Race For Recovery

When I saw NYC Running Mama had organized a virtual race to support Sandy victims, I knew I wanted to participate. I felt so villainized the week of the NYC Marathon, and I still can't think about the experience without crying. Runners in general were (unfairly) painted in such a negative light, and I was even personally attacked by an Internet troll. It was such an awful time, but it's been so inspiring to see how the running community has banded together to help in a multitude of ways. 

The virtual race raised money for the Stephen Siller Tunnel To Towers Foundation- Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund, and the race has so far raised $10,795! It was really simple- a $20 donation paid your 'entry' fee, and then you were encouraged to give more if you could. Unlike a traditional race, winners weren't determined based off time, but from how much money they gave. You could either run a 5K or a 10K, or both-- whenever you wanted, as long as it was before midnight on the 8th to be counted in the 'race.'

I decided to run both the 5K and 10K, and even though I was hurting a bit from staying out until 2:30 the night before, it felt great to get out there and be a part of something. Even though I had a terrible headache the entire time, I couldn't help but smile and think about how great runners are :)

I'm still having a few issues with my little Garmy-- it works great in the park, but from 59th street to my apartment, it's a literal dead zone and it can't hold a signal worth shooting. I actually ran close to 10.5 miles counting the run up to the park, but the watch completely lost signal while running up so I decided to just restart it in the park and go until I reached 9.3 miles. Here are my splits:

See how in mile 8 and 9 the time and moving time are so far apart? Major issues with keeping a signal with the Garmin; I came out of the park around mile 7.4, and when I map out the distance on mapmyrun from the edge of the park to my house, it's more like a total of 9.6, not 9.3. 

Does anyone else have this issue in Manhattan? Regardless, so happy to have been a part of this experience!

My 5K split: 28:01

Then, my 10K after: 57:39

Not too bad! :)

Runs from earlier in the week:

Wednesday: Central Park Run, 6.01 miles, 57:49 min/9:37 pace

Friday: East River Run, 4.04 miles, 36:35 min/9:04 pace