Tag Archive | 15k

NYRR’s Ted Corbitt 15K – Winter Wonderland!

Dec16

I promise it gets fun towards the end..

Well, I am not going to get anyone riled about this one. If something, this is a testament that I can sometimes control my pace… I was NOT racing, I barely showed up to get my last NYC marathon qualifier in and I had one hundred other things I had preferred to be doing. Actually, snow was in the forecast so I spent most of the day before and the night checking to see if they would make it a fun run (you get credit towards the marathon but you don’t even have to show up!) but they didn’t. I was exhausted. I had just come back from Buenos Aires two days before and my husband was super sick with a bronchitis (fever, coughing, the works) so there was no sleep and I really didn’t want to leave him alone at all. I was going to be back in less than two hours and it was early, and the start was less than a mile from the apartment so I knew he’d be okay, but he had a horrible night and neither of us slept. I got up to this:

ted corbitt 15K nyrr

Oy.

It was not supermotivating. Because, mostly, I am in really crappy shape. I haven’t trained in months. I was tired. I had overeaten in my Buenos Aires vacation until I food-poisoned myself… I was coming off a rough week. Plus, coming back from the nice early summer runs in 70 degrees to this frigid cold… I really didn’t want to go!!!!!

But, alas. I HAD to. I really had no choice.

My plan was to get there as close to the start time as possible so I wouldn’t freeze waiting around, not check a bag, run as easy as I could without freezing, and run straight home after I finished. Does that sound like a race strategy? No, I know. But it’s because I wasn’t racing. I was just completing the course and going home without even stopping. Lame, but it’s all I had.

So far from last year’s NYRR’s Ted Corbitt Classic 15K!!! I had a fantastic race, did a 7:27 average and loved the distance… this time, I would be happy to keep it smart and finish without dying or slowing down (ha, like my last race, the NYC Marathon!)

My race, time, and pacing was quite uneventful, as we could all expect, see some veeery conservative (though NOT dying at the end) pace here:

ted corbitt 15K nyrr 3

Nothing to write home about… 11 minutes slower than last year and I barely cracked any effort zone… 8:37 average pace (1:20:10 official finish time) in 9 miles is not even a tempo…!

But… WOW.

It started snowing AS soon as we got moving. I am not kidding. It was freezing cold, we were all shivering and dreading it. Then as soon as the horn blew, SNOW showers… Em, gladly I was covered up like a maniac and I had clear sunglasses to protect my vision (I’ve fallen with clear weather, so why make it riskier?) so I was prepped for it! It was gorgeous. I am not sure I would have loved it if I was racing. People were slipping left and right and I saw a lot of people struggling to see, the snow was coming from everywhere!!! But… it was gorgeous! I don’t have many pictures as I left the hubs locked in, but there’s a few amazing pictures in the NYRR race gallery. I felt awful for the volunteers and spectators, I am sure they were frozen. But 9 miles are over soon and in a bit, with two loops the park, I crossed the finish and kept going home, covered in snow and ice, and ready for a hot chocolate. What a race to cap off the year. Winter is here.

ted corbitt 15K nyrr 2
(help!)

NYRR’s Ted Corbitt Classic 15K – Excuse me but those legs are mine!

Dec17

I signed up on Tuesday for NYRR’s Ted Corbitt Classic 15K. Online registration closes on Tuesday, when a race is not sold out, which is always. As usual, I looked at the weather, looked 40ishy, and as I don’t do well in the cold, I always check. 40 is perfect. I am in.

How do you run a distance you never run before, pace-wise? I hadn’t run a half since May and a 10k since June, so I figured it had to be somehow faster than my marathon pace. HA. That’s me and my super low expectations! My pace in the Berlin Marathon was 7:55 so I figured that if I did 7:40s I could be very happy…
Race morning, it’s 39 degrees. I had NO clue what to wear. I didn’t want to freeze out there before and after as I was going to be hanging out with friends, but I also didn’t want to be hot during the race… Pffffff. I also didn’t feel like wearing a jacket. I am  wild rebel sometimes. Two shirts seemed like I’d freeze. So I wore THREE shirts, two long sleeved, knee-length tights, and leg warmers. Yes, it did not make any sense at all, but I liked it.
I get there, see my two teams and catch up, such a fun race to see everyone at! Seriously everyone was there!
In the corral, I see two team mates, I ask what pace they’re each going for, 7:20s: I definitely will NOT be running with them and I tell them. As soon as we go, I kept telling myself to stay relaxed and not pass anyone. Anyone!!! Let them all go!!!! That always seems to help. I am not sure why, but the less I care about the race, the faster I go. I relax and find my inner rythym! I was clocking lowish 7s so I was happy wit the numbers motoactv was shooting into my ear, and that it felt easy.
ted corbitt 15k nyrr central park (3)
I am the one with the blue leg warmers. Still, everybody else has more clothes on more than me!
Five minutes into it I was already hot. Pffft. Like burning hot. Took my gloves off and inserted them in my shorts. By Mile 6 I had to take 1 shirt off, I was dying… but I am good runner in the heat…! wink wink.
ted corbitt 15k nyrr central park (1) ted corbitt 15k nyrr central park (4)
Good: I did the whole race with no food. No breakfast, no gels, not even a drop of water during the race.
Not so Good: It was a weird race… No one was running tangents, and it was crowded so it was a bit annoying. There is a lot of zigzagging in the park so it’d make a lot of difference in people knew how to do it, so I did what I could.
I finished somehow strong, but in shock that I could do such a fun and relaxed pace and still get low 7s in most miles. I sometimes think I am mentally stuck in the paces I used to do when I started and can’t get used to how much I’ve improved…
I do remember feeling during the race how it easy and comfortable it felt. And how it was the best way to close my running year in NYC with a race that felt so good. It’s weird right? I am the one who always hates racing… 2012 and I are in love!
Stats time!
Finish time: 1:08:04. Average Pace: 7:23
Previous PR: none, automatic PR!
Age Grading: 68.46% (anything close to 70 makes me REALLY happy)
Overall Place: 453 of 4014
Gender Place: 67 of 2115
Age Place: 12 of  588
I have been looking for the legs I had in Berlin since then and I felt them today! It was not as good but halfway there: I have been experimenting with muscle tension and I think I am closer to finding the right formula!
Guess who won? Delilah Dicrescenzo! Cool, right? (you know who she is, she had that song named after her!). Pics in the link at the top!
The race gives awards to faster teams by adding their top 5 runners, and the 5 top women in my team managed to score 2nd place! I was fourth in there, so glad to help get the team placing! Woo hoo, and that’s another medal! I picked up around 5 of those babies this year!
I think I love this distance. Or I love it because I hadn’t done it before and had no expectations. It’s close to the feel of a half, it’s hardish but not all out as a 10k would be, the goldilocks-option: it’s juuuuuuust perfect!