I am so knackered right now that this is going to be a quick post. yet I must take a moment to give mad props to Matt for telling us all to get a good night’s sleep before a morning run. Today was my fourth morning in a row getting up at 5:30 AM or earlier, and I knew the second the alarm sounded on my BlackBerry that I was in trouble. Instead of waking to my normal excitement for a run, I wanted to roll back over and keep sleeping. Clearly, I’d hit the red zone of my sleep deficit. But I stubbornly insisted on forging ahead with my plans to run a double. As it turned out, I’m not sure I was actually running this morning, as it took me 37:17 to plod through 3.36 miles. I even cut my run short (was supposed to go for four). So sorry was my state. I ran eleven-minute miles.
Once I was home, I decided to do some online banking as I found a bill that was 10 days overdue. Oops! by the time I finished that, I was seriously late for work and rushed through getting ready, grabbing my clothes for the evening’s race and dashing out the door one-two-three. It just goes to show: I should have stayed in bed and bagged my workout. Further evidence: when I got changed for the race, I discovered I’d grabbed one of my sports bras I’d worn earlier this week, instead of a clean one. I realized, with horror, that I was so stinky, I smelled like a homeless person. How mortifying, I’ve hit an all-time low. First, sleep-running, and now reeking like a hobo.
So I walked over to the race with my coworker & fellow runner JMK. We had to walk from 5th Avenue and 53rd Street over to Tavern on the Green, at Central Park West and 68th Street. I slyly chose a route that led us past all the horse-and-carriages, in the hopes that the manure odor that lingers at the South side of the park would mask my homeless stank. I think it may have worked.
The race itself was pretty standard. I ran as hard as I could given my low energy and the warmer conditions this time (fortunately the oppressive heat from earlier in the week had broken and it was actually comfortable –as long as you weren’t exercising). Thanks to everyone who wrote in comments of good luck earlier in the week. I looked for that blonde sprite because I wanted to hover behind her for the whole race, my strategy being to choke her out with my odiferous presence, but she wasn’t there. I ended up finishing the race in 29:46, for an average 8:30 per mile pace. I’m happy with that, all things considered. I came in 47th out of all women; there were definitely more competitors this time around. As an aside, let me add that the race organizers are totally cool, and are very fair. They call out the split time after the first lap, they hand out cups of water, and they are sticklers about making sure you don’t cut ahead of other finishers after the line. Afterwards, they even have pizza for us, if we want (I don’t want).
I took this opportunity (since I wasn’t streaking through the course so fast that everything was blurry; that’s a joke!), to really pay attention to the terrain, to where the hills were, what the landmarks are before each crest and at what point I should start my kick. I’m hoping that this will help me run more strategic races (without the help of my malodorous undergarment), to improve on my debut time in upcoming Media Challenges.
Pigtails Flying 