Newport 10K Race Recap

Greetings from MY BED. I am so happy to have absolutely nothing on my calendar today other than snuggling with Bailey. I don’t remember the last time I had a totally free weekend today, so this is much appreciated.

Yesterday’s busy-but-awesome day started with the Newport 10K in Jersey City. I’ve loved their half for a while, so I was excited to run the 10K. I live really near the Path train, so it was a relatively easy trip over for me…once the train came.

I got off the train and did the same-day registration (thanks for the media entry!), and got a text from Jen asking where I was. YAY! We’d run the Newport Half together in the fall, so it was fun to do this all over again…just for half the distance.

Probably the least flattering photo of me ever…coffee, please?

Anyway, we lined up together, along with two of her friends. I like that this race is on the smaller side, so that we were able to just hop into “corrals” (it really was just signs with your estimated pace) just a few minutes before the race started. We lined up a bit behind where we thought we’d run so we could start with her friends. “But…we’re gonna run together, right?” Neither of us had been training super hard, so we agreed we were both probably in the same place,

I knew there was no chance of PR-ing, but I still wanted to run a decent race as a confidence-booster after Cherry Blossom and before Brooklyn. I tried not to look at my watch, and run by feel. I saw I was running 8:30 the first mile or so and tried to just keep running strong.

I gotta say…I like the half’s course a little better. This course was a little bit more hilly, and it also mostly ran around downtown rather than in Liberty State Park/by the water. Yesterday was also one of the first really warm and sunny days — awesome for lounging, not so much for running. I was definitely struggling in the heat.

But Jen and I pushed on, and as we got closer to the end, we were rewarded with better views.

Final finish time: 56:23 // 9:04 pace. I’d be lying if I said I weren’t a little disappointed in that time, but for not being in great shape on a sunny day, I’ll take it. I do know I have my work cut out for me for my fall marathon, though!

Sidenote: my college bestie ran a 15K in Maine today, and I looked up her times — homegirl KILLED it. Won her AG and 3rd woman overall. When I first tried to start running just after college, she was so patient in my attempts (which really involved more walking than running.) But I love that all these years later, running is something we have in common now!

Following the race, I came home and chilled on my couch for a bit before heading to my next fun activity: Ride and Rosé with Uplift.

(Yes, I am wearing a Winosaur tank top, thank you for asking.)

We rode a loop of Central Park, did a 10-minute partner circuit workout and then sat and had a picnic and drank some rosé sitting outside. This summer’s goals: spend more time doing that in the park.

Came home for a bit again and then went out to Brooklyn for Meg’s birthday.

When your friend writes a beer blog, you bring beer, not wine and you make beer popsicles.

OK, back to bed with my book.

Tell me — what races do you have coming up? (And/or fave popsicle recipes?!)