The rain kept me inside most of the day and derailed my plans for an early morning bike. Mostly because I was scared to ride on the slick pavement since I’m still a beginner. But I finally made it out and was able to get 12 miles in. I’m still learning the gears which is gonna take me a while to master, but I’ll continue to add miles weekly while I continue to get comfortable with my bike…happy Sunday!
Gets the blood pumping….have a lovely start to the weekend….Happy Saturday!
This past Saturday I completed my 3rd of 9 races to get guaranteed entry into the 2015 NYC Marathon, although I don’t know if you can really call this one a race being that it is only 1 mile! but a super fast mile at that.
The race starts off on 5th Ave and 80th Street, and is a straight shoot down fifth ave for 20 city blocks and finishes up on 60th street. I guess to keep the race competitive racers start in waves with their age group. I was in the 30-34 age range so my start was at 9:30. I thought my start was at 8:30 so we ended up getting there an hour early which was perfectly ok since it gave us time to use the port-a-potties (ewwww) and pose for pics. Here’s me posing with some of the ladies from Black Girls Run.
Me and Ms. Jackie
Nashon, Me, Tarnia, & Sondra
At the start of the race my shoes were untied. Unfortunately for me I was in the middle of the street, so I had to somehow get over to the right side without getting trampled….trust me it wasn’t easy! This is like the first time ever I did not double knot my shoes….never again! Stopping during a quick mile is a no no and cost me precious time. It was ok though. I wasn’t doing this race to be a speed demon, but just to check another one off of my 9 that needed to be done. Here is my official time.
Way slower than last year. I believe last year I was in the low 8 minutes. What a difference a year makes!
Speaking of last year, the photo on the left is the same race in 2013. I was done with my 9 races by then. Photo on the right is this year. Still rocking my Brooks Pure Connect sneakers….I luv these shoes and have 3 pairs of them! Once you find the right running shoe it is a good idea to stock up on them. 15lbs to go to reach my pre-pregnancy weight!
Last Saturday I completed qualifier 2 of 9 for guaranteed entry into the 2015 NYC Marathon. It’s always great when you can do a race that benefits a cause and this one was for Autism. While I trucked along at my leisurely pace, it was great to see so many children persevering and getting their 4 miles done; many of whom zoomed by me along the way! It goes to show you that if you put your heart and soul into something, anything is possible. It was truly an inspiration to see.
This was my first 4 miler in a very long time, and while it wasn’t necessarily hard, it wasn’t a walk in the park either (no pun intended).
The race started around 68th and 5th avenue on the east side. If you are a New Yorker, then you know parking in the city is hell especially on Saturday. There is virtually no street parking on Saturday, and parking in a garage can start at $30 and this is basically the only option available. I use the site http://nyc.bestparking.com/ to find reasonable priced parking anytime I drive into the city and it never lets me down. I was fortunate enough to find a garage that cost only $13. The only downside is it was on 67th between 2nd and 3rd Avenue, so I had about a half a mile walk to get to the race start….we’ll just call that my warm up! Oh check out my new hair do! I’ll be rocking my natural hair for a bit…..we’ll see how this goes!
Anywho, I started off the race at a ok pace for me at 12:30 a mile. Of course it’s way slower than my pre-baby mile pace, but it is good for now. As each mile progressed I could feel how out of shape I was, and in turn the miles got longer and longer. Mile 2 was a 13:17 pace, mile 3 13:45, and mile 4 14.21. Needless to say I need to get my but back out there and clock some mileage! The race finished at about 68th and West Drive which is a doosey because I parked way on the east side, so I had to walk through the park and back to my car. That added another mile to my daily take, so all in all I’d say I did between 5.5-6 miles that day.
I purchased some new wheels with the help of Corey at Brands Cycle & Fitness and was able to take her for a spin. Say hello to my new Specialized Allez….I think she is gorgeous!! I got in a 10 mile bike ride on Sunday and it felt great! Gonna slowly add more mileage weekly as I prepare for my first Duathalon in October.
…Next race coming soon!
