Okay, so I didn't really take ANY photos at all last Saturday during the Ted Corbitt 15k....so I thought a photo from about a year ago of my LEGIT BROKEN foot would be a great way to start this post... because, guys, I am totally emotional about this whole thang.
Running a race nowadays just feels AWESOME in general because...HELLO... a year ago I couldn't even walk. However, every race I have run since my broken foot in November 2016 has been plagued by injury.
After running a painful half marathon last October, I was kicking around the idea of ditching running & focusing on lifting when I got a text from a running club buddy asking me to sign up for the Ted Corbitt 15k. I figured it would be a good distance to train for after having recently trained for a half marathon and I thought the cold weather would be nice for racing. So trained I did the last four weeks...and I shockingly can say I've trained with only a little bit of nagging tightness in my right Achilles. I'll take it.
The race was super chilly and fell on NYC's first snowfall of Winter 2017-2018. It was sort of magical, actually, finishing the race in Central Park surrounded by snowfall. However, the chilly temps did prevent me from hanging out to snap pics. A lesson learned, since I'd like to do more race recaps on the blog going forward!!
The race lineup was a breeze. Super well organized number pick-up, tons of portapotties and the bag drop-off was conveniently located near the race start.
The course was a 4 mile loop of Central Park followed by a 5.3 mile loop. It was a lot of small rolling hills, nothing crazy. And I sort of enjoyed the slight incline followed by speeding down the hills. Definitely would recommend it! No big gun hills to slow your roll!
My one complaint was that I was pretty dang boxed in for the first 0.5 mile. Luckily, I had another >8.5 miles to make up for lost time, although being boxed in is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves of life. However, after breaking free of the box-in, there was plenty of room to to zig and zag and run unconstricted.
Overall, awesome race experience. Definitely recommend it and excited to do it again next year.
I'm pumped up to sign up for some races this winter/spring 2018. New York and Brooklyn peeps, what are you racing??