Ok, so I have a theory. If I run harder in Central Park but take the anti-clockwise route, my time's still the same or worse than if I had run the same route in the other direction.

I ran the Run for Central Park today and ok, so I started off slow, I'll give you that. I know I'm no Speedy frickin' Gonzales. But I really picked up the pace over the last 2 miles.

That's what you're supposed to do, right? Run the second half faster than the first? I would say that overall it was a good run. I felt pretty damn good and the last mile in particular was smokin' down the road! And yet, when I got to the finish, I had run a slower time than the 'bleh' run of the same route two days ago, give or take a few yards.

The only difference is that two days ago, I ran it clockwise. There are more crappy hills the anti-clockwise way. So I guess that explains it. Still, it's disappointing. It's just that I felt so good at the end and now I feel a little let down by it.

Should probably not beat myself up over this negative and concentrate on just how good I felt at the end, considering how hot and muggy it was. There was just a point where I knew I had a lot in reserve and flipped the switch and picked it up. If I hadn't done that, I imagine the following results would look much worse. :)

Results:
Total finishers: 3846
Place: 3276
Gender Place: 1503

I wonder if my results will ever look any better than this?