Running

Scotland Run 10K and Youth Race

Another race, another personal best record broken. To be fair, I don’t race too many 10Ks and the last one before the Scotland Run was in July of 2015. With all the training I’ve done and my performances at the Washington Heights 5K and NYC Half, I expected good results. Of course, anything can happen during a race and this was race was no exception.

The NYRR Scotland Run 10K was the second club points race of the year and both our men’s and women’s competitive teams were already off to a great start. After the first club points race the men’s team placed 8th in the A division, the women’s team placed 4th in the B division, and both teams were hungry for more.

I get excited for every race, but club points races make even more adrenaline run through you than usual races. The most important part of these races is the team. It’s great to know that when you’re racing, you’re not just racing for yourself but for your team. That’s not to say that there’s added pressure to perform well—we always help and support each other to run our best. That’s what helps strengthen our bonds and boost our team to another level.


Scotland Run

I met a few new runners in our team, said hi to Kevin and Jose who were working during the race, freaked out when I couldn’t find the sticker to put on my bag, chilled when Maria tells me that it’s a tag and not a sticker to add to the bag, and then started my warm up. For this race, I experimented with a slightly longer warm up that included very quick strides and some slower strides for a longer duration.

Kevin gave me a race strategy, but after a 5:51 first mile which felt surprisingly easy, I decided to maintain that pace instead of going a few seconds slower. My 5K split goal was 18:30 but I managed an 18:16 split. Everything was going well and I expected a slow 4th mile, but I was not expecting to slightly cramp up and not be able to breathe. After a few deep breaths I was back at it, running alongside another runner who kept me right on pace. Actually, I did not know how fast I was going for the last 2.2 miles but I knew I had to keep on attacking. Right around 5.70 miles into the race I began my kick, knowing there would only be about half a mile left. About 200m to go and I see Chaz running in the opposite direction cheering me on and I start my final kick. Final time of 36:34 and tied for third with Nate for Queens Distance.

Youth Race

Quickly after picking up my baggage, I run down to 59th and 5th Ave. to pick up my brother for his youth race. I was a bit worried about him coming to Central Park all by himself but it turned out that my sister accompanied him. It was very sweet of her, especially because she worked a night shift at her job. It’s around 9:30am, we get some coffee and head to the start. After a quick pep talk, he was off running a 12:50 1.7 mile race. It’s his first of a couple of races this year and I’m really excited to see how he does at the Queens 10K!

Thanks for reading!