New York 10k (updated)

Although this race did not count towards the 12, it still is worth writing a little something about.  I decided to sign up for this because it was one of the Rock n’ Roll races and would make for a good training run two weeks before Savannah (my 11^th half).  The race was a 10k (6.2 miles), which makes up roughly 2 laps around Prospect Park in Brooklyn.  I generally find ways to avoid going to Brooklyn, due to the overwhelming number of “hipsters,” but this was reasonable exception.

The weather was perfect, sunny and about 52 degrees at race start.  I decided to try and make this a speed workout, of sorts, and wanted to break 50 minutes, which would put me right around 8 min per mile.  The race had one hill at the 2 mile and 4 mile mark, which was not fun, but the rest was slightly rolling or down hill so it was a pretty even course.  I pushed myself at the end and ended up finishing at 49:57; it was very satisfying to reach my time goal and gives me hope to get back under 1:50 in two weeks.

The best part about this race was that I had some good friends running it as well.  Giuseppe (“Pep”) and JR decided to sign up for the race as a test to see if they would be able to run the Vegas half with me in December.  Both of them ran great and I am ever hopeful they will pull it together and run the final race with me.  3 other friends – Stephanie, Vinny and Jonathan – also ran the race, and of course they did a fantastic job running.

Vinny and Pep Pre-Race

JR, Vinny, Stephanie and I had a pre-race meal at Lil’ Frankies, which was highlighted by some delicious pizza, Gnocchi by me and 2 bottles of wine (somehow we thought this was a good idea).  It did help for a sound sleep - but definitely made our 6am meet up time a little rough.  Vinny was nice enough to drive all 6 of us to Brooklyn, and let me tell you, you really get to know someone when you see them at 6am in the morning and are driving someplace that none of us were familiar with.

Vinny and Steph feeling good post-race

We got there in plenty of time and despite a little griping about the cold, the time of day and the parking situation, we all got started without much of a hitch.  I have to say the best part of this race was having some great friends to start the race with and being able to go cheer them on as they finished.  We met up after the race for a couple complimentary beers provided by the Rock n’ Roll series.  I couldn’t have asked for a better race or better group of people to share it with.  It’s amazing I only have 2 races left of this challenge…it has gone by so quickly!

Yep, it's real.

6 Happy Racers

As usual, Rock n' Roll did a great job with the medal:

Triple Crown - for running 3 Rock n' Roll Series Races