ING New York City Marathon Week kicked off this morning with the Poland Springs Kickoff 5 miler in Central Park. I briefly considered entering, but in the end I decided against it, however, as you will soon discover I did end up racing today.
Rescheduling the LR worked out well. We had perfect weather 53* and sunny, with 10 mph winds. As you can see, fall has definitely hit New York.
I could tell right away it was Marathon Week as there were a number of folks wearing running gear representing foreign countries. Also, the NYRR and city workers were setting up bleachers. It was incredibly crowded on the Outer Loop between the runners, bikers, tourists and a Walk-a-Thon all competing for space.
Physically, I felt as good as I could have hoped. I still have this nagging cough but otherwise, no complaints. I hit the road with the goal of just a solid LR. I didn’t really have distance in mind, but for me an LR is at least 13.1 miles. Why? It’s at least ½ of a marathon.
The first loop was uneventful … just trying to shake the cobwebs out and get loose, while maintaining a nice reserve for the balance of the run. The end of the second loop is where the run turned interesting. I mentioned that I did not enter the Kickoff 5 miler, however, courtesy of someone who will now and henceforth be known as Middle-Aged Barbie, I ended up racing.
Here is the scene: I am rolling along at mile 9 after just completing Harlem Hill and slowing up enough to catch my breath without breaking rhythm. Then I notice Middle-Aged Barbie (Barbie) cruising by me. Why Middle-Aged Barbie? A forest of blond hair flying all over the place, face a bit too chiseled and wearing an outfit that IMHO took a little too much planning for a “runner”. As I have said before, I have no issues when folks pass me up … it happens all the time … young, old, big, small, men, women pass me up. It’s the nature of running. However, as most runners know there is an etiquette when you pass someone … you run by them and (1) issue a kind word of encouragement, (2) keep to yourself and stay focused on what you are doing and/or (3) look back to make sure you are not in their immediate running lane as you cross in their path. At first I thought Middle-Aged Barbie pulled a number 3, however, it was the look that she gave me that set me off … almost as to say, “Get out of my way clown, you are not in my league.” Umm, I’m the wrong guy to pull that sort of move. I was so shocked that I slowed up a bit to think whether I bumped into her at some point or otherwise did something wrong. Nope. Then I started thinking how much more I wanted to run. At this point she was about 400-500 meters ahead of me … mile 10 for me. I decided to drop the hammer. I gave her an 8:00 mile (#11 for me) and blew by her. I saw out of the corner of my eye that she turned her head in disbelief. For the next 800 meters I kept up the pace to see what she would do. I could hear her footsteps behind me and gave the courtesy look back and could tell she was trying to catch up. I let her (yes, at this point I am being a jerk) and smiled to myself as she passed me. Since it was completely on now, I wanted to test the fitness of Middle-Aged Barbie. I gave her a 7:27 mile (#12 for me) and blasted by her a final time. If I really wanted to be a jerk I would have kept up this charade for another couple of miles, but I think I proved my point. As if you couldn’t tell, ill-mannered people annoy me.
I ended the run shortly thereafter. 12.1 miles at 8:46 average pace, which is not a “full” LR, but considering how negative the splits were at the end, I’ll take it. It must be my lucky day. Where I stopped running, I walked into the meet up for the Walk-a-Thon. A very kind volunteer gave me a Gatorade!
Today’s celebrity sighting involves one of my favorite comedic actresses: Jane Lynch, who currently stars in Glee on Fox, but is probably more well known for rolls in the classics Best in Show, The 40-Year Old Virgin and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Big fan!
[Update: I shared the entire Middle-Age Barbie story with my wife. Her take was different. She thinks our fair runner had ulterior motives, i.e., a pick up. Since I am a happily married guy and painfully oblivious to that sort of thing, I disagree.]