Have I mentioned that I love racing?

I woke up before my alarm on Saturday, May 15 thinking, “IT’S RACE DAY!” I was a little nervous about the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K because, well, I did just about zero training for it. As in, I ran the 4 mile Race for the Parks 0n April 18, about a week later I ran for an hour (probably about 5.5 miles — didn’t wear my Polar) and then I did not run at all until this race. Not once.

I tried to run the full Central Park loop the weekend before the race. But things like weather got in the way.  And instead I went to the sweatiest Core Fusion Open class of my life.

So I went into this race on almost no training, but the day was perfect so I was pretty excited. The sun was shining and it was warm but not hot. I forgot to take a picture of myself all geared up before the race, but considering I look the same before every race I’m sure you can make an educated guess on what I looked like. I did wear a tank and shorts, so I was a little chilly walking all the way to the other side of the city, but not too bad at all. Nothing like the coldness I experienced before pretty much all of my other races!

I got to the park and stood in the sun on some grass with lots of other runners. I used the porta potties — twice — because as you know I am a nervous peeer. Nevermind how many times I went at home too. Then I headed over to my corral. I was early but not insanely early, so I was pretty happy. And I wasn’t freezing, so I was very happy.

I was a little disappointed to see I was still in the last corral, despite my sub-10 minute Race for the Parks. Turns out there was 9 min miles and above ALL together in the last corral. Oh, well! There were three old ladies next to me and I was so impressed by how happy they seemed. They must run all the time! I wonder if they are the same old ladies I saw at the freezing cold Joe Kleinerman 10K back in December? I just hope that when I am their age I can run races and be so upbeat too!

The race began at 9, but we all just stood there. And stood there. And stood there. How many people were running this race?! There were so many people there, I had never seen anything like this for a shorter race before. I didn’t make it to the start line until 10 minutes after the race started!

So the race began and I felt great! Like, really great. I got into my own groove pretty quickly. My playlist was the most fun playlist I had ever created, and I am pretty much obsessed and still listening to it.

Thanks to Rachel for introducing me to Afroman, Mochi Beats and DJ Earworm, which comprised some of the best of this list:

So mile 1 started with Afroman, She Won’t Let Me F**k, which just put me in a really great mood because let’s face it — he is ridiculous. Hilarious and just ridiculous and you can just tell how much fun he is having with his outrageous songs. The second song was one of my favorite Mochi Beats songs, Call on Hustla. I especially love it because he mixes in Steve Winwood. I LOVE Steve Winwood. My dad died when I was 5 but he left me with some pretty awesome taste in music — most notably my love of Steve Winwood and George Harrison (and The Beatles in general) as well as a whole lot more.

Call on Hustla is fast, which made it pretty fun for a second song to really get me going once the crowds started to disperse a little.

OAR’s Hey Girl is a race favorite of mine, it always gets me going, although I did feel like I put it on the playlist way too early in the race. I generally like it as a motivator a little later on. I passed the mile 1 marker at about 10 minutes and felt good that I was right on track. I had a secret goal of sub-10 minute miles, and an even more secret goal of finishing in one hour. I also decided to attempt negative splits, since I wanted to see how I do towards the end of a race when I conserve my energy in the beginning.

Sometime during the second mile, I started to get some intense pain in the space between the sides of my ribcage. I know exactly what this is and it upset me. I haven’t touched upon this much on here yet, but my stomach problems have been coming back lately. I’m not exactly sure why. When I get pain in that spot — which is how I knew I was getting sick again, because that has always been my problem spot — it means air is trapped right there. That is what happened and I got really nervous that the entire race would be like this. I felt very uncomfortable and a lot of pressure in that spot.

To make matters worse, there were crazy hills during this mile. I contemplated quitting the race, but figured I would see if the pain persisted. I worked on my breathing and eventually the pain subsided. Phew!

During this time, Hypnotize Gold played. Great song, but I was struggling by then. Because I Got High, my favorite Afroman song and possibly one of my favorite songs of all time, cheered me up a little but I wasn’t able to appreciate the lyrics as I usually do. And it is no secret that Say Hey (I Love You) is my favorite race song of all. I think I started getting better with my breathing during this one, and I also had the feeling I included this song too early on in the list. I knew I could have enjoyed it much better later on.

