Did I Do That?

Last Friday I was at the church without my best training mate -- you know her as Alison -- and decided to go ahead with the full loop, and I decided, just for fun, to see how fast I could finish. So, I set the Timex and took off, full speed, me and the iPod with the brand spanking new running mix. (praise Jesus, amen.) It starts with (don't laugh) Mexican Radio, which is a surprisingly good song to run to, especially early in the morning when the core isn't quite motivated to do the things it needs to do. Before Cat Hill we get a little Tenderness. That's right, I like the 80's, and so do you even if you don't want to admit it. You're screaming for General Public right now, I know you are. Anyway, I'm trudging up Cat Hill when my BF Justin Timberlake and his SexyBack come on. I think the next songs are When You Were Young, We Used to be Friends, 1234 (slow, but sweet), Lovestoned (yep, more JT), Lose Control, Shut Up And Drive ... after that I can't remember because by then I was making my way up the incline that never, ever stops, and feeling frustrated because a lesser runner passed me. Now, I know it's not nice to talk bad about people in church, but this runner had really bad form, and I did not like what she was wearing at all. Yet, she and her unnaturally long stride were ahead of me. I attempted to pick up the pace, but that incline was getting the better of me, so I stopped focusing on Long Stride and started focusing on not walking. Once up the hill (hooray for the downhill) I decided to try to catch up with Long Stride again, but she was pretty far ahead. Finally, she caught the light at the 72nd Street transverse, and I caught her just as the light was turning, so I zoomed past (yep, I said "zoomed") and started hauling ass the last 12 block with a "Ha! Take that" attitude. But, my cockiness was stifled when Long Stride silently passed me. "How dare she", I thought, and started running even faster, but, for no apparent reason, I started feeling dizzy. A chill took over my body, and I started seeing spots. I thought I was going to faint, but I didn't stop running. Finally, at the bottom of the park, I gave up on catching Long Stride because, hey, my run was over. I glanced at my watch, fully expecting to see 57 minutes flashing back at me... but, no, the Timex said 52:53. I rubbed my eyes. That couldn't be right, could it? I ran 6 miles under 9 minute miles? Come on! Surely I'd made a mistake.

Well, I went back out on Saturday morning to see if I could do it again. I won't bore you with the details; let me just say that church is crazy crowded on the weekends. I decided to take the loop in the opposite direction, and I also paid more attention to the Timex. Long story short, I got back to the start and, wouldn't you know, 52:47! I am running faster! Timex says so! I felt great the rest of the weekend, even though I skipped the Queens Half Marathon in favor of sleeping in on Sunday. I did do a 13 mile run down to Battery Park and back, but I didn't keep time.