DASH TO 10K RACE RESULTS: NEW PR WOO HOO:)!!

I woke this morning at 5:15, did the usual pre-race rituals. I ate oatmeal with banana, had my coffee with heavy cream & DaVinci Vanilla syrup. I left at 6:30 am to drive into NYC. Today was a little different. I parked up on 99th bt Park & Madison because the race was starting on 102nd Street. I wasn't going in with anyone. Kind of lonely feeling, but I was meeting my friend Josh, who is coaching me to get me to NYC. I got to the Parking garage at 7:30, walked up to the starting area, and then did the normal stuff before the race started.

I totally was absorbed in the fact that I was running with Josh, that I forgot to put on my Garmin 301. Kind of freaked, then laughed and said I wasn't allowed to look at it any way, and kind of nice to race without it. I didn't even look at the clock when we crossed the start, so I had no idea how things were going, all I knew was that I was running the course faster than I had ever before. LOL

I ran this course once last year, July 08, and the race was called Park to Park, and I crossed the finish line at 54:38, thrilled at the time because that was a 10K PR for me back then. Today, the race is now called Dash to 10K, or something. LOL Today, I crossed the finish line at 50:10, crushing my previous course PR, by 4min and 28secs. WOO HOO:)

I'm waiting for Josh to send me my mile splits (as I didn't have my Garmin on), and to explain the course, and how we ran it, LMAO, as I was so focused, my mind is a blur as to how the course was and how I ran it. All I know is I pretty much stuck to his hip, tho a few times I did slow down, but pretty much ran next to him pacing me the whole way. So, I will post again, in another post, that stuff, but for now here are my official results for the nyrr website:

NYRR Dash 10K
Distance: 6.2 Miles
Date/Time: June 13, 2009, 9:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 72 Degrees, 61% Humidity, Overcast

Sex/Age F44
Bib 3688
Overall Place 1140
Gender Place 206
AgePlace 13
FinishTime 50:10
Pace/Mile 8:05
AGTime 46:55
AGGenderPlace 99
AG % 64.6

Afterwards, hubby/BR411 said he wanted to get me a new running outfit because he was so proud of me, I said, what I'd really would like is a Garmin 305 to train for NYC because it catches the signal better. I really don't need any more running clothes. He said OK and ordered me the Garmin 305, should be here next week. WOO HOO:)!!! Thank you honey, I love you SOOO much:)!!

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE COW HARBOR 10K

Surprisingly, when I woke this morning I feel great. A little tired, since the birthday party for my daughter went until 9pm, and I am usually in bed by then. LOL But, I totally expected to be in pain, since my calves were screaming at me at the end of yesterdays race. Very nice surprise indeed:) Still taking today off as a rest day, and will resume my half marathon training schedule tomorrow. Only plans for today, is yet another birthday celebration for my daughter, but this time, at my in-laws house about a mile away. At some point today I have to make cupcakes for her to bring to school tomorrow to celebrate with her classmates, on her actual birthday, day. So, let the celebration continue....

Got the final/official results from the Cow Harbor 10K (see below post for all the details)

I came in 1,551 out of 4,154 participants

I am in 65th in my age group (40-44) out of 322 participants

Today is a good day:)

COW HARBOR 10K RACE AND NEW PR

Although I am training/running races to qualify for the 2009 NYC Marathon, THIS race was the race I was waiting for. I ran this race in 2005 (1:01:30 a 9:54 pace), and I knew I could do better. Kids, life in general got in the way, and 2006, 2007 went by the wayside. But, this morning, I woke up, and it was 2008 COW HARBOR day!!!! And I was READY!! My legs felt great, considering I ran the Queens Half just 6 days ago, but I was smart, and just did a very easy (10min miles) 3 mile run on Thursday to keep the legs loose, and took the rest of the week off.

It was great sleeping in before a race (Cow Harbor 10K race is run in the next town over from me), so no 4:30am wake up this time:) I slept till 7am, lounged around the house with hubby and kids, and left the house around 7:50 am. Drove to the closest Stop and Shop parking lot (which was about a 1/4 of a mile from the start of the race). Got there with about 30min till race time. No issues with having to pee this time!! Walked around, found my orange corral, and waited for the gun to sound.

Oh, today's weather could not have been nicer. No humidity (or at least I don't know what it was, LOL, but it was very low, BR411, any clue????) and the temp was about 62 degrees. Cool, but not too chilly. Just the PERFECT day for a run.

Start was supposed to start at 8:30. but they were running about 5 minutes late. I was the 9th wave. This course is organized perfectly. You put in a predicted time, they place you in a corral based on that time, and then they start the corrals about 1 minute apart from each wave. So, it's crowded, but NOT mass confusion.

I got myself to the start of the wave/corral. and when the gun went, took off. The first mile of this race is downhill, and I took it a little faster than I would have liked (8:04), but I guess that's what happens when the adrenaline is going and you're at the beginning of the corral, you kind of get sucked up in the moment. But, not a bad start...

