4 miles in Brooklyn

I am not a big fan of short races. 1-milers, 5Ks, 4-milers, even 10Ks. Going into one of these I know that I will go out too fast and will finish gasping for air. Saturday's Al Gordon Classic in Brooklyn's Prospect Park wasn't different.

Why, one might ask, have I signed up for a 4-miler, if I hate them so much. Because I missed racing, OK? I only ran a few races last year, because I didn't have to do the 9+1. However, a few hours after watching the Manhattan Half this January, I was browsing the NYRR site looking for a race. Al Gordon Classic was the earliest available.

I had run in Prospect Park only once before this race. It is smaller than Central Park, but still provides a 4-mile course without any repeats or out and back sections. Prospect course is definitely the easier of the two. The only major hill is not even comparable to the Cat Hill, which you have to climb in Central Park 4-milers.

As the race day approached, I started to worry about my lack of speed. I haven't done any consistent training lately, let alone tempo or speedwork. Whatever training I did was geared towards long steady running for ultra distances. I am also somewhat heavier now than 2 years ago, when I ran my 4-mile PR. After a battle between my ego and common sense, I decided to try for 35 minutes.

It felt great to be at the start line again early Saturday morning. I was right there, with my people, the mid-packers! Of course my people were probably doing their training and the time that got me in there was two years old, but who cares, I was there!

As the gun went off (the airhorn to be more precise) and we poured onto the road I once again remembered why I didn't like short races. The huffing and the puffing started way early this time. I got into the flow, wondering if I could keep up. To my disappointment, Prospect Park turned out to be a bit tougher than I remembered. There are some rolling hills that give you a bit of trouble. Still though, I was able to manage a decent pace (actually I tried but failed to slow down) and come in about 10 seconds under my targeted 35 minutes.

If you are a lapsed-racer like I was, I recommend signing up for a race. It is a great motivational tool. Also, it is great to measure your current ability and structure your training. Follow this link for a calculator that will give you estimated times for other distances as well as suggested training paces.