[bap]

<p>I first broke the 8 minute barrier May 2005, running 2.9 miles at 7:59 pace at the age of 44.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
Most of my PRs were set in 2005 and 2006 but since then my progress has been stalled by injuries. My 4 mile PR of 29:36 stood from October 2006 to September 2010, when I unexpectedly set a 59 second PR.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
Since then I have knocked 2 1/2 minutes off my half-marathon PR, 18 seconds off my 1 mile PR and 37 seconds off my 5 mile PR.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
On Sunday, I ran the Race to Deliver in Central Park, a 4 mile inner loop of the park, with 5,228 others. That's a fairly modest turnout for a Central Park race these days.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
I was in the second corral as usual and got busy chatting to a friend. Unfortunately I didn't see the other 500 people enter the corral in front of us.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
We started at 8:30 and turned left on to the biggest hill on the course. It was impossible to run at my target pace due to the sheer number of runners.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
As we got to the first mile marker, the course started to clear out and I put my foot down.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
Mile 2 is relatively flat, ending with a left turn on the the 102nd Transverse. My pace felt suicidal as there are three long hills to deal with in mile 3.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But then I took the first hill in my stride and motored up the second hill where <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">m</span>y coach stood cheering. The next second he was running next to me, or rather just ahead of me.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
We passed the 3 mile marker as we topped the final hill. I looked at my watch. My coach told me to stop looking at my time and just race.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
At that point the fatigue set in. My coach kept pushing me. I was sucking for air and my legs were hurting. Trying to stay positive I blurted out "this is fun" at which point my coach berated me for wasting breath.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
He pushed and pushed as we headed downhill. I looked for people to race but my mind was all over the place. The last half-mile was relatively flat.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
"Just try and reach the last corner then pick it up to the finish."<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
I was grunting and moaning as we rounded the final corner. "Pick it up, pick it up". I wanted to hit him.. "I'm trying" I yelled. My head was bobbing from side to side. I had no idea as to what was going on around me.</p>
<p><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
As we finished I looked at my watch and patted my coach on the back. 27:44 (officially 27:45). He asked me what my previous PR had been and pointed out that I had beaten that on the official race clock.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
I ran 27:45 on a course where I have continually struggled to break 30 minutes!. Its first time I've run under 7 minutes per mile (for a race longer than 1 mile) in my life. I'm 49 for Pete's sake.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
My age group percentage was 68.9%, a 2% improvement on my previous best and a 5.3% improvement on my best (over a mile) as recently as August. If I can take off another 28 seconds I'll be classed as a regional elite. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I can't wait for my next birthday and a new AG <span><img alt="icon_compress.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/icon_compress.gif"></span><br><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
I'm still on a high, which is why I'm posting this report.<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';"><strong>Mile splits</strong><br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
7:28<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
6:50<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
6:50<br style="font-family:Verdana, Arial, 'San Serif';">
6:36</p>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>4 Mile Races 2010</strong></p>
<p> </p>
<div>2/20 - 33:26</div>
<div>4/11- 31:23</div>
<div>4/18 - 30:39</div>
<div>5/9 - 29:58</div>
<div>6/6 - 30:42</div>
<div>9/11 - 28:37</div>
<div>11/21 - 27:45</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Thanks!</div>
<p> </p>

 

[RunAsics]

<p>Congratulations!  Those are great looking splits!   With a flatter, less congested start you'd likely have been knocking on the door of that 70% age grade time.</p>

 

[jebba]

<p>Great job, bap!</p>

 

[CMJHawk86]

<p>Awesome job, BAP! As someone who ran the NYC Marathon a few weeks ago, and also was an imported "ringer" for a couple of summer corporate challenge races in Central Park way back in my college days, I can attest, that's no easy place to nail a PR, especially a big milestone one like you just got. Congratulations! <span><img alt="icon_thumleft.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/icon_thumleft.gif"></span></p>