New shoes!

I woke up around 7 this morning to get to Central Park to volunteer as a chip clipper for the Colon Cancer Challenge. The CCC is actually 3 events: a 4 mi run, followed by a 1.7 mile Remembrance Walk, and then a 15 K (9.3 mi) run. No, people did not do 2 or all 3 events - you could only sign up for one and you could only run the one you were signed up for. For anybody who's never run a race, a chip clipper cuts the timing chips off of the runners' shoes and collects them, just after they cross the finish line. I picked that job partly because it was advertised to be the one that allowed me to show up the latest, and partly because it was the one I could sit during. As it turned out, I had to get there the same time as all the other volunteers, but given how cold it was when I got there, I'm really glad I wasn't doing something like filling up water cups, which, I'm sure, would have ended up with me covered in water and suffering from hypothermia.

Anyway, the 4 mi runners and the 15k runners all had timing chips (the walkers didn't), so we had a decent amount of work to do. After the first run, we got about an hour break while the walk went by and the 15k started. I ended up working until about noon, then headed home.

One nice thing about joining the New York Road Runners is that I keep running (no pun intended) into people that I haven't seen in forever. Last week I saw two guys that graduated from my high school a few years before me and were friends with my sister. Today I saw one of those same guys, who ended up being stationed at the same chip clipping stand as me. Also, I was taking the chip off one runner's shoe when she started insisting that she knew me from somewhere. It turned out she's one of my good college friend's best friends from home, who I've met a few times before, but haven't seen in at least 4 or 5 years.

Anyway, I got home, and having watched nearly 5,000 people cross the finish line after running either 4 or 9.3 miles, and with the temperature creeping up towards 60, I had all the motivation I needed to take my new running shoes out for a spin. They fit like a glove. If they ever make any real non-aesthetic changes to the Brooks Adrenalines, I'm going to be very upset. 5 miles, a bunch of hills, and 48:08 later, I was back home.

A special shout out this post to my sister Stacey, who got me a Garmin GPS runner's watch last year as a graduation gift. If it wasn't for that, I probably wouldn't have made it through the first two miles today. It seemed like every time I glanced down to check my pace, I was running faster than a 9 minute mile, which I can't sustain all that long.

Beth pointed out to me last night that yesterday's post was probably the first one where I didn't talk negatively about her, so today I'll just mention that since the last time she's posted (and presumably, exercised), which was a full 5 days ago, I've run 15 miles. There, is that better, Beth? I wouldn't want you to feel left out.