Princeton Firecracker 5k!!!! NY--Loon Mountain and More!

TOday is the Princeton Firecracker 5k right here at Princeton, NJ. The race is held at 7:30pm which is nice and the weather seems like a perfect evening to run fast.  My training has been on fire as of late as I feel I have finally fully recovered from the OKC marathon and all the traveling we did after the race.  I hope to run a stellar time tonight and maybe something sub 15:30  hopefully a time in the 14:50 and under range.  The conditions will be great and it will be a great confidence booster to go out and run a really fast time going into Loon Mountain race.  I hope to come into Loon with a stone-face demeanor and to show all these North-east runners who I am and that I am here to compete with the best.  I see all these athletes getting great opportunities at running that I have longed dreamed of and I feel that at the prime age of 23-my time is now.  I have about 10-12 years on average of really top-tier national caliber running in me and I hope I can make my family, friends, and sponsors proud.  I have what seems like a lot of time still as 23 is young, but I know not to take anything for granted.

Cortland, New York is going to be the perfect place for myself, Ashlee, and Nicole.  Running-wise, Cortland is in a great location for mountain, trail, snowshoe, and road racing.  With its close proximity to Syracuse, I can run in competitive road races and marathons.  By also being fairly close to Buffalo and Rochester, NY, I can also run competitive road races.  Cortland is near the FInger Lakes region and has many great trails races right in the area.  I can snowshoe run in NY state as there is a NY grand prix of snowshoe running to crown a state champion as well as in New Hampshire and Vermont.  THere are great inclines and mountains that surround the town of Cortland which makes a great vertical challenge so that I can build upon my Oklahoma training base I gained from rolling hills.  THe weather is mountainous, with nice summers and cool falls and winters which will be great since the world is already warming up anyway.  The bugs are not too terrible, and wind is not a factor.  It will be exciting to experience the changes my running career will go through this fall and beyond and I have a great hunch that Cortland will be my home for a long time.  I like to live off of hunches and so far, they have led me to great things.  THe University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma in general, Ashlee, and now Cortland, NY in search of a graduate degree and sheer happiness.


Cortland, as wikipedia puts it "Known as the "Crown City" because of its location on a plain formed by the convergence of seven valleys, Cortland is situated about 1,130 feet (344 m) above sea level, making it the uppermost city to crown the state" (cortland wikipedia)  THe views at cortland are beautiful and this place will be HOME!

First run had me run straight up to the top.  1,130 ft to 2,113 ft with 28% incline!

Photos from http://www.google.com/imgres?q=cortland+ny&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=N&rls=en&biw=1163&bih=1011&tbm=isch&tbnid=w1HfGGoRuOLPuM:&imgrefurl=http://www.merchantcircle.com/directory/NY-Cortland/cityphotos/5&docid=3va_cId-TOCrGM&imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2521/4016152960_5d9b0e0523.jpg&w=500&h=307&ei=1hrqT6mVA8X40gG50LisAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=701&vpy=434&dur=332&hovh=176&hovw=287&tx=164&ty=128&sig=102118330349820383109&page=1&tbnh=120&tbnw=195&start=0&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:23,s:0,i:174

Princeton Firecracker 5k results:::

I ran a strong pace from the gun hitting the first mile in 4:50.  The course was a tough course with 3 solid climbs in just one mile.  The humidity hurt my chest as my lungs felt like they were breathing in outer space.  As I was on my own, with 600 participants in the race, I mentally told myself to push and be strong even though I did not feel so hot.  I slowed my second mile splitting a 5:10 mile as I hit 2 miles in 10 mins exactly. I then surged all my strength as the flat second mile soon looped into the uphill last mile like the first one.  I pushed and crossed the line in 15:35-15:40.  It was a great time on a tough day.  It was a great confidence booster as sub 16 minutes was my goal and I feel great to know that I can come back and split 5:02 for a last mile and finish strong!