Scotland Run

This Saturday Bill and I decided to run the Scotland Run, which is a 10k in Central Park.

I figured it would be a good idea to run the loop in "racing conditions" because in the More half marathon I will be doing that twice. It was also my first warm race of the season, so it was a good check on fluid intake, heart rate and all of that good stuff. Plus, I had heard that the Scotland Run was a lot of fun and that I should definitely do it.

I guess most of the "fun" comes from the cool race schwag. I always love races that give you stuff other than the typical white men's tee, even if it's stuff I never use again. I guess I just love free stuff. Kind of wasteful if you really think about it.

This race had a reusable bag with the Scottish flag on it, a plastic Scottish flag, a Scottish flag pin (which I will be adding to my bag full of race patches and pins...yes, I am one of those people), an ugly baseball cap and some Scottish flag tattoos. Plus, the shirt was at least clever. It had the race map on the back in a tartan plaid design.

Bill was a little bummed because we were all the way in the back...the second to last corral. Well, he was. And it was all my fault. When you sign up for NYRR races they base your corral on your best pace for the year in one of their races that is over 2 miles. So my corral is based on my 8:03 pace (and how many people are in the race). Since Bill had lost his NYRR number and had to re-register this year he had no race history...except for the 5k we did in March...where I ran a nice and easy 9:15 pace. I don't think he would have been that far back in another race (I say this because my 8:03 pace put me in the orange corral and I am usually in the green...I think it goes Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, Orange, Aqua, Purple, Gray, Pink). I went back into the gray corral with him though, because I completely and totally appreciate him running with me. :)

My goal was 9:30 pace, especially with the heat. I was feeling a little warm at the starting line already AND it was sunny out.

The start was crowded but I was focusing on feeling comfortable and hoping that I could negative split. Despite the crowd, I went a 9:40. Perfect! I felt pretty good too. It was warm, but I felt like the race was manageable. It was also nice because we were running clockwise from the west side, which meant that the bad hills were first, and Cat Hill would be a downhill instead of an uphill.

One thing I do hate about the slower pace is how long it takes to run a race. I mean 8:03 and 9:40 are not THAT different but the miles seem to take FOREVER. It drives me crazy. The whole time I am like "WHEN is the next mile?"

I definitely felt like I should hydrate at every stop, so I did. And it didn't slow us down either. The next mile was a 9:34.

Even on the hill we were keeping a good pace (in fact, we probably should have slowed down a bit). I like running up the back side of Harlem Hill much better, and we ended up logging a 9:14.

Then I felt tired. I was done. Totally done with the race. I told myself to look forward to something mentally, so I tried periodization: Hey! Only a little bit to Cat Hill which is a downhill, then you're already at 72nd. Then all you have to do is the lower loop and you are almost finished!

It worked until 72nd. Bill kept asking me how I felt and all I could say was "tired", but that wasn't even right. It wasn't tired exactly...more like it was becoming an effort to run. It was not quite as easy as the start and I was starting to concentrate on more things (my heartrate, where the waterstops were, how many hills were left, that next spot of shade) which was making me enjoy running less.

I usually feel like I can kick it in at the end, but that wasn't so true this time. I had worked as hard as I could and was content with finishing at the same speed with which I tackled the lower loop. No second wind for me this time.

Don't get me wrong, I felt fine afterwards. Even like I ran a good run.

And I especially enjoyed the chocolate chip bagels at the end along with the cool and funky Scottish music from Whiskey Kiss in the party area. (I always secretly wanted to be one of those girls playing the electric fiddle in those funky Celtic bands). It was also fun to meet up with my friends Bess and Donna afterwards.

I will say, I can't seem to get enough of racing this year...even if it does seem harder. It just seems very rewarding. :)