Random Ramblings on A Scorching Saturday

I was going to run today; operative word in this sentence is was…because it’s now 4pm and it’s still 91° outside with a humidity of 55%...wowsers! Are we in Arizona or did someone just stick the city in a big oven furnace? Just yesterday, the high in the city was 73° and truth be told, I felt a bit cold running in Riverside Park after work in the mid-afternoon. Geez, if I had known about this impending heat wave I would’ve extended my run yesterday just so I wouldn’t feel so guilty about not running right now. (Wait, yes, people did tell me. I just chose to misremember right now so I have an excuse for being lazy! C’mon, it’s Saturday!)

But even though I’m not dragging my butt outside right now (for safety reasons!!!), I am pretty inspired by what I saw this morning. For those who are not from these parts, this morning was the running of the NYRR Mini-10K. This women’s only running event is pretty special because it commemorates the world’s first ever women’s only road race. (Runner’s World has an awesome audio clip of Kathrine Switzer describing the origins of this race at her press conference at Tavern on the Green this week…link) The most poignant thing I remember from the story of the race beginnings was that they use to think that women can’t run in marathons or other distance events because their uteruses would fall out. Say what? I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry when I first heard that.

Many female running superstars came from all over the country to run in the race this morning, including our three U.S. Olympians – Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, and Blake Russell. I arrived in the park too late to see these speedsters in action today, but did get a chance to see them when they came to the bridal path the other day as part of the Runner’s Week celebration. Checking on NYRR website afterwards, I saw that DK came in 3^rd (33:14), MLB 4^th (33:29), and BR 6^th (33:40). All in all, there were 4104 finishers! Everyone of them are in a champion in my book for running an awesome race despite the heat and humidity. Makes me feel like a total wimp for crying out like a baby when I had to wake up early and run in the rain in my last race!

A special big ups goes out to an old friend DS who recently just took up roadracing and in just her third race of the year, broke 9:00 for the first time today! Not only did she PR, she ran a negative split for her awesome finish, something I’ve still not been able to achieve in my three years of racing (and she credits me for encouraging her….puuhlease girl, I’m just all words…you’re the one who brought them to action). Incredible, incredible job, congrats!

As for me, don’t worry, the heat and humidity will have a chance to beat me down too! I’m just resting, saving up some energy for my duel with the sun tomorrow. Sometime in the mid-morning, I’ll be running a 9.3 mile (yikes!) leg for my Need For Speed NY Flyers relay team. Although there’s been an e-mail circulating amongst us to run slow, I know they’re semi-expecting me to haul some major ass out on the roads. Heck, I’m not even sure I can hold myself back from running fast. I just have to remember to be smart and let my past experience dictate how I’m supposed to run. Either way, it’s going to be interesting since it’s my first relay race experience and also my first race that is not entirely on roads (there is some trail running involved, I’m told).

I haven’t decided whether I’ll post a race report on it. I guess it’ll depend on if I win my battle with the sun or be fried like an egg and require assistance from my teammates to scrape me off the pavement with a spatula (okay, I stole this line from Jodi at Confessions of a Runner podcast! Check her out, she's awesome!). I’ll be sure to let you all know how it goes…if I survive to tell about it, that is!

Have a great running weekend everyone!