Race Report: Colon Cancer Challenge

I've finished four of the races I need to qualify for the 2012 NYC Marathon!  And I'm registered for the other five!

For those unfamiliar, NYRR is the New York Road Runners and they organize races around NYC primarily the annual ING NYC Marathon the first weekend in November.  They are a not for profit organization but not every race is related to fundraising.  Yesterday's race however was part of the Colon Cancer Challenge since March is Colon Cancer Awareness/Prevention month.  So there was a choice when I registered of running either the 4 mile race or a 15k (about 9.3 miles) or there was a non-marathon qualifying 1.7 memorial walk.  I take the time to point this out because I do know a Colon Cancer survivor, Joyce Renshaw and so its nice to recognize when races are about more than just running. 

My excitement for the race actually started Friday evening when I picked up my number.  So the NYRR has so many runners do its races (the Super Bowl Sunday race had nearly 6000 participants) that they do what the big half marathons/marathons do and put you in corals by expected finish time.  They do this with the color and first number of your race bib.  Thus far, I've always been in the last group with a number 7 and the color purple.  I'd told my friend C who runs a lot of these races too, that my goal was to make it to pink by the Brooklyn half.  Apparently, I'm well ahead of schedule because Friday, I got handed a pink bib with the number 6!  :)  I now have to set my sights on blue and the number 5.

The race was actually the coldest one I've run so far, yes even colder than the midnight run on New Year's Eve.  The temperature when we started the race yesterday was 28 whereas on Super Bowl Sunday it was 38.  Thankfully it was sunny, so about midway through the race I actually tore my gloves off and put them in my pocket.  You do get warmer as you run, but there is a fine balance in layering... enough that you don't freeze before you start but not so much that you're roasted before you're done.  I will be very happy when my running choices can be shorts and tank tops, it requires so much less thought!  (Of course I will probably be complaining about the heat, humidity and how I have to think about properly hydrating but I guess that's the fun of seasons!)

This race felt soooo much better physically than the one I did in early February which followed the same course.  Stepping out of boot camp has really helped me as well as actually training for the half marathon.  I know compared to some areas of the country, the hills of Central Park might seem small, but they are a very challenging run!  The one bad thing was with the cold weather, there were definitely points where I was struggling with my breathing.  Normally when I run between the amount I workout and taking yoga and pilates , I can actually breath quite deeply into my chest.  However, with the cold air, I could feel my breath sticking higher in my ribs and it annoyed me since I knew I could do better.  However, my legs felt great!  And that excited me.  When I finished the four miles, I did actually feel like I had it in my legs to go further although my lungs were protesting.  There was a particularly steep hill where I practiced one of the techniques we use in spin of snapping my leg up in order to get the pedal around.  This engages some of the other muscles like the glutes and helps to give more power.  It was awesome for my speed, but my lungs and heart rate did indicate that they weren't ready to run that fast yet (eventually they'll have to be as I have a blue bib number that I need to get my name on!).

Yesterday evening, I did another mile on the treadmill too.  (I'd wanted to do 2 to have done a total of 6 but unfortunately the very long line at the grocery store meant by the time I got to the gym I had 15 minutes before yoga class.)  Today, while my legs feel a little sore in places, I don't feel any more sore than I do after my usual long runs so I'm calling that a victory.  My IT band (the band of fibers and ligaments that runs from the outside of your hip to your knee) has not been bothering me (yet) which I attribute to the miracles of the foam roller and I haven't made ibuprofen a vitamin yet so I think training is going well! 

I've also gone ahead and registered for my next half marathon in Providence, RI.  Since this blog has morphed into a combination of weight loss journey and training blog, I think its only fitting to mention my reason for committing now.  I'm now within 12 pounds of reaching my weight loss goal.  I am a very goal driven person so I don't want to lose my focus once one goal is attained so I'm setting new ones for the future.  I've never been to RI and its less than a four drive from me, plus I think my friend K will end up coming along for the road trip! (Now she has to, since I committed her to it in a blog right? ;))

I'm also thinking quite seriously that I will be doing my first marathon on January 15, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona.  It seems only fitting that my first marathon should be in the state I was born right?  :)  It's also got a time limit of 7 hours and 15 minutes which I think should be attainable.  It will be 2 years and 2 weeks after I joined Weight Watchers.  Here's to going from morbidly obese to marathoner! :)