Race Report: Hot Chocolate 15K/NYC

Lanceandrew said:

I hit the 6 mile mark and the timer/volunteer guy says 40:02! I do the
math as I am racing and I'm thinking..."No F'ing way". I was astonished and
as I ran kept thinking....could that be right? It really blew my mind to
hear that time. At this point I'm thinking...."bring this mf'er home Lance".
I tried to get into an uncounsious zone where I could just run free....never
got there. Commencing at mile 7.5-8 many of the runner that train per the
book for this stuff started to pass me. No kidding. It's a rude awakening
when those that have trained properly demonstrate, illustrate in real
life...the value of proper training. Me?...bascially defenseless. These
people passing me have stores, theyre right where they expected to be at
this point in the race and have the reserves to pour it on....while I'm
trying to freakin' hold on.

So at mile 9....I give total effort and said to myself, "oh well"...just
anothe race. I finish, put on a decent kick and pass some folks....finsihed
with a 1:02:28, 6:43/mile. I wondered what in the hell happend to that 40:02
time pace? I can't believe I fell off the map to that extent.....and I
question that time-caller's accuracy.....and then started wondering if I

You held a pretty even pace for the first 6. Your average for the last 3.3
miles was a 6:48, only 5 seconds per mile slower than average. Not quite
negative splits, but it's still pretty close to an even pace. In terms of how
you paced yourself, this has got to be one of your better races. So I think
that your feeling that the wheels didn't fall off is justified, even though
you slowed down and dropped a few places.

I don't think running a few seconds positive hurts that much -- when you go out
a little fast, you end up in front of some people who were "meant to be" in
front of you, so it's not really a loss when they claim the position that was
theirs to begin with.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

Lanceandrew wrote in message
<[email hidden]>...

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snipped<
OK it's cold. I have on a NB coolmax longsleeve shirt, asics shorts, knit

cap

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& gloves, coolmax socks & my nb 700s flats. This race was at the boarder

line

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gear wise for me. 32F. Had it been 5 degrees or so cooler, I might have
worn a light jacket, perhaps a thermal top, perhaps tights. 5 degrees
warmer, i never would have had on the cap or gloves. this race started at

the

No wind? Did you really need the hat? Light gloves always seem necessary
to me below 50f, though at race pace I'd tend to take them off after a
little while (as you did).

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When I race I want to latch on to a rail. A familair comfort mechanism or
"zone trigger mechanism" to allow me to get into my "place" or "zone". All
Summer and Fall I trained w/ a Nike Runners cap on....right on my brow

making a

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slightly visiable arch (brim of the cap) allowing me to see 10-15m in front

of

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me and nothing else. This facilitated conjuring a hypnotic effect to

allow me

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to not be aware of anything (hills, weather, etc.) and just run free......

Zombie out! - I never thought of doing that intentionally, though it seems
to happen naturally after a while in longer races. I guess for redlining
stuff like that helps you focus.

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I did not wear a watch....

Curious why no watch?

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So at mile 9....I give total effort and said to myself, "oh well"...just

anothe

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race. I finish, put on a decent kick and pass some folks....finsihed with

a

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1:02:28, 6:43/mile. I wondered what in the hell happend to that 40:02 time
pace? I can't believe I fell off the map to that extent.....and I

question

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that time-caller's accuracy.....and then started wondering if I tossed my
cap/gloves too sone? I feel the race was a "8" - "8.5" for me. I did

clock a

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full minute lower than I did for the same race 2 years ago. When you're
over 40, and you beat a time you clocked in your 30's....you're Happy! So

all

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things considered....I'm feeling OK about this mornings race. I missed

some

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goals, I hit some goals, when the smoke cleared....it was an overall

"thumbs

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up" personally.

Looks like a great race to me and doesn't seem like you "fell off" much at
all. As for the guys who passed you; that's just their tactics, you ran a
more even race than they did. Why would tossing your cap/gloves too soon
slow you down - you got cold? I'd have tossed the hat and kept the gloves,
at least for a while. Nice improvement by a minute in the same race.

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It was a gorgeous day in Central Park. And today I did something I really
never have done before. After my finish....I positioned myself to watch,

root,

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and cheer on the other runners that were just now finishing. It's a hell

of a

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lot of fun to try and encourage someone 50 yards shy of the finish to put

on a

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kick! It really makes a differnce when total strangers cheer and root you
on....to be your best. I know that from experience, and simply felt a
responsibility to pass that along to another. I hope I did.

I did this at my 50k and 10 miler, and yea it's really great to cheer
others. At the 10 miler, I stayed and watched the first 30-40 marathon
finishers and that was cool, seeing the finish of the winner at 2:22 or
something, and the sub 3hrs runners. After my own recent marathon I was too
spent and cold to stand around at the finish.

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Amazing/Interesting Fact about todays race? Finishers?
Men – 1614 Women – 1618

Never have I seen I so even w/3000+ runners.......and more women then men!

That's a lot of runners damn! Nice job Lance.

-Tony

Good race, Lance. I ran the same one 2 years ago when I was in NYC on
vacation -- in fact I was just wearing the T-shirt a couple of days
ago. I was just a few weeks into my "get back in shape and lose weight
dammit" program; I think I finished in the neighborhood of 1:24.
Nowadays I'd be in your vicinity.

I remember it well; there was 8 inches of snow on the ground, and they
declared it a "fun run" because not all the streets were clear of ice.
It was cold enough that the cups of water at the aid stations were
freezing over. One of my favorite races ever.

You hit 6 miles at 6:40 pace and finished averaging 6:43, so you only
slowed up 9 seconds/mile over the last 3.3. Not bad really,
particularly since you weren't checking your splits along the way.

Thanks for the report!

--
Brian P. Baresch
Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Professional editing and proofreading

If you're going through hell, keep going. --Winston Churchill

hey tony. i feel knit cap was warranted at the freezing point, 32F simply to
retain body warmpth. about 75% of the competitive runners had on headgear (if
not a cap, a head band). also note this was the very first "cold" morning of
the season. i doubt many if any in the field of runners trained in similar
conditions, thus far. i think it's fair to say there's a big difference
between the first freezing (or below) day and the 30th, etc.

on the other point, i've been reading about sports psychology...and have tried
to adopt practices in this direction. lots of athletes employ tactics to
facilitate getting into their "zone, rhythm, stride, mental focus, etc."

tossing the gloves/hat thing? in reflecting on the race i just speculated if i
would of perhaps performed better had i kept those items on for the final 4
miles...in the sense that comfort produces better performance. i became aware
my head was cold perhaps 1 minute after tossing my cap and the fact that i had
awareness alone...makes me question if i should have simply left it on. i
created a physical and mental distraction for myself mid-race and it was
unnecessary. i thought i would be more comfortable without those items....i
was wrong. it certainly felt colder than 32F, that's for sure (again, probably
because it was the first running at a freezing temp this season).

imo "comfort" is imparative to produce optimum performance. the additional
weight of a certain shoe, gel-heel cushion, jacket, etc. is negated in whole
if it delivers you "comfort" and allows you to mentally focus and perform at
your optimum level. i know some runners that must have their sunglasses, or
runner's cap, or whatever. i guess basically as runners we don't want to be
distracted and everyone has their own recipe of running gear per the
conditions, to not be distracted (by the weather or distance, etc.)

Lance,

congratulations on a great race and also for beating the best time from
your previous decade. You also had near even splits, very cool! One
(tongue-in-cheek) question for you: were you running hard enough if you
had time to think about feeling uncomfortable after removing your cap
and gloves.

-Vimal