I've been in New York for over a week now, but this is the first chance I've really had to post, as my days have been spent in the archives and my evenings have been spent either catching up with NYC friends or working on a few odds and ends related to a service project. I also didn't have internet access in the apartment where I was staying last week so I am behind on reading and commenting. I'll try to do some catching up in the next few days. Yesterday I ran a 10K over on Roosevelt Island, which was super quaint. After a week of thunderstorms and deluges, we had a day of blue skies and relatively low humidity, so the conditions were pretty much perfect for a day in late May.
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| View from the tram |
A friend and I had both signed up for this race so we met on the Upper East Side and took the tram over to the island together. Due to being a failure at being organized, I had to pick up my packet before the race, and my one complaint about the race and/or its organization was the packet pick-up line was probably the slowest moving line I've ever been in, and, since the 5K started 30 minutes before the 10K race, about 20 minutes before the start of the 5K, the organizer let all the 5K runners jump to the front of the line. Eventually I got my bib. My friend and I headed over to use the portapotties and then to the race start, where we agreed to run our own races and meet at the end.
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| Before the start |
The course was a no-frills double loop around the island and was the flattest course I've run in a while. I didn't really have any goals going into this race. I hadn't done any speed work for the past five weeks, as I had tapered for Vancouver, taken a zero week, and had gently eased back into running over the past couple of weeks. I thought that it might be possible for me to break 62 minutes if everything went perfectly, and for awhile I thought I might have it. Unfortunately, my lack of conditioning and the relative heat of the day (I have only run in temperatures above 40F four times since March) caught up to me in the final couple of miles. My splits were 9:31, 9:43, 10:13, 10:17, 11:02, 11:23, and 1:40. After a couple of cups of water and a popsicle and cheering for the award winners, including a 9 year old who had torn the course up, we made our way back to the tram and then headed back to our respective sides of the park.
It was my friend's first 10K and she smoked it. Her goal was to finish in under an hour, and she finished in under 56 minutes. I was impressed! I might even be a little jealous, as just last summer I ran at a faster pace than she typically did. Have you ever been envious of a friend's running improvement? U.S. friends, did you race on Memorial Day?
My running partner had a fantastic year in 2012 and I was a little envious of her improvement. But mostly I was just happy for her.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, well done on your 10k!
Oooh, NYC! How interesting! A 10k is such a tricky race to nail sometimes. It is long enough where you have to throw a little strategy in, yet short enough to not be a huge ordeal. I actually would like to get back to running some 10k's myself to see where I'm at with it. The last one I ran was over a year ago so I have no idea right now what I would be able to put out there :) Enjoy your time in NYC!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a nice way to get out for a run in NYC! I was expecting to see pictures of ice cream, haha!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun location for a 10k! Sounds like a great way to spend Memorial Day. Don't be upset over your time or green of your friends. Focus on what you can and did do...each race is an act of determination and hard work. Cheers to your accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteAn excellent race report, friend! It sounds like a really fun day in a memorable city. When I saw your post on Facebook about heading out for a 10K race, I was like, "I'd better get my run on today! I can at least get a 5K under my belt if all my friends are running 10Ks." So once again, you inspired me :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great race! I have never ran in NYC but would love to do a race there some day. I love 10ks because they are long enough to be challenging (and not an all out spring like a 5k feels like) but they are short enough where they don't zap too much out of you.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fun race. Hoping to see you soon in STL!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like fun! I haven't been to Roosevelt Island. I had it on my list last time I went to NYC but never did go after all. I hope you are enjoying running in the city! It's great to run along the East River as well and if you want you can cross over into Brooklyn too! There are no shortage of places to run in the city!
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