Cowboy Hazel

I ran the mile on an outdoor track for the first time last night. I knew before we began that I didn't have a legitimate shot at breaking 5 – it was windy and rainy and my legs were still super tired from the weekend. But still, we had a lot of fun and I'm glad we ventured out into the stormy night.

One of my GMR teammates from last year, Jeff, and one of Helen's PPTC teammates, Corre, met us at the house and then we all jogged over to the stadium together.

We got there right at 7 and they were already running the 400. Helen barely made it through registration in time to get to the track for the 800. She ran well, then came back to join us all as we prepared for the mile.

Jeff and I were in the first heat and he'd said he was going to run a 5:05. I decided to rely on his pacing and experience, just hanging on his heels the entire time. The race hurt, but not as bad as the ones in the Armory. I actually liked the wind in a way. It was brutal when we were running into it, but it provided such a nice rest when we were on the backstretch. I finished a couple seconds behind Jeff with a 5:15 or 5:16 (the results aren't posted yet). Considering everything, I'm happy with that time.

I wore my Piranhas again, which I am still completely in love with. It felt like I was running barefoot out there through the puddles. Lots of fun. I also wore my new Warren Street singlet for the first time ever. It felt a little strange as this was the first time I've been running as anything other than unattached.

Helen and Corre's race was right after ours, so we just stayed down on the track to cheer and take photos. The race was over quick and everyone was pleased with their times. We ran into a GMR teammate from this year, Julie, on our way back to the stands and said hi.

After changing back into slightly warmer clothes, the four of us leisurely jogged back across the river to Manhattan. Our track adventure was over.