For the past two years, I’ve read race recaps about the NYRR Wall Street 3 Mile Race and wished I’d chosen to do it. It is the only downtown NYRR race and weaves through the Wall Street area before looping back up the Hudson River. While this race is for walkers and runners alike, since it is a corporately sponsored event, they separate the two groups.

I was a bit apprehensive about the race because I’ve heard lots of mixed reviews. Unlike most races, it’s not in Central Park and it’s flat which gives it two big bonus points. But, on the other hand, many people complained that the streets downtown are narrow and uneven which results in lots of bottlenecks.

Luckily, my excitement outweighed any of the negatives and at 5pm this evening I left work excited and ready for a great race!

Picking up my bib from Melissa’s boyfriend’s apartment and changing at home took less time than I expected. Therefore, I ended up downtown with 45 minutes to spare! Luckily I was able to entertain myself in a nearby Starbucks while catching up on emails, jamming to old school Usher, and watching other runners head to the start.

Since the race started at 6:45, I left Starbucks at 6:25 so I could walk the 5 minutes to the start and get in my corral. Oops, there were no corrals. Somehow I missed this part of the email update that NYRR sent out. I made the best of it by getting as close to the front as I could. The crowd was crazy!

At 6:45, on the spot, the National Anthem ended and the race started. I had my iPod ready to go and set to my “most played” playlist. While I knew I wouldn’t get through the whole list, I knew that the first few are some of my favorites and if I wasn’t in the mood for one and pushed forward the next one would be equally as awesome!

Unfortunately, I forgot to have my Garmin find the satellites before the race and therefore had to settle for using the stopwatch only. This ended up being a double edge sword because I couldn’t keep my pace in check but instead let my legs go as fast as they could. The first mile was pretty cramped, especially the first quarter mile, but I was still able to run at my full potential. I think the fact that I started towards the front of the pack really helped since most runners were running at my pace or faster. In fact, I felt slow versus the pack of runners around me.

As we passed the first mile marker I saw that I’d kept an 8:23 pace. Holy hell! No wonder my lungs felt like they were about to explode. The more unusual pain was that the arch of my right foot was killing me. I knew that I didn’t want to risk not finishing and therefore did my best to ratchet my speed down a bit closer to an 8:45. The 2nd mile helped me do that naturally since there were quite a few curves and narrow streets. But, when I passed the 2nd mile marker I saw that I’d only decreased it to an 8:37. By this point my legs and body had hit a really good rhythm and I was even engaging my abs and arms to help improve my form. Since I had skipped the water station in order to keep my pace, I focused on my breathing to take my mind off of my thirst and exhaustion. Luckily, the 2nd mile is where we hit Bowling Green and Battery Park which means the scenery improved and the view of the Hudson was amazing! Even the gray clouds and overcast weather couldn’t take away from the views.

I was very self conscious of my speed at this point as I saw everyone around me speeding up and I was doing my best to keep pace. I focused on my music so I wouldn’t focus on my time and get caught up in the numbers. This ended up working very well and before I knew it I was weaving between the benches on the Hudson River Path and passing through South Cove. I saw the finish line and knew that I had a little energy left for a final sprint.

                                                                        26:32 HOT DAMN!

The official times won’t be posted on NYRR website until tomorrow but for now I’m embracing this time and going with it!! This race is definitely another PR since my fastest NYRR split before today was a 9:14!

Once again, this race just reconfirmed how much my body has benefitted from speed training and weight lifting over the past four months!

Question: Have you ever surprised yourself in a race and performed better than expected?