The plan was to enjoy a day at Splish
Splash, but then Laura won herself an entry to the Cancer Challenge 5k, so I
decided I'd might as well run it too. It wasn't set to start until 11am, which
is a bit late on a warm summer day, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ability to
sleep in. Sunday morning came, I felt more rested, but still tired and not all
that excited to race, or even run for that matter. I spoke to Laura, who,
herself was too tired to race, and told me to take her registration. She went
to Splish Splash the day before, had loads of fun, and got home late, while I
sat through the third day of a medical conference and dreamed of being outside.
I was really looking forward to running with Laura, seeing if I could keep up with her (she is super fast). This made my desire to race even less. But I also knew that at 10am in the morning on a hot summer day, if I didn't race and hadn't run yet, I wasn't going to run at all, so I headed to the start. On top of that, without Laura running, I thought maybe I'd have a chance at winning (I ran the same course in March, coming in a close second). I told my husband, Charles, about it, who planned to come watch, which kept me motivated.
I set out to warm-up, but it was already hot, so I just did a few laps and strides on the track. Then I chatted with my VCTC teammates. It was really nice to be on home turf in Van Cortlandt Park, running a course different from all the Central Park races. This course was a mishmash of terrain. It started with 3 loops on the track and then you headed to the flats, which consisted of pavement followed by a graveled path that lead to a short jaunt on the hills, back to the parade grounds, and finished on the track. As I looked at the other runners, I didn't see any obviously fiercely strong women, but a few elite African men came out.
The gun sounded and we were off. True to my form, I went out way too fast. As I ran I forgot who I was following...the elite Africans and a few really fast guys from my club. Running on the track is so much fun and so easy to get carried away. I looked at my Garmin and realized just how fast I was going and tried to slow down, yet I also knew that with the heat and the hills, I would automatically slow down in the coming miles. My first mile was a 5:48. Then I hit the trails, heading into the steamy woods, where I began to die a bit. I wasn't prepared for how hot and humid it would be. I am not a good hot weather runner as I overheat very easily, but I pushed myself to keep going. I crested the top of the hill, and knew I had just over a mile of flat terrain to go. Mile two was more than slow at a 7:08...I told you I died...so I needed to try to pick up the pace. I headed down the slope back to the flats, but kept thinking, "why are you pushing, you can relax a bit, there are no other girls around…you have this". However, I didn't dare look back to verify and fear of being wrong kept me going. Once I got to the turn to exit the flats and head back to the track, I took a peak and saw a girl about 300 meters behind me. I didn't know what kind of push she had, so I knew I had to push harder to the finish, only half a mile to go.
I was determined to win. Charles, who often has bad timing when it comes to my races, had come out and cheered away while I was on the track. I knew he would be waiting for me at the finish. I ran past my teammate Dick at the entrance to the park, who cheered me on. I pushed and drove around the track to the finish, where Glen, the race director, my teammate, and one of my biggest supporters, was cheering. I put up my arms and broke the tape. What a feeling! And the best part was having Charles at the finish. A sweaty hug and kiss, followed by some Gatorade and shade.
My final mile was a 6:37, with a finish time of 20:30. It wasn’t even close to a PR. Going out too fast, coupled with the heat, had cost me in the 2nd and 3rd miles. Even though I didn’t have a stellar racing performance, it was my first win, so I was happy! Later Dick told me that the second place finisher had more than halved the distance between us. She finished 3 seconds behind me. That was close!
Award time! The winning male, Abiyot Endale, who hails
from Ethiopia, also broke the course record, running in 15:14 (that is 4:55
minutes per mile). Amazing! I had the privilege of standing on the podium with
him...well there wasn't really a podium, but I like to pretend. A few months
back, before leaving for the San Blas Half Marathon in Puerto Rico, Charles
asked if I was going to win. Where that came from, I have no idea, because I
had never won before, but I simply replied, "No, the Africans are
running". I dream of being as fast as them, they are quite inspiring! I am
still not even close to being that fast, but it was an honor to win with them
in one of my favorite places to run and among so many friends!
I was really looking forward to running with Laura, seeing if I could keep up with her (she is super fast). This made my desire to race even less. But I also knew that at 10am in the morning on a hot summer day, if I didn't race and hadn't run yet, I wasn't going to run at all, so I headed to the start. On top of that, without Laura running, I thought maybe I'd have a chance at winning (I ran the same course in March, coming in a close second). I told my husband, Charles, about it, who planned to come watch, which kept me motivated.
I set out to warm-up, but it was already hot, so I just did a few laps and strides on the track. Then I chatted with my VCTC teammates. It was really nice to be on home turf in Van Cortlandt Park, running a course different from all the Central Park races. This course was a mishmash of terrain. It started with 3 loops on the track and then you headed to the flats, which consisted of pavement followed by a graveled path that lead to a short jaunt on the hills, back to the parade grounds, and finished on the track. As I looked at the other runners, I didn't see any obviously fiercely strong women, but a few elite African men came out.
The gun sounded and we were off. True to my form, I went out way too fast. As I ran I forgot who I was following...the elite Africans and a few really fast guys from my club. Running on the track is so much fun and so easy to get carried away. I looked at my Garmin and realized just how fast I was going and tried to slow down, yet I also knew that with the heat and the hills, I would automatically slow down in the coming miles. My first mile was a 5:48. Then I hit the trails, heading into the steamy woods, where I began to die a bit. I wasn't prepared for how hot and humid it would be. I am not a good hot weather runner as I overheat very easily, but I pushed myself to keep going. I crested the top of the hill, and knew I had just over a mile of flat terrain to go. Mile two was more than slow at a 7:08...I told you I died...so I needed to try to pick up the pace. I headed down the slope back to the flats, but kept thinking, "why are you pushing, you can relax a bit, there are no other girls around…you have this". However, I didn't dare look back to verify and fear of being wrong kept me going. Once I got to the turn to exit the flats and head back to the track, I took a peak and saw a girl about 300 meters behind me. I didn't know what kind of push she had, so I knew I had to push harder to the finish, only half a mile to go.
I was determined to win. Charles, who often has bad timing when it comes to my races, had come out and cheered away while I was on the track. I knew he would be waiting for me at the finish. I ran past my teammate Dick at the entrance to the park, who cheered me on. I pushed and drove around the track to the finish, where Glen, the race director, my teammate, and one of my biggest supporters, was cheering. I put up my arms and broke the tape. What a feeling! And the best part was having Charles at the finish. A sweaty hug and kiss, followed by some Gatorade and shade.
My final mile was a 6:37, with a finish time of 20:30. It wasn’t even close to a PR. Going out too fast, coupled with the heat, had cost me in the 2nd and 3rd miles. Even though I didn’t have a stellar racing performance, it was my first win, so I was happy! Later Dick told me that the second place finisher had more than halved the distance between us. She finished 3 seconds behind me. That was close!
A 5:48 first mile? For the love of gosh! Cool post :)
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