Yesterday morning, I kicked off Super Bowl Sunday by running the New York Road Runners’ (NYRR) Gridiron 4-Miler Race.
To be honest, I had mixed feelings about running when I woke up. My family came to visit, and I felt bad for bailing on them and doing a race the morning they planned to leave. This hesitation, coupled with the chilly weather and my inexperience running in Central Park (totally my own fault), made it difficult to get pumped up.
You know you’re from Central New York when 25 degrees Fahrenheit doesn’t seem that cold—ha! Anyway, I did make it up to Central Park, and my jaw literally dropped when I got off the subway—snow!
It looked like a CNY winter wonderland!
The race started at 9 a.m., and I arrived around 8:30 a.m., so I located my corral and immediately started jogging around. I follow the 20-degree rule for cold-weather running (dress for 20 degrees warmer than the mercury reads), so I wore Under Armour underneath my shorts and tech t-shirt—that’s it. I definitely questioned my decision while bopping around in my corral and waiting for the race to start, but I knew I’d warm up.
Since this was my first NYRR event, I was seeded in one of the last corrals; the organization didn’t have any times on record for me, so I totally understand why they placed me in the back. That being said, though, I was a lot farther back than I would’ve liked to be, and thankfully, I didn’t plan to “race”—my main goal was to complete a solid training run and follow the “shorter, shorter, quicker, quicker” approach.
I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t run tactically smart. There was major bottlenecking due to the corral starts, so I was constantly weaving, dodging, and trying to shoot the gaps, especially during the first mile. Since the course was only four miles, I knew this zigzagging wouldn’t come back to bite me, but I knew this strategy wouldn’t be efficient for longer distances—or for running off the bike.
At mile two, there were two chutes in the street: one for the San Francisco 49ers and one for the Baltimore Ravens, and runners were instructed to run through the one for their team. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a “Beyoncé concert” chute, so I stuck to the right and passed through the Ravens section. (And the Ravens won last night!)
Other than this “attraction,” though, I don’t remember a lot about the race itself. The course didn’t contain too many hills (whew!), but the inclines were definitely noticeable. Basically, I went into the “shorter, shorter, quicker, quicker” zone—which I eventually shortened even more to “short, short, quick, quick”—and heard a combination of mine/Andrew’s voice the entire time.
[source]
For the final mile, I picked up the pace—well, as much as I could with the continued bottlenecking—and really picked it up for the last 400m.
My unofficial Garmin time; and according to the race results page, I finished in 32:28 (8:07 min./mi.).
And I even got to see Julie after! No photo this time, though.
What I’ve confirmed from this event and from the Hot Chocolate 10-K is this pace (around eight-minute miles) is my default for shorter courses. I finished both races comfortably, so hopefully this means I can maintain this pace when it comes time to run off the bike.
That’s a really great time, Carrie! I hope you had a great weekend with your family
Thanks, Natalie! It was a great weekend all-around!
Holy crap speedy! Way to go!! So proud of you and your kick butt-ness! I love how the cold makes us run faster so we can get the heck out of it!
YES–the cold gives everything a sense of urgency.
way to go girl, so proud of you for kicking butt even in those conditions
Thanks, Alex! It was chilly, but I’ll definitely do it again next year–great atmosphere.
Awesome pace!!! Especially in that chilly weather! Although I guess it wasn’t that cold to you, Central New Yorker?
Ha, yeah–25 is “normal” in CNY.
Great job on your run! I know the feeling when you can’t get pumped up for a workout because of the weather and such. Yay for getting it done!
Thanks, Alex! It ended up being a lot of fun–I plan to do it next year.
Great job Carrie!! I can’t believe we forgot to take a picture this time!! I think I was too focused on getting home and back into bed to think straight!
Right?! The cold gave everything a sense of urgency! It was nice seeing you again.
Way to go Carrie! You are so fast!
Thanks, Brittany! I really don’t know where the “speed” came from, though.
Great job girl!
Congratulations, Carrie! I knew you’d do a great job; that pace is AWESOME!
“Unfortunately, there wasn’t a “Beyoncé concert” chute” <– This would have been my chute, too
I looked and looked, but couldn’t find one!
Awesome time! “Beyonce concert” , SB food, or social hours would have been the chute I looked for too. I might have turned around and got back on the subway seeing the snow. I am a warm weather blooded kid.
I can’t believe they didn’t have a general “SB festivities” option–maybe next year!
Great job, Carrie! I would say your outfit was definitely a smart choice, I wear a similar outfit while training.
Keep up the great work!
It was a tough call, but I’d rather be cold at the beginning than overheat–Upstate makes us tough!