Race Report New York Road Runners Team Championship and running without a camera.

The Team Championship Race always seams to come at a time when I want more than 5 miles. I am not the guy who is gonna score so I often run to the start. I give my self 2.5 hours to get from Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn to Central Park at E103 St.

Today It took 2 hours and 15 minutes. I ran the about 4 miles to the Brooklyn Bridge and then to City Hall. Then from City Hall I joined the Summer Streets Program and ran 6.9 miles on the CLOSED TO AUTOMOBILES roads from City Hall to Central Park and E 72 St. Then another 1.5 miles to the starting line. So about 13.5 miles to warm up for a 5 mile race. Nice.

Summer Streets is great but there were no portable toilets set up along the route and I had to go. My tour guide brain kicked in and I went into the Grand Hyatt New York next to Grand Central to use their very nice bathroom. Really nice, hotels have very nice bathrooms. Us New Yorkers think we can't go into the hotels. But you know what happens when you walk towards the front door of a fancy hotel..... They open the door for you. Then I ran through the tunnel that goes though the Helmsley Building and realized I coulda pooped in the Waldorf Astoria. Eh, there is always next week.

I get to the start and I am a little tired, OK. So I figure to run at my planed marathon pace. 10 minutes per mile. My first mile was in exactly 10 minutes, then a 9:58 and a 9:57. Mile 4 came with Cat Hill and a water stop, I ran a 10:44. For like 2 seconds I was thinking, that I should just jog it in, enough is enough. Then I said aloud, Fuck it, find out what you are made of. I ran a 9:25. Lots of fun, thanks in part to my screaming teammates from the Prospect Park Club. I finished in a not disappointing 50:06.

I met my old friend Rundangerously who took my picture with CTmarathoner's camera. If somebody sends it to me I will post it. Ah, I swiped it from his Facebook.