Oakley New York Mini 10k

 Race: Oakley New York Mini 10k

When: June 8 at 8:00am

5k Split: 39:15

Official Time: 1:20:26

Official Pace per Mile: 12:57

I think this might be my favorite NYC race.  It's my second year running it.  I like that is it limited to only women.  I like that it starts on the west side of the park versus inside the park or on the east side of the park.  I like that I get a medal at the end.  I just like it!

That being said, this wasn't one of my finest races for sure.  First of all, I stayed up too late the night before...not really doing anything, but I just couldn't fall asleep.  I set my alarm for 7am.  With an 8am start I should have known better, but I also knew I needed as much sleep as possible.  Basically, it was a no win from the start for me.  After a bit of struggle getting up and ready that morning, I made it to the general vicinity of the start of the race at about 8:03.  Not good.  So I started to jog over to the start...a bit warmed up, but not as well as normal...and hear the announcers claiming, "Here comes a few more stragglers..."  Again, not good.  So this is how I start the race.  I dodged and weaved through walkers for most of the first mile and a half, but once I entered the park I kinda fell into a groove.  Well, after a pretty steep hill anyway.  At the 5k mark, I started to get a little disappointed and by the time I hit the four mile marker I was ready to just stop altogether.  Instead, I briefly walked and convinced myself that I should give it all I had for the last two miles.  I did my best to do that, but it wasn't easy.  This race really taught me a lot about the mental aspect of running.  It's way more than half the battle especially if things don't start off on the right foot.  Lesson learned!

This is my last scheduled race until the marathon at this point.  I'll probably end up picking a couple in the fall that will keep me in line with my training benchmarks, but for now I am focusing on just running to keep in shape and for enjoyment.  At least for about another month...if this rain would ever stop!

Andrea :)