No, I was not foolish enough to race in 20-something degree weather without clothes.
I did, however, race without my Garmin. In a race where there were no mile markers, no on-course timing, nothing. In terms of time, I was a naked racer.
Running naked -- you know, sans Garmin -- is one thing. But racing? Totally different. I felt so . . . weird. I almost felt a little lost because I had no idea how far or how long I had been running. No idea about my pace. Very weird.
Yesterday's race was part of the winter series put on by the local Hudson Mohawk Road Runners Club. The races take place at the SUNY Albany and state office campuses -- notorious wind tunnels. And, yes, the course was pretty windy yesterday. And cold.
But I am so glad I got out there and ran!
Before the race, I saw a bunch of friends -- Bridget (we drove there together), Tami, Melissa, Karen, Deb, Jenny, Rebecca -- a real treat. Some were running the half marathon (which I ran last year and vowed to never run again -- the half marathon course is dreadful) and the rest of us were running the 3.5-miler.
Since I was a naked runner, I set out to just run at a steady and comfortable-yet-pushing-it pace. I paid attention to my breathing, letting how that felt determine how much I pushed, how much I pulled back.
I felt good for the whole run. I was just running, even though, yes, it was a race. It was a nice way to run a race, actually.
In the end, I finished in 27:27, which is a 7:51 pace. After talking to several people after the race, it appears the course was more like 3.7/3.75, not the 3.5 as advertised. So, if that was the case, my pace was around 7:20.
To be honest, it felt more like I was running a 7:20-ish pace than a 7:50 pace. Regardless, I'm pleased with how I ran -- all naked and free!
(The free part, by the way, is the best part -- the winter series races are free for club members! Yay for free races!)
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| With Bridget after the race. |
Welcome, 2013! I hope you bring many more days of racing fun!
Happy New Year, everyone!
~ Felice
4 comments:
Sounds like naked works well for you! I think it's great for every runner to spend some time that way--often you get better results even!
Happy new year!
I often run with my watch hidden, so I can still track my official miles but without being obsessed during the run.
Does that count?
Happy New Year
Happy nekkid run (and happy lucky 13)! :)
I have two screens on my garmin - one that gives me lots of detail, and one that's just heart rate and time of day. If I don't want to pay attention to pace, I just flip it there.
Laughing cuz I really did think you did a nudey run!!! Naked is good - frees up the mind for other things. I like NOT checking my watch every 30 sec. or so to see if I am on pace. Fun to do once in a while!!
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