Today I ran in the South Nyack 10 Mile Race in Rockland County, New York. It was an interesting race, but a tough one.
My goal had been 1:25:00, but I came in at 1:27:05, and felt like horking afterwards, which I usually don’t. That may have been due to racing against some other woman for the last quarter mile. I couldn’t hold her pace (7:15), so she beat me. Oh, well. I came in #177 out of 450-odd people (no results online yet), so I’m still pleased.
It was cool enough (in the mid-60s), and I should have been able to make 1:25, but I have a feeling some environmental aspects of the race conspired against me. I say this because everyone around me seemed to get fatigued between mile 6 and 7. The race started in South Nyack in a local park, ran under the NY Thruway/entrance to Tappan Zee, and south along the Hudson river — and back. Mile 4-6 was a run out along a mile-long pier jutting into the river, which was very scenic (and very windy).
I was flying during the first half, and then the second half was a chore. My pace was 45 seconds slower. I have a feeling there was a very slight incline, which is tough to deal with over several miles. Also a brisk headwind in some spots. And the end of the race featured a little steep hill (200 yards?) followed by a very long steep hill. I could hear other runners groan when it came into view. But I used my trick of breaking it up into little goals (“My next goal is that blue mailbox…”), which helps me deal with it mentally.
So, I blew my goal time, but I’ve got a boatload of excuses. 🙂
But I got some free ice cream, half a banana and a whole bunch of water. And we picked up our racing numbers yesterday at a ravioli shop, race sponsor Gracie’s Ravioli, where we bought some homemade meat and cheese ravioli. That made an excellent carbo-loaded pre-race meal last night.
And I had a bonus celebrity sighting at the post-run awards ceremony and raffle — Rosie O’Donnell, South Nyack resident, with her gaggle of kids. She didn’t run the race, but she was taking lots of pictures.
Even though it’s still summer, I’m marking this race as the start of fall racing season. Yay!
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Races Like a Girl 