Going from the plague... to Central Park!

Wow, that last post was a little intense, wasn't it?!  Yikes.  Thank goodness things have improved from that sad state of yuckiness!  Like any journey, things did go even more downhill with a 10 day illness, more snow, more freaking shoveling, and more work stress than most people could handle.  But now, my journey is starting to head back up!

After being sick for 10 days and running  total of 10 miles, I decided to still go ahead with the Central Park Half Marathon.  I was feeling close to 100% again but I was realistic.  My goal of finally going sub-1:50 would have to wait another day.  So I made up a new challenge.  Negative split the race.  Now, most people try and do this during every race, but I can't seem to.  The excitement of the start line, the crowds, the energy, and the pressure to achieve a certain time goal always influence my fast race starts.  But this time, I had no time goal.  I just wanted to pull off a 13.1 mile training run with a couple hundred buddies and get a cool medal at the end.  So my goal was to go out conservatively at an 8:45 pace and after Harlem Hill (the steepest hill of the course) around mile 8, see how I feel and go fast from there.  I have done a ton of 2 mile repeats in my training so I was crossing my fingers that I could go at a decent clip without dying.

I started off steady and focused.  My first 8 miles went like this:
8:50
8:37
8:43
8:47
8:48
8:57 (Cat Hill)
8:44
8:59 (the dreaded Harlem Hill)
I felt completely focused and strong and I was not exerting too much effort, except for the hills.  My HR was a little high for this pace, but I blame the plague I had. After HH, I was feeling really good so I went for it! Miles 9-13.1:
8:47
8:14
8:33 (Cat Hill for a second time!)
8:25
8:00

I had some nice descending miles going on minus the little (or large) blip of Cat Hill for a second time.  I just plain felt awesome.  My fastest mile was the very last and I seriously felt like I could have run a few more miles!  So I guess THAT is what it feels like to hold back the first half of the race.  It was a pretty awesome feeling to be passing so many people in those last miles.  I absolutely adore running in Central Park.  That is probably the thing I miss most since we've moved to the Jersey burbs.

It was a great feeling to be feeling great again as well as pulling off a strong race!  Now, my race schedule has changed a bit. I waited a tad too long to sign up for the Galveston 70.3 in April and it sold out. Doh!  So now my hubby is still going to Texas to visit our friends in Houston and I'm making it a solid training weekend down the shore by my parents. I'm hoping to bike on the CAC course on the Saturday and then run the AC April Fool's Half Marathon on Sunday. I'm excited to try and break my sub-1:50 goal on what's sure to be tired legs.  Bring it!!