Gridiron

Unfortunately all good things some to an end and the time has come to leave Colombia behind. Our last couple of days in Bogotá were relatively uneventful, as was our flight to New York thankfully. Our resting place on the upper east side of Manhattan with Sharlene’s sister is an ideal location for the running with Central Park only a few blocks away. My first taste of Central Park running was as part of a race – the Gridiron Classic 4 Mile. It’s a Super-bowl Sunday tradition and it would have been rude of me not to attend since I was so close to the start-line J

Gridiron Classic in Central Pack - Losing the Battle

The race was primarily an experiment to see if there was any speed in my legs after seven weeks of pure endurance work. I had a stomach bug in the days leading up to the race, so I certainly wasn’t putting pressure on myself to perform. Still, I felt relatively fresh on race morning and intended to give it 100%. I was blessed to get close to the head of the race, having left it to the last minute to fit in one last toilet stop. There were barriers up and I was being ushered to the back of the 5,000 field. Thankfully with a smile and a ‘please’ to a steward, I was allowed hop a barrier to within a few metres of the start-line. A race like this always has 400m specialists – those who hit the front from the gun and run out of steam in no time. I spent the first couple of minutes looking for the ‘real’ competition. After three minutes I found myself in the lead. It wasn’t my plan to lead from this early stage, but no one responded. After five I had hit race nirvana – the sound of silence – no one within audible distance. Now I could run at my own pace. On crossing the two-mile mark in 9:40 my peaceful bliss was demolished with very quick footsteps closing in. Within another few minutes I was passed and desperately trying to hang on. Now the hills of central park were kicking in – the third mile was torturous. I was expecting a relatively flat course, but now I know there are some relatively serious hills in Central Park. Alarm bells were ringing after clocking a 5:05 third mile, so I tried to pick-up again on the last mile. There was no catching the leader, but I held onto second in a time of 19:44 – not a personal best, but not that far off – very satisfactory performance given flights, illness, icy conditions (forced to slow considerably at one junction) and lack of speed-work.  The winner, Chris Pannone is a local speed specialist who knew the course well (think it's his fourth win in this race).

That evening I watched Super Bowl XLV in a local bar. It was enjoyable, but not as big a deal as I was expecting. It would have been a bigger occasion if the Jets made it to the final, but Green Bay and Pittsburgh played out a relatively uninspiring final. I wasn’t particularly impressed with Black Eyed Peas interval act or adverts either. All much ado about nothing really, but I can see how the game has potential to thrill.

The rest of our New York trip was about shopping, dining and enjoying the good life. My daily workouts were in bitterly cold conditions. Wednesday was particularly crazy, with an 8 x 1km session scheduled. I couldn’t feel anything below by waist – a sensation I’ve never really experienced before. I was telling my legs to run, but only my eyes provided proof that my legs were responding. It was a poor session – only hitting 3:15/k, but I really couldn’t get my body warmed up to the level required for a session. I had to run fast just to keep blood flowing – not the day for an easy jog without arctic gear. We’re back to Dublin tomorrow. Our life of leisure is coming to an end L