11.Races in August & September 2024

Saturday, August 10, 2024: Percy Sutton 5K (Harlem)

Before I ran this race, anyone and everyone who talked about this race mentioned the scary hill. So for months I was dreading this race because of the hill(s). When I woke up Saturday morning, I said to myself, it's ok to walk the hill and don't go too hard once on it. I was on my own after the group photo. What I also heard was that the first mile would be uphill so that made me even more anxious. I learned to start out slow and not worry about anything but going forward and finding my rhythm. Right before the turnaround and before the 1st water table, I spotted a familiar shirt, NSSRG! Patrick was running in front of me. I yelled ahead at his name and he saw me. Ran a bit with him and later on after the race, I saw him again headed for the subway. Running towards mile 2, it was all downhill and all I thought about was, that ONE HILL. I was at a comfortable pace and rhythm and then I saw people turn... and then I saw the hill. I didn't feel the need to go hard fast, I ran at ease as much as I could and then halfway through the hill, I just had to walk .... at some point I saw Donna and also had continued to run and once we turned that corner after the hill, there was still some hill but not as steep. Before the last two turns, it was all downhill and while most people may run fast going downhill, it sometimes feel like I'm on a bike and that if I went down too fast, I'd crash--- perhaps I was going faster than my usual pace and on the last half mile or so, as much as I wanted to walk---- i searched for the finish line and told myself, don't stop, just keep going. Get this over with! As the finish line became closer, I did not slow down. I just had to keep on going. It turns out that I had a negative splits on this race. I also had a decent time of 27:50. My PR is in Buffalo 27:19.  I couldn't have gone any faster with that hill.  I think Washington Heights 5K felt somewhat harder in terms of hills. I remember feeling the hills on that race but this race, I only felt that ONE hill. 

So last night, I couldn't fall asleep easily and stayed up really late, and woke up to a 4am alarm, dragging my legs out of bed. The good thing is...yesterday, I volunteered at WSCAH and since it was a different type of heavy lifter project, I ended up using my legs a lot and felt great this morning about running. I was very tired, so much so that I kept yawning on the subway.  When I arrive at Central Park, I was early and ended up waiting at Corral E for the team photo (which wasn't posted by anyone, but it's becoming a habit). I saw Laura, then Donna, and then John. I spotted Marc from meetup and called out to him to chat for a bit. Then we all dispersed, and as I was walking back to my corral, I heard Shaina call out to me, so I took a quick photo with her before reaching my corral. On the course, I waved to Lauren and later saw Donna who was facing our running direction because apparently she was taking a photo of the chickens right before the start of Harlem Hill. I stopped for water the 2nd half the race to dump it all over my head/back to cool off.  I ran as much Harlem Hill as I could and ran through all the 3 sister hills, then it was pretty much home free to the end. I was fighting for the under 1 hour 10K and I'm so happy that I accomplished that. 59:07! Post race: ice pop, Krispy Kreme donuts, bib boards, cowbell and post race snacks.

Thanks Jungyon for cheering for us! Seeing her towards the end made me push hard towards the finish line even though we passed the start line twice! (Photos courtesy of Jungyon)

I had high anxiety the day before the race because this race is ONCE a year and the goal is supposed to run as fast as you can for one mile. So the night before, I relayed my thoughts to Coach Alex and after some chatter, I felt a bit calmer. I slept well and woke up for the 5am alarm. I think what contributed to my anxiety was the warmup run I was advised to do before the race and having to run the mile as fast as I could somehow terrified me since it was the first time. It sets the time. I got off at 42nd Street and started my warmup run and right before I crossed the street to Central Park, my right leg (back of knee) felt stiff all of a sudden and I stopped at the stoplight to shake it off. I continued into the park to run to 80th Street and after that run, I decided it would be best to stretch and do some leg swings and squats. The feeling didn't go away completely when I started the race so I felt I should be a bit conservative in going all out to avoid injury. Before the race started, I saw Steven and chatted with him for a bit. Then when I started, somehow my watch was not normal as it looked completely paused or something, so I reset the start. From a distance, I saw the hill, but I must have been focused on something else that I didn't feel any of the incline as I would any hills. I think what helped me on this race was the quarter mileage shown. Then knowing that both Team Osprey and NSSRG would be around 63rd and 5th, I stuck closer to the right side of the course.  Seeing Piera, Elizabeth, and Lisa was awesome as I flew by them. Spotting Bryan from NSSRG was also cool.  Finally seeing the finish line after the hill was what kept me on pace.  When I left this morning, my goal was to run at a pace below 8, given that during my speed workouts, I was in that range.  I'm happy that I finished with a 7:45 min mile for my first One Miler. I had plans to attend NSSRG meetup though I didn't register, however, I told myself that if my legs weren't feeling it, then I would skip. When I finished the race, I saw Lauren, as she called out to me. I took my photo with the timestamp since it was my first one mile race. Afterwards, I went to find the cheer squad for Team Osprey. A few of us stayed all the way watch  the professionals races, and then departed ways.

September 22, 2024: How else do I explain this race, other than it went perfect? I did not stop at all! However, everything I felt the night before leading up to the morning was the opposite. I had such heightened anxiety that I only slept 4 hours. But a lack of sleep never stopped me from performing my absolute best. It was my first 10 miler and the best part of the race was actually seeing all my fellow Osprey teammates running the other way! Thanks Lisa and Elizabeth for being the cheer squad when I needed to see them 2-3 miles before the end! It was nice to see Alex and Sean once I made the final turn!  With a 9:44 min/mi, I ran 1:37:16. I didn't have a goal time, other than to finish. I barely looked at my watch because my only focus was to keep my legs moving and getting to that coveted medal!

September 24, 2024: When I signed up for this race, I thought I had a clear Sunday (September 22), but it turns out that I had put the wrong date for the Bronx 10 mile race and therefore, I had to prioritize that race over this one. I really wanted to run this one with EliteFeats because it's with Mets fans and it sounded like a lot of fun. Since I couldn't make it, I contacted Elitefeats and told them I would do the virtual race. It is not the same to run solo and not know exactly where you are going to turn, so I did my own route based on the actual race path and implemented a nice map of my own. It was fun for me to run the Shea bases, around Citi Field and visit the bricks as well. 

I am all decked out in Mets gear ready to run around for 4.35 miles = 7K, but ended up running slightly more, at 4.56 miles.

September 28, 2024:  No anxiety this morning and I was very relaxed.  HOWEVER, when i arrived to pick up shirt and figured out where bag check was, long lines everywhere, not enough signage/volunteers. It made me frustrated to wait and I didn't have enough time to do a longer warmup run. Throughout the race, I felt the wind blowing the opposite current to where I was going and the light rain made me a bit irritated.  I ran with a time of 27:42. Not enough to PR. I needed to beat 27:17.  Coach had me run 9:00 min/mi the first 2 miles and sub or around 8:30 mile 3 and to the finish. I couldn't meet the latter half, not even on a flat course. I am counting on my supershoes. Haha.

I didn't take any photos at the start or on the course. But you bet I took a ton of JUMP photos and medal photos. LOL. After the race, I walked all the way to Journal Square to my favorite Filipino Bakery, Red Ribbon Bakery.