Autumn Marathon

NYRR Club Team Championships Race Report

What a difference a week can make!  After a sluggish peformance in the Rhode Island 10-miler last week, I ran my best 5-mile time (post-40) in the NYRR Club Team Championships in Central Park on August 6.  The temperature for the 8am start was cooler than it had been at the beach - around 70 degrees versus 80+.  However, it was similarly humid.  At the club team championships, I was operating on fewer than six hours sleep - after having driven my son and his friends back from a Cross Country camp in Pennsylvania the day before.  That should have worked to my disadvantage. However, I got out to quick start with a 7:20 mile and followed it with a 7:30.  Mile three went by in 7:45 and mile four, which includes CP’s famous “cat hill” was closer to 8:30. The final mile, with the ageless Frank Deleo breathing down my neck and the PPTC women team cheering us on, returned to a 7:30.

There was nothing special about my training the week of the Club Team Championships: four workouts at CFSBK plus one session of short intervals on the Red Hook track.  I skipped the PPTC 5k run the previous Wednesday - quite possibly the extra rest helped me on Saturday: I also took a rest day prior to the Blessing of the Fleet race.  Another possibility is that the CFE training pattern (three running workouts plus 3-4 CrossFit WODs per week) prepares an athlete better for shorter distance races than for ten miles and up.  However, there are plenty of testimonials from folks who have run not only marathons, but competed in triathlons (including Ironman events) and ultra-distance runs using the CFE methodology.

The Club Championships is a wonderful event.  It is restricted to members of NYRR-affilated running clubs which makes it smaller than almost all the other Central Park races.  Because the race is worth double points in the NYRR club team standings, it is well attended.  Club members turn out wearing their colors, the men’s and women’s heats are run separately making for a large cheering section, and many of the teams have post-race picnics near the finish.  All of this creates a festive atmosphere and makes for one of the best days on the NYRR calendar.