and then she stopped.
I ran my first race ever on March 2, 2008. Coogan's 5k in New York. HOORAY!!!!
And then I didn't run for two weeks. Boo. Sadness.
Yes, I said New York. I know, strange that my first ever race would be on the other side of the country in 30 degree weather (21 with wind chill), rather than in Sunny California where I live.
I think this actually may have been to my advantage. Cold air makes you run faster. I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to run 3 straight miles outdoors, with hills (this was in Washington Heights) and freezing temperatures. I thought, "I haven't trained properly. I'll have to stop and stretch half way through." I thought I would give up on the hills. I thought (this was my biggest fear) that I wouldn't be able to breathe properly with all the cold air hitting my wind pipes.
End result? I ran my best time ever. Only slowed once going uphill and quickly realized that was a stupid move as I started to cramp up and almost immediately got back on pace. The weather didn't even bother me all that much. My hands and face were a little cold in the beginning, but that was it. After the first mile, I was warm and toasty. (Well, basically.)
Worst part of Coogan's 5k? I learned that my Nike+ sensor was totally off. I had never calibrated it. So, Nike told me I ran an 8'50"/mile pace. New York Road Runner's, however, told me it was a 9'45"/mile pace. Still, not too bad for my first race ever. Sadly, It will be a loooong time before I ever beat my "best mile" with Nike+, if ever.
I think vacation plus mis-calibrated Nike+ sensor led to lack of gym excursions for two weeks.
I finally got back to the gym this weekend. Calibrated my sensor. And now I know just how slow I am. Heehee.
This is the course:
http://www.nyrr.org/races/2008/pdf/coogans_map.pdf
