Run As One Race Recap 4/29/12

I am so happy.

Everything has been going my way lately, and I’m so thankful. I can’t stop smiling.

Today, for example, was an epic day. It began with the NYRR Run As One 4 mile race.

I’ve never run a 4 mile race, so I went into it with two thoughts in mind:

1) Automatic PR!

2) I WANT TO DOMINATE CENTRAL PARK.

I’ve run in Central Park, but the only other actual race I’ve run that involved Central Park was the NYC Marathon, and I was too delirious to notice anything about it.

So, today I went into the Run As One 4 miler pretending I hadn’t heard anything about how horrible the hills are. I’m good at ignoring things like that.

I warmed up for about 1.5-2miles, and arrived at my corral about 10 minutes early. This was partially annoying because by the time we finally started, I wasn’t exactly warm. But I had my music and a functional Garmin (which had frozen on the battery screen, but thankfully I fixed it at the last second) and I was pumped.

During mile one I was a little annoyed (yes, again). I was going on a rant in my head about people who start in “incorrect” corrals. I am ALL FOR runners/walkers of all paces, but just be honest; if you are walking, please don’t start in a corral filled with runners. That’s all I have to say.

During mile one, I darted around people which was a big waste of energy, but I wanted to get moving. Slow mile. Mile two started to clear out a bit. Going into mile three I felt slower; I started to really feel the hills. The downhill to the finish was so welcome!

I’ve always been proud of my sprints to the finish, and today I totally felt strong and passed quite a few people in the end.

So, since this was my first official 4 mile race, I PR’ed!

I’ll take it.

Happy about that mile 4!

Oh, and great news – my new Brooks Launch shoes worked GREAT! I didn’t feel pain at all.

Even though they basically don’t match anything I own.

Post-race I grabbed a bagel and an apple, and ran (while eating said bagel – dangerous) to meet B and Aaron. We had Yankees tickets! And, even better than tickets, we had field passes! (Thanks guys for bringing me!)

So they picked me up and dropped me off at my gym to shower. I took the fastest shower ever AKA didn’t wash my hair, put on a hat, and off we went, extremely large coffee in hand. (B and Aaron don’t agree with me on the “fastest shower ever” part. Whatever.)

One confession to make – I was supposed to make today’s run into 8 miles as part of my Brooklyn Half training. With my warmup and the race, it ended up being about 6. B and Aaron picked me up earlier than I thought, though, so I had to cut it short. Don’t judge me! I just couldn’t miss out on what was coming.

We made it to Yankee Stadium. A beautiful Sunday in the Bronx.

We were extremely lucky to have gotten field passes for batting practice. JETER WAS SO CLOSE TO US! SO WAS SWISHER! Ahh glorious.

We enjoyed the sun, listened to hilarious stories from another friend that joined us, and ate lots of popcorn. And drank Blue Moon.

One person from our household was missing though. But don’t worry, he had an epic day himself.

YEAH BEN! Way to lay the smack down. 11 miles of mud and obstacles. Pure fun. I’m so proud and simultaneously feel like a bad roomie for not being there to cheer him on. Sorry bud! But, you did awesome!! It was probably the Nuun I gave you, right?? Be forewarned, I’m probably going to try and convince you everyday to run various races with me.

I am also currently semi-motivated to do a Tough Mudder myself. We’ll see. I have that whole Ragnar Relay thing in mind for now, though.

Have you ever run a Tough Mudder? Like the Yankees? Love 4 mile races? Share your thoughts, let’s chat! Oh, and send Ben some congrats!