Approached this run with a goal of finishing the race in 1hr 40 minutes with a pace of 7:41/mile to simulate next weeks NJ Marathon and nailed it with a 40 seconds over (Finish time 1:40:40). This pace felt nice and conservative, a pace I hope to carry out in the first half of the NJ Marathon.

During the first loop of the race I met a fellow runner who looked to be running at my goal pace. After asking him about his goal for the day I decided to join him. Coincidentally  his goal was to achieve a 1:40 PR. I was excited to help him attain this goal as I’ve never paced someone before.

The course consisted of three turnarounds. The first turnaround was about mile 4, second mile 8 and third was about 11 – 12. We stopped at two aid stations so he was able to take in nutrition and curb his HR to have a strong finish. Fortunately I had my fuel belt so wasn’t dependent on the course for my nutrition. I love small races but the one disadvantage is that resources can be low when it comes to nutrition.

We finished the last 2 miles very strong with an average pace of low 7s. Awesome job he did keeping it together to gain his PR.

NYCRuns did an awesome job with providing us with post run food. There were bagels – with cream cheese on the side, grapes, apples, donuts (which I stayed away from :-). Huge props to Steve and the gang from NYCRuns for keeping the runners happy and stuffed today. After my grub I had no space available for brunch.

Anh came out today to cheer me on. She took some cool videos and pictures. Thanks babe for always being my #1 fan.

This race added some much more needed confidence to my marathon expectation for next week. Right leg and knee felt great throughout. Only issue was slight tightness in my left calf and ITB (definitely using KT tape on those next week). The headwinds out there was a bit tough today but this difficulty was balanced out with the FLATNESS of the course and tailwind at the start.

Nutrition:

2 x 8oz bottles fo accelerade

4 x Meta Salt tablets

1 x Powergel

2 x 8oz bottles of water plus water on the course

Finish Time: 1:40:40 (7:41/mile)