Name of the race: Newport 10K
Where: Jersey City, NJ
Date: May 6, 2017
Time: 8:30 am
Distance: 6.2 miles
Terrain: Flat
Entry fee: $30 – until April 6
$33 – April 7 through May 3
$40 – Race day, May 6
As an official blog partner, I received a free race entry.
Swag: Cotton long-sleeved shirt and finisher’s medal
Post-race Food: Beer, Cosi bagels, Sun Chips, Nutri Grain bars, bananas, water, Gatorade, and juice.
Time: 50:27
Performance: Overall: 397/1578; Gender: 88/705; Age (30-39): 14/124
Weather: 57 degrees, 93% humidity, winds 5 mph (gusts of winds were much stronger)
My 10K PR is three years old and I’m due to get a new PR sometime this year. I know it. Ben and I were hoping that this would come Saturday, but Mother Nature had other plans. She saved her nice cool crisp low humidity weather for Sunday. For Saturday, she gave me a muggy mess.
As usual the logistics for Newport 10K went smoothly. Picking up my bib took a minute and Ben was able to get my shirt for me. There were no lines for the port-o-potties.
Saturday morning, we met up with Jake, Nell, and some of our other Jersey City friends for a quick catch up. I always look forward to the races in Newport because it gives us a chance to see our old JC friends. I did a quick little warm up, a slow mile with some strides, to wake up my legs. When I got to the start line, Ben looked at me and said that I must have done a hard warm up. I shook my head. It was simply very muggy.
My plan was to take the first mile between 7:45-7:50, which I ended up doing in 7:43. The humidity took its toll on me quickly and I slowed to 7:49 for the second mile. I already felt tired, so I knew I was in for a looong race.
I struggled to maintain 8’ish pace for the rest of the race. I failed to notice anything about the course and focused on not completely losing it. For Mile 5, I faced a fairly strong headwind, which slowed my speed down some more, but I was on familiar territory since we were on the Newport Jersey City waterfront. For two years I ran endless miles on this waterfront, so I knew every part of it and even remembered the small incline that used to trip me up in the beginning because I didn’t pick my feet up high enough.
When the course was back on the street, I knew it was a sprint to the finish line. I always find it easier to suffer when I know exactly how far I need to go. I heard Ben cheer for me.
By Mile 2, I knew any hopes of a PR was out of the window, but I did think that a sub-50 was not impossible. Sadly when I turned the corner and saw the clock, I knew even that goal was out the window.
I finished in 50:27, my third fastest 10K, and the second fastest time on this course. Overall, not at a bad workout, but I left the race feeling a bit disappointed in my race performance. My general philosophy is that if I give it all I got on race day, then no matter what the time, I’m satisfied. However, this time. . .
I am proud of myself for fighting all those miles and not just collapsing to 9 min miles as I was sorely tempted to do. I feel that I did give it my all, and yet, there’s some dissatisfaction gnawing away at me. I know I can run better. I want to run better.
After my cool down, I found Ben and gave him my free beer. We hung out for a bit after the race and then went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Tres Chilitos, in Jersey Heights for brunch. I totally recommend going here and getting their huevos rancheros. DEE-licious!
Thanks, Newport 10K for inviting me. The Newport 10K is a spring race that we always look forward to doing. And readers, if you’re looking to join in on the fun, remember in September, there’s the Newport Liberty Half!
Disclosure: I received a free race entry in exchange for being an official blog partner. Opinions are my own.
A Fast Paced Life 
I remember thinking around mile two that I was much sweatier than I expected because it was fairly cool out otherwise. Just figured i was overheating a little, running a little too fast, but you’re definitely right. More humid than I’d realized!
It was a muggy muggy day.
Congrats on a great run, despite the weather. It is incredible to see how the humidity can knock those times down without even realizing it at first. And then it really starts to mess with your head. Being able to stick with it and not let your mind get the better of you is an incredible feat. That alone is a race win, in my opinion!
Thanks for the encouraging words, Sarah. It’s just really annoying that on Sunday, the weather was abso-freaking-lutely perfect. If it were full blown summer, I’d be like, well, that’s just what the weather is. A bunch of my friends PRed on Sunday at the Broad St. Run and deep down, I was a bit jealous. I’m happy for them, but jealous too.
Sounds like a repeat of my RnR Philly experience last year! Really humid day then… Despite that, it sure sounds like you had a great run!! Huevos rancheros is always a good way to go 🙂
When we lived in Jersey City, we ate there all the time to the point where the moment we walked in and the waitress yelled to the cook what our order was without even asking us. LOL!
Haha! That’s amazing!
Ugh, sounds like Mother Nature was not working with you this year. I have a few friends that ran the race and given that I love the 10k distance, I might just have to add it to my bucket list!
It’s a good race. Portions of it are quite urban but the waterfront finish can’t be beaten.
I felt the same way at my most recent half. It was hot as Hades and really affected my running but unlike you, I did throw in towel mid-race. So GO YOU!!!
That Mexican place sounds amazing.
It’s a proper Mexican restaurant (not an Americanized one). We love it. Real queso blanco and homemade salsa/hot sauce. For the first few years, no one spoke English, so I learned enough Spanish to order.