A Race With No (Good) Name

Most races we run in have nice catchy names, worst case named after city or location (New York City Marathon, Austin Marathon, Brooklyn Half Marathon, etc), and in the best case, a wonderfully creative name (Grandma’s Marathon, Flying Pig Marathon, and my new favorite, Slacker Half Marathon).  A quick check at Daily Mile shows the following races happening on Sunday, all with nice names:

• Spring Lake 5
• 9th Annual Delaney Dash
• 100 Miles of Nowhere
• Together for Derek 5K
• Great Hudson River Swim

The names of the races make it real easy to talk about, and to Google Search to see what other people are saying about the race.

I really would like to talk about my upcoming sprint triathlon, organized by New York Triathlon Club, on June 14, but the name is just not one that is easy to type, and it definitely does not roll off the tongue.  I guess what confuses matters is that they run both a triathlon and a biathlon at the same time.  The wonderful name: NY TRI/BI-ATHLON SERIES #1.  Isn’t that just so original!  All kidding aside, NYTC does put on wonderful events.  I’ve twice run their biathlons in Central Park, and would love to do more of their races if I had the time.  One does need to think ahead though, as the best races, especially the ones in Central Park, do sell out early.

Name aside, I’m super excited about the race.  This sprint distance triathlon will be a perfect tune up for the New York City Triathlon in late July – .5 mile swim, 16 mile ride, and then a 3 mile run.  It is in Harriman State Park, which I’m sure will be beautiful at that time of year.  Only problem is that it is a bit of a hike from NYC, starts early on Sunday morning, and I’m committed to picking up my sister-in-law and family at JFK the night before.

With the triathlon in mind, I made it to the gym this morning to swim in the pool.  First morning workout in a long time.  My 7 year old is off from school today and tomorrow, which freed up the time for a morning workout.  And a nice workout it was – actually swam 20 full laps of the pool, which I think is close to the half mile distance of the race.  My swim technique is awful, which, from a glass half full perspective, can only get better!  If I can get to the pool twice per week before the race, then I’ll have a good 5-6 workouts to figure out how to make it work.

Next up though, the Brooklyn Half Marathon, next Saturday, with it’s newly redesigned course.  More on that another time…