Yesterday I ran the Oakley New York Mini 10k for the fourth time (2013, 2012, 2011 recaps) in five years. I love this race female only race! In fact, second the New York City Marathon, it is my favorite NYRR race. While it is always a challenging race due to the hills, heat and humidity, it is such an inspiration to run alongside so many women.
This race now holds a special place in my heart as two years ago it was my farewell race in the city. Yesterday it served as a homecoming race as each mile brought back fond memories of running in Central Park and reminded me why I love the NYRR community. I had happy tears as I realized that I’ll be home, in two weeks, able to run through my favorite city in the world.
Similar to years past, the corral area for the race was in Columbus Circle. Katie and I found a spot in the corrals around 7:45, fifteen minutes before the race start. We spent next few minutes time catching up, people watching and deciding on a race strategy. Our plan was to run the race together, agreeing that our sole goal was to run strong and not stop running. The race seemed better organized than I remember with lots of volunteers helping people find the bag check, corrals, and bathrooms.
We crossed the starting line at 8 am, surrounded by more than 7,500 other women. I love the race course as it starts outside of Central Park with a mile up Central Park West before heading into the park. The gradual incline gets the legs ready to tackle Harlem Hill. It seemed like there were more male supporters than ever before along the sidelines cheering for friends, girlfriends, teammates, moms, and wives.
After the first quarter mile, Katie tried to convince me to run ahead. She said she wasn’t feeling great, and this wasn’t going to be her day. I told her just to listen to the music and push forward. I stayed just a step or two ahead of her, giving her the occasional friendly wave and thumbs up. My goal was to motivate her in hopes that she’d loosen up and find her mind and body in a better place. Our first mile was a 9:29 which felt very comfortable. By the time we passed the next mile marker Katie was lagging further and further behind. She kept telling me to go ahead. I continued to tell her that my primary goal of the race was to run with her. I didn’t care what the Garmin said (9:49) as we crossed the two-mile marker. Unfortunately, by the water station at mile 2.5 she insisted I run ahead. As I’ve been in her position, I know that sometimes running with someone who is having a strong day is even more discouraging. As I waited for her past the water station, I realize that she had purposely lost me. I couldn’t see her anywhere.
I decided to give the next four miles every ounce of energy I had. While I haven’t been sticking to a rigorous training plan over the past month, I have been running with faster friends and adding strength training to my schedule. This combination along with how fresh my legs felt gave me the motivation to run fast.
The next four miles flew by far faster than expect. The middle miles which include Harlem Hill felt far easier than expected, clocking an 8:34 and 8:40 pace through each of these miles. I started passing people as they slowed due to the heat, hills and humidity. I did my best to gain some extra speed going down Cat Hill as I knew mentally and physically the slight rolling hills of mile 5 would be harder for me than the other portions. I focused on hitting mile 5.5, where I knew Jess and The Girls on the Run crew were cheering.
It was awesome to fly by them feeling strong and happy. I was feeling the pain of the heat and the speed by told myself that I could do anything for one more song. This is proof of how far I’ve come over the past few years as a runner. The recaps of years past talk about going out too fast and bonking the final two miles. This year, I negative split the final miles and was running with a huge, goofy smile.
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I crossed the finish line in 56:31, a new course PR! Luckily I was able to meet up with Katie a few minutes later as she crossed the finish. While it wasn’t her day, I know her running mojo will soon return!
As a runner, there is no better feeling than finishing a race strong! It’s been a few months since I finished a race feeling like I succeeded. Yesterday, however, I had post-race happy endorphins ALL day! Congratulations to everyone who ran this race and others this weekend!
