New 10K PR!!!!

I just got back from the NYRR Joe Kleinerman 10K in Central Park. I busted up my old stand alone 10K PR by 2:28 for a new time of 44:54. I wanted to break 45 mins today and I GOT IT!


Splits:
Mile 1: 7:23
Mile 2: 7:12
Mile 3: 7:02
Mile 4: 7:15
Mile 5: 7:25 (that mile HURT!)
Mile 6: 7:04
Last .2: 1:30

Course:

The course was one full lap of the park in the counter clockwise direction plus a bit extra. Mile 1 was on top of the Harlem Hills, so getting in a good warm up was key. I ran from 83 & Lex all the way to the park and around the top of the park and a bit extra to the start. I guess I did a broken 30 minute warm up with one good hill. I am glad I did this hill at the beginning of the race instead of the end (a bit of foreshadowing here...)

After mile 1 I was on cruise control until about mile 3 when I didn't feel so great anymore. The effects of going hard were catching up with me. It was mostly mental now. I just tried to put my mind elsewhere. Hitting the mile 4 marker helped me fantasize about PR'ing every distance from 10K and shorter. (which I think I did for the 4 and 5 mile distances).

Unfortunately mile 5 just killed me. There is this hill just past 72nd street & The Boathouse that is one of those hills that isn't steep, it isn't short but it also isn't long. It is just at that right pitch and length that it doesn't let up. I could hardly breath by the top and I knew my pace for this mile was shot. The 7:25, the slowest mile of the race, showed it.

Fortunately after this hill it is basically flat to the finish. I was able to recompose and redeem myself with that 7:04 mile 6 split. At mile 6, I looked at my watch and saw something like 43:3X. I knew it was going to be a close call if I wanted to hit my goal of breaking 45 mins in the 10K. I honestly think I wasn't going to do it. When I turned the corner onto the transverse, the finish was right there and I had a few extra seconds to spare.

Overall the race sucked! haha! No no no, the time was awesome, but 10K's just suck in general because they HURT! They are the most F-ing painful distance in my opinion, or else I need to run some more 5K's. With a 10K you just gun it from the start and hold on for dear life to the finish, since its going to be over before you know it. THAT is why it hurts because it is a redlining paced race that you wish would end about 10 mins sooner.

But 10K's are also a good measure of fitness, in my opinion. It shows how much volume you have, BUT also your speed work, since it is basically a 45 min sprint, in my case.

I think this is why I prefer the Half Marathon distance the most. You don't have to be breathing hard, but yet you can still hit the gas.

The 2010 Season is officially over for me. Kinda symbolic that it ended in the SAME EXACT place is started @ East 96th Street in the park last January 9th. After becoming injured after Timberman and scrapping the NYC Marathon, I wanted one last hurrah! before 2011 started. This was it, and it was a good one. I feel like 2010 was a complete season.

Now let the DOMS show up in 36 hours! haha!