NERRC Winter Tune Up (10K) Race Report

Two weeks in the race season and two races down??!! Why, yes...I am a racing machine!

Actually, I'm not really robotic, I'm just a big fan of the Northeast Roadrunners Club races ever since I participated in their marathon tune-up last year, in preparation for the Philly Marathon (during which I learned a number of good lessons).

And NERRC hits me where I'm weak -- they're cheap (okay...maybe *I'm* cheap and they're inexpensive...but you get my meaning) and the race shirt is always a great, thick and long sleeved tee that I actually would wear. And, they're relatively local.

The race started at Lloyd Hall, the "rec" center for the Boathouse Row/Kelly Drive area. This, by the way, is the thing I miss the most about living in Philadelphia. When I last lived there, I was right in the Art Museum area, full of great restaurants and shops. And Boathouse Row was a mere 200 yards from my front door. It was great to go out there to train for a monster cycling event I did with a friend, called AIDSRide, from New York to Boston. Each time I go back there, I have really fond memories of that time. Ahhh.

Okay, snap back. There's not too much to report of interest for the race, other than everyone else running it were clearly professional runners. Or, they were being chased by some band of muggers I couldn't see. Or maybe they thought it was a sprint. Whatever the reason, dem's some FAST runners!

So the whole time, I'm convinced that I'm schuffling through molasses. At first, we're all in a nice little group and then -- Wham! -- it's just me and the power walkers left. A little em.bar.assing, let me tell ya. But, I'm getting used to being the slowest runner out there, so I just ignored that the front runners were passing me at, like, mile 2 1/4. They had not only made it out to the 3.1 mile turn around, they had made it back. They must have been some really nasty looking muggers!

As it turns out, I actually had my best 10K time! My splits were all under 10:45/mile and I only had one mile that was over (a 12:45 mile) because I was forced to stop to stretch my IT band out. An average 10:28 mile left me with a finishing time of 1:05:(andsomechange). And this is with some pretty serious headwinds smacking us around on the way out, coming from across the expanse of the Schuylkill River.

Aside from the knee pain, it was fun! I made a point to test out a combo of nutrition, which worked just fine for me. I did use -- for the first time -- a recovery powder/drink right afterwards that I finally picked out and purchased after much hawing. This stuff deserves its own post. It's nasty. Really nasty. Yuck.

Now, I'm actually experiencing a bit more soreness than I thought I would, which may be a result of not spending the time in the freezing cold to stretch following the run. But, at least the soreness is evenly distributed and includes my hamstrings, which I feel like I've been ignoring recently. Welcome back, Hammies, it's good to feel your pain again.

Next Up: The SimplyStu Worldwide Triathlon!