I ran the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k last weekend with my roommate B. It was my first run over 2 miles since the More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon in late April, so I went into it not expecting much. B and I had discussed running the race together since neither of us was planning on racing hard, and thank goodness B ran it with me! I felt sluggish and my legs felt like sandbags, and I have a feeling I didn't eat enough the night before. Having B with me definitely helped me through it, as did the usual mix of Lady Gaga, Miley and Girl Talk!
Just compare me finishing the More Magazine/Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon:
Happy! I'm even smiling (or is that a grimace? Haha)!
...to me finishing the UAE Healthy Kidney 10k:
Blehhh...tired looking...dragging...dead.
Oh well. Sometimes you have bad races. C'est la vie!
I still felt pretty good for the first few miles, and around mile 4 or 5 I was starting to feel a little...weird and not great. I was really glad to have B with me though!
My legs felt pretty good the next day. I've been going to physical therapy and working on strengthening and stretching my hip flexor. I still have this totally bizarre and unidentifiable pain in my right leg, but I think it's from overcompensating for the hip flexor pain on the left leg. I'm not sure how to fix that really, but the massage I got today definitely helped and hopefully more stretches and strengthening exercises will help too. I highly recommend the place I went to for my massage -- Eastside Massage Therapy. It's very no-frills, but it's far cheaper than any hour-long massage at a fancy spa. And it was the best massage I'd ever had!
I ran only once last week, a couple of miles where I ran a mile and walked on an 8% incline for half a mile or so. I felt pretty OK and physical therapy helped a lot too. I had the Brooklyn Half-Marathon yesterday and since I'm doing the 9+1 program for the 2011 NYC Marathon I figured I should at least show up and cross the start line to make sure it counts. My legs had been feeling OK (the hip flexor had been feeling great) so I decided to give it a try. The race involved two loops around Prospect Park (I'd never run there before!), a 5-mile straight shot along Ocean Parkway (SOOOOO boring...), and about a mile along the Coney Island boardwalk (I'd never been there before!).
I honestly felt SO great the first seven miles (aside from the uphill parts of course) -- that was a huge motivator for me. I was torn because part of me just wanted to be there and try my best, and part of me wanted to compete and do well! Once I left the park and had nothing to look at but highway signs though, I was lost. Totally bored. I had a few miles where I would just stare straight ahead and focus on a person in front of me -- unfortunately for part of the time I had a man in front of me with THE HAIRIEST BACK I had EVER seen. He had a bald head but an incredibly hairy back. THAT was motivating for me to run past him at least...
Once again, my Garmin lied to me and would beep at the mile before I reached the mile marker, so the time is off on this (which I guess means the splits are also off a bit). I think I need to call them or recalibrate it or something because in every recent race the miles have been off!
Pretty good! You can see where the hills were in Prospect Park... And at the end there was a ramp up to the boardwalk, which really is just so cruel at the end of a race!
I had a great time overall, but I just could not stand that 5-mile straightaway. I'm just glad that I finished it, that I survived, and that I improved!
More to come soon...I'll definitely be back! Especially since marathon training will be starting in late June!!! AAAHHH!
That's an awesome finishing picture! Congrats on the half!
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