Sunday, July 22, 2012

Boomer's 10k

The most important thing to note about this race was I forgot my gymboss. I know. How the hell was I going to run this race?! I spent the entire 1.5 miles to the start contemplating. I thought about using one of the running apps, runkeeper being my favorite, but I didn't feel like setting it up and I didn't really want to use my Iphone. The next best option was to count lampposts. The only time I've ever done that was during speed workouts, which I seriously need to get back into. Anyway.

It. Was. Awesome. I decided I'd run 4 and walk 1. I know for a fact I ran more than I ever have before. Even if I was slower, I feel better about it because running more is turning into a goal for me. I want to incorporate more running into my training, I just don't know how! I can't afford to get slower but it would be nice to get faster running somehow. For the past year, I lived and died by the 2 (or 3) minute timer. Even if I was in a good groove, I'd still stop and take my walk break. . . sometimes extending it. Whatever. But with counting lampposts, I convinced myself to keep running all the way down the hill. I'd count only the posts on one side of the road to make it longer. I told myself I could walk all the way up Harlem Hill if I continued this and I did. It was great!

I'm sure the fact that it was a gorgeous 70 degrees helped a lot too! Yet, even with the amazing weather (or because of it) there was a ton of random (read: cray cray) events. A guy in the bathroom line told me I should be getting close to an 18 miler soon (ummm. . .no? I still have 3 months weirdo!) Once in the corrals, a biker told us to "watch our big asses" because he needed to get through, thus confirming why I believe cyclists are d-bags. Then some over eager volunteer tried to pull a woman out of the corral bc she had a faster color corral. What?! Chill out, people. It was a gorgeous day, no need for all that!

It was also the first run I felt happy and good about in a long time. I'm having a ton of doubts about the marathon and this really helped boost my confidence. I even decided to run/walk back to the apt, adding another 1.5 miles on for a complete 9.2 miles! The schedule only called for 7, opps. I also spent the majority of the rest of the day walk around a lot and I think that helped a ton in regards to recovery.

To make up for my lack of race photos, I took some on my run/walk back to the apt. via the Central Park West walk path:

 The path along Central Park. Those cute cement cutouts/ cobblestone? 
Not so cute when the sidewalk is all warped and old.

 Looking into the park. 
I remember when I first moved to NYC and was so scared I'd get lost in there.

 The Children's Museum.

 Humbolt. Have no idea who he is, but there is a street named after him in Brooklyn.
I should google.

 The Museum of Natural History.

What's cool on your route?

4 comments:

  1. When my Garmin quit on me, I used songs to keep track of my walk breaks. Two songs, then walk for the count of 60. Those same two songs drove me nuts since I listened to them for about 7km! (I repeated them because I knew they were fast so if I kept to the beat my pace would be alright) Good work on your run!

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    1. I didn't even think of that! I don't think I could do that though, a lot of my songs are techno and can go for forever.

      I can just imagine repeating the songs that long, but hey! It worked!

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  2. My route usually just has the North Umpqua River. That's it. Sometimes a golf course. But the river makes an appearance in 90% of my runs, if not more.

    Bicyclists ARE douche bags. Hard core!!

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    1. I like runs that involve water viewing.

      As the summer goes on, the more I hate cyclists. My god.

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