You get a lot of Poland Spring swag at this race. The water bottle is being kept for Hurricane Sandy prep. (c) Stacey Cooper

The Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff five mile race in Central Park has always been one of my favorites and yes, it is the perfect way to kickoff marathon week. The race is always crowded and you can always feel some of the excitement in the air for what is to come in a week’s time.

The race was canceled last year due to the Halloween snow storm and Hurricane Sandy was looking to wreck havoc on this one for a bit but thankfully Sandy cooperated and we got this one in the books.

For the past week I have been feeling antsy and not feeling as though I was getting enough running in even though I was following my marathon training plan. I knew this was part of the usual taper anxieties and that getting in this race would help get things calmed down.

Well, I’m happy to report that things certainly did calm down. It was so wonderful to be in a race environment after a couple of weeks off. For the most part I was happy with my pacing. I kept the first mile in check and didn’t go out too fast. Mile three was my slowest and I’m trying to figure out how that happened. I don’t recall slowing down on that stretch. I did get behind some slow people but I just don’t think that would have caused the slowness.

But overall I’ll take this race. It got me into the right frame of mind for next weekend and that is all that matters.

It’s game on NYC Marathon!