Today was the Rock ‘n’ Roll Brooklyn 10K in Prospect Park. The day started early. Alarm went off before 5am and I was out the door at 6am. Duncan isn’t so fond of my weekend races that require alarm clocks to go off at 5am when we should be sleeping in. I strum violins for him. Such a tough life he has.
pre race coffee requirement met…
I traveled over my beloved Verrazano Bridge but since the sun hadn’t risen I got this picture:
pre-dawn Verrazano Bridge
Pretty still but nothing compared to this one from August:
sunrise porn
I scooped up my co-mustache-packet pickup-pal Lisa and then we headed to the start corrals where we met up with most of our group
the packet pickup mustache girls
starting group plus one mustache boy and minus two mustache girls =)
I was on the fence about whether to push for a PR or just relax and enjoy knowing tomorrow is a 20 miler for me but my mind was made up before the first mile. I found myself running next to Mike and I felt really strong. We didn’t speak much at first. I didn’t want to chat with him if he felt like then he’d be “stuck” talking and slowing down. I mentioned that our pace was about 9:15 and if I could keep that pace I’d definitely PR. He reminded me we were on an incline. I really didn’t notice so when I realized that I could even push it faster on the downhills I started to solidify my decision. I would give it all I had. Next thing you know Mike became my pacer and coach. He really kept me going. I don’t think I’d have come close to that time without him. And I’m SO glad it happened sort of accidentally and wasn’t planned..
Me and Mike….Big thank you to Gary for taking this pic
The downhills were 8:30s and the flat parts were mainly 9:15s and the one hill at mile 5 I slowed down to 10:14. But I am proud to say that I ran the entire time. Usually (when we train in Prospect Park where the race took place) I walk up most of that hill or I strategically need to refill my water bottle at a water fountain. Not today. Maybe my pace slowed and I dramatized how crappy I was feeling, but I kept running.
We finished in 57:26, a 2 1/2 minute PR over the 2011 RnR Brooklyn 10k. I even pulled up my garmin data from that race to compare my splits side by side:
Interestingly I gave it a bigger push in the last mile in 2011.
The rest of the crew followed right behind. It was a great day to run.
the larger group of finishers
colorful shirt and medal!
happy girl!
We celebrated at JD and Karen’s house with pancakes! (I didn’t take a picture but they were delicious!). Once I got home I took the dog out into the woods for a little nature trail time. It’s the perfect complement to my weekend races. I can keep the legs warm and make it up to the doodlebug at the same time.
learned my lesson. state land NOT federal!
Surprisingly, I feel pretty good! I’m going to get to bed early tonight and plan to take it slow tomorrow for my 7 pre-race miles, plus the Staten Island half marathon.
Question: What did you do today? This is a BIG marathon weekend….know anyone running in Chicago, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California or Baltimore?
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