Italy Run 5M Race Report - and my 9+1 goal

 

Hey! Yesterday, I ran the Italy Run 5 Miler, one of NYRR's races in Central Park. Except for the humidity, the day was nice and I felt pretty good on the Central Park hills. 

I didn't randomly decide to run this, though. Earlier in the year, I gained back a spark of ambition and declared to Alex that I'd like to try running the New York City Marathon next year. Since I'm a slow runner, my only guaranteed way to do enter is through NYRR's 9+1 program, where you run nine qualifying races and volunteer once. After I complete the 9+1, I will be able to register for the marathon next year. 

 

With that, I planned out all the races that fit into my schedule. From now until December, I will be running around one race every month. It just so happens that I have two more later this month, which I'm excited about. 

As for the Italy Run, here's the mile split breakdown: 

Total Watch mileage/time/pace: 5.09 - 46:39 - 9:10

Total Race mileage/time/pace: 5 - 46:37 - 9:20

Because of all the weaving that occurs in the slower corrals, my watch has slightly higher mileage than the official course. Once the first mile split went off, I realized I forgot to turn off auto lap, since I want an accurate pace that reflects the course mile markers. As such, these splits are off by about .04 miles from the official split.

Mile 1: 9:37
This mile in in the direction of Cat Hill, so I knew better not to push the pace. I didn't warm up beforehand, so I made sure this mile felt comfortable. And honestly, with how crowded it was, I feel like it'd have been impossible to go faster without running into people.

Mile 2: 9:25
My second goal was to pay attention to my effort. There are a few hills in this course, so I didn't want to run too fast for me early in the race only to slow down during the end. I continued feeling good here and my pace quickened a bit.

Mile 3: 8:58
I was handling the hills very well. I wasn't slowing down considerably on the uphill, and I managed to run down smoothly, yet conservatively, based on my effort and breathing. I credit my leg's ability to handle the hills with the elevation gain of the recent hikes I've been on.

Mile 4: 9:19
While i was hoping to keep this split closer to 9, there were a few more hills here, so I wasn't upset by it. I haven't raced in forever, nor have I done any speed work, so race pace is a foreign concept to me right now.

Mile 5: 8:39
Even though these splits were off from the official mile splits, I was still happy that I had the energy left to put out a quick final mile. I passed a lot of people during this mile, whereas I would usually be one of the runners slowing down.

Mile .09: 0:39.37
This was the last little tidbit, according to my watch. Hopefully I remember to turn off auto lap next time.