I did the Front Runner’s 5 Miler today. I love 5 milers but the last one I did was this same one last year, so I knew there was a high probability of a PR in the forecast, despite the weather forecast: it has been insanely hot all week. Call me crazy, but I don’t enjoy racing in an oven, I am just nuts like that. Love 5 milers, hate the heat. Ergo, I race and whine/curse.
Anyway, my PR was 38:32 (average pace of 7:42). Given that my pace at the 10k two weeks ago 7:25, I had targeted an average pace of 7:20. But I figured in this heat I would be happy with a 37:30 finish time. Ha, as usual, I had no clue….!
While lining up at the corral, I drunk 2 Gatorade cups and dumped 3 cups of water on me. I was already hot and dreading it. We are OFF! This time, I didn’t fight my urge to go out too fast. Why bother? I went insanely fast at the last 10k and it was fine; and I was sure I was going to be miserable very soon not matter what I did… Mile 1- 7:07, whatever, I am hot. Even before the Mile 1 marker I had already fought like 30 million thoughts about stopping to walk. It was very hard for me not to, I was so annoyed at myself and I remembered why I would stop last year to walk in all these races: the #@$^&^& HEAT!!! I decided I would distract myself with all I had, and I would not stop, at all, GGRRR< I am tough, I can do this, no I can’t, can I?, uh, I hate this, I want to walk just a bit, just a couple of seconds, NO! Please, it’s hooooooot, and this is soooo hard, that’s what she said, keep going you m*r*n, you are better than this, but I am hot… the whole five miles went exactly like that!
Mile 2- 7:06… ok fine, but I really wanted to stop. It’s all I wanted.In life. Forever. I saw (and waved at) a lot of people in the park cheering (including yours truly jflecks79), and then this guy runs up to me and says: I was running by you for a while and everybody knows you here, I am getting depressed that no one waives at me. He must have thought I was mental, I was so out of it it took a little while for me to understand “words”… I was just trying not to stop! Or die! Heart rate: INSANE. Yes, I am always this specific and accurate.
Mile 3- 6:50… what? how? I was just focusing on finishing this. I hated racing. All I should be doing today is sit by a pool. Shut up B!tch, you’re MsRitz, you run the run today! Hahahaha! Misting stations are heaven, I need more!
Mile 4- 7:28 let’s finish this…. time to sprint? Can I even try? Mile 5- 7:06. Last mile was run hard but it all paid off. Finish time: 35: 37… WHAT? Yeah, 35:37!!! Average pace of 7:08. Insanity!!!!!!!!!! Almost a three minutes PR!!! And, #4 in my Age Group. That, in NYC, is HUGE! Insane.
As soon as I crossed the finish line I had to hold on to the railings. I couldn’t stand up or see much. People were asking me stuff and pointing to the Medical tent, which was 5 feet away. I couldn’t say no, I just held on. After a few minutes I started walking, slowly, in zigzags… Found Blaise right away, I was still dizzy, it took me a good 10 minutes to feel normal again.
Someone Run the Run today! It was horrible, but I figured I would NOT race in weather like this for a while so I had to make it worth it, and leave with a bang (I am not coming back until it’s snowing!!!). And I didn’t stop once, which was the hardest part for me. We took a million pictures after and since then I have been telling myself all day how happy I am with myself, to the shock/annoyance of strangers, and nodding of friends. I really feel really OSOM. #4th is HUGE for me. HUGE. I am on a horrrrrrrrrrrrse!!
Now I need to recover for tomorrow’s Argentina’s game! At least I got this RR out before who knows what happens to me tomorrow during the game… rough weekend!! 😉 Just one pic for now. More to come!!!
Enjoy the weekend! Trust me: stay indoors!!!
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runningandthecity 