This Is Fine: 2020 Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K Race Recap

And now, for something completely normal.

If you read my last post, you’ll learn that there have been times during the past month I’ve wanted to write in this blog. One of those things was a recap of the Washington Heights Salsa, Blues, and Shamrocks 5K that took place on Sunday, March 1, 2020, which was exactly seven and a half years ago (or does it just feel like that??). Now that every race is being cancelled in the coming months (and, I am predicting, for the remainder of 2020), I might as well write this recap because who knows when the next one will be (2021, if we’re lucky).

Pain Is A Gift: 2019 TCS NYC Marathon Race Recap

This race recap took me longer to write than any other I’ve done. It was a really hard training cycle and I even put off writing about training because I guess I don’t love writing about things that are bad? I should probably not be like that and also talk to my therapist and also get a therapist.

Anyway, I’m doing it now.

Grimace and Bear It: 2019 Great Cow Harbor 10K Race Recap

Hooo boy it’s been twelve years since I ran this race I’m about to recap! Wait, no… hold on… it’s been eight weeks. That’s it? It feels like twelve years. Weird.

I’ve apologized for being behind on this blog. I hope everyone knows how sorry I am by now. The funny thing is, once I start writing I LOVE it and I’m like, why did I not want to write? I love to write! What’s my problem? Still trying to figure that one out but I’ll be sure to update everyone once I do!

Anyway, let’s get to this favorite race of mine: The Great Cow Harbor 10 Kilometer Run in my lovely childhood hometown of Northport, Long Island.

Just Beat It: 2019 5th Avenue Mile Race Recap

The 2019 New Balance 5th Avenue Mile happened so long ago, but that is my theme this fall: Better late than never. It’s a solid theme and I’ve been very consistent with it.

I ran this race last year so when it came time to sign up for 2019 NYRR races, I figured I’d run it again. Not that I trained for it; I’d spent the summer marathon training, not mile training. The only recent fast mile I’d run was another mile race: June’s Northport Downhill Mile, where I ran a PR of 6:35. Although that race had no starting mat and a wonky start, so I don’t know if I should even count that as an official time.

I know 6:35 is pure easy jogging pace for some folk, but please know that I am a middle-aged lady who moves her legs for fun, and that’s probably as good as it’s going to get for me these days. As someone who ran 5Ks in her 20s at a 9:30 pace, I’m not apologizing.

The Big Chase: 2019 Percy Sutton 5K Race Recap

The 2019 Percy Sutton 5K happened over a month ago but it might as well have been six years ago based on what has transpired in the past several weeks. Time is strange. What is time? Does it exist outside our minds? Did the Percy Sutton 5K even happen? And if it did, will it happen again after the universe has been destroyed, the Big Bang happens for the 14th trillion time, and we experience life as we know it all over again?

I’ll begin by telling you that the day I ran the 2019 Percy Sutton 5K was a very good day. I had a good race. It was a lovely morning. I felt on top of the world.

I’ve been struggling to regain that feeling lately, which is partly why the race feels like it happened so long ago.

Smells Like Team Spirit: 2019 NYRR Team Championships Race Recap

Still getting caught up over here! I have never been this far behind on my blog and, frankly, I am somewhat embarrassed. But I must finish what I start, so here is my brief recap of the very fun 2019 NYRR Team Championships race that happened back on July 27th!

Sweat Fest: 2019 Front Runners New York LGBT Pride Run 5M

It’s been a while since I ran this race and I have finally gotten around to recapping it. Hallelujah. Do we all get more lazy in the summer or is it just me?

This was not a good race for me. Honestly, I think that is partly why this recap has taken me so long. I wanted to forget it ever happened. But I’m a completist, and if I don’t write this I will remember it forever and mention it over and over on my deathbed to confused caretakers.

Quest for the Holy Pint Glass: Northport Downhill Mile Race Recap

I guess it’s somewhat ironic that one of my shortest races has taken a heck of a long time to recap. This is partly because I’ve been so busy with photography work lately, for which I am grateful. I’ve also been focusing on some fun, new, creative upcoming projects that I’m SO excited about and will let everyone know about in time. But right now, let’s get this done. This was a super fun race!

Those who follow me in places other than this blog may have already heard the story of how I decided to skip this year’s Queens 10K and instead take a 5:55 am train to Northport, Long Island, to run its annual mile race. A brief backstory:

Thirst Trap: 2019 New York Mini 10K Race Recap

I was excited to run the Mini 10K again this year. First of all, it’s a 10K. I like 10Ks. I like them better than 5Ks and I think I like them better than 15Ks, although I have only ever run a 15K twice. My “regular” route is seven miles, so 6.2 feels not only doable, but short.

There’s a lot of cool history surrounding the Mini. It’s the world’s oldest all-female road race, created in 1972 by Kathrine Switzer and my close personal friend Nina Kuscsik, with the help of then NYRR president Fred Lebow. That inaugural race in 1972 had just 78 runners. Over the years, there have been some legendary competitors: both Grete Waitz and Tegla Loroupe have won it five times each. The fastest female marathoner in history, Paula Radcliffe, won in 2001. Deena Kastor won it in 2004, the last American winner for a decade until Molly Huddle claimed that honor for herself in 2014. Mary Keitany, a four-time winner of the NYC Marathon, won the Mini in 2015, 2017, and 2018.

This year’s Mini had 8886 runners. We’ve come a long way, baby.

Is This Hell?: 2019 Popular Brooklyn Half Race Recap

The 2019 Popular Brooklyn Half was my fourth race in four weeks. As I get to the end of this recap, you will see that this is many races to run in four weeks, and perhaps too many races to run in four weeks.

This fourth race was a good learning experience. I was tired in ways I had never felt. It was by far the hardest race I’ve ever run, including both of my marathons (one of which, by the way, was one of the four races I ran in this four week period).