Apparently it’s Tartan Week in NYC. Who knew we had a Tartan Week?! Well I got in on the celebrations by racing in the Scotland Run 10k last Saturday.
I was actually pretty excited to run this race because Scotland is one of my favorite places in the world. I’m not Scottish at all, but I visited two different parts of Scotland when I was studying abroad and fell in love with the country. Here I am with some Highland Cattle circa 2009 (the wind is doing something cray cray to my hair):
And fitting into J.K. Rowling’s hand prints in Edinburgh!
Memory. All alone in the moonlight….
Anyways… Bib pickup was a cinch. I just went up to New York Road Runners’ Headquarters. In. Out. Done-zo. I got my shirt, my bib, and some Scottish water. mmmm refreshing!
On race day, I woke up at 6:15, made some oats, and walked to the subway where I promptly fell into a half doze. Before I knew it, I was at the Columbus Circle stop and a mass of runners exited the train.
I had 45 minutes until the race start, so I just hung out and people watched. I spotted a barefoot runner heading toward the porta potties and wanted to scream out, “Don’t do it!” A girl next to me took the words right out of my mouth, and we watched this guy with bated breath as he walked right by all the porta potties and into his corral. PHEW! I question barefoot running in NYC. You never know what kind of rock or dog pee or needle you’re going to step on, but going into a porta potty barefoot takes a whole other level of crazy. Anywhoooooo
Soon enough, the bag pipes were a’playin’ and we were off!
The course was a lap around the outer loop of Central Park, which is quite lovely, but to be honest, I wasn’t really in the mood to run. My splits were all over the map. I ran around 9:30 for the first mile, then sped to 8:22, then fell back to 8:53… all over the place. I also found myself constantly waiting for the next mile marker, which is never a good sign.
At least it was a beautiful day. Sunny and high 50s. No rain or wind like the weather man called for. Get your $*^# together, weather man.
Anyway, Central Park has a few good hills. I reached the top of one and was all, “Phew. I think that was the last one. Go me!” Then I looked up and saw a bunch of runners up ahead. Literally UP! Guess there’s another hill coming! Fortunately, I have a new found love of hills and actually found my fastest miles to be the hilliest ones.
I started having to pee around mile 3, which didn’t help matters, but I was determined to power through.
The last mile was the best. The crowds were all lined up and the bag pipes were in full force. There was also a guy dressed as a foot. Seriously. I regret not taking a picture….
I ended up crossing the finish line in 55:13, with an average pace of 8:54. This is my first official 10k, soooo automatic PR!! I’m also very happy with the 8:54 pace. Even though my splits were all over the map, my pace averaged out to one I’m happy with. I think I could have pushed even more had I been in a better running mood.
Celebrate Tartan Week by checking out this #ScotlandRun race recap. @nyrr
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Overall, the race was a fun one. It was well organized, and now I have two of my required nine races done to qualify for the 2016 NYC Marathon! I think the reason I couldn’t really get into it is that I knew I’d be running more AFTER the race. I had a 12 miler on tap for half marathon training, so I was going to run the race and then run back to Brooklyn. I think the thought of an extra 6 miles after the race made me not enjoy the race as much as I could have. I ended up tacking on 4 miles post race. I cut it short for reasons involving a creepy dude that was semi chasing me through the theater district, buuuuut that’s a story for another day!
Side note: don’t forget to #RockYourCore and enter to win some awesome prizes! Today’s move is one of my faves: Crunchy Frogs! Do it to it.
Let’s Chat:
How do you race when you’re heads not into it?
Have you ever done a 10K?
This post is linked up with Wild Workout Wednesdays and Workout Wednesdays.
