Race Results [updated]
So, I did it. 13.1 miles, my longest run yet, and easily my hardest race, but for different reasons than I expected. My final time: 2:38:40.
The first half of the race was fantastic. I ran at a comfortable pace, and the hills of Central Park that I'd been so worked up about didn't seem like a big deal. Around the five-mile marker, I developed a side stitch that I couldn't shake, so I walked it off for a stretch. Still, I had energy to spare, and was looking forward to picking up the pace once the hills were behind me.
Somewhere between mile six and seven, my left knee began to hurt. The pain grew steadily worse, but I ran through the pain, even though I knew I'd be hobbling for the next few days. I briefly considered throwing in the towel, but in the end, I threw out my goal time and focused on finishing. If I couldn't run, I'd walk. If I couldn't walk, I'd crawl, but I wasn't going to quit.
My Sport Kit continues to over-report my mileage, though not quite as much as before: my iPod claims I ran 13.86 miles, about 5.8% more than the 13.1 mile course. Also, there seems to be a rather substantial discrepancy between the final graph and my official splits:
I'm assuming this difference--and perhaps the distance overage--is due to the hilly nature of the front half of the course. I see now what happened: split times are based off of gun time, not the time I pass the starting line. This skewed my first split by nearly ten minutes. This makes sense now. (I knew I was pacing myself, but I didn't think I was running that slowly.)
The first half of the race was fantastic. I ran at a comfortable pace, and the hills of Central Park that I'd been so worked up about didn't seem like a big deal. Around the five-mile marker, I developed a side stitch that I couldn't shake, so I walked it off for a stretch. Still, I had energy to spare, and was looking forward to picking up the pace once the hills were behind me.
Somewhere between mile six and seven, my left knee began to hurt. The pain grew steadily worse, but I ran through the pain, even though I knew I'd be hobbling for the next few days. I briefly considered throwing in the towel, but in the end, I threw out my goal time and focused on finishing. If I couldn't run, I'd walk. If I couldn't walk, I'd crawl, but I wasn't going to quit.
My Sport Kit continues to over-report my mileage, though not quite as much as before: my iPod claims I ran 13.86 miles, about 5.8% more than the 13.1 mile course. Also, there seems to be a rather substantial discrepancy between the final graph and my official splits:
- 5K:
14:09/mi.11:06/mi. - 10K: 10:56/mi.
- 15K: 12:33/mi.
- 20K: 13:31/mi.
Comments
Cheers,
Limey Dan.