Fifth Avenue Mile - 9/26/09

Well, it took a long time but I finally ran my first Fifth Avenue Mile (9/26/09). While I always wanted to do it in the past, it usually falls on the same day as another race I am doing or interferes with training and I am afraid to mess up my legs or pull something in this very quick race. This year, the race weekend was clear and I wasn't training, so I decided to go for it. Everyone always talks about how fun it was, and I finally wanted to take a crack at it and see what I could do.

I didn't know what to expect, and didn't really have any gameplan. I don't think I have ever run a timed mile in my life (other than maybe in high school gym class), and I was curious to see what I could do a mile in. I made sure to get a proper warm up in beforehand so that my body was good and warm leading up to the race. The big thing about running longer races is the fact that I have the time to ease into the distance and not feel the need to go full throttle right away. That was what I was afraid of for the mile - having to get up to top speed instantaneously and not being sure if my body was ready for that jolt or not. I ran 3 mile warmup beforehand. I was hoping for 4 miles but 3 was good enough.

Not knowing what the inclines were going to be like or how my body would react, I went out a bit conservatively, since I didn't want to pull anything and I knew that the first half of the race was going to be uphill after speaking with several people at the start line. Once the gun went off, the blocks just flew by and before I knew it the race was half over and I was feeling pretty good. There is a definite incline during the first 800 meters, but not anything more than we are all used to running in Central Park. I didn't realize that the race would go by this fast. It is basically a sprint the entire way and you just need to hold on.

I saw that I was on pace for about 6:20-30 at the halfway point, which is slower than I expected. I guess I went out a bit too conservatively, but hey, this was my first time doing this and I'd rather go out too slow than too fast and flame out in the second half. Someone shouted out that the rest of the race was downhill, so I took off and was able to continually switch gears until the end of the race. Not sure if the time is calculated as a gun or net time, I saw on the clock as I approached the finish line that I was closing in on 6:10, but then I looked at my watch and saw 6:00 and a few seconds. Although I had no real goal, it was cool to think that I had a chance at going sub 6:00. It was not meant to be - I got 6:00 on the dot. It is a great time for me though and this year's race gave me a feel as to the nuances of the course and gave me a goal to go after next year. I think I could go out faster in the beginning half of the race and then I would just need to hold on. That is the game plan for next year. Sub 6:00 is definitely within reach.

It was fun race and cool to see all of my other teammates running as well. I was glad to finally get to do the race and hopefully I'll do it again in the near future as long as there are no races close by.