This morning I did the NYRR's Annual Father's Day Race Against Prostate Cancer 5-Miler in Central Park. I finished in 34:03, meaning my average miles were 6:48s, a new record for me for this year.

Apparently you can see video of my finish on the 7online website. Click here for the video. I'm in the first video, finishing around the 34:23 mark. My finish begins around 12:03 in the video. I'm toward the left of the screen and I put my hands up in the air when I finish. I'm in a white top with fluorescent yellow stripes and black shorts.

Although the weather was damp after a rainy early morning and the humidity was 97%, the 63-degree weather did not feel all that bad. In fact, it felt pretty good. And my body felt pretty good, too, at least to the touch. My mood in the beginning of the race, however, was less than ecstatic, but that didn't phase me since I've been reading Alberto Salazar's book on running and his co-author usually set personal records those mornings he felt horrible.

The really good feelings came when the race began. The air came into my lungs easily, I happened to luck out and end up in an open area of the pack where I could sprint a little bit, and I was wearing a new pair of running shoes that were completely different than the ones I've been training in the last few years. These shoes were the Mizuno Wave Rider 12. By comparison with my Wave Creation 11's, the Riders are very, very lightweight! They were so lightweight that I think this made an enormous difference in my running today. I was not weighted down by the heaviness of the 11's, which I didn't ever think about before. I was quickly passing people in the beginning of the race. With a lighter shoe and a consciousness of how the little things can affect my finish time when it comes to doing a marathon, I started to see how having a lighter shoe was valuable for me. In fact, I also have some new, even lighter shoes by Mizuno that are not even out yet! (My brother works for Mizuno and he sends me shoes to try out.) I need to try those shoes out to see if my time dips even more!

I'd never run a 5-mile race before and I wasn't exactly sure how to field it. Before the race, I thought hard about where I'd expend my energy in the course. When it came to the race, I ran better than I had imagined, really pushing myself to sprint on several occasions. My second mile was sizeably faster than my first, possibly because of some downhills that I sped a bit on. But more of note to me was that I was deciding to sprint on some of the uphills! I think the lighter shoes played a big role in motivating that.

I ended up with a finish time that was a lot, lot better than I had thought I would get. I figured I'd be between 35:00 and 36:00. I hadn't run Thursday or Friday, and Saturday I did a somewhat wimpy workout on the treadmill, but also did some weights and 3x of 200 yards up a small hill on my block. I had green tea supplements before the race but no food other than some sugar-free licorice. I wasn't really thinking, esp. with the subpar weather, that I'd make any records this morning. "It's gotta be the shoes..."

All in all, a very good job by me. I saw that my age grade improved, which makes me feel great. I'm looking forward to seeing how lighter shoes affect my times. Oh, and I should also say that I had no ankle problems today. I went to see Dr. Stark, my sports medicine doctor, on Friday for a chronic ankle problem that happens usually only at the very start of running, a stabbing pain in my right ankle that almost makes me fall flat on my face. A year ago he'd called it "anterior capsule impingement," but I don't think that diagnosis really means much. He doesn't think it's much to worry about. I do some jumps pre-race in hopes of warming up the joint and that seems to help. Today, I tried the jumps with more of a flat foot than a pointed foot. Never had any threat of the condition today; I was wondering if the flat-footed jumping helped me.

Just after finishing, I asked a Warren Street runner named Ming who had finished just before me what he does. He had passed me a couple times in the race but I would catch him after catching him walking. He finished strong and faster than me, which made me curious how he could run so fast but also get in walking. He said he did hill repeats of Cat Hill. He would start at the Boathouse and go all the way to the Obelisk, jogging back. He'd do that 8x. My Cat Hill sprints would terminate at the cat statue. I have a feeling Ming has an idea that would be very good for me to try in my pursuit of a qualifying time for Boston.

NYRR's Annual Father's Day Race Against Prostate Cancer
5-mile (8K) Race
Finished: 34:03
Pace: 6:48

 

 
June 24, 2009 (Wednesday)

Woohoo! Just heard that I booked a print modeling gig for next week. The client is Humira.

 

 
June 26, 2009 (Friday)

This evening I worked as a subway passenger on the film Remember Me.