NYRR 8000

This morning I had the NYRR 8000 race in Central Park. As I've made you well aware, the weather was supposed to be terrible, and it was! But thankfully it wasn't nearly as terrible as I'd expected.

On a side note, what's up with me getting bad luck with weather and races? Do I bring with me awful weather to every race I run in? First it was 18 degrees and frigid the day of the NYRR Gridiron Classic, today it was windy and rainy...I guess the weather can only improve, but if there's a hurricane the day of the half-marathon, you can probably blame me.

Anyway, the night before I laid out my race bib and cap on top of my sneakers so I wouldn't forget them, along with my other race day gear.

By the way, I got a Road ID with my emergency contact info for my shoe 

(just in case anything should happen when I'm running by myself). Check out their site!

I woke up at 6am and had half a bagel with peanut butter (my usual pre-race fuel) and planned to leave around 7. I layered up on top and wore my running tights, along with gloves, an ear warmer, a neck warmer, and a baseball cap. I looked ridiculous (as you'll see in the Brightroom pictures to come) but I was definitely ready for the elements!

I got to E. 102nd St. and 5th Ave. at 7:40 -- there were a ton of people huddled under the scaffolding there, waiting until the very last minute to make the dash over to the starting line. I waited a few minutes and then decided to brave the rain to head to my corral. The time it took for 8am to roll around felt like an eternity -- the woman who sang the national anthem took her sweet time on those high notes, while all the runners jumped up and down, teeth chattering, trying to stay warm. It was raining, but not very hard, and it was windy, but not gusting. The NYRR results page says it was 39 degrees and wind at 7 mph. Not too bad!

The race finally started right at 8. I felt pretty good -- I knew I was going to keep going for four more miles after the race (part of my half-marathon training; today was a long run day for 9 miles), and since I'm sick on top of that, I decided to take it very, very easy. I was aiming for about a 10 minute mile, and ended up with a 9:50 average pace during the race.

My overall pace for the 9 miles wasn't much different:

I was happy with it! Considering I was sick and running in the rain/wind/cold, I think it's pretty darn good :)

I finally have a new map! No West Side Highway in sight!

I really liked running in Central Park, and it's good practice for the half-marathon in April. Plus, when it's not rainy and gross, it's really pretty! Can't wait for spring...

So I survived the race. And got this cute shirt!

My extra four miles conveniently took me directly to the 6 train at 77th Street. The train took forEVER to come, but I got on, made my way to Union Square, and SPRINTED home...it was colder and windier down here than it was in the Park! Go figure... I promptly got into a hot shower and took a solid two hour nap. Needless to say, it was more than necessary.

I'm pretty sure that if I can run 9 miles in the rain and wind with a cold, then I can probably do pretty much anything, right?