May 2013
1 post
4 tags
Run Buff 5k, West Texas A&M University, 13 April...
32:12 Finish
On vacation, I had the opportunity to run a 5k with my sister-in-law and her friend. Both had run 5ks before, but not without stopping or walking, so they both had a goal to run the whole thing. I had a goal to have fun and get a good run in. The race was called the Run Buff 5k and was sponsored by the West Texas A&M University women’s cross country program to raise money for...
February 2013
1 post
5 tags
Cherry Tree 10M, Prospect Park, 17 February 2013
1:49:31 finish
I was completely unprepared for this race. That combined with high winds and windchills in the single digits did not make for a great race. I finished ten minutes slower than my 10-mile PR (which was set at this same race back in 2011).
If not for the wind, conditions would have been great. The most comfortable part of the race was standing in the start corral, which was in a...
December 2012
1 post
5 tags
Staten Island Trail Festival 50k, Willowbrook...
7:23 Finish
It was a perfect day for a long trail run: in the 40s, overcast, and slightly drizzly. I got to Willowbrook Park about half an hour before start time. Bib pick up was fast and it got pretty cold waiting around after that, but I chatted with a really nice woman for a bit before getting last minute directions from the race director. About a hundred runners lined up at the start...
November 2012
2 posts
4 tags
Brooklyn Marathon, Prospect Park, 18 November 2012
Finish Time 4:59:53
This race was HARD. lol I did not train on enough hills to do well on this course, but I survived and had a good time. The weather was perfect for a marathon—40s and partly cloudy. The race had about 500 runners, so it felt just right and definitely not over-crowded.
The course consisted of two lower loops of Prospect Park (about four miles total), then six...
10 tags
Race Times
2/17/2013, Cherry Tree 10M, 1:49:31
12/8/2012, Staten Island Trail Festival 50k, 7:23
11/18/2012, Brooklyn Marathon, 4:59:53
9/22/2012, 5th Avenue Mile, 7:40
6/30/2012, Take Your Base 5M, 1:03:26
3/24/2012, NJ Ultra Festival 50k, 7:11:47
2/19/2012, Cherry Tree 10M, 1:45:32
2/12/2012, Valentine 5k, 28:31
1/28/2012, Brrrooklyn Hot Chocolate 10k, 58:50
12/4/2011, Join the Voices 5M,...
September 2012
1 post
3 tags
5th Avenue Mile, Manhattan, 22 September 2012
7:40 finish
This was my third running of the New York Road Runners 5th Avenue Mile. The course runs straight down 5th Avenue, from the Metropolitan Museum of Art at 80th Street to Grand Army Plaza at 60th.
My PR for this race is 7:34, which I did not expect to beat since I don’t speed train. My race strategy for this race is literally “run like hell” and hope not to fall...
July 2012
1 post
5 tags
Take Your Base 5M, Coney Island, 30 June 2012
1:03:26 finish
This was my first time to run the Take Your Base 5-Miler, which is organized by the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team to benefit the American Cancer Society. It was also my first race post-injury and it was a STRUGGLE. I was diagnosed with posterior tibial tendonosis in April and did not run for about seven weeks. I was only cleared to return to running (with walking mixed in)...
March 2012
1 post
5 tags
NJ Ultra Fest 50k, Sussex County, 24 March 2012
Finish time 7:11:47
Since this was my first-ever 50k, I had gotten pretty nervous in the days leading up to it, mainly wondering if I had trained well enough. But races wait for no one, whether you’ve trained well or not, so I made my way to the starting line bright and early.
The weather was perfect, in the 50s (and overcast most of the day), and there was no long wait in a corral...
February 2012
2 posts
5 tags
Cherry Tree 10M, Prospect Park, 19 February 2012
1:45:32 finish
I still love this race. I fell in love with it in 2010 and I still love it. This year we had perfect weather, maybe even a little on the warm side, and a new start line. We also had a fabulous giveaway:
I had been telling my husband recently that I needed a hat with a bill and that would cover my ears (for snow running, if we ever have snow again). Well here it is! Last...
5 tags
Valentine 5K, Prospect Park, 12 February 2012
28:31 finish, 5k PR
Two PRs in two weeks in a park that I could never imagine running fast…it’s a 2012 miracle. I registered for the Valentine 5k on a whim, because I found out it was part of a race series and I was already registered for the other two races. (If you run all three you get a bag. I’m a sucker for schwag that isn’t a t-shirt.)
