Oakley Mini 10K Race Report

Second race post baby, and it wasn't as bad as I had imagined even though I did very little training for it. (Seriously, these days time seems to be at a premium.) I haven't yet lost the additional weight yet, and I did feel it drag a bit, particularly on my left hip and calves. But given the beautiful day, I'm glad I made it official.

Temp: 65º
Humidity: 79%
Wind: 5mph
Net time: 1:19:23

Good enough. I didn't anything to prove given that it's been five months since I've given birth to Mackenzie. The last time I ran a 10K was back in 2007. So I slowed about 6 minutes, which isn't too bad considering the extra 20lbs and close to no running beforehand. So the recap...

Went to bed at around 11pm. Woke up about three times before really waking up at 5:40am. For some reason this past week, Mac has been waking up several times a night, babbling loudly for a while before fussing. Needless to say, after her first awakening at 3:38am, I slept lightly due to the anxiety of waking up late.

Got to Central Park around 7:30 and waited for Anna. She arrived late with about 5 minutes to start. Good thing the portajohns were right near the start. I ran quickly to empty my bladder before running to the corrals. (I could hear some lady sing the national anthem from inside. That's how close they were. Anyway...)

The race started off very nicely. Something about running in an all women race is very inspiring. Given that this used to be the Leggs Mini 10K, I felt a special attachment to it, especially after meeting Katharine Switzer and reading her book. Hugged my sis and wished her a good race, and we proceeded to run our own pace.

The first 1.5 miles were flat and straight, right through CPW, past all of the museums. The air was a bit muggy to my liking, and I used the straightaway to settle into my breathing. At 90th St, the route makes a turn into Central Park, and proceeds north to Harlem Hill. The first water station was at the Mile 1 marker which I missed. I don't normally get water so early, but my mouth was dry. I had to settle for the next station. As I made my way down the hill, I bumped into someone I knew, and we chatted for a minute. Unfortunately, that minute cost me the second water station right before Mile 3, and it took me a while to get my mind back.

For me, the worse thing about running is the mental challenge, and dealing with the fact that things didn't go the way I wanted it to. I kinda got irked, and I focused a bit too much on that rather than just letting things unfold. At the 5K mark, I realized that I was going faster than I have in a while, and tried to settle into my rhythm again. Finally I was able to get a cup of water at the next station, but my stomach was feeling queasy at that point. Between Mile 4-5 I was doing a walk-run routine, while telling myself it's okay and to let it go, that the race is what it is. Mile 5 to finish was more of the same. I hydrated well but my calves were starting to seize every time I tried to push it a bit more. By that time there were a lot of people around egging the back-of-the-packers to finish strong. Finally the 800m to go sign appeared, then the 400m, then 200m. At one point I had a flash back of the NYCM finish. Same place. Same slight uphill.

I crossed the finish line and was nicely surprised to see my mom and brother cheering from the side. Collected my medal and flower, and hung out with them while waiting for Anna to cross. (We didn't see her pass because we were too busy laughing at my mom who photobombed the Team NYRR pic.) Chris came out with Mackenzie to meet me, so all of us headed into Chinatown for a nice dim sum brunch as a post-race celebration meal.

On the way back, I asked Chris to look up my last 10K result, and I was surprised to find that the last time I ran this distance was back in 2008, the Scotland 10K. I did a 1:14:48 then, so I slowed a bit. But the 10K before that was the Mini 10K where I ran a 1:21:52. Ah well. This race is in the bag. Now to buy new shoes. I bought a pair of New Balance on sale for $45, and wore it at the Run as One 4M back in April, but apparently my foot grew half a size from being preggers. Guess I'll pass these to Anna since she seems to enjoy running now. So proud of her. She PBed since it was her first 10K ever!