Scotland 10K

Saturday was the Scotland 10K. I woke up, I got dressed, drastically miscalculated the weather, and headed for the M79.

Don't talk to me. I'm jamming to One Direction.

I ate a peanut butter and honey on Ezekiel 4:9 toast sandwich on the way. My coffee machine is broken, yes broken!, so I had to do without before the race.

I took the bus over to Central Park West, couldn't figure out why I couldn't see any runners, and then started calling the Professor. Oh wait, we're not starting in the middle of the street like in the Mini 10K? You're in the park? By 59th Street? And I'm on 79th? Yeah, I love starting a race with a nice sprint to the starting line.

I knew I'd be cold on the way to the race, so I wore the Professor's Ted Corbitt 15K long-sleeved shirt. He didn't run it, so he couldn't have it, and I've been wearing it around my apartment as a shress (shirt + dress = shress) since I picked it up from NYRR. I figured I could drop it at the beginning of the race and not care about it because I have my own that fits. I got one block away from my apartment when I realized I should've worn a long-sleeved tech shirt. It was too late to turn back, but in the end I was fine. I made myself run faster to warm up.

"Take a Xanax." Thought about it...

While I didn't PR, I ran a solid 48:13, which comes out to 7:46 minute miles. I didn't try to weave (for once) and I'm not sure how that affected my time. The hills were harder than I remember. T and I run clockwise around the loop from time to time, but we don't do it very fast. I always run counterclockwise if I'm by myself. The Harlem Hills feel so much worse when running clockwise but at least you get to avoid ascending Cat Hill.

This hill could have been more pleasant.

I ran this race with music. I used to feel very strongly against this, but lately I have needed a little pep in my step. I don't feel that competitive (maybe because there's absolutely no little chance I'll win an NYRR race?) and I listening to Cut Copy makes me feel badass and floaty. Yeah, I can't really describe how Cut Copy equals badass and floaty, but it does.

As a Choate and Trinity graduate, I am a big fan of this bib's color scheme.

I pushed myself but not that hard. I kept thinking that I should have slept more, gone out less, and avoided the five beers I had had the night before. My quads were screaming from kettle bell class but I was trucking along. I spent 48 minutes and 13 seconds thinking about sex. Really great sex. The kind of sex that moves your furniture and annoys your neighbors. There were times when I was running sub 6:30s but I had a smile on my face because I had Cut Copy and my dirty imagination.

I'll be honest, I'm super jealous of the Ridiculously Photogenic Guy and all that smiling was a ploy to get myself a sick NYRR photo. I was also very happy though.

I finished the race, made sure the Professor hadn't beaten me, and then went in search of Gatorade. I found my friend from work. I couldn't find the Professor with a cell phone, GPS, and a few identifying landmarks, but I was able to find my work friend. Then we both found my old boss. Ed reformers - it's like we're drawn together by some magnetic force field that we can't escape if we tried.

I wore my C9 by Champion for Target shorts in neon yellow with the matching sports bra, neon yellow Hidden Comfort Balega socks, a Brooks Equilibrium Racer Back tank, and my old blue Adrenaline 11s. I really wish I had white sneakers with neon yellow accents. Hint hint.