Race morning was COLD....
January 2012
1 post
4 tags
Brrrooklyn Hot Chocolate 10K, Prospect Park, 28...
58:50.02 finish, new 10k PR
This was an awesome race, and not just because I ran it faster than expected.
I’ve been looking for opportunity to run races that are NOT organized and hosted by New York Road Runners, so I’ve been paying attention to races posted on NYCRuns.com. Steve Lastoe, who runs the site, also directed this race, which is part of a three-race series called the...
December 2011
1 post
3 tags
Join the Voices 5M, Central Park, 4 December 2011
46:48.37 finish
I finally broke the curse of the five-mile race. This was the fourth I registered for and the first I actually ran; I got sick before the other three races. I must still be experiencing some extra fitness from marathon training, because I actually ran a lot faster than I expected to.
I really loved this course. We started by Tavern on the Green (former), then headed south...
November 2011
1 post
5 tags
Philadelphia Marathon, 20 November 2011
Philadelphia Marathon Race Report (in which Norma falls apart in the second half)
4:50:17 - 2 1/2 minutes slower than my first marathon, while shooting for 7:00 minutes faster
Despite regular hill training, hills tend to be my downfall in any long-distance race. That held true today. The first half has two pretty good hills, but short. The entire second half was a series of rolling hills,...
October 2011
1 post
4 tags
Staten Island Half Marathon, 9 October 2011
2:19:11.02 Finish
I PRed this race by two seconds and change, but I hated this race, I’ll be honest.
It started with a ferry debacle, in which a small boat arrived at the terminal and a couple thousand runners (including me) were left behind and had to wait on another boat. Surprisingly, I crossed the start line just about 15 minutes late, which wasn’t as bad as I expected.
As...
June 2011
2 posts
3 tags
Volunteer, Achilles Hope and Possibility 5M, 26...
I hadn’t volunteered at a race in a good long while, so when the Achilles Hope and Possibility 5-miler was posted I decided to sign up. It seemed fitting since I’ve been volunteering with local Achilles International athletes.
I had never been a course marshal before, so that’s what I chose from the list. Course marshals are posted around the course every couple hundred...
4 tags
First Trail Training Run
Staten Island Greenbelt white trail
After saying I was going to do it for several months, I finally did complete my first-ever training run on a trail. If you’ve been following along, you know that I did my first-ever trail race back in March in the Bronx’s Van Cortlandt Park.
I planned to go back there to do a couple of training runs after buying my super duper Brooks...
May 2011
2 posts
5 tags
Brooklyn Half Marathon, 21 May 2011
2:19:13.48 Finish
I PRed this race by about 10 minutes under my last half marathon finish and for that, I am happy with my performance. However, it wasn’t easy. The morning dawned foggy and damp and didn’t improve much as the sun came up—it just got hot. We had 97% humidity at the start with no wind!
The first six or so miles were inside Prospect Park—two...
3 tags
First Run with Achilles International
While perusing volunteer opportunities with New York Cares, I came across one that asked for able-bodied runners to train alongside the disabled runners of our local Achilles International chapter. I was intrigued at the possibility of using running in conjunction with volunteering. And I was also intrigued because I’ve seen many Achilles runners and volunteers at races and been very...
April 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Urban Environmental Challenge, The Bronx, 3 April...
Starting line…organizers say there were about 400 runners.
One of the groomed trails.
One of the single-track trails.
This race was my first trail race and it was pretty brutal. There were leaves everywhere covering things like rocks and sticks. There were a dozen or so fallen trees that had to be climbed over. Three hills too steep to run up, so we were climbing. There were...
March 2011
1 post
3 tags
Colon Cancer 15k, Manhattan, 27 March 2011
1:34:29 finish
February 2011
1 post
3 tags
Cherry Tree 10-Miler, Brooklyn, 20 February 2011
1:40:49 finish
Today was the annual Cherry Tree 10 Miler and Relay in Prospect Park. This is a great race organized by the Prospect Park Track Club. I highly recommend it, if you’re anywhere near Brooklyn in February.
This was my second time to run Cherry Tree. I kind of collect race distances and I signed up for it in 2010 because I had never run a 10-mile race. I had run the Queens...