Mile 2: is basically all uphill, climaxing with James street which is a 202 ft elevation. I took mile 2 at 8:55, which was about the pace I wanted to do this mile, but the legs started to get tired because of doing the first mile WAY too fast (I think I was also starting to feel the affects of the Queens Half, i think:(

Mile 3: was basically a little uphill and then flat, and I did that one in 8:43, slower than I would have liked, but like I said, the legs were starting to get heavy. and I stopped to walk for about 15 seconds while I drank some water. I still can't run and drink at the same time. LOL

Mile 4: was basically flat and then downhill. I did this one in 8:12, and the legs were feeling good again.

Mile 5: was basically a gradual incline, but not too bad. Usually I do this one in about the same time as mile 4, but I could feel legs, so I took it slower, and came in at 8:43 Guess the downhills were affecting me more than usual. LOL

Mile 6: starts with a fairly steep uphill, but not for long, and then it levels off, and then it's all downhill. I kicked it in, even with the hill, and did a 7:55 mile, might have kicked it in a little too soon, as I didn't have the kick for the last .2 that I would have liked, and by then both my calves were yelling at me. LOL

Last .2: This is all downhill. I gave it my all, and was definitely passing people, and my calves were complaining, but I entered the finish shoots at, I think 52:38, I was so spent and excited I forgot to turn off the Garmin right away, and we all know how long a second can take. LOL My Garmin time was 52:44, but I'm guessing it took 5 or 6 seconds for me to realize I had to turn off "George", my nickname for my Garmin:)

So, when I get the official results I will post them, but overall I am very happy. I went into the race with a HUGE goal of trying to beat 51:00, since on May 19th, I ran the Healthy Kidney 10K, in 55:29, and then on July 12th, I ran the Park to Park 10K, in 54:38, both of these races were run in excruciatingly HOT and HUMID conditions, so I thought I could run today's race faster, and set the goal to 51:00, since it was cooler, and virtually NO humidity. Oh well. LOL

But I am still excited, because I still ran it faster than the above two 10K's, and I completely blew away my 2005 course time of 1:01:30 for this race.

Next race, 3 weeks, 1 day away, Staten Island Half Marathon on Sunday, October 12th!!!

I came home and soaked in a very cold bath tub for about 30 minutes, and hung with the kids.

Now it is time to get ready for the birthday party for my 8 year old. Wow, how time flies, I still remember giving birth to her like it was yesterday:) Happy Birthday sweetheart. I love you!!!

PARK TO PARK 10K RACE RESULTS and a PR!!!!

NAPLES - New York Park to Park 10K

Distance: 6.2 Miles
Date/Time: July 13, 2008, 8:00 am
Location: Central Park, NYC
Weather: 71 deg., 81% humidity, wind 6 mph.

The official stats from the website: http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/74298.1.462760704300000790

Bib # 3148
Gender/age: F43

Distance (miles): 6.2

Finish Time: 54:38

Pace Time: 8:48

Overall Place: 1,568 (out of 3,989 people)

Gender Place: 380 (out of 1,172)

Age Place: 21ST (out of 163 women ages 40-44)

AG Time: 51:33
AG Gender place: 379

Age-Graded%: 58.8%

Woke up at 4:30am. This is not getting any easier:) I SOOO wanted to hit snooze and go back to sleep, but I knew I had to meet my brother (I made a commitment), so I got up and did the usual pre race stuff. We got into Manhattan at 6:30, worked our way uptown. This race started and finished at 102nd street. Found a great spot to park, again FREE, on 92nd street. Walked up 10 blocks (last race, we had no time to warm up, so we made sure we got in early, and that we would have a nice walk before the race to get out the kinks:), about a half mile, and got our bibs and t-shirts and eventually hooked up with John B, Ronnie and Tommy. It was warm, but not too bad. We got over to the start about 15 minutes early, found our corral, and lined up about midway.

This race was cool. It was the Italian celebration and there was lots of Italian music blaring. Before we knew it, the gun went off and we were on our way. Took about 2 minutes to cross the start. I was stupid/competitive as always. I wanted to stay with John B, the one who runs an 8 minute pace, bad idea. Though, he did say he'd go out slow, but at the mile and a half mark, I told him to go on, as I was sucking air (even had visions of this race being a big fat DNF because it was so hot. LOL) But once John B was out of site, I relaxed and ran my race. Though at the 2.6 mile mark, I heard a crash, and someone next to me said you dropped something, sure enough, I turn around to look and I see a tiny silver thing on the ground. I dropped my nano. LOL I got out of the way, worked my way back, thankfully not knocking anyone over, and thankfully no one stepped on it, and picked it up. Not a scratch, UNBELIEVABLE!!! Now, I know you all are saying, what the hell did you have it in the first place. Well, usually I wear it on my wrist in a wrist band with the head phones, but today, I decided to run the race with no music (first time btw), and I clipped it to my fuel belt. Now you're wondering why carry it at all. LOL Well, I have the Nike+ system, and belong to a few online challenges through Nike+ and Runners+, so I had to have the nano to record my distance. Ok, Ok, I'm a bit competitive. LOL Well, some how it came loose, and if I had the headphones attached, I don't think it would have fallen, but I wanted to run this race with NO MUSIC. Anyway, no one was hurt THANKFULLY, and I lost a few minutes in time:( But I got right back in the race.

