Ugh, this recap is horribly late.

The NYRR Mini 10k happens to be one of my favorite races. It is a race that has great history in regards to the women’s movement and running. This was the first road race exclusively for female runners and took place a few weeks before Title IX was passed. You can get the complete history of this race at the NYRR site.

The first mile of the race takes place on Central Park West which means we get to avoid some of those rolling hills on the west side of Central Park but we enter just in time to make sure we don;t miss the Harlem hills.

And of course, my most favorite part is that it is all women, all the time. The only race that is better for this is the More Fitness Magazine race in September when more of the women are running in sports bras and itty bitty shorts.

Anyway…I like this race and this year I may have been better prepared for it than the past two years. This was not a goal race but it was my ninth race for guaranteed entry into the 2013 NYC Marathon and well I always want to run well.

The past couple of years I have been beginning my Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon training and I had used the Mini has my first long run. Since I’m not running Napa to Sonoma this year I have been using this has a rest/easy runs only period before I begin my NYC Marathon training. So far this has been working very well. My legs feel good and I feel pretty strong going into the training that officially starts on July 3.

I also felt pretty good going into this race without any real plan. I felt pretty good at the start and tried to not to go out too fast on Central Park West which has done me in every year. I thought I did a pretty good job of that for the most part and wasn’t done in before I hit the hills and that is where I believe I hit my stride. I continued to run fairly well and started picking people off, more importantly people I wanted to pick off. I even had one negative split!

I finished stronger than I have in most races this year, with the exception of the Wall Street Run but that is a tiny three mile race so it does’t count that much. I was even happy  while running the race. How did that happen?

Overall, I ended up finishing a minute off my 10k PR. Since this wasn’t a goal race I am very happy with that. I like how I ran this and how I am feeling. I have this weekend off from racing and then have the Front Runners Pride Run. Again, it’s not a goal race but it is my last race before I start marathon training so I definitely want to keep feeling strong going into that training.

I’m already planning some new running routes that will take me to some different areas to help make sure that my marathon training stays fresh and exciting. I think when you can do that it will help with some of the other training stuff like actually having to run those miles in crazy hot and humid weather.