The 35th annual Pride Run boasted perfect weather, low humidity and cool temps for late June. This is a 5 mile run in Central Park and given that it’s always in the last weekend of June, usually quite hot and humid. But this year we were blessed with great weather. The atmosphere for this race is much more party-like than other NYRR races because it’s all about Pride. Last year the race came just days after the Supreme Court decision on Gay Marriage and it was even more of a party than usual. I had a great race, just felt amazing the whole way and was able to really able to finish strong and score for the team.
This year was different for so many reasons. Instead of celebrating marriage equality, we were mourning the loss of 49, gunned down in Orlando in cold blood. The mood was somber but defiant, still a celebration, but with heavy hearts. It was different for me personally, too. I had been having hot flashes regularly and recently discovered that I had cysts in both ovaries, one of which had burst. Ovarian cysts are pretty common, in fact most women get them at some point in their lives. Usually they just shrink on their own but because I had two and one that burst, the doctor wanted me to come back in 3 weeks to make sure it wasn’t getting larger. I wasn’t concerned about the cyst but it was certainly in the back of my mind.
In these last few months of racing, I have developed a different approach to racing. I make sure I’m prepared, but I try not to set expectations too high knowing that the hot flashes are bound to creep in at some point. I just hope that I can make it through at least half the race before I have to deal with them. The Pride Run was not one of those. I was barely to the 2 mile mark when my whole head started to heat up. I was wearing my wet cooling buff even though the temperature was in the upper 60’s at the start, I knew I would need it but I didn’t think I would need it that early. This particular 5 mile course in Central Park is a particularly tough one because they managed to include both Harlem and Cat Hills, the toughest parts of the 6 mile loop. There is a southern loop that avoids Harlem but this was not that loop. The one saving grace was doing the toughest part of the course first.
My goal was to keep as close to an 8 minute pace as possible and then see what I had left for Cat Hill in mile 4. Mile 1: 8:04. Considering the crowds, I was pretty happy with that. Mile 2 – Harlem Hill: 8:08, wow, even though my head was already hot and I had a 100+ ft elevation gain, I was still not that far off pace. But I was already hurting and wasn’t even halfway yet. I was wondering if I would even finish. But thoughts of those who would never be able to run, those who were gunned down just because they wanted to have a night out on the town. I told myself to just hang on for one more mile and see how it went. The tough hill was over for the time being so just keep going. Mile 3: 8:09. Wow. Considering I thought I was going to die, I was still less than 10 seconds off pace. I kept taking water at every stop, one for the head one for the belly. That really helped as did the cooling buff.
But then there was Cat Hill. Not the longest or steepest hill I’ve ever run, but ill timed for me in this race. Everything was catching up to me and I was just trying to keep my legs moving. I considered walking up Cat Hill but there were so many people around me and I didn’t want to give up. I was basically moving at the same pace I would have if I was walking, but I kept running. Mile 4 almost did me in at 8:44. I was no where near where I wanted to be but at least I knew I would finish the race.
The last mile of the race was a slight incline and then some down hill. I saw so many people out there cheering, smiling, yelling. My teammates who had already finished were there toward the finish line cheering, and I somehow found that last bit of strength I had left and finished with an 8:09. My official finish time was a 41:30, 1:30 slower than I had hoped for, but what I gained was the knowledge that I really can push myself harder. It’s tough to know what the limits are and when the dizziness starts in that’s when I tend to back off, but I’m pretty tough. I just wish I was through this thing and on the other side of menopause so I could actually compete at the level I know I’m capable of.
Soon enough…
On a side note, even though I didn’t score for my team, I still came in 20th in my age group out of 219 45-49 year-olds. Not bad for a tough day, right? [If I had PR’ed though, I would have been around 10th in my age group… maybe next year.]