Bright and early on Saturday morning I made my way to Central Park for the NYRR Oakley women’s 10k. I used to do NYRR races all the time, yet in the past few years I hadn’t signed up for any (sometimes it’s hard to justify spending money to run around the park I run around all the time for free), but I’d been wanting to do the Oakley 10k…mostly because I see girls wearing the cute tanks and wanted one.
Fortunately, I live a block from Central Park, making these races a breeze to get to. This race started by Columbus Circle, ran up Central Park West then entered the park to complete the 6.2 mile loop. I completed the race in 53 minutes (8:35 pace) which I was really happy with. Two things I didn’t mention, it was really freaking hot and according to my training plan I had to run 11 miles that day, so even though the race was over, my run was not.
A bunch of my friends were running and I managed to meet up with most of them before or after the race and have a little time to catch up before continuing my run.
A few of my non-racing girlfriends were meeting up at Smorgasburg that morning. I’ve been dying to go; I mapped it out and it was 5 miles from the finish of the race, meaning after the race if I kept running, I’d get exactly 11 miles in. Seems meant to be, right?
After my quick break post-race I ran to the east side, over the 59th street bridge and followed a few turns to get me to Smorgasburg. It was hot and humid and sunny but the run was awesome. I love having a new destination and course to take on. When you run in the same city for years and years, things can get repetitive. It’s important to find new routes to keep things interesting. This run was particularly motivating since I had no choice but to keep running! I had to get to Smorgasburg and the only way was with my legs.
[view over the Polaski bridge]
[I arrived 15 minutes ahead of my friends and did a mini photo shoot with my medal]
[Look! I’m at the beach!]
Smorgasburg has tons of amazing food options but after my run I was so overheated that the best sounding treat was a coconut. Ok, I also had truffle fries, a donut and a few bites of other treats. But really, the coconut was a highlight, as lame as that is.
After indulging I hopped on the subway to get home, met up with Ollie, had more iced coffee (my 3rd of the day) and it was only 1:30pm! Such a productive morning.
[to give you an idea of the heat, in the middle of our afternoon walk Ollie just decided to take a breather]
My very busy day was a great one. This was a good reminder that even though it might be a bit of a waste of money, getting up early to run races is quite rewarding and now that I’m once again a NYRR member, I need to sign up for a few more. Also, as Chicago marathon training starts, these will be extra motivating to get in early AM miles. I loved the Oakley 10k, it’s fun to do a women’s only race, the course is a little different than just a loop of CP, plus you get a cute tank, medal and flower!
And a quick note on my training. That 11-mile run was a highlight, the rest of my week wasn’t quite as stellar. On Sunday I was supposed to wake up and bike+run but sore legs and overall exhaustion led to me sleeping in and skipping my workout. I also only swam once last week. Not my best training week, but it happens. This is a new week and all we can do with training is look ahead and continue to improve. So here’s to this new week (well, it’s Wednesday already, I better get moving)!
