Off the beaten Path

Waiting at the start line

Last weekend I spent a morning in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant for the annual Bed-Stuy Restoration Corp. 10k. It was the same day as the Staten Island Half which I ran last year but decided to skip and do something else and push the longer races into 2015. It was an interesting little race (around 400 runners) that zig-zagged through the Bed-Stuy neighborhood with start and finish at the Bed-Stuy Restoration Plaza. Getting there was a matter of taking the A or C train which dropped me right off at the start line. After the usual pre-race activities (picking up the race number, checking in the bag, do a warm-up mile or two, use the toilet) we went off to a great race. My strategy this time was to keep it calm and simple and try to get faster at the end. Somehow, though, I failed to do this once again and went out way too fast and the last third of the distance was run too slow. My goal was to ran the 10k in under 42 minutes (6:46 pace) but I managed to come in under 41 minutes instead, a nice 40:56 (6:36 pace). I wonder if I stayed with the first female finisher, who ran the race a lot smarter and kept on the slow side for the first three miles and then sped up, I would have done even better. Nevertheless, this was a new PR for me. I finished first in my age group of 40-44 and 16th total (out of 401 finishers). As award we got one of those tall trophies which doesn't fit nicely anywhere at home. I am thinking of planning my races according to what awards are given out at the end. I have to find a spot on the shelf in the living room somehow. Just kidding! But still...

Slowly running on empty

Here are the splits according to my Endomondo app:

1. 6:17
2. 6:34
3. 6:30
4. 6:32
5. 6:41
6. 6:44

Here it is!

The course was relatively flat and there were no sharp U-turns or some such. The NYPD blocked off just enough streets to make the race happen but sometimes a car squeezed in here or there but didn't really pose any problems.

Marathon season is coming up and I will be handing out medals at the NYC Marathon and also volunteer at the upcoming NYCRUNS Brooklyn Marathon in Prospect Park. My next few runs will be the Laurie Harris Hope and Dreams 5k, the Race to Deliver 4M, and last but not least the first installment of NYCRUNS Winter Running Series 5k. I am still waiting for the colder weather to come in but nonetheless, keep on running!