Terrier tracks

I was planning on doing an easy run, as I have not raced at this distance before and I was a little intimidated by that last mile. I did a 4.5 mile run on Friday and had a tough time making the last half mile. I figured if I did the race at full-on race pace I'd fall apart.

Was a little too lackadaisical about getting to the race - it was just down the road after all. My original plan was to arrive at about 9:30 for the 10am start. I had pre-registered so I would just have to grab my number and go. I woke up at 6:30am. Crazy, but the pup doesn't understand weekends and she wants her breakfast at that time, just like every other day. After taking her out for a walk, I shared a plain bagel with her. Thought about going back to sleep, but I was up and didn't think it would work. Around 8:00 I decided to have another bite to eat. Perused the race info while I was noshing and realized that they were having a kid's run at 9:30. That would mean people would be arriving earlier than I expected. Decided to aim for a 9:00 arrival.

Drove to the park and found the parking lot full. Oops. Got a parking spot a few blocks away and walked into the park. I didn't expect that there would be a really big turnout, as the Queens half-marathon was just yesterday. But I guess different runners are interested in the two races. Bumped into everyone as I wound my way through the groups outside the parkhouse. Grabbed my number and stopped to pin it on. Christina found me and we started chatting. She was doing this race since she waited too long and got shut out of the Queens half. I don't usually run with her, as she is faster than I am, but we decided to line up for the start together.

As the race got started, I settled into what felt like a comfortable pace. Was chatting with Christina about how odd it felt to be racing on the paths upon which we usually do our weekend long runs. Their was a bit of an incline at the start and a little stretch of unpaved trails. Passed the first mile mark and heard the timer call out a 9:34. Sounded good, a little faster than I planned, but should still be OK.

That's when I started to allow Christina to pull me along faster than I expected. We were both a bit shocked to here a call of 17:40 at the two mile mark. I remarked that we were speeding up. I still felt alright, but was a little worried.

Got to the 3 mile mark and heard a call of 26 and change. HUH! Just than the Garmin chirped and gave me a laptime - we did the 3rd mile in 8:10. Oh gosh! That would be the fastest mile I've ever run. Definite trouble

And then it happened. I was laboring a bit and Christina was starting to pull away. Then at about 3.5 miles there is an uphill. I couldn't make it. I had to walk. Took a short walking break to the top of the hill. I knew it is mostly flat from then on so I wasn't too upset. Started to run at the top and pulled past the 4 mile timer. I heard 36 and change. That would be my second fastest 4 mile race and I walked.

I got a second wind as I realized that we were getting close to the end. I wasn't exactly sure where they had placed the finish line, so I didn't want to waste my energy too early. But then I saw it. And I decided to pick up the pace and sprint across it. Got to look good ;-)

My official race time was 43:44. Anything would have been a personal record, as it was the first time I raced the distance, but I'm real happy with that time. My Garmin disagreed with the race timers a bit, but that may be due to the tree cover messing with the signal.

I stayed around to help a bit with the breakdown of the race and was rewarded with a bag full of left over bagels and other foodstuff. As usual, my age group was the deepest in the race and I was nowhere near the top three. A year younger or five years older and I would have been taking home a trophy. It was a blast anyway.

Next week will be a 5k in Manhattan. The Revlon Walk/Run for Women - there is a banner on the right side of my blog for anyone who wishes to make a donation to the cause.

I was back in Central Park this weekend for the cavalcade of runners known as the Thomas G. Labrecque Classic 4M race for lung cancer. It was a cold morning, walkers in the park were bundled up in hats and mittens. We had sleet/hail the day before. I met Chelly at 8am so we would have time to pick up our bibs and warmup before the start of the race. The registration area was a madhouse. The organizers apparently wanted to funnel all the runners through a small stairway into a field where everything was set up. This created a milling mess around the registration area and put the baggage area nowhere near either the start or the finish. Rather inconvenient.

Once we got our numbers, chips and t-shirts we went to drop off our baggage. The area was covered with that lovely sand/dirt that is used to create ballfields. You know that orangey stuff? Do you remember me mentioning the previous day's weather? Yep, everything became coated in orange mud. Both Chelly and I had opted for black tights which were becoming quickly covered with orange marks. I dropped the Forerunner which was now a disgusting sandy orange mess. This day was not starting out well.

After we dropped off the baggage, along with all our extra outerwear, we headed to the starting line. There was quite a crowd. I heard the announcer using the number 6600 when referring to the number who had shown up. Wow. I mentioned to Chelly that we might want to line up a little closer to the starting line than normal as there seemed to be quite a few walkers and first-time racers. I've noticed that they often overestimate their abilities and also are not aware of the logistics of such a mass start. That puts them square in the way when you are trying to take off

After standing around for what seemed like forever, we heard the airhorn to start the race. And then we stood, and stood, and stood some more. I mentioned that the leaders were probably half finished with the race by now. It turned out that we took about 6 minutes to cross the starting line.

I stayed with Chelly for about a quarter of a mile as we picked up speed and then I waved to her and started to pull away. It actually wasn't too bad. The runners were pretty spread out and I was able to weave my way through the slower people in front of me. I noticed the hills more than I have in the past, but didn't have any problems with them. I think the race last weekend was great training for Central Park.

I felt really great running. The cramping that I've been getting in my left foot showed up - it might be because I'm running in a new pair of shoes, but it worked itself out after about a quarter of a mile. I ran the first 3 miles easy and only had to push a bit during mile four.

Official race time was 42:42 with a chip time of 36:10. Yes, that is another personal best. Gotta love being a new runner! I keep surprising myself, because my training is still not where I want it to be and I'm doing most of the training in the races themselves. But I think the course was fast - the winners set course records.

Chelly got a personal best, as well, soundly trouncing the 50 minute mark.

We hung around for the festivities after the race and took some silly photos. There were photographers at the race, so serious running photos should be appearing shortly. But, meanwhile, we mug for the camera!

I also got a nice shot of springtime in Central Park. Enjoy!

So we entered this race -- and we each won trophies!! I actually have something I can pull out and lord over..ahem..tell my friends about. I won my age group and Chelly came in second in her's.

We both also ran personal bests which is shocking. This was actually a pretty hard course. The course was an approximately 1.5 mile loop that we ran twice before cutting off to head for the finish line. I think the course was more than three-quarters uphill and a pretty serious grade. Then there was one big downhill that caused different difficulties as you felt like you'd go tumbling head over heels if you went too fast. Before I saw the course I was planning to try and run a 9:00 pace. I've been flirting with that number for a little while. I managed a 8:52 pace today, hills and all. Don't ask me how, I have no idea.