New Balance Bronx 10 Mile: Race Plans
It’s getting close to race day … which means it’s time for a race update! Here are some early thoughts about the race, the plan, the outfit (or what I have of it), and whatever.
Packet Pickup:
Like most of the races I’ve run this year, packet pickup is at the NYRR RUNCENTER, which is only a little bit out of the way on my way to or from work. Packet Pickup started on Thursday, September 20th, and I went after work on Friday, September 21st. Got my bib, got a pocket guide for the race, got my shirt … nice and easy.
Outfit:
When I started taper, I had no idea what I wanted to wear. All I had was a phrase in my head – “Boogie Down Bronx.” But what does that even mean? (I think it might be a rap song, actually)
When I think boogie, I think 70s and 80s – big hair, big shoes, and big colors.
Wait – big colors? I can do that! So … colorblock skirt it is.
(sorry about the crappy lighting... this is from the last time I wore this skirt and we were trying to decide what shirt I should wear)
Not sure what shirt I’m gonna wear. I want to wear my orange shirt, but I think that will be too hot. It will either be a black shirt or gray shirt, probably. Most of my short-sleeve shirts are race shirts, so it’s definitely tough to find warm weather racing outfits.
With expected weather in the 50's, I'm actually thinking about maybe wearing a throwaway shirt on top and ditching it when I get hot. It would probably be this shirt:
I haven't decided yet, though. If I do a throwaway, I may have to pin my bib on my skirt, which I'm afraid might be awkward. We'll see.
Pre-Race Prep:
One of the things I realized on my two longer long runs this plan is that getting enough sleep would be a game-changer for this race. I haven’t decided what time I’m leaving the house yet (see below), but 5:45am is a possibility, which means I’d want to get up around 4:45am. So I would like to be in bed before 10pm Saturday night, which would get me close to 7 hours in bed (which will add up to about 3.5 hours of sleep, because I’m a terrible sleeper, especially the night before a race … unless I decide to just take a Benadryl before bed, which would not be the worst idea, since I'm having some issues with an allergic reaction on my hand that could become a problem, but also might lead to me waking up groggy).
If I’m reading my calendar correctly, the Sabbath ends at 7:25ish that night. Figure my father and brother won’t be home from services until 7:50ish, and with cleaning up, I won’t be able to start my race prep until 8-8:15ish. Which still gives me almost two hours, but I’d still like to do as much race prep as I can Thursday night – which means packing my bag and making a list of what needs to be done Saturday night. If I do this right, all I’ll have to do Saturday night is put out my clothing (and sunglasses … there was a dream and I forgot my sunglasses and it was bad ... I also forgot my socks and my water bottle and the Uber was there and I kept remembering things I forgot), and then Sunday morning I’ll fill up my water bottle, and then I’m all good.
Getting to the Race:
I have two options:
- Subway. This will take about 1.5 hours, so I’d want to leave the house before 6ish to be there by 7:30. Despite the frequent delays and construction, the subway is fairly predictable, and I know there will be other runners on at least one of my trains (there always are…), so this is definitely the “safer” and less risky option … but it’s also the one that takes longer.
- Uber. Should be around a 35-40 minute drive (honestly, at that hour of the morning it’s probably a 25-30 minute drive, but I don’t know about road closures), but I’d still want to leave around 6:30-6:40 just in case. This is more expensive and makes me a little nervous because I’m always afraid of chatty drivers or unexpected traffic or something going wrong, but it also allows me to sleep in a little longer and get more done in the morning.
Honestly, I’m more comfortable taking the subway, but I think Uber is a better idea. I really need that time in the morning.
I just have to remember to schedule my Uber Saturday night so that I don’t have to worry about it Sunday morning.
Race Goals:
I have three goals for this race – a “safety” goal (one I think I should be able to reach fairly easily), a “competitive” goal (one that will take some work, but may be possible), and a “reach” goal (one that’s not very likely, but I still wanted to put out there)
- “Safety” Goal: 1:49:39 – this is the time from my 5 mile HM C run a few weeks ago multiplied by two (ie if I had done another 5 miles at that same pace)
- “Competitive” Goal: 1:45:00 – this was my original goal, and should bump me up a corral for the marathon. But honestly? I’m not as “must do” about it as I was before. Would moving up a corral be cool? Sure. But I’m fine where I am. Maybe it’s because I don’t have so much runDisney experience, or maybe it’s because I’m used to doing it in NYRR races, but … I’m not as bothered by starting in a later corral as some people are. I think I can adjust to it. Which is fine – everyone has their own things that are important to them for races.
