this race report is on the edge of belated, but i finally had a chance to finish it up this morning. one memorable thing about this edition of the bronx 10 miler is what it isn't - namely the 2012 race! last year i ran the race less than 48 hours after my house had been struck by lightening. needless to say, at that point racing, much less running, wasn't foremost on my mind. in fact, don and emmy picked me up for the drive down to the bronx from white plains - where my family and I had taken up short term residence at a hotel!
so when don and emmy met me at my house for the drive in this time around, it was already a 100% better outcome than the previous year :D in addition, this time around i wasn't struggling with the foot pain associated with the chronic compartment syndrome. given those two big positives, i'd have no problem running the 10 miles faster than my 1:21:52 finish in 2012. my 1:20 time goal may have even been too soft given the 1:18:20 finish at the westport 10 miler at the end of august. given that, my goal was to run a sub-7:50 pace and beat my westport time.
my first mile was a solid 7:28 - but with crowded start, i spent most of it trying to get into a groove and avoid other runners. by way of comparison, my first mile at westport was a gravity assisted 7:04 on the downhill. that race would ultimately see the heat and humidity take it's toll on the second half of the race. while i would run essentially a similar split for the first 5 miles of both races, the second 5 miles unfolded very differently! in fact, after a 7:15 second mile and a 7:29 mile 3, my 22:13 split equaled my westport 22:12 at the 3 mile mark.
by mile 5, when we were at cuny's lehman college my 37:38 split was just 14 seconds behind my 37:24 at westport. and that's where the similarities ended. instead of marked slowdown in the next couple of miles (8:34 & 8:31) in westport (a combination of the hills and humidity), i was able to maintain an even pace. my slowest miles of the race were a 7:49 mile 5 and a 7:47 in mile 6. the weather and hills weren't a issue in the bronx.
at 7 miles, with a 53:06 split, i was confident that if i kept it together for the last 3 miles, i'd come in under 1:20 and ahead of my westport finish. but, just when i imagined i was going faster - i ran a 7:40 8th mile. that was not only not faster than mile 7 (7:39), but a second slower! i don't know what had happened to my ability to perceive pace - but i suddenly had a vision of cher slapping nick cage in "moonstruck" and shouting "snap out of it!"
i don't know if it was cher, or some handy reserves that i was able to tap into, but i managed a pair of 7:20's (7:21 & 7:22) for the final two miles. my watch read 1:15:30 - and i was pleasantly surprised to learn that my official chip time was 1:15:27 (both equal a 7:33 pace). i was very happy with that finish! but, not leaving well enough alone, i soon began to wonder how i managed to "lose" 30 seconds over miles 5-8 and let a sub 1:15 finish slip away :O
another reason i was happy with my finish was that wrapped up my 9+1 requirement. now i have guaranteed entry for the 2014 nyc marathon! in fact, i'll actually finish out the year with at least 2 more scored races (the staten island half this month and the marathon next month). all in all, i had a a great time at this edition of the bronx 10 miler.
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