Race #6 -- another personal best

Hit an new personal best last weekend for the 10K. I completed the race at a pace of 8:43, just a few seconds faster than my pace for the 4-mile. This is a good thing and I am very proud of myself!

I had an unusual moment of clarity at the starting line as the wheelchair athlete took off. Here we were, thousands of healthy people, all gathered on a crystal clear Manhattan morning in the playground of New York. And after all the pomp and blathering from the sponsors (in this case the United Arab Emirates) we all stood still and applauded for an impaired person, I don't know if it was a man or woman, who took to the course in a wheelchair. You can't help but get a little choked up every time you witness this.

On Sunday, I did an aggressive 20-mile ride around the park at 18.8mph. With the exception of some rough chafing on my chest, I felt very good afterwards.

I am looking out the window at a cold, damp cloudy day, getting chills as I contemplate race #7. It is taking place tonight in lower Manhattan. I'll be running among a sold-out group of 17,000 other people which is an absurd number. I think the largest race I have done thus far is about 7,000 people.

I have not made any mention of my weight thus far but it has dropped since my quest began. I was probably somewhere near 185 when I started running in the late fall. Now, I am clocking in around 176. This is a huge drop for me because it has come without any kind of noticeable modification of my diet.

Here are the numbers for race #6. One note is that I may have hit an all-time heart rate of 170bpm on this race:

Healthy Kidney 10K
Distance: 6.2 Miles, 10 Kilometers
Date/Time: May 17, 2008, 9:00am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 50 Deg. 80% Hum. Wind 3 MPH
Overall Place: 3053
Gender Place: 2251
Age Place: 313
Finish Time: 54:03
Split Time: 27:19
Pace/Mile: 8:43
AG Time: 49:56
AG Gender Place: 2036
AG%: 53.7
Total Finishers: Men – 3438 Women – 2835 Total – 6273
Age Group 40-44: Men – 463 Women – 259 Total – 722