8:05am
Get on the subway to go to Coogan's Salsa Blues and Shamrock 5K up at 168th St. This was good since the A train was running local today.
8:25am
Realize just before 155th Street that I have forgotten my NYRR chip. Uh oh. Get off at 155th St. and get back on the downtown train. Again, the A train was running local
8:46am
Text my running buddy Meryl that she should start without me, if I make it I will be late.
8:50am
Convince a cab dropping someone off outside my building to wait for me. "I'll be going to Washington Heights!" I yell at him.
8:56am
Head up the West Side Highway in said cab. I kind of can't believe he waited for me!
9:07am
168th St. Pay the $18.50 fare with debit card, tip with cash, get receipt. Get out of cab, peeling off sweatshirt and bag. Toss bag at luggage pile at appropriate bib number.
9:09am
Volunteers guide me around the starting line - the finishers are 5 minutes away. I do not get to cross the start mat with my chip. Unsure what this will mean for my time.
9:10am
Off and running. There are about 5 other people in the same late boat as me. I feel crazed but am happy to just be running. A few minutes in I am actually passing people. (About the time the finishers pass me as the course doubles back on itself.)
Mile 1
My right quad, the one that started seizing up toward the end of yesterday's long run, starts to tighten up again. Ugh.
Mile 1.5 - turnaround
Right quad is not having it. I actually stop and stretch. Manage to run another couple hundred yards and stop to stretch again. All the people I managed to pass, are now starting to pass me.
The Next 1.6 Miles
I mostly walk. Walk. Ugh. Every time I try to run, the quad refuses. I do not want to do permanent damage and a finish time is no longer an issue, so I stretch, walk, stretch, walk - all the way to the finish line. I am passed by speed walkers, mentors with unhappy middle school-aged runners and skipping fathers with their 7 year old daughters. I am feeling pathetic. I have even turned the nike+ off.
Finish
I'm done. I retrieve my bag (not hard, there are only about 2 dozen left in the entire pen.)
Grab an undeserved bagel and get back on the A train heading down town.
125th St.
Putting my sweatshirt back on, I notice that the zipper on the arm pocket of my running jacket is open. This is where I usually keep my driver's license, ATM card and cash. I pull out $10, my license and.......nothing else. My ATM card, the one I used in the cab is gone. I check my pouch (I'd brought my phone to the race) and find only my phone and my metrocard. All pockets and my bag are checked again. Nothing. Nada. Pretty sure I threw my card and the taxi receipt in the trash can as I threw away a Cliff Block bag right after I got out of the cab. Or I put it in the arm pocket and it fell out when I took my running jacket off and tied it around my waist.
10:30am
Home at last. Triple check all pockets and pouches. The ATM card is officially gone. I call and report is missing. Sometime today I'll have to figure out what things I have automatically deducted through that account since the number will change. Total cash on hand? $11
And here's the kicker. Seems that if you don't cross the starting mat at a race, your time is calculated from the start time of the race. My finish time on my results reflects the time on the clock when I crossed the finish line. 49:43 Oh well.
Let's hope the day doesn't get any worse!
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