10K Coffessions

because this post was supposed to be done for each of the last two Fridays!

So over coffee with Deborah, Kim, Coco and Marcia, let’s have some runfessions and a quick rundown of yesterday’s 10K since it’s, inexplicably the race I’ve run the most (Ted will catch up in December)

I runfess that I considered entering the NYC marathon lottery for a brief moment. I have ~ 5 friends running and it would be fun, but then I remembered my primary dislike about marathon training: missing travel, and I opted out. I have a heavy summer of travel planned that I’m looking forward to and there’s none of it I’d give up for a long run. Well, maybe not none because one is for a long run, but you. get the idea. While Secret Squirrel has been a Thing, I 100% promise I’m not running NYC in November, nor do I have another full on the horizon for the next four years. Yes, still kicking around the Marine Corps 50K for my 50th in 2029, but that’s a long way off in terms of speed and planning.

The first trip is in 9 days. Back in March, Liz texted me:
Have you seen Jessie’s blog post about Barcelona, she’s doing a mara in June in Tromso, isn’t that the one where you’re doing the half??

a very excited message to Jessie followed and there’s going to be a blogger meetup in the Arctic Circle!

This is my second international race (Bermuda, February 2020) and the fifth country I’ve run outdoors in -sixth if you count the Vatican and I’m looking forward to it. But I’m also nervous because:

– I haven’t run an evening race since Newport 5K. Oddly, I think that’s still my 5K PR

– I’ve never run a Half at night or at any time other than the usual 8-9a. This won’t feel full “night” as it’s about 4p Eastern, but it’s definitely going to be different.

– Nutrition in foreign country and at night is definitely A Thing. It’s highly probably there will be a small jar of peanut butter in my suitcase.

There’s a pasta party during the day, and I’m planning to do that although pasta isn’t my go to. Reindeer, whale and halibut aren’t either. The trip is going to be amazing, and I can’t wait. While the race was the impetus, I runfess to being a little more excited about a midnight sun fjord cruise than the race itself. (Note blog name 😉 This should surprise no one). I’ll never forget pulling into Anchorage around 10:30 PM and hearing the conductor say “there she is, Ms. Denali” as we spotted the mountain in the twilight! (and thinking I needed an uber to the hotel because it was night and of course it would be dark!) but I can’t even fathom midnight sun. Seeing last sunset > 7 days as I weather stalk has been fun but weird.

Treadmill face

I laughed when looking for another post and stumbled on this, which lead me to this, my prior treadmill distance PR. I hit it again last August and wished for another four years. Instead, I got about 9 months. This training cycle, such as it was, featured 10 and 11 mile treadmill runs (before and after got me to 12) thanks to the weather and some poor planning. Grateful to have had a treadmill available, but I runfess that I’m asking for at least another year before I need that. In reality, I’m sure August will bring one. The first one was thanks to Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Family Feud and Jeopardy, and by the second I managed to stick with an audio book.

Speaking of audio books, over coffee I’d tell you I’ve finished 59 books on the year and audio books are a huge part of that as I love listening while I run or walk. Looking forward to summer releases including Elin Hilderbrand’s Swan Song, Daniel Silva’s A Death in Cornwall and Deborah Harkness’ The Black Bird Oracle. 2024 favorites so far include:  Matt Fitzgerald’s Running the Dream (he spent his Chicago marathon training cycle in Flagstaff with NAZ Elite), Wanted: Toddler’s Personal Assistant and The Only Plane in the Sky, an oral history about 9/11 that was absolutely beautiful.

I runfess, I did not run Global Running Day. I briefly considered it — I was awake for no good reason at 5a but knew it would be a busy day on my feet with a work event, so I passed. I ran late Tuesday and early Thursday so it was GRD somewhere in the world. Fitting with the travel theme happening this year.

Women’s Mini 10K

Yes, it’s now the Mastercard mini and it’s open to all, but in my brain it will always be the Women’s Mini. I love the signs of the women with 20 and 30 finishes, and one woman marked her 478th NYRR race!

we did it!

8am start on the other side of the Park is fine as far as race logistics go. I was mid warmup run to the start when Rachel texted to say she’d seen me on the bridle path and we walked the rest of the way before catching up with everyone else and people watching on a mild day. Part of why I often hate this race (and say I’m never running it again, leading to inexplicably the race I’ve done the most) is the weather, but for the last two it has been very reasonable.

I was corral J and Rachel was I so we started at the back of I some 20m after the professional women flew down Central Park West.  I exaggerate only slightly, the winner ran a 4:58 average mile. While it was also true of the Marathon and NYC Half, there’s something about following right after these women and being on the course at the same time. Speaking of the course, this is the new/old post COVID one and I love it. We start in the shade of Central Park West and run down from W. 90th to enter the park at 72nd before heading south around the bottom of the park, up the east side and across 102 and back down across 72nd to finish. Three Sisters in the last 1.5 mile is a challenge, but we did it. There are some logistical issues with an out of Park start, including bathroom proximity but it all seemed to work out relatively well.

It was also a good chance to trial some fueling on the go without the benefit of a treadmill tray, 2 liters of water and options in front of me. I tried SaltStick fast chews after some salt tablets helped with water queasy in Prospect Park 10m and while at first I thought ew! too tart, they grew on me. UCan lemon tastes like soap though (but Cilantro doesn’t for me!) Given the expected race temps are more fall than summer (50!), I’m probably going to just go with chews or sports beans, but it was fun to play around with some of the options. I runfess, gel is still a no go.

Consistent Cari

Fun to have a pacer and my best time since 2021 when all I did was run. I miss those 11s, but I’m clearly happy enough where I am otherwise I’d do more speed work. I do love the treadmill intervals, but I need to build the length of them. Maybe in November…

So that was me dipping back in, and I hope to be around more consistently in July even if only for a trip report since weekly runshave been: I ran, the end.