It’s November and I haven’t blogged in months and months. In the past this would mean that I hadn’t done much to talk about – virtual cowering in shame due to my inertia. HA. That is hardly this case this time around- I am a little sorry that I have not been regularly documenting a lot of what I have done. In the race world it is small beans but in my own private Idaho, this has been a banner season.

 

 

 

First of all, every race you see on the left has been completed. Including the Danskin Tri, which was so much freaking fun it’s ridiculous. It was a lot like my first tri- I was so happy to be done with the swim that everything else was gravy. Since I haven’t talked about anything since Brooklyn ( painful, awful, wonderful Brooklyn Half) I will bullet highlights since then:

 

•  NYRR Mini 10K – I remember feeling like crap. First race I wore a skirt in, and I didn’t look too bad. Chub rub wasn’t too bad either, but I wasn’t pleased with my performance. One day I will conquer all of Central Parks’ hills and not feel like dying afterwards.

• Queens 10K – the HOTTEST DAY OF THE YEAR. It was SO damn hot; I was surprised they didn’t cancel the race. Heat advisories everywhere. I already said to myself I would be glad to finish and not pass the hell out. Flushing Meadows Park is a wonderful flat course and very pretty but not one tree in sight- like racing on tarmac. Water stations sucked; misting stations didn’t work. Wore a skirt again.

• Percy Sutton 5K- In August, in Harlem. Smaller race but very friendly neighborhood feel. Which helped, because it was HILLS FROM HELL. Good thing it was only a 5k. I also PR’ed at this race too, which was odd because I walked a few times – must have been the pickup on the downhills. Or maybe their time was off – I dunno, but I’m taking it as a sign that I am FINALLY getting a little faster.

• Danskin Womens Triathlon- HA! Managed to find an instructor to take me and a few other ladies out to learn open water swimming. It was tough but I had a ball. Each class was fun except for the last one which was a jelly fish forest. Running – no problem, I do that regularly. I only managed to get back on my trusty steed Elphaba twice prior to the race.

 

Which was lovely. Travel there and setup was very smooth; and aside from some prerace jitters (thank God for plentiful portajohns) once I was in the water I was fine. Yes, I am slow. And; my sighting sucks. But I was able to correct my trajectory each time and get a smooth stroke on. No wetsuit either. I ran the ¼ mile to the bike and hammered it (well, hammering for me.) I managed to have a 10 min mile for the run which is faster than my first 5k time and amazing as I felt like I was shuffling and that I might burst into flame at any moment. Seriously, the worst part of the entire race was the run course with all that winding back and forth. But I finished feeling great!

 

• BGR! Drive to End Hunger 10K- my first out of state race (I am not counting Danskin) and this was in Atlanta. Black Girls Run!, my running group, had its first national conference ONE WEEK after I completed the Danskin tri. I flew out on Friday, partied it up; did the race (which was sold out at 3,000 participants) and collected another nifty medal. Hilly ass course, and I am not used to running on courses with virtually NO spectators/cheering. Overall however it was a VERY fun experience, I am so glad I went. OH - I wore a skirt again!

• Divas Womens Half Marathon- I could have trained more; but decided I would dress up (I wore a tutu and looked fab thank you very much! LOL) and show up. After the MORE Half and my terrible Brooklyn performance, I thought I would hammer the hell out of this race to make up for how I didn’t do previously. Well, I didn’t do spectacularly but I DID shave 12 minutes off my best time!!!!! Yesssss, I PR’ed at this Half. And I had a great time doing it. Every picture I have of myself on the course, I have a smile on my face. I am a little nuts, as often when I am racing I just start smiling- usually because I just can’t believe I am doing what I am doing.

 

That’s the quick and dirty. Only one more scheduled race coming up in December. All this running means that I have qualified for the 2013 NYC Marathon- completing 9 New York Road Runner races and volunteering for one. Yay, me!