I passed the mile 2 marker and my time was a but slower than I would have liked. Obviously, since I was in pain and climbing hills.

By the time Cosmic Love came on, I was feeling so much better. This song mas so motivating! I felt so happy as I was able to speed up and push through. The first chorus was on a downhill and the second was on an uphill, so I got to run with it and enjoy it, and also use the song to push me up a difficult hill. Amazing.

Mochi Beats Listen to your Safety Dance — so good! And short, which is perfect for my attention span. I reminisced during this song about 10th grade, when the Jay Z song included in this mashup, Can I Get A, was popular. Good times.

Einstein on the Beach! My favorite Counting Crows song to run to! It makes me want to run fast and sing loud. On this day, I only did the former, much to the appreciation of my fellow runners. Also during this song? DOWN HILLS. We were at the very north end of the loop which is just all down hill. I remember that during my NYC Half Marathon,  Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling was playing during this part, and it made me really excited for my birthday later that night! Einstein on the Beach playing while running downhill was nothing short of fantastic. I sped down those hills! I was feeling great!

Next song? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I just learned about DJ Earworm, and I added United State of Pop 2009 to my playlist the night before the race.  A late addition. And an awesome one! This song made me smile. I was feeling so great by this time. My upper GI pain totally subsided and my legs felt awesome and I was able to push and run faster. This song is a mashup of the biggest pop hits of 2009 and it was just so fun. Also fun? The fact that every second another song is introduced. So great because you will never get bored of any one song. So. Much. Fun.

Somewhere along here I passed the mile 3 marker and the 5K tracker. Turns out I crossed 5K in 30:31, which I attribute to that difficult second mile.

Paper Planes. Good song. Definitely helped with some hills. I like that it is a little slower. Especially since Crazy Rap was next! More Afroman!  More ridiculousness, more humor. Another song that just makes me laugh. Absolutely Tik Tok, another Mochi Beats song. Love it.

And it was just fitting that I’d Rather by Three 6 Mafia was right after that. Again I felt inclined to burst into song, but that would have just been offensive.  I was past the mile 5 marker and felt even more inclined to speed up. I was doing pretty great.

So as not to bore you with my vanity, I will only post one of the three awesome race pictures I received:

Doesn’t it look like I was photoshopped in? Look at how there’s looks like an outline between me and the trees. Luckily I have a real shadow!

That picture was taken sometime during mile 5. I had started to have a bit of a hard time, the uphills were getting pretty rough, but you know I can always put on a good show for the race paps.  Another Mochi Beats favorite of mine, Time Boom, was on next. I love how short these songs are! And this song especially just gets me really pumped up!

When my final song, Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby, came on, I got a little nervous that my playlist wouldn’t be long enough to get me through the end of the race. I tried timing it to the time of my last 10K (1:03:23) but I didn’t take into account the setting on my new iPod to have no space between songs. I also didn’t realize this song is longer than seven minutes, so I had nothing to be worried about anyway. I pushed through the last mile as best I could, although the uphills were brutal here! I was looking forward to the end of the race and finally I saw a sign — 800 meters to the end!

I passed by the corrals at the same time and knew I was very close. When the finish line came into view I tried picking up my speed. I crossed the finish line at exactly the same time my final song ended — I couldn’t have timed it more perfectly!

I felt really great and VERY winded! I stopped running and stood in line for a water and a french toast bagel, which sounds better than it is.  I prefer the chocolate chip bagels they give out at the end of some races. Then I met up with Melissa for coffee and we were obsessively checking the NYRR website on our BlackBerrys for our official times, but they weren’t posted.

After we said our goodbyes I was walking past Central Park and checked the site again — and the results were posted. I pulled up my time. And I smiled.

1:00:37

A new PR! That averages out to a 9:46/mile pace! My secret goals had been met. I think the beautiful day and my best playlist ever really made a difference. That, and I have quite a bit more running experience now than I did six months ago at my last 10K. Those two halfs sure helped.

I shaved almost three minutes off my previous 10K time! On no training, too. And the best part? No knee pain!

I wonder what will happen if I train for my next 10K? We will see, as I have another coming up!

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