Patting Myself on the Back

So, the results for the 15k (9.3 mile) race I did over Thanksgiving came out. I had no idea where I fell in the grand scheme of things, so I was excited/dreading seeing them. In my heart, I am still an athlete. I might not be as fast as I once was, or train as hard or as often, but I still just want to be a bit "in the mix."

Well, in my age group (30-39 females), I was right in the middle -- 15th out of 30. This age group included the top female finisher overall, and my friend Lauren, who was second in the age group and was the 5th female overall. Out of the 14 people ahead of me, 6 of them were officially on "teams" -- people who run as part of a runners group and compete regularly. Mind you, neither the top female finisher or Lauren were signed up as part of a team and they compete, race, and train all the time. All in all, I felt pretty respectable - especially considering the last running race I did was in about 2000 or 2001, and it was a 5k race for the cure. As I noted before, I haven't run 9.3 miles in years, let alone trained to race that distance on a uphill course.

For females overall, I was 41st out of 103 females. 22 of the 40 people that beat me were on teams - and some more (ie, Lauren and the other crazy athlete who won) aren't on teams, but do this all the time. Again, made me feel fairly respectable.

I think I am going to do a 10k next weekend. I like the distance better, and want to see if I can improve (per mile pace) a bit. Plus, I know the course. It is the Central Park loop. Certainly a couple hills - and Harlem Hill is tough -- but not nearly as bad as this past race!!!!