Yesterday morning started out like every other race morning, EARLY! Every single race I’ve done I wake up with the same thought: “why, oh why did I sign up for this? I could totally just go run X miles myself today and not have to be up this early.”
(Hi, it’s 5:30am on Sunday)
The weather was horrendous and as I listened to the rain that was so hard it sounded like hail hit the skylight in my bathroom I’d be lying if I said the thought to just skip the race and forfeit the $20 registration fee didn’t enter my mind. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was meeting my brother and his girlfriend in Hoboken and that I had blogged about it already, I might’ve just gotten back in bed.
Of course in the end it’s always worth it and the satisfaction of another race under your belt definitely trumps the wake up call. It’s just a little hard to remember that when this is what you’re driving through to get there.
Note that the windshield wipers are on their “frantic” speed here. You know, the highest one where they’re going so fast you think they might just fly off.
Side note: improper frequency of windshield wipers is a HUGE pet peeve of mine. It has to be coming down in buckets for me to even contemplate using that speed. This was the kind of rain that is so loud and hard you can’t hear your radio and your hands are on the steering wheel at 10 & 2 like you’re 16 taking your driving test. I probably shouldn’t have been operating a camera at the same time. The things I do for blog content!
1.5 hours later I got to Hoboken and thankfully the rain had stopped. We picked up our bibs, used the nasty port-a-potties and headed to the start.
Adrian was a spectator/cheerleader/photographer this year so he got to eat yummy chocolate, pear croissants while Doreen and I stretched.
Scary and how ‘bout those bags under my eyes!
They changed the course a little this year so we had to walk a few blocks to the start.
Why do we look insanely white compared to everyone else?
And, we’re off!
Doreen’s super excited to see Adrian taking this picture!
We discussed paces right before the start so we knew we wouldn’t really be running this “together”. Doreen is super fast! Even with me thinking I’d be about 20-30 seconds faster per mile this year than last, she still paces quite a bit faster than that. Her goal was to beat Adrian’s time last year of 36:08. So after about the first 1/2 mile I couldn’t even see her anymore.
The course was very similar for the first 4 miles even though they started in a different place so I knew what to expect. Mile 1 was flat and fast but at mile 2 you enter Stevens Institute of Technology’s campus which is full of hills! Last year it kind of took me by surprise so it was nice knowing what to expect this time around. The next 2 miles were again very similar and flat. The last mile they added in a loop through a new park to make the course an exact 5 miles. Last year the course was short (4.94 miles) and while that was great for reducing my pace and time, it’s nice to run a course that’s the exact length it’s supposed to be.
Doreen on the final stretch.
Take the damn picture Adrian, I’m done pretending I’m happy right now!
“Sprinting” at the end.
I looked up about right here to see the clock say 40:38 and I really wanted to clock in before the 41:00 mark. Mission accomplished, new PR 40:54!!
Mile splits:
- Mile 1: 8:02
- Mile 2: 8:20 <—hills! (last year this mile was 9:02. Improvement!)
- Mile 3: 7:58 (!!)
- Mile 4: 8:18
- Mile 5: 8:16
Average pace: 8:11
Last year’s time was 42:46 and considering the course was short by .06, I beat that time by more than 2 minutes! Next year the goal will be under 40:00.
Curious if Doreen beat Adrian’s time? Sooooo close! She clocked in at 36:51. I told you she was fast! She killed it!
That’s not an awkward wave, it’s a “5”.
Then onto the best part about any race, food! We headed to La Isla, just like last year for their famous “stuffed french toast”. It was on Food Network’s Throwdown with Bobby Flay. Bobby lost.
The place is kind of a hole in the wall but, like most of those places the food is delicious.
Thank you, Omar. Your french toast rocks.
This picture doesn’t even come close to doing this bad boy justice.
We all split everything and left perfectly satisfied.
And then it started raining again.
Anyone else race this weekend? How’d you do?
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
I ran a marathon on Sunday, and it was soooo rainy, cold and windy! I also had the thought of ditching the race (I just ran a marathon the week before), but I had already blogged about trying to challenge myself and all that, so I did it and also PR’d! Maybe something about the rain was lucky for us!
Congrats on your race PR! That’s awesome! :)
Nice job on the marathon! (just saw your time on your blog) 2 marathons in a week is beyond impressive!
Ooh well done luv!! Your quick!!! That rain looks absolutely horrendous :/ The food afterwards looks delish though! Almost worth running a race for… almost… :)
Good pacing!! Those are some nice splits. I’m glad the rain held off until you were done. That second photo of your car windsheild looked terrible earlier in the day.
I definitely wouldn’t have been able to drag my butt out of bed so early on a rainy sunday for a race. You should be very proud :)
I have given up on racing. And I know there is no way I would have gone in that rain. Way to be! Although if I knew that breakfast was waiting for me afterwards I might have just sucked it up.
BTW your brother and girlfriend are super adorable in that last picture.
Congrats!! At least it didn’t rain DURING the race, that’s a plus right? :) No race for me but I went and helped put siding on a barn in VT, LOL random, but fun!
Exactly, the rain gods had our backs apparently :)
Your weekend sounds fun and yes, random!
Wow you rocked it!!!! I’m impressed that you went ahead. I may have crawled back in bed. And by may have I mean definitely. Ps- your brother is funny.
I don’t think I’ve ever run a mile that fast!! Congrats :) I did, however, become a half-marathoner this weekend!!!
Yay! congrats on the half marathon again. Doesn’t it feel awesome to say you did that?
Haha, I love your thumbs up for the camera pics. I always look like I want to kill someone when people take pics of me racing.
Awesome job on your PR! Maybe next year Mike and I can run it again!
Damn you two are fast! Congrats! :)