Sunday Wrap Up: All I Do Is Win

Oh hello.  What's that?  You want to know if IMan and I, operating under the team name of Will Run For Beards, won the co-ed two man New York City Ekiden relay today?  I'm so glad you asked.  BECAUSE WE DID.

I didn't take any pictures during the race because I was too busy winning it, but this is what we look like as a team.  We looked the same today, minus the sunglasses, beers, and summer attire.  Related: doesn't that dress look like something Mrs. Roper would wear?

But before I get to that, I should fill in the gaps between where I left off and today, because what is a blog for if not detailing the minutiae of one's life to a captive audience?

So, I did my mile repeats on Wednesday as prescribed, but sort of wasn't feeling awesome when I started.  My legs just haven't been recovering as well as they usually do, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the fact that I've been living on jellybeans this week.  I took a recovery day on Thursday as I typically do, but still wasn't feeling much spring in my step by Friday.  In fact, on Friday morning the alarm went off, I put on my running gear, hobbled outside, was pelted with rain and wind, and went back into my apartment.  I got back into bed and slept for another hour. In my running clothes.

This slumber was interrupted by the other half of Team Will Run For Beards (the half with the beard), who was calling to discuss our weekend plans and race strategy for the Ekiden.  I lamented my missed morning run, and IMan cracked the whip: do those Goal Marathon Pace miles today and take it easy tomorrow; we have a race to win on Sunday!

Since sometimes I let IMan think he is the boss, I did as I was told and went to the gym after work, begrudgingly, to knock out my GMP run.  A-ha!  But what is GMP?  I haven't yet decided what I'm looking to run at Boston this year, but figured 3:22 would be a nice PR, and precisely an hour faster than my first (and slowest) marathon.  7:42/mile it is.  As with the mile repeats, it didn't feel awesome, but didn't suck either.  Being fine is good enough.

Saturday morning, I agreed to run a few miles with Abbe, so long as she promised not to tell IMan.  We looped the Prospect Park perimeter and headed over the Brooklyn Bridge to her apartment, chatting and relaxed the whole way.  Well, Abbe was chatting and relaxed, even after 18+ miles.  I was mumbling about orange juice and shuffling like Frankenstein, fairly certain that paralysis would set in just as IMan and I toed the starting line on Sunday.

But by some miracle, those miles with Abbe seemed to have cured me!  Not only did they represent a run I wasn't dreading (consider that a compliment, Abbe), but they left me feeling downright spry!  Or maybe that was the post-run best bagel I've ever eaten.  Either way, I woke up this morning READY TO RACE!

The Ekiden is, according to Wikipedia, a traditional Japanese relay in which participants wear, and pass between them, a sash.  There are probably more cultural nuances than that, but for our purposes (which judging by this rushed account are unabashedly xenophobic... I swear I'm a culturally sensitive person), that's the gist of it.  The New York City Ekiden was broken into 6 categories: 4-person male, 4-person female, and 4-person co-ed, and 2-person male, female, and co-ed, and IMan was we were gunning to win the 2 person co-ed division.  The legs were:

1. 2 lower loops of Central Park - 3.4 miles

2. 1 full loop of Central Park - 6.1 miles

3. 1 102nd Street loop of Central Park - 5 miles

4. 1 lower look of Central Park - 1.7 miles

IMan and I decided that he, being fleet of foot (also, the one with the beard) should lead off Team Will Run For Beards, and cover the greater distance of 8.4 miles total.  I, meanwhile, was responsible for the fate of our relationship team with the anchor leg, as well as the full Central Park loop.  

Well technically we got the legs screwed up when we reviewed them and were only corrected as IMan stood on the starting line, thinking he was running 3.4 miles and then 6 miles, but whatever.

So!  Time to run!  IMan dons our sash and sets off for his 3.4 mile leg.  I stayed bundled up against the cold in a hoodie and jacket.  Leg 1 was the only leg that passed through the transition area during the leg, so I had some idea of how IMan was doing at the halfway point.  There was one guy in our division from the Central Park Track Club about a minute ahead of him, but IMan had more than a minute on the next contenders in the co-ed 2-person group.  Oh man, I thought, don't let me blow this.

I stripped off my cold weather gear and hopped into the transition area about 2 minutes before I expected to see IMan.  He came up the hill about a minute behind the lead co-ed 2-person team, handed off the sash, smacked me on the butt, and told me to get moving.

