This 15K race honors the life of Ted Corbitt, who was the first president of New York Road Runners (NYRR) and the first African-American to compete in the Olympic marathon. During his life, he ran over 223 marathons and ultramarathons, so many cool achievements!!!

Going into this thing, I was not really feeling the race because the weather report called for mid 20 F temperatures. Y'all know that I don't mess around with super cold or super hot weather. However, I am glad that it did not rain or snow.

I was not feeling mentally strong going into this race, because of a couple of struggling ass short runs during the week. I did a (near) 5 mile run on Thursday, and it was so much of a struggle to finish. WTF? I just ran a marathon last month, but I was struggling to finish a 5-mile run. Since this race takes runners through two loops in Central Park, the plan was to run the first loop and do 400m and/or 800m walk/run intervals for the remaining distance.

The race started off really slow even for being near the back. I think the cold made folks a little cautious about slipping. Also, I think many folks are still coming off of the marathon and were doing this race to finish up their 9+1 requirements for next year's NYC Marathon. I think that I had the perfect amount of clothes for this race/weather. I never felt too cold or too hot.

Head: a Baseball cap and a head/ear band

Upper body: A singlet, two long-sleeved technical tees, and a very, very light hoodie

Lower body: A pair of shorts, tights, and over the calf socks

Hands: I only needed my gloves for the bike ride to and from Central Park

The crowd was pretty packed for most of the first loop (~4 miles). I decided that it would be too much work to zig in and out of the pack to pass people, so I figured that I would just "enjoy" the race. Although the weather was below freezing, I'm really glad that it was a sunny morning. Actually, it was a very picturesque run. Too bad that I could not take many pictures . . . dumb iPhone. I remember last year that it snowed a little bit towards the end of the race so this year's race was leaps and bounds better than last year's.

Interesting randomness:

I ran a better marathon this year.
I ran a faster Ted Corbit last year.

What's the point of this info? I figure since I was in better shape this year, based on my marathon finish, I would do a better job for this year's Ted Corbitt run. I guess that you can never use one metric for predicting your finish for a run.

Date: November 18th, 8:30 am
Distance: 4M
Place: Central Park, New York, NY
Weather: 42 F, 51% humidity
Finishers: 5,283 total (2,416 men / 2,867 women)
Swag: Long-sleeved tech shirt

This is a race where running and charity come together. Race to Deliver with God's Love We Deliver is an organization that provides food to NYCers who live with severe illness. God's Love We Deliver has provided 1.8 million meals to over 7,000 people, which is quite a feat. This organization has been providing these meals for over 30 years, and this was the 25th anniversary of the race. After running this race last year, I looked into volunteering with this organization, but most of the volunteer slots are during weekdays (mornings and early afternoon), which did not really work with my schedule. Perhaps, I will visit the site again (after writing this post) to look into volunteer opportunities. 

There is not too much to write about this race, because it was a simple (near) loop in Central Park. I did not really run with any goal in mind, so I was really surprised that I ran faster than last year's race. Maybe I was hungover (or still drunk) for last year's race. ;) Actually, now that I think about it, this year's time would have been faster, but I had to take off one of my shirts and tie it around my waist.

his was the first time that I have participated in this race. In previous years, I thought the race was far too expensive for a 5K. I totally understand the need for the high price tag since NYC has to close quite a few streets for this race. However, this time around I was really behind on my 9+1 schedule. Also, there was NO WAY in hell that I was going to run the Midnight 4M on Dec. 31st, which is the last race of the year. 

I was very fortunate to make it to this race because I arrived at my apt around 2-2:30 am after my trans-Atlantic flight. However, I knew that skipping this race was not an option if I wanted to have guaranteed entry into 2019's NYC Marathon. 

This race starts at the United Nations, takes you pass Grand Central, New York Public Library, and through Central Park.  Aside from running through the streets NYC, which is rare for many of NYRR races, one of inviting features of this race is the chance to run the last part of the NYC Marathon in Central Park.

Arriving at the start was so invigorating because everyone was in high spirits because of the NYC Marathon, which is the day after this race. There was representation from so many countries; I saw huge contingents from France, England, and Argentina. 

I really did not put much effort, like most folks, running this race. Since I was jet-lagged, the plan was to walk the first half and do some sprints for the second half; however, I ended up jogging the whole thing.

Since this race was a few weeks ago, I can't remember the details of how I ran (or rather how I jogged). I do remember that I really was not feeling the run. All I wanted to do was to get my bib at the Marathon Expo and have a long, long sleep to rest up for the marathon.

Date: October 6, 2018, 8:00 am
Distance: 10K
Place: Central Park, New York, NY
Weather: 63 F, 84% humidity
Finishers: 6, 063 total (2,904 men / 3,12 women)
Swag: T-shirt

This race honors the legacy of Grete Waitz, who won the NYC Marathon nine times and was the first woman to complete a marathon in under 2.5 hours.

0K – 5K
The first half of the race went relatively easy. For this race, I purposely took up the rear of the pack; I started the race in the K corral. I wanted to be in the back so I could a little slower than my marathon pace (4:30 marathon = 10:17 min/mi pace). However, I still found myself passing folks without too much effort within the 1st mile. Once we hit the first hill, I managed to dial it back a bit. During this segment, we climb our first (and toughest) hill in the course.

5K – 10K
I have to admit that I walked just a taste around mile 4 to eat half of a granola bar. Technically, mile 4 of the race was my mile 8. For these long-distance runs, I still have not learned the importance of eating during the activity. I’ve been getting better though. Normally, I try to eat something every 5 – 6 miles. On Sunday, I kept pushing back my snack “break”, which is something that I CANNOT do during the marathon. I kept telling myself “ok, you can eat after running another half of a mile.” I fear that I will be setting myself up for disaster if I keep doing that. Normally, it’s not a problem in my normal long runs (I usually have a Powerade/Gatorade around mile 6), but I guess that I was more in a race mode on Sunday.

All in all, it was a decent run. I’m glad that I still had plenty of juice left to run another 5 miles after finishing the race. It was really hard not to grab a bagel and go home after the run. However, I did load up my water bottle with post-race Gatorade and kept it moving for the next five miles.

Date: August 13th, 2018, 7:00 am
Place: Central Park, New York, NY
Weather: 72 F, 97% humidity
Finishers: 3,967 total (2,070 men / 1,987 women)
Swag: A tech cap, Gatorade endurance pack, ice-soaked clothes post finish

The second installment of NYRR's Marathon Training Series has come and gone. This training run, much like the previous 12 mile run, which took us through three semi-full loops in Central Park. I really wish that NYRR would mix it up a bit and change the direction of some of these races because it can be quite boring seing the same scenary day in and day out. I will say that this race was kind of tough for two reasons: 1. the elevation; 2. running the same three loops through the park. With the proximity of the inclines, I think that this run was a little tougher than the actual NYC Marathon. 

Although I mentioned that the elevation was a big tough, since NYC is mostly flat, this was a blessing in disguise because the elevation lends itself to a better training experience. After completing this training run, I relize that I really need to incorporate more hill work into my training runs.