December 2010
1 post
4 tags
Peter Rabbit Cross Country 3m, Brooklyn, 11...
29:45 finish
I like things to have official beginnings, even if they are spontaneous. So when I was perusing the local fall race calendar and saw a listing for the Peter Rabbit Cross Country race in Prospect Park, I immediately recognized it as an official beginning–to my ultramarathon career.
Sure, there are ultramarathon road races, but the vast majority are run on trails. I’ve never run...
November 2010
1 post
3 tags
NYC Marathon, 7 November 2010
November 7, 2010
6:00 am I got up after an amazingly restful night (seven full hours of sleep!) and got dressed. I had laid out everything I needed over the several days before, so there was no last minute worry. It is recommended that you wear “disposable” clothing over your running gear to stay warm, so I left the apartment in an old pair of sweats, carrying my clear plastic “baggage” with...
July 2010
1 post
3 tags
Jubilee 5k, Lamesa, 3 July 2010
28:35 finish
This was my first age group place and first medal. I was second in the 30-39 women group. The 5k was part of the Lamesa Golden Tornado Jubilee, an all-school reunion that takes place every five years.
June 2010
1 post
3 tags
Wall Street Run 3m, Manhattan, 24 June 2010
For this race, I recruited my co-worker Alex to run with me. The length was adjusted from a 5k to 3 miles. 27:57 finish
December 2009
1 post
1 tag
A Year of Running in NYC
I ran the Joe Kleinerman 10k a couple of weeks ago, my ninth race of 2009, capping off my first year of running in NYC (and guaranteeing my entry into the marathon in 2010). I don’t know what other people think about when they run, but I generally think about what I would tell people about running. My geek status is probably secure by admitting that. (Or cult status, if you believe my friend...
September 2009
1 post
3 tags
Queens Half Marathon, Queens, 20 September 2009
First half marathon, 2:29:23 finish
June 2009
1 post
3 tags
NYRR Dash 10k, Manhattan, 13 June 2009 1:11:36
Yep, I’m in there. This was my first 10k race. 1:11:36 finish
May 2009
2 posts
3 tags
Japan Day 4m, Manhattan, 31 May 2009
41:39 finish
3 tags
Wall Street Run 5k, Manhattan, 19 May 2009
start line
I’m in there somewhere.
finish line—I’m in there somewhere, too.
29:47 finish
April 2009
1 post
3 tags
Run as One 4m, Manhattan, 19 April 2009
45:11 finish
This was my first 4-mile race and my first race after moving to New York City.
November 2008
1 post
3 tags
Run for the Barrio 5k, Amarillo, 8 November 2008
Start line
This was the third 5k of my running career. It was the first 5k I ran without stopping. There was no water station, so that helped. A friend organized the race as a fundraiser for Los Barrios de Amarillo.
Middle of the race
Finish line
September 2008
2 posts
4 tags
Race for the Cure, Amarillo, 27 September 2008
31:05 finish
The seasons are changing, so it was dark when I dressed for the race. I was looking forward to running in cooler temperatures for sure, but I did make sure to take a hoodie with me just in case. I ate my pre-short race breakfast of one-half Power Bar (yuck) and drank 8 oz. of sports drink on the way to the starting line.
This was my first Race for the Cure, so I was unprepared for...
3 tags
Mayor's 2-Mile Race, Amarillo, 14 September 2008
first 2-mile race, first award, 19:56 finish
Having survived 5k and one-mile races, I registered for the Mayor’s Two-Mile Race. Our mayor, when she got elected, made physical fitness a priority for Amarillo and so once a year she sponsors a race in Medical Center Park (and beyond). There is a two-mile race, a five-mile race and a half marathon. (That’s 13.1 miles, in case you’re not a runner.)...
August 2008
1 post
3 tags
Paul & Mike's Excellent Mile, Amarillo, 2 August...
I’m way in the back.
I had red hair then.
first 1-mile race, 9:07 finish
July 2008
1 post
3 tags
Las Fiestas de Amarillo, Amarillo, 19 July 2008
first race, first 5k race, 35:09 finish
After months of training and anticipation, I finally ran my first 5K road race today (July 19, 2008). It was part of the Las Fiestas de Amarillo celebration sponsored by Our Lady of Guadalupe church.
I arrived a little after 7:00 to pick up my race packet, which contained my race number—22, the race t-shirt (which is the real reason runners show up...
