Off to the Races
A thousand apologies. 2010's gotten off to a rocky start and certain goings-on have kept me from blogging, so let's catch up.
On January 9, 2010 I ran my first real race - 5 miles in Central Park.
The night before the race, I was perhaps a tad overeager. I had pasta for dinner and drank lots of water. I laid out my outfit (black and blue compression tights, new super-thin sports bra, blue compression turtleneck, black zipup jacket, blue running hat, pink earwarmer, running gloves.) I set aside safety-pins to attach my number. I re-read the instructions for attaching my dtag to my shoe and went to bed early. I should have been all set.
Of course, things didn't go quite as I had planned. I totally overslept. When I woke up, I realized I'd left my iPod headphones at work. In my haste, I put one contact lens in inside out and didn't quite figure that out till we were running. (That hurt.) Also, I hadn't really considered the logistics. If you recall, it was seriously freezing that morning. I run outside all the time, but hadn't really factored in (1) getting to the park and (2) waiting for the race to start. I solved the first problem by hopping in a cab, and the second by, well, hopping.
As I bounced about and blew on my hands, I marveled at the spectators and well-wishers. Sure, they were bundled up, but still. They were just standing there. I remembered a similar morning years prior when I had come to the park with a friend to cheer on her boyfriend in a race. At the time, neither of us were runners. I remembered how foreign the whole running thing seemed. That was a long time ago. My friend married her boyfriend and they now have a one year old daughter, and, actually, watching that race inspired my friend to start running. It took me a little longer to get started, but there I was.
My hypothermic trip down memory lane came to an end, and just as I was wondering how long it really would take for my fingers to freeze off, and if I could hold my friend's husband liable if they did, we started.
It was fun running with so many people. I passed them, they passed me. I eavesdropped on their conversations. Thank heaven for other people's relationship issues - I didn't miss my iPod at all. As we ran, I noticed that people around me were breathing really hard, and I paced myself just to be safe. I didn't "race" until I could see the finish line at the very end. I leaped across the finish line.
As I exited the park, I declined the free bagel. I figured that a 5 mile run entitled me to a toasted everything bagel with creamcheese, and I had no problem waiting till I got home to partake.
As it turns out, I finished in 48:13 (9:38/mi). Not too shabby. I've got another race coming up on February 7, and I'm hoping to beat that. I'll keep you posted.
-Gym Belle-
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
Yea! Congrats on your first real race :) If I recall that was a pretty cold day for a run ... brrr. Gluck on race 2!
I may have been inspired sooner, but I also seem to have given up sooner :( Who knows...maybe one day we'll run sub-10-minute-miles in the cold together! Oh, and yes, you could have totally held the hubby responsible if your fingers fell off ;)