I had a busy but good week this past week!
The biggest running news of the week was that I ran the Coogan's Salsa, Blues and Shamrocks 5K in Washington Heights on Sunday. It's the first club points race of the year, and it's always one of the more popular races of the year. I had been looking forward to this race for quite some time, mainly because it was my chance to get a fast pace in a short race so I could keep my blue starting bib. My current bib time of 6:13 is from a 5K I ran in Prospect Park two years ago in a race that doesn't even exist anymore, and that time should have expired long ago.
Because the race was on Sunday, I decided not to do my long run of the week on Saturday, but to do it on Friday instead. It was a 20-miler that I ran with Patrick and Paul, and it was a lot tougher than I expected it to be. I'm pretty sure we were going well under a 7:45 pace, whereas usually my long runs are around 8-minute miles. The last three miles I was struggling quite a bit, and ended up finishing about a minute after Paul and Patrick. In my defense, though, I was the only one racing Coogan's on Sunday, so maybe I was holding back a little.
Coogan's 5K Elevation Profile
Anyways, fast forward to Sunday, my legs were still a bit sore when I woke up. (On Saturday, I could barely walk, and ended up doing a slllooooowwww 3-mile jog at the fun run.) So I didn't know if this was going to be a good race or not. To top it off, it was a little drizzly the whole race, and I was concerned that the wet ground would slow me down. Nonetheless, I stuck with the two goals I had for the race: an "A" goal of sub 6:20 miles, and a "B" goal of sub-20 minutes for the race (6:26 pace).
The start was very crowded. It took about a quarter mile just to be able to have some space around me. Then I realized that Mikey was running right next to me. He had mentioned earlier that he had a goal of sub-20 minutes for the race too, so I decided to stick with him. My first mile was 6:26. So, exactly on pace for a 20-minute race, but probably off my "A" goal, considering I hadn't even gotten to the big climb yet.
On the downhill part of the second mile, I ended up passing Mikey. I knew my lead wasn't goin to last, though, since having done a million hill workouts with Mikey, I know that he's much stronger than me on the uphills. And sure enough, a half mile later, after the turnaround as we were going back up the hill, he passed me back. He actually opened up quite a big lead, too. So much so that I didn't know if I should just let him go or try to reel him back in. Mile 2 was 6:31. Ugh. There goes my "A" goal and possibly also my "B" goal...
On the cab ride up to Washington Heights that morning, Kelsey told me that this race was made or broken in the last mile. If you saved your legs a bit for mile 2, you would have it in you for a good strong kick to finish the last, mostly downhill, mile 3. So as I got over the last hump of mile three, I kicked it up a bit, and tried to charge down that hill. I kept telling myself that it was just 3-4 laps around the track left. Mile 3: 6:27. WTF?!?! I was so pissed. It looked like I wasn't even going to make 20 minutes. So in the last tenth of a mile, I booked it so friggin fast, pumping my arms as hard as I could, widening my stride, leaning forward, trying to get to the finish line. And then I saw... 19:57!!! I just made it by 3 seconds! And my last 0.1 mile was in 33 seconds (5:30 pace).
BTW, I beat 1293, just in case you're wondering.
Whew! What a relief. It was a great feeling to reach my goal. After almost 20 minutes of slowly seeing my goal almost escape my grasp, I was able to pull it back in in the last half mile or so and accomplish what I had set out to do. I felt really good. Of course, it would have been better if I had broken 6:20 pace, but I'll save that for my next 5K. At this point, I'm thrilled with my 19:57.
One reason Coogan's is such a popular race for the Front Runners is that every year, Patrick and Johnny host a fabulous post-race brunch at their apartment not far from the finish line. They always put out quite a beautiful and tasty spread for us, which this year included various kinds of quiche, deviled eggs, and a delicious homemade potato salad. Here's a sampling of the great food:
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And later that afternoon, it was another Computrainer session. Only, this one was MUCH much different from before. Out of seven bikers, I came in THIRD place!!! Woohooo, it looks like I'm getting better!!!
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Last Thursday, I attended the Annual New York Road Runners Club Night, an evening that honors the achievements of the city's various running clubs. I'm very proud to report that Front Runners New York was one of the clubs nominated for the first ever Team Spirit Award!!! It's such an honor to be recognized among the NYC running community, because I know first hand that FRNY really does have the best team spirit out there. It's always amazing to me that we can regularly get 100+ runners out to a race, and have dozens of other members on the course cheering or volunteering. As a runner, every time I see another Front Runner, I get a boost of energy that helps propel me to the finish line. And as someone who also cheers for our runners, I'm so happy to show my teammates and the NYC running community how much Front Runners rock. While we didn't win the award this year (that honor went to the North Brooklyn Runners), we all knew that the love we all had for our club, and the pride that we have as members of FRNY, is just unparalleled anywhere else. Yayyy Front Runners!
Oh, here's a picture of me and Ginnie, the Age Group winner for the women's 75-79 category. For a number of reasons, she's somewhat of a legend in the NYC running community. She so graciously agreed to pose for a picture with me. What a gal!
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I want to report a very successful track workout the other day. We did 5 x mile repeats. Here are my times:
1. 6:28
2. 6:18
3. 6:08
4: 6:12 (ok, this one could have been a bit faster, but I started my kick a little too late).
And then, after having already done four solid mile repeats, I decided to try to stick with the front group in my last mile -- Steve, Kevin and Andrew. My first few laps were 45 seconds on the dot. I started wondering if it was a bad idea to start out so fast. My first 800 was 3 minutes exactly. I didn't know if I could keep that pace up, but I pushed through. After 1200, I was at 4:28... Only two more laps to go, and I was under a six minute pace! Chris, the timekeeper, was yelling at me, encouraging me to go for it. I could tell people on the side were watching me, seeing me almost keep pace with Andrew (who had been running a lot faster than me all night). At that point, I knew I had to go for it. Those last two laps were HARD . . . the straightaways seemed to go on forever! And at 5:12 for my 1400, with just one lap to go, I knew I was gonna do it, even if I slowed down. But I didn't let myself cruise. Instead, I picked it up, focused myself hard, and ran as fast as I could. And there we had it: 5:55 for the finish!!! My fastest mile in a track workout! My first time running under 6 minutes in a workout. It was so cool! What an awesome feeling!
I feel like I'm really making some progress now. I have to say, after a year and a half of being injured, and running disappointing races, and being afraid to push myself, I feel like I'm starting to get my running legs back. This is coming at a great time for me, being less than six weeks away from running the Boston Marathon. I'm getting really excited about the marathon, and I'm starting to think that I can have a really successful run. This past year and a half have been quite difficult for me, as I saw myself steadily losing both speed and endurance. But as I start to enter my peak training weeks for Boston, I'm thinking that it's really good to be back.
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One last note. A few weeks back, Dan and Dave invited some of us runners out to a Scottish Burns Night dinner, a night to celebrate Scottish food and heritage, and to commemorate the great Scottish poet Robert Burns. I ate, for the first time in my life, traditional Scottish Haggis, which is a dish containing sheep's "pluck" (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally simmered in the animal's stomach for approximately three hours. It was, uh, interesting. Much more to my liking were the "neeps and tatties," or mashed turnips and potatoes, and a beef and mushroom pastry.
The best part of the night, though, was being able to play dress up and enjoy some fun Scottish dancing!
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