verticalchaos
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2007
- Messages
- 1,739
This was my 4th 5K overall, my second officially timed one. My first was actualy 6 months and 1 day ago on the mostly flet Governor's Island with sun and a nice breeze.
This was in HILLY Washington Heights. With a chilly, damp rain.
And until yesterday I'd been off running since Monday with a swollen but not painful knee. I got in 6.83 miles yesterday and really wasn't sure what that was going to mean for me today. But I figured I'd go for it.
Dropped off my bag and found a running club teammate - then it started raining, so the cell phone (boo! no runkeeper for me!) and the metrocard went back to the backpack. Found some more running club teammates as we huddled against a building. Finally moved out into my purple (the last) corral shortly before they started collapsing them when everyone just kind of melds into a big mass of 7000 people.
Pre-race announcements, the national anthem, and we were off!
There were bands and musical groups all along the way ranging from those of a more Hispanic flavor to those of a more Irish flavor - and even to my delight as a former trombone player a trombone quartet! That definitely helped!
I tried to hold myself back pace-wise since I didn't want to go out too fast, knowing from reports that there were vicious hills coming up. The fact that we were all on a city street made it a little easier just because of the crowds. It's a lollipop course, and before I'd even hit the 1-mile marker, the leaders were coming back, so we were down to half the street.
I'm proud to say that I ran all my run intervals for the first half, including a massive uphill climb - my technique I've learned is to pull my hat down so I can only see 5-10 feet in front of me and NOT up to the top of the hill. I knew when I saw the first mile marker that I had a good pace going.
I did opt to walk a couple of run intervals on the hill at the beginning of the second half (I was doing a 3.5 to 1.5 ratio today) to conserve because as I've learned, even though it's easy to pick up pace on downhills, you're still working and you still need to have some gas in the tank...especially for a finishing straightaway.
Passing the 2 mile marker, I was feeling really strong and tried to pick things up a bit more. Some good downhill stretches helped a good bit with that.
About a mile out from the finish line, some of my Front Runner boys had a cheering squad in front of the building where our post-race brunch was - including my Cesar and his "Run faster! Charlie Sheen is winning!" sign which made me laugh!
Once I hit the final straightaway, my run/walk went out the window and I powered home, still feeling great! (Funny how short a 5K feels after doing a half marathon!)
Official time: 35:37!
My other timed 5K was my first - 41:36!
Hello 6 MINUTE PR!!!! I'll take it!
All in all, Coogan's was a flippin fun race and I can't wait to do it again next year!!
~beth
This was in HILLY Washington Heights. With a chilly, damp rain.
And until yesterday I'd been off running since Monday with a swollen but not painful knee. I got in 6.83 miles yesterday and really wasn't sure what that was going to mean for me today. But I figured I'd go for it.
Dropped off my bag and found a running club teammate - then it started raining, so the cell phone (boo! no runkeeper for me!) and the metrocard went back to the backpack. Found some more running club teammates as we huddled against a building. Finally moved out into my purple (the last) corral shortly before they started collapsing them when everyone just kind of melds into a big mass of 7000 people.
Pre-race announcements, the national anthem, and we were off!
There were bands and musical groups all along the way ranging from those of a more Hispanic flavor to those of a more Irish flavor - and even to my delight as a former trombone player a trombone quartet! That definitely helped!
I tried to hold myself back pace-wise since I didn't want to go out too fast, knowing from reports that there were vicious hills coming up. The fact that we were all on a city street made it a little easier just because of the crowds. It's a lollipop course, and before I'd even hit the 1-mile marker, the leaders were coming back, so we were down to half the street.
I'm proud to say that I ran all my run intervals for the first half, including a massive uphill climb - my technique I've learned is to pull my hat down so I can only see 5-10 feet in front of me and NOT up to the top of the hill. I knew when I saw the first mile marker that I had a good pace going.
I did opt to walk a couple of run intervals on the hill at the beginning of the second half (I was doing a 3.5 to 1.5 ratio today) to conserve because as I've learned, even though it's easy to pick up pace on downhills, you're still working and you still need to have some gas in the tank...especially for a finishing straightaway.
Passing the 2 mile marker, I was feeling really strong and tried to pick things up a bit more. Some good downhill stretches helped a good bit with that.
About a mile out from the finish line, some of my Front Runner boys had a cheering squad in front of the building where our post-race brunch was - including my Cesar and his "Run faster! Charlie Sheen is winning!" sign which made me laugh!
Once I hit the final straightaway, my run/walk went out the window and I powered home, still feeling great! (Funny how short a 5K feels after doing a half marathon!)
Official time: 35:37!
My other timed 5K was my first - 41:36!
Hello 6 MINUTE PR!!!! I'll take it!
All in all, Coogan's was a flippin fun race and I can't wait to do it again next year!!
~beth
