Christina Kach ran the Wine & Dine 10K and finished this distance in the time of 55:21. This was a PR by 23 Seconds!
SO MANY THINGS. Let’s start with the weather. At 5am – we had 70 degrees. Humidity of 95%. Dew Point of 69 degrees. And it was day 25 of my cycle – so I felt bloated and swollen and cranky. Hooray. And gosh darn it, I decided to try for it anyway. Not for 54:20 or faster as I’d hoped – It wasn’t the day for that. But I wanted a PR. I started out way nice and slow due to the conditions – and let rip in the final 1.2
How else was I brilliant today? Ran the heck out of those tangents – coming in at 6.22, only .02 extra. Ran smart. I was in Corral B. I worked my way up the very very front – ensuring only those of Corral A would be ahead of me to minimize traffic and weaving. I did my full warm-up, dynamic stretches and jog & strides. I ate well, slept well and was well hydrated. My mental toughness to keep striving in the tough weather was excellent.
I also had an absolute blast of fun times. Reflecting on the difference a year can make. Last November I jog/walked the wine & dine 10K, a post knee surgery goal, in 74 minutes. This year – 55 minutes, no walk breaks (except at water stops).
Some stats
382 / 10597 total runners
144 / 7493 females
29 / 1297 females 35-39
Christina Kach ran the Wine & Dine Half Marathon and finished with a time of 2:09:04.
Out of the 10 half-marathons I’ve run, I think this weather was the roughest. Out of the 10 half-marathons I’ve run, this was the 4th fastest! The FITNESS WAS THERE. Again, it couldn’t have been this successful in this weather without it. Many people walked, or dropped out. I did neither. Other than water stops, 2 photos and the restroom – I RAN the whole thing. Again, if we can get good weather, good course, no tummy woes, and smart racing like this…I may catch those stretch goals someday. I needed these strong runs.
Some stats:
812 / 11988 total runners
314 / 8126 females
72 / 1511 females 35-39
Eric Paradis ran the Hot Cocoa 5k, finishing this distance in the time of 28:40.
Nice race in Cheshire, CT. Very crowded and narrow starting point, took 30 seconds from the starting to gun to when I crossed the start line. Lot of walkers hanging out in the front. Once I cleared them all, pace felt good, a little faster than planned, but there was a member of my running group ahead of me who had a great pace and I shadowed her, happy with my splits and end time. Feel like a pattern is emerging with these last races, managing the hills seems to be getting better as this was not a flat course, small rolling hills.
Stephanie Pettit ran the Novant Health Charlotte 1/2 Marathon with a finishing time of 2:33:20, which was a PR!
This was the first time I had ever ran a Half Marathon. The longest workout I had done was a 10-Miler, so I was excited for this day.
I ran the race with my friend who I trained with and our only goal was to make it to the finish line and we did! It was a rolling hills course, so that did make it more challenging. We paced with the 2:30 half marathon group and fueled every 30 minutes. Had I run the race alone, I would have been able to come in at or just under mark, but that was not the goal of the race and I’m looking forward to signing up for my next half and maybe try to race it to my fullest potential.
Alejandra Swanston ran the Lululemon 10k and finished this race in the time of 1:17:41.
Was trying to go steady, could not handle it. The purpose was to figure my fitness leading to Marathon preparation.
Kumar Rao ran the New York City Marathon and completed this race event in the time of 4:10:56.
Result: 4:10:56 finish, AG placing: 13 of 204, Age graded time: 2:58:16, and Age graded place: 1,108 of 26,538 men.
This was my second running of the NYC Marathon. The entire race week and the race itself was highly enjoyable and would certainly try to run this marathon again, given a chance, hoping that the weather turns out better next time!
My main goal for the race was to avoid cramping, minimise walk breaks, avoid bathroom breaks, and ensure I did not have the problem of listing at the waist that I experience during the Boston and Big-Sur marathons. Accomplished all of these goals.
The main time goal had been to qualify again for NYCM 2023 by finishing under 4:10. Missed this time by 56 seconds. Might have made it, but for some delays at water stops, as the Strava moving time was 4:09:07. Two stops at water stations to fill up a bottle and one stop due to a collision with a young man crossing the street, added up to 109 secs, according Stryd data. Had been keen on qualifying for 2023 to be able to run with my son on his first marathon, for which he is working on getting an entry through the NYRR 9+1 program.
Met the other time goal of qualifying for Boston 2023 (under 4:20:00, as I will be 74 then).
Maria Payne ran the Stars and Stripes Half Marathon and finished in a time of 1:49:16.
Morning of the Race: Two hours before the race I ate a peanut butter and honey sandwich on wheat. I took a banana to eat one hour out and Maurten gels to practice my marathon race day plan. 1 w/caffeine 15 minutes before the race, 1 regular at mile 4 and 1 w/caffeine at mile 8. I arrived 90 minutes before start time with plenty of time to get race packet and warm up.
Weather: 41 degrees, with wind chill it felt like 34. At start the wind was blowing 20 mph. Clear skys.
Course: Out and back almost totally flat course. Wind at our backs on the first half up to mile six when we turned into the wind. Coming back we battled the wind most of the way. Mentally I was comfortable with my pace slipping, but focused to stay with runners ahead of me.
Finish: Started the push at mile 11 and 12. One of my teammates who had finished early met me with half a mile to go and ran me in to the finish. Felt great at the end. Was surprised to get 1st place in my age group (40-49).
Priscilla Yang ran the Berkeley HM 5K, finishing this distance in the time of 23:24.
Berkeley 5K. Ran this with our 3 kids. Warren (12) ran 21:27, I ran 23:24, Alex (14) ran 26:29, and Leif (10) ran 28:55. Alex and Leif were just running to get it done, and not happily. The start was very crowded. I had forgotten how much I dislike running in a crowd. The kids took off weaving through people. I started to do this, but almost turned my ankle running on the side of the road so then resolved to just be patient. It was probable for the best so that I didn’t overdo it early on. Course goes almost steadily uphill until the last ~1/2 mile when it is (to me) steep downhill. Once I got clear of the crowd at the beginning, I was passing people. One guy passed me in mile 2, but he was running so fast it were as if I were standing still so I was not even tempted to try to latch on to him. I am somehow smiling in almost all of the race photos although I don’t remember it except for once when I was musing that this time last year, I was chomping on the bit and anxious about being given the ok to start doing some jogging on the AlterG. It has been a long road! I had resolved that my goal was to feel like I pushed myself performance wise. I tried, but midway I realized that I had too much anxiety that my hip was going to blow up on me…so really I was pushing not to let my anxiety slow me down. The good is that I ran hard and even running hard downhill didn’t mess up my hip or my my right knee that was such a problem before, and my feet performed fine. My av pace in this 5K = ~my HM pace from before my cycle of injuries and the foot surgeries….but at least now I can train! One of my sons said, “”Don’t worry, Mommy, now that you’re healthy, you can get fast.”” Let’s do it!
Robin Whitley ran the New York City Marathon and finished with a time of 7:12:45.
NYCM remains my favorite marathon. Running when it’s in the mid-70s and 70-80% humidity was brutal. There was definitely more in my legs (found a little that last .2) but I knew I had to use a lot of care to not succumb to the weather conditions. Just before halfway, I deliberately backed off – too many falling ill, including people throwing up along the way or at aid stations. It was special to have my sister in the grandstands – and the FDNY convoy that was coming pushed me to get to the line to ensure she could see me.
