Yesterday was the NYC team Championships, consisting of two 5 mile races (one for the males & one for the females) reserved exclusively for Running teams in the NYC area. Although I was a little worried about my time (as always) I decided that i wasn’t going to worry about how I did, but instead to just push myself as hard as I was able, and reminded myself the purpose was to get myself out there. I had a goal of 34 minutes for the race. This race is known for being no frills, very small (517 runners total for the females), and VERY fast. I was super excited to be able to start strong and hold my position through out most of the race. With so many fast women on the team, I am normally the head of the second group, and can only aspire to at some point meet their times. All of our top competitors for the team were running I was stoked that about halfway through the race I could see them in the horizon, and actually was able to maintain a small distance between them and I. It was also great to run along side experienced runners and ran neck to neck with the same 2 central park track club members for a majority of the race. Overall I think I got 8th place on the team, finishing at 33:30, just 15 seconds behind on of our top runners heather. My next goal is to be finishing side by side with some of the faster girls for the next race, which means that i am going to have to start stepping up my game. After the race, as is customary for most the teams who participate, we had a large picnic with tons of food and drinks. What a great time!
I am a big believer in joining a running group. I started out running with the Nike running group on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Central Park. Its free, and since they have a lot of pacers, it is a great resource for new runners to learn what their own pace is, and how to run more consistently. Afterwards I joined a friends small running group ran out of the YMCA. The intimacy of a small group was a great way of meeting and socializing with other runners in my area, but in the end, didn’t find they pushed me hard enough and ended up joining the Harriers. The group is about twice the size of the YMCA group, but have a lot more structure to their weekly runs, have much harder workouts, and have coaches that are an excellent resource with any running problems, questions, or injuries. Oh and did I mention the social aspect! The Harriers have what they called “First Thursdays” each month hosted at a different bar though out the city each week, as well as brunches after every race, and normally get togethers after most workouts during the week. More then anything, I find it super helpful to have strong runners, who know how to enjoy themselves, but are also SUPER fast, and know how to push themselves and everyone around them when the time comes!
After racing on saturday, I ended up doing a very low key long run of a little over 11 miles. although I knew I needed to get the mileage in, I also didn’t want to make the mistake of hurting myself too early in the game.
All in all this was a great first week of training. I know that the hard part is coming, and this will become super challenging as always, but for right now I am just enjoying the moment!
