This race is a new addition to the NYRR calendar. (I feel compelled to state that it drives me absolutely bonkers that they called it “the first-annual NYRR Retro 4-Miler.” “First annual” is not a thing. The word is inaugural. Geez.)

Anyway, I’m really not into the whole themed races craze; lots of people actually did wear retro running clothes, and some went to quite a bit of trouble to procure said clothes.  Me?  I wore my brand-new short-sleeved PPTC shirt, the one that’s never been worn before.  Flouting convention.

But my point here is that I wasn’t lured into this by some cutesy theme.  I registered for this race solely to get in another marathon qualifier.  At the time, I figured it would be hot and humid (it is June, after all, even though right now it feels more like April), and I’d rather PR at the 15K in Toronto next weekend, so I had no intention of racing this.  And then I looked at the forecast.

I mean, come on!  That’s basically a PR on a silver platter.  Perfect temperature, sunshine, low humidity, barely any wind.  I’ve never actually run a Central Park 4-miler in decent conditions — it’s always either frigid or steamy.  Unfortunately, my knee didn’t seem to care that a PR was pretty much being plonked into my lap (and my right shin got in on the party as well), because it’s been really freaking painful for the past few days.  Not that my 5K PR three days ago might have anything to do with that… but yeah.  Based on that 5K PR, I can supposedly run four miles at a 7:09 pace.  Knowing that I loathe Central Park (those damn mile three West Side hills!), I decided to aim for 7:15 instead.  That is, if my legs decided to let me attempt a PR on race day.

Here’s a surprise: the third mile was not my slowest!

The first mile was pretty congested, but I was fairly certain that I ran it faster than I did at the Gridiron Classic (where I last ran a 4-mile PR).  Mahesh pulled up next me somewhere around the first mile marker, and we were pretty much keeping pace with each other until we hit mile three… AKA, those West Side Hills.

Honestly, by now, I think it’s mostly mental — I get to the hills, and my brain goes, oh, the West Side hills, I can’t do this, and it halfway gives up.  I did know that I was on pace for a PR by about ten seconds at that point — I reached the second mile marker at 14:41 on my watch — so I let Mahesh go without bothering to try and keep up.  Those hills slay me every time.  One day I will get even.  One day.

The fourth mile was pretty much spent calculating whether or not I’d be able to pull off a PR.  Which is silly, in retrospect, given that I did PR by quite a significant margin, but math never was my strong suit!

Final Garmin stats: 4.04 miles in 29:22, 7:16/mi pace.  So I guess, unofficially, I did sort of meet my goal of running a 7:15 pace.

Officially?  Not so much.  4 miles in 29:19, 7:20/mi pace.  878/5101 OA, 82/2249 F, and 19/496 F30-34.  Not only did I finally get the coveted 65% AG%, that’s also my highest-ever AG placement in an NYRR race!  (Actually, that’s not quite true; I was 18th at the 2013 NY Giants Run of Champions 5K.  But that doesn’t really count, since nobody wants to schlep all the way out there for a race; the competition is not really comparable to that of a Central Park race.)  That’s a 25-second PR, and I improved my NYRR bib pace by six seconds, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t the tiniest bit annoyed that I ran twenty seconds slower than I wanted to.

And I really should shut up and stop being such an ingrate, because it’s nothing short of miraculous that I managed to PR at all, given the non-cooperation from my body.

Couple of thoughts: this was a men’s points race.  It’s extremely odd that such a large percentage of the field was female.  Also, one of the cutesy little “retro” touches was supposed to be that instead of clocks at the mile markers, there would be someone calling out splits.  I guess that was partly true — there was someone sitting at the first mile marker (I didn’t notice anyone at the rest of them), calling out the time using a megaphone.  But there was also a clock.  So.  That was a bit weird.

You are really funny, you would give Tommy from GoodFellas a run for his money.

Nice race, you managed to run your target time (7:16) without actually running it. I know you do not want to hear it I will say it again; you are having a great year racing!

Congrats on the terrific AG placement in this "First Annual" race.

Congrats!  Come on!  We all knew you would try to PR!

Love your RRs.  Always fun to read.

Nice job, blue!

That is a really nice AG placement, well done.

I'm confused, NJ is far but Toronto is not?

Also, the vast majority of races here have someone calling out times at a mile marker if they bother with splits at all.  We must be retro or backward in "upstate", lol.

LRB -- I never denied that!  I'd just rather be uninjured, is all.

Ginny, Jerry, PAD, Docket, Baboon, kristin, music_girl -- thanks!

wcrunner -- don't even get me started. 

Jay -- they're in different contexts!  And Toronto is far; I'm kind of annoyed about it, actually.  But I need a 15K.

Congrats, you are fast.