Here we go again, 3 more races down! I have actually finished 7 at this point, but I promised to only tell you about 3 at a time in order to not bore all of my readers. If you didn’t read my first recap, you can find it here. And if you have no idea what I’m even talking about, you can read the intro about #SoreLegsLongDistance, The Road to 9+1 here. Please don’t unsubscribe if you hate running, I hate running, too! I even have a shirt that says so!
Run As One
Date: April 22nd
Location: Central Park
Distance: 4 miles
Pace: 9:45
Drink. Drank. Drunk. TBH there’s not much I can say about this race because I don’t remember all of it. Let me summarize in one word: WOOF. That may not even be a word. More of an onomatopoeia.
The night before this race I had a going away party for two of my friends from Spin class. We went to Royal Palms Shuffleboard club (SO fun), and I had unlimited wine for 2 hours. How much wine can I drink in that amount of time? Unclear, but probably around 2 bottles. I do not remember getting home. I don’t think I’ve been that drunk since I was in college.
Needless to say, that is not the best way to prepare for a race. I woke up on the morning of the race, somehow managed to cook an egg, braid my hair, and stick a Clif Shot Energy Gel Double Energy Espresso in my pocket. I tried to stomach some of it as I walked across Central Park to the start line. I’m not sure if it was the drunken hangover, or the simple fact that the Clif Shot consistency is nauseating, but I barely downed half of it before I threw it in the nearest trash.
Mile 1 went surprisingly well, maybe I was still drunk. By mile 2, I felt like I was run over by an 18-wheeler. I was sweating like crazy, it was warm for the first race ever, and my heart was beating so fast I could hear it in my ears. By mile 3, I think I walked half of it. I ran on the perimeter of the course, and I can’t remember how many times I put my hand in the air to signal to the runners behind me that I was about to stop and walk. I had only one thought in my head: “MUST. FINISH. TO. GET. RACE. CREDIT.” Somehow, I got through mile 4 and crossed the finish line. I had an hour to get home, shower, chug coffee and water, and get to the airport for my work trip to Chicago. It was a ROUGH day. This race made 4+1 complete, so technically half of my requirements for Marathon qualification were complete!
UAE Healthy Kidney
Date: April 29th
Location: Central Park
Distance: 10 K (6.2 miles)
Pace: 9:35
I did it! I really did it. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to complete this one. I hadn’t run more than 4 miles consecutively since the Half Marathon I ran last year. I took 7 months completely off running after that, and it’s been a slow build back. I’m not going to lie, this race was not easy. 6.2 miles is a lot more than 4.
Luckily, I wasn’t drunk/hungover this week, which does wonders for stamina. My heart was definitely beating, but it wasn’t pounding out of my chest, trying to rid my body of bottles of sauvignon blanc. Mini win. However, I went to the Daydream 5K the day before. It was fun, and not a race, but I usually try not to do any exercise the day before a race so I can have fresh legs. Also, I had taken a plane flight in tiny seats the night before the 5K, so my knee was killing me. I slept the night before this race with a brace on my knee, and I took an anti-inflammatory before I left the house. I tried some of the Clif Blok chews for extra energy. Plus, I had gotten them for free at the Daydream 5K. My favorite price! Whatever I did worked; it wasn’t my fastest race, but I was happy to finish.
Central Park is notoriously hilly, and unlike the 4 mile “middle four” loop, the 10K loop goes around the entire park, which includes “Harlem Hill.” It’s about 4/10 of a mile, and about 100 feet of elevation. 4/10 of a mile is a longgg uphill. By the time I finally hit the 5K mark (halfway there!) I felt a LOT more tired than after a 5K distance during a middle four race. Plus, I knew I still had 3.1 miles left to go! I took a bit of a breather to walk, grab water, and mentally prepare for the second half of the course.
With half a mile to go, I looked to my right and I saw a pregnant woman. This was great motivation. I would not be beat by someone carrying another life inside her! If I was only trying to carry my own body, I could pick it up. I checked my watch and noticed I was at 58 minutes and I had a chance to finish in under an hour, my goal! Then, when I saw the “200M to the Finish” sign, I took my brother’s advice and went to my arms. He always says, “your legs have done all of the work, now it’s time to go to your arms!” And I sprinted to the finish. Finishing time of 59:31! Not bad considering 0 training and a distance PR for the year. This race made 5+1 complete, so a majority of the runs were done! After the race, they gave us a medal (surprise!) and I snagged a photo with Peter Ciacca, local celeb aka New York Roadrunners President.
As a celebration, we went to the post-race celebration, and to our huge surprise, Flo-Rida was there! We had heard that the UAE sponsors did not spare any expense and that was definitely true. They gave away TWO all-expenses paid trips to the United Arab Emirates, and the Prince of Dubai was there with Flo-Rida. I tried to sneak a pic in with him, but it’s pretty awkward. Crazily enough, my friend walked out of the park right behind him and he offered to pose for a photo!! Extra nice points to Flo-Rida.
Italy Run by Ferrero
Date: June 3rd
Location: Central Park
Distance: 5 Miles
Pace: 9:35
Well guys, I said I wouldn’t do it again, but I did it again. I went out the day before a race. Not just out, though, I had a birthday celebration! I went to a beer garden, and I had 9 beers. Yeah, probably not the best idea in hindsight. I set myself a 9 pm curfew to switch to water, which sort of worked. I woke up not feeling like an 18-wheeler ran over my head, just a minivan. Maybe even a Honda CRV. It wasn’t terrible, but not ideal.
At least the race started 10 steps from my front door. I was not only on time, I was early! It gave me extra time for my hangover to set in. I SWEAR next race I won’t go out before. Ok, I probably should swear that. Anyway, the race went alright. It was 5 miles, so it was doable, and the weather was great. In fact, I finished with one of my fastest paces to date. That probably is because I have been hungover every race, though. It’s all relative. I was particularly impressed with my pace because I generally try to take the day off of leg work the day before a race, but I had offered to sub a Spin class the day before, so I was on 6-days-in-a-row leg work on the day of my race! #KillinIt
The best part was definitely the post-race celebration. They had a huge raffle, and even though I didn’t win anything, they had free mini packs of Nutella and dipping sticks (think: Dunkaroos but more adult), so I felt like I won.
Total Miles To Date: 26.3
Average Pace To Date: 9:27 (how am I getting slower?!)
Total Free Tshirts To Date: 6
Total Selfies With Post-Race Treats In My Mouth: Too Many To Count.
