The Infamous Underwear Run

Friday night, a perfect time for blowing off some steam and running in your underwear. Huh? That's right. Last Friday was the NYC Triathlon's annual underwear run in Central Park. It's a fun run to kick off the weekend's festivities with the actual NYC Tri on Sunday.

The event is extremely fun but also well-organized. Although it's free to run, participants are supposed to register and the event fills up very quickly each year. This year's theme was "Celebrate America" so there was tons of Red, White, and Blue on the course.

The race is at 7:30 but participants tend to get their closer to 6:30 so they have time to strip and strut their stuff take photos. I had a ton of teammates running so we met up before hand to take photos in front of the newly reopened Cherry Hill fountain.

The whole time there were a couple of corny announcers making bad puns about underwear which helped make the event feel even more relaxed. Shortly before 7:30 we all made our way to the start. The "race" (it's really just a fun run) is 1.7 miles--the lower loop in Central Park. I ran with a bunch of teammates until the very end when I decided to pick it up a bit, mainly because it was hot and I wanted water.

At the finish they had salads from Qdoba, ice-cold water bottles, and Muscle Milk. Not too shabby for a free event!!! Oh yeah, one of my teammates came in second. The prize? Self-respect.

Vermont Travelogue Part 2: Montpellier Mile Race Report

When planning my trip to Vermont I did my usual "find a race" research and stumbled upon the Montpelier Mile. I haven't raced many road miles because there are few opportunities to do so, but every year in September I do the 5th Avenue Mile. This smaller race in Vermont seemed perfect because (a) it would be a great opportunity to practice the mile and (b) it would be short enough that it wouldn't disrupt my otherwise relaxed vacation.

After several days of exploring, Tuesday evening rolled around. Both my Aunt and Uncle decided to drive me to Montpelier, which is only about 30 minutes from Stowe. They were even kind enough to let me listen to my "pump-up jamz" (i.e., trashy pop and hip-hop) on the ride down. We found parking without too much problem and walked over to the bib pick-up which was across the street from the gold-domed capitol building.

I got in some strides and some loosening up drills, made about fifty visits to the port-a-potties and then it was time to line up. The only downside to this race was the starting line. They have kids and recreational runners line up on one side and more seasoned runners line up on the other. Unfortunately both groups start at the same time. It was a little chaotic initially but I don't think it cost me more than a second or two overall and it was fun to see how speedy some of the kids were out there.

The course itself was great. It was flat (which is no small miracle in Vermont) and it was clearly marked every 1/4 mile. Although it was an out-and-back, the turnaround point was a rotary which meant you didn't have to worry about a sharp turn. Having it set up that way actually made it feel faster than courses that simply run in a straight line.

I came in at 5:39. Maybe I should be disappointed by this time but I'm not. I've done very little speedwork recently aimed at shorter distances recently, having taken things relatively easy lately. Hopefully between now and September's 5th Avenue Mile I'll be able to do enough speedwork to get my time back down.

After the race (and a quick change in a public bathroom), we went for dinner at the New England Culinary Institute's restaurant on Main Street. The food was great and we got done just in time to take in some of the fireworks. It was definitely a great evening and it more than made up for the fact that my flight home the next day prevented me from seeing the fireworks in NYC.

Vermont Travelogue Part I: Run for the Hills (or Green Mountains)

With the 4th falling on a Wednesday this year I made plans to go out of town for a long weekend. Other than for the Boston Marathon, I haven't been away from the city for more than 48 hours since Christmas so I was definitely ready for a vacation. As I said in my last post, my Aunt and Uncle repatriated to Stowe, Vermont earlier this summer which gave me the perfect excuse to go visit them.

The only covered bridge I saw on a run.

After 28 hours of travel (thank you U.S. Airways and your 3 cancelled flights!!!) I finally landed at BTV just in time to make our second dinner reservation at L'Amante, an Italian restaurant in downtown Burlington. The food was excellent and so was the service--the owner even stopped by out table to tell me how happy she was I had finally made it! I can't imagine that happening at too many places in New York.

So cool to see the clouds down below

Although it was an extremely relaxing visit, I didn't do much sitting still. Each morning I got in a beautiful run around Stowe and I manged to avoid the doing the same route twice. The village is extremely proud of it's 5.5 mile paved Rec Path but I pretty much stuck to the winding country roads. Of course, my runs tended to be on the slow side because of the steep hills. I think I had an average 600 ft elevation gain per run. To put things in perspective: the highest natural point in Manhattan is only 265 ft! The scenery was absolutely amazing. Some mornings it would be cloudy in the village and I would literally climb out of the clouds during my run. I didn't see any moose, but I ran past plenty of cows and even spotted a beaver.

More Vermont scenery from a run.

After my runs we would go for coffee and baked goods at one of the local bakeries, coffee shops, or markets.Most days I met my Aunt post-run and we would walk her 3-year-old Belgian shepherd Gracie. We spent the afternoons exploring, touring Middlebury where my Aunt went to college, shopping at the local farmers market, visiting several great breweries, taking scenic drives, and enjoying some local ice cream.*

Of course, if I'm visiting someplace and there's a race going on I have to run it so Tuesday night we headed to the state capital for Montpelier Mile. Stay tuned for Part II of my Vermont Travelogue, my race report.
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* We drove by the Ben & Jerry's factory but it looked WAY TOO MUCH like Disneyland for our taste.