Life of an Age-Grouper

I usually only write race reports for triathlons but . . . The day leading up to the race I took off from work. This day off wasn't necessarily to prepare for the race but to get a lot of errands and misc stuff done ( life of an age grouper, right?) One item from my to do list was to find out about the race. As of Friday I had done no homework; I hadn't driven or run parts of the course, I didn't know the exact distance, I didn't know where or when to pick up my number etc. I began my research Friday afternoon and was able to find out I missed the day-before pickup and was able to download a PDF file of the race course ( hand drawn) Its settling to know exactly what your up against. The morning of I woke up at 6 to put down some calories and to allow myself time to get to the race site, pick up my number, warm up and enjoy race morning. ( I freaking love race morning. There is no other feeling like it. Hundreds of people focused, positive, motivated, the sun is r...

Text message conversation with Matt Me : Great day to crush a run test Matt : Hell yeah. Beautiful out there. Remember, run relaxed, it's about smooth speed not muscling through it. Me : Noted and filed Me : Smooth speed, I like that Matt: It's just like swimming, the more you fight the slower you go and more energy you use.  Have cue words like "quick feet", "smooth speed", etc. Relax and run!! And just like that I had my new running mantra, "smooth speed". I thought about this mantra all day long while at work.  I freaking love it.  After work I started my trek back to Huntington from Brooklyn thinking about and saying numerous times, "smooth speed". I'm not the type of athlete that can just show up and race.  I need time to mentally prepare for the race or in this case a run test.  The more prepared I am mentally the better success I usually have.  My mental preparations include; visualizing the race from start to fi...