It was sooooo hot, they had hoses going at every water station, 5 I believe, and yup, I stood under all of them for about 15 seconds, then got my water, and drank some, and splashed a whole cup full over my head, at each water station. So, I'm guessing I lost about a minute and a half there too, but I really wonder if I would have finished had I not taken the walk breaks for the water, and not doused myself with water. So, all in all I'm pleased, it was a new PR, I didn't break 53:00 minutes, which was my goal, but I did run it 51 seconds faster than my previous 10K back on May 17th. So, I'm VERY excited.

Another thing that I learned about my Garmin and racing is it tracks everything. So even though this race was 6.2, at the finish line when I hit stop, my Garmin told me I ran 6.4 It takes in to account all the zig zagging I did to pass people in the beginning. I realize the course could be a little off, and the Garmin isn't exact, but all in all it is accurate, but when we finished I thought I ran the race in an 8:33 pace, which I was really excited about, but then I realized because the NYRR results page on the computer told me differently, that my Garmin time was SPOT on, that the distance was off by .2, meaning that when I was following the pace on the Garmin, it was actually off. Again, I did PR, so I'm happy, but I was running an average pace of 8:33 according to the Garmin (or so I thought), and I should have realized it was off, and tried to go faster.

All you people out there with Garmins, how do you account for the discrepancy while you run your races. I know for my 4M race this coming Saturday, I'm going to try to stay more ahead. I do use the virtual partner, and set it for 6.2 miles, and to complete in 53:00 minutes, and it told me I lost by 8 seconds. Now that is accurate. but because of the zig zagging, I was not finished yet, LOL I think what I might do, is set the virtual partner to run 4.2, in 33:00 minutes, and see how that goes. Thoughts, suggestions???? TIA

Time: 55:38
Avg Pace: 8:48
Avg HR: 165 Cardiac Drift: 191 (my new MAX, no way was this a spike and the HR numbers were very right on during this race:)

HEALTHY KIDNEY 10K RESULTS

Healthy Kidney 10K
Distance: 6.2 Miles

Date/Time: May 17, 2008, 9:00 am

Location: Central Park, NYC

Weather: 50 deg., 80% humidity, wind 3 mph.

The official stats from the website: http://web2.nyrrc.org/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe/93104.1.548890041800013387

Bib # 4581

Gender/age: F43
Distance (miles): 6.2
Finish Time: 55:29
Pace Time: 8:56
Overall Place: 3,487 (out of 6,273 people)
Gender Place: 1,029 (out of 2,835)
Age Place: 83RD (out of 259 women ages 40-44)
AG Time: 52:51

AG Gender place: 780
Age-Graded%: 57.9%

Woke up at 5am, had my usual oatmeal and banana, then met my brother at 6:30. We got in to Manhattan at 7am, and since we were early decided to try to park on the West side. Bad idea. There was nothing and by the time we got back to the East side, there was nothing. We finally found parking around 8am, about 4 blocks off the Park:( We rushed down to get our bibs, meet everyone. Just didn't have the time to relax, stretch and warm up:( No excuses though, I didn't run this race all out. Not sure if it was because I had never run this course. Hadn't run a 10K in 2 1/2 years, and my longest training run to date was only 5 miles. But I felt good and strong throughout the race, but never pushed it. My heart rate never went over 170, until the last 800 meters, where I stepped up. Again, not sure if I was being cautious for fear that if I pushed I wouldn't finish, but I didn't finish this race spent. I definitely had more left in the tank.

Oh well, my Garmin's virtual trainer won this one:) But there is always the next race:) The GPS kept up this time, but the pacing was all over the place. The Garmin at the end of the race said I ran 6.37, so my numbers were off. So I'm not going to bother writing down the splits as they are off.

Time: 55:29

Avg Pace: 8:56

Avg HR: 165 Cardiac Drift: 177

Since there were a ton of hills in this race, and I ran them, but felt good, and my heart race didn't go over 170 (till the end when I was sprinting), I don't think my last races 199 heart rate was accurate, I now think it was an inaccurate spike, so I still don't know what my max is:( But my training will continue, slow and steady!

Race went ok. I was hoping to do it in 54:00, but crossed the finish line in 55:29. Still under a 9minute mile, and a lot faster than my last 10K (the 2005 Cow Harbor where I finished in 1:01:30), but I was hoping I could run it faster today. The course was hilly. Oh man, I knew there was a hill between mile 2 and 3, but man, the hills just kept coming. It was like running in my home town (hilly), but when I run the hills in my town during my training runs, I don't run a fast pace. LOL So, over all, I'm happy, but I will break 54:00 minutes for the Park to Parks 10K on July 12th, 8 weeks from today:) Oooh, I do love a challenge.