman plaze park - so the outbound leg seemed to go on, and on, and on!

i reached the turnaround in just over 10 minutes, which should have gotten me back over to the new york side in 20 minutes. but i struggled a little on the uphill to the first anchor. i passed a guy as we got off the bridge, but the course finished at the south end of city hall park. he passed me as we turned into the park and finished 3 seconds ahead of me. that was good enough to inch into 4th, while i took 5th, in our age group!

i was the 41st finisher with my 21:38, 6:58 pace. emmy finished right behind me in just over 22 minutes - and won her age group! when i got home i ran another 10 miles (1:20:26) later that afternoon, for a 13.1 mile day.

next up: the norwalk summer series 11 miler