And the bus and the tourists are gone

20 miler #2 of this cycle. This time around, it was an easy 2 followed by an "18 miler tune up race". Quotes because, well, I'm not going to race an 18 miler. It's great that NYRR puts on this race (with just for historical context, use to be a 30k). My plan was to do it as progression, since it's 3 six mile loops, it gives a great course to do such a thing. I did this last year while getting ready for Steamtown, it was my last 20 miler.
I started with RayK just below 9 minute pace and planned to speed up after. Once I got done with the first loop, I decided I was going to just stay right where I was. It was raining and I was tired. Maybe from my half last week. I just didn't feel like speeding up and decided that was ok. This is just a long run and no point in killing myself out there. Plus my foot hurt. I think that was in part due to the rain, maybe the slant of the road looping Central Park, maybe Mercury in retrograde. Who knows. I dont really care. Around 9s it is!
And that's what I did. 9:05 pace for 2:43:43. I was happy coming in under 2:45. Not a PR but another long run in the books.
Central Park was a complete ghost town this morning. Yes, it was a 7am start but that usually doesn't keep people out of the park. The rain, however, chased everyone who wasn't racing away.
A shout out to my teammate Rich who finished 2 over all with a blistering 1:48:33. People, that's a 6:01 pace. Thankfully he didn't lap me, I only got lapped by the overall winner. Better than last year when I also got lapped by the first woman...