- “Reach” Goal: 1:39:35. That’s my 4-mile PR + 1 hour. AKA run my 4 mile PR and then run 6 miles in an hour. It’s not gonna happen. But it would be fun.
Honestly, I think I’ll be okay with anything under 2 hours. But I’m really hoping I can reach that 1:45 and prove to myself that not only can I run 10 miles continuously, I can do it at a fast pace.
Race Plan:
So, those are my goals. But how am I going to get there?
Here’s the course:
In my head, I’m dividing the course into 5 segments (no, they’re not even lengths … two are somewhat long, but whatever).
- Segment 1 – Start to over the Cross Bronx Expressway. For the first mile plus, I will be paying close attention to my watch with a goal of an average pace of 10:25. This segment should end with an overpass over the highway … and me getting over my first “barrier” (and yes I ran all the overpasses on my normal route to practice). Distance: Approx. 1.1 miles
- Segment 2 - Cross Bronx to Moshulu Parkway. For this segment, I’ll try to maintain the same effort as segment 1. If I really find myself unsure if I’m doing well, I’ll check the watch and again go for the target pace around 10:25. This has the potential to be a boring stretch, so it’s all about sticking to the effort and keeping myself motivated. Distance: Approx. 2.75 miles
- Segment 3 – Moshulu Parkway. This part’s just about getting through. I will walk to eat early in this segment, and then it’s just about getting through the segment at about the right pace/effort. Distance: Approx. 2 miles (actually a little less)
- Segment 4 – Moshulu Parkway to Cross Bronx. This is basically segment 2 but in the opposite direction. Another long one. At this point I’ll take a quick check in with myself and decide how I’m feeling. If the 10:25 paced effort feels okay but not great, I’ll try to keep it up but be willing to drop back. If it feels good, I may try to go down to 10:20 (or possibly maintain at 10:25). If it feels too hard, I’ll drop back to 10:30. This segment will be all about deciding if my second half should be exactly the same as my first half or not (even though we’re past the halfway point). Distance: Approx. 2.75 miles
- Segment 5 – Cross Bronx to Yankee Stadium (aka the end). If I’m feeling good, this is where I will really let it rip. Just run as fast as feels okay until I hit the finish. I’ll drop back for a little bit if I need to re-energize, but if I’m feeling good, I just want to run as fast as feels comfortable. Finish strong right near my beloved Yankee Stadium. Speedy like Brett Gardner. Distance: Approx 1.5 miles
I may play with this plan mid-race based on how I’m feeling, but I think the way I broke it up makes sense and hopefully it will help me get to my goal!
Post-Race:
Life stuff (edited to cut out the details because they're not actually relecant), so current plan is to head home right after the race. If I finish earlier than planned , I may head over to the NYRR RUNCENTER to see what the medal engraving line is like, but I can only stick around if the line is less than half an hour. Preferably less than 20 minutes. Not likely on Sunday morning after the race. Sigh.
My dad offered to come pick me up post-race, and maybe even drive me to medal engraving, but I think I’m going to tell him to stay home and help my mom with stuff (if he insists, that’s fine … but it’s regular event parking price at our favorite Stadium parking lot (we paid more for parking than for our tickets more than once this season), so he’ll have to just wait on a street somewhere for me to finish).
Medal:
It’s a record/record player/turntable/something. For the Boogie Down Bronx. Get it?
Yeah, I’m kinda meh about it.
Medal Engraving:
As I said above … I may go, but probably not. I’m not thrilled, because all the other medals from my 5-Borough Series will be engraved, but … it is what it is.
Track Me:
Live Tracking Link:
https://liveresults.nyrr.org/e/NYRR-BRONX-2018
Bib #3879
Good news – my bib is already loaded into the system. Yay! So if you go to that link and search my bib number. It comes up. ‘Bout damn time. Usually it doesn’t show up until the night before the race.
I think there will only be timing mats at the start, 5 miles, and finish. So any approximate location or finish time in between those is just that – approximate based on past results and/or my most recent split. And apparently if I finish slower than expected, it just has me at the finish for a while until I actually finish (or so says
@jennamfeo). So take that into account when you get excited about how I’m doing.
. So I don't know if I'm gonna stick with my Yankees theme. It would have been tough anyway, because I don't want to run a half in a cotton shirt. We'll brainstorm the outfit for that one closer to the race. I may just do NYC theme again, but we'll discuss it.
