The start before the race
Not your average fun run, Coogan's 5k. Sure the bands are out there playing great stuff. Fort Washington and Inwood have a fine urban look. And the weather this year was primo: sunny, warm and not windy. But the physical nature of the course is tough. It rolls up, and it rolls down. The downs are wonderful but they never make up for the time loss on the ups. Yet it's only a 5k. Even if you were minimally prepared for the event, it is over quickly. Forget about getting a 5k PR. With Coogan's you hope for a Coogan's 5k PR. I'm not complaining. I broke the 20:00 barrier, running a mere 11 seconds faster than last year, as well as the 80% age graded mark. But hey, I'm another year older and each year the slope gets steeper for the likes of me. I couldn't think of too many other things I would rather have been doing in the Big Apple at 9 on this Sunday morning than running the Coogan's.
