Behind the Lens

I had so much fun playing sports photojournalist at the Fifth Avenue Mile on Saturday. Thanks to Ula for lending me her awesome camera--all I had to do was put myself in the right position, point and click, and the camera did the rest of the work! The folks at NYRR (my old stomping grounds) couldn't have been more accomodating and invited me to ride in the press truck for both the men and women's professional race. so I could get some good shots for Competitor.com. The fields were stacked with Olympians and World Championship medalists, making for two extremely intense and exciting races. I was in track-geek heaven!

Just a few hours earlier, I ran my own Fifth Avenue Mile--they did the age-groupers (regular ol' folks) prior to the pros. In typical me fashion, I went in with little preparation and a way too relaxed attitude. No racing flats, no pre-race striders, Which I guess works for me, because I ran 5:47, just three seconds slower than I did two years ago--when I thought I was in really good shape! Still wasn't a stellar time by any means, but I finished fifth in my heat among many much more serious women and reached my goal of breaking six minutes. Of course looking back, I wish I had done more prep and ran harder. Next year, I'm shooting for 5:30!