Gah, running fast is painful and hard!  Almost immediately, I was passed by a woman not in our division.  While it didn't matter for competitive purposes, it was a little discouraging, since IMan had really hauled ass for his leg.  I hit mile 1 in 6:59 - a solid 20 seconds faster than I'd planned.  Almost immediately after that, I had to stop to tie my shoe.  Ugh, I'm ruining everything!

Mentally regrouping, I continued charging up the East side of the park, hitting mile 2 at 7:04.  At this point, I could tell I was gaining on the lead co-ed 2-person CPTC lady.  Reel her in, I told myself.  Little by little, I got closer, until I finally surged by her at mile 3.  I looked down at my Garmin and discovered that little surge was a 6:46 third mile, and I still had 3 more to go.

At this point, the prospect of embarrassment is really what kept me going.  I didn't want to have made my move too early and then have that be proven to me by getting passed by this chick close to the transition area, so I pushed down the hockey rink hill and wheezed my way up the Harlem Hill.  Mile 4, 7:07.

Okay, two more miles, I can probably keep running without dying for two more miles.  Get over these West side hills.  Oh my God, it feels like my hamstring is dangling out of the back on my leg right now!  But she could be right behind me!  Mile 5, 7:05.

Somewhere into my sixth mile, my other shoe came untied.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!  I wasn't about to stop and give up our hard-earned lead, so I ran the rest of the leg looking directly at my feet while adopting a weird, wide-legged gait.  I look forward to photos from this mile.  Anyway, I spied IMan waiting for me in the transition area and booked it up to him.  "That was quick!" He said.  I tried not to vomit on him, handed off the sash, wheezed "102nd," hoping he'd understand that he was supposed to turn at 102nd Street, and doubled over.  Last 6.1 miles, 6:52.

After I caught my breath, I waited to see how much time I'd put between us and the CPTC team.  She came through the transition area about two minutes 30 seconds (I have, apparently, both a terrible sense of how time works, and also a grossly inflated ego) after I did, and with IMan undoubtedly flying around the Park, her teammate was going to have a tough time catching up.

Leg 3 seemed to fly by (that happens when you're fast enough to WIN - heyo!), and before I knew it, I was shivering in the transition area waiting for IMan and my last 1.7 mile leg.  He passed off the sash and I tore out of the area.  

Surprisingly, my legs felt okay, and knowing that I only had to run 1.7 miles made the whole thing more bearable.  I ticked off the first mile in 6:42.  Less than a mile to go!  But I was still terrified that our CPTC rivals were right on our tails; IMan had maintained the lead over leg 3, but I had no idea by how much.  I told myself I couldn't ease off until I was across the finish line.  I averaged a 6:49 for that last 0.7 miles, and with it, we won!  Will Run For Beards was victorious!  Our rivals came in shortly after, and I had a nice handshake with the woman I'd been racing all morning.  I mean, I probably wouldn't have thought it was nice if I'd been on the losing end, so kudos to her for being magnanimous.

It was pretty awesome to have our arms raised over our heads like heavyweight champions, and everyone clapped and they proclaimed us the victors.  Also, our prize is a pair of sneakers by race sponsor Sketchers for each of us!  As IMan as I took our victory lap (and by that I mean, took an additional lap of Central Park after the race, because IMan is a sadist and makes me run too much), he said "we actually made money on this race.  2 pairs of sneakers for a $70 entry fee!"  I said "Well you didn't pay anything, so you made even more!"  But anyway, $70 for a fun race with sneaker prizes (in 6 different categories!), technical t-shirts, and donuts, apples, water, and hot chocolate at the finish is not a bad gig.  I know this race got some flack because why pay $70 (or $100 for a 4-person team) to run loops of the park you probably run in all the time anyway?  But I have to say, I think NYCRuns puts on a great race, this was a fun day, and I'm happy to support them. 

Plus, the only 2 times I've ever won have been in NYCRuns races.  So, there's that.

Number of Miles Run This Week: 46.  That's too many.

Number of Beers Consumed This Week: 6.  That's not enough!

Types of Beers Consumed This Week: Sam Adams Alpine Spring, Stella Artois, Bud Light, and a Tuatara IPA from New Zealand by way of Neal.  I would have loved to savor it thoughtfully, but I was so tired the night that I opened it that I poured it into my mouth hole and passed out immediately.  Missed opportunity.  Thankfully there's a Tuatara Lager still in the mix, so I'll get to try that out.

And speaking of passing out, now it is time for me to do that, even though it is 5:00pm on a Sunday.  Winning is tiring.