My lack of blogging of late has been based on lethargy, apathy and recovery. It’s a tough combination. I took a full week off after Boston, and still haven’t done a long run. I’m so in love with running right now that I’m terrified of getting injured. That’s it right? It’s not just that I’m lazy, right? Nah, couldn’t be!
Saturday I ran the Healthy Kidney 10k which was a total blast. Before the marathon I was so freakin’ stressed out, it was nice to be able to show up and run without being obsessed with every detail and expecting dire and inevitable failure at every turn. I wanted to do well, but I didn’t feel as if my life depended on it. That being said, I did have some traditional pre-race jitters, which I guess I use internally just to assure that I’m actually alive.
I drove down with Joe, Karen and Tony, fellow Taconics and great runners. It’s a great way to get to a race, I have to say. Runners are (almost) always happy to talk about running, and just being with people who are going to run the same race makes the race seem a little more approchable. We left a little early, and got to the park in plenty of time. I should say now what anyone who was at this race will remember: it was a fantastic day for running. Clear, a little sunny, maybe a touch too warm, but just an outstanding day.
At the start, I lined up with Tony and met fellow Taconic and super blogger Caitlin Drap. Since the race I’ve had a few minutes to peruse her blog, which is fantastic. Although she seems to be beating herself up after this last race, her positive attitude overall is contagious. I guess blogging about running doesn’t have to be bitter and cynical. I guess there’s a lesson to be learned here, but I doubt I’ll ever figure out what it is. But stop reading this blog and read hers — it’s a great read and I really recommend it.
A pretty good start, but still I felt slow. I would have love to run a 6:40 pace average, but my first couple of miles were slow, 6:52 then 6:44. It was crowded, and I’m just not good at pushing through people. I did feel strong and pushed it as best I could. Overall I ran 42:08 for an average pace of 6:47. I keep looking back a McMillian pace calculator I saved after running a sub 20 minute 5k last year. That 5k was very flat. And not very crowded. But I still would love to hit the promised land of equivalent times, like a 41:27 in this case. Ug.
But I’m still in a great mood. I’m doing a project for ESPN here in the city and am staying in a hotel for a few days. I did a 70 minute run without my GPS today, a nice mellow loop around the park. Nice cool morning, plenty of good runners out there. As I was running they were picking up the port-a-potties from Saturday’s race. What a freakin’ gig that must be. Then again, I’d expect NYRR to pay their bills, which has got to be good.
Spring is for runners. And if this freakin’ euporhia keeps up I hope someone beats me with an old shoe.
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