The NYC half marathon last year was my first ever half marathon (for that matter, it was practically my first ever racing event). Needless to say I had a bit more mileage under my belt when year two rolled around. The weather was great at first, a nice balmy 75 degrees at 7am when we started the race. By the time I finished around 9am it was well into the 80’s and the water I was dousing on myself might as well been magic, it felt so amazing and refreshing. Mile 11 does sometimes have you seeing things. The rickety tables with row upon row of white paper cups filled with water was an oasis. I thought I saw palm trees.
Needless to say, I improved my time significantly from last year, and I feel confident that I am on the right track for the marathon at the end of October. I do, however, have a lot of work to do if I am going to make my goal time and at San Fran no less. Ah, San Fran, where the hills are plentiful, there is a Godiva chocolate station along the route and one of San Fran’s finest, a uniformed policeman, at the finish line to hand you a Tiffany necklace. No joke. But shaving 35 minutes off my half marathon time in one year is no joke either. I am training hard and it’s really paying off. And this year I didn’t feel like my head was going to start spinning around Exorcist style once I passed the finish line. I stayed until the end and cheered as hundreds more finished the race. I saw tears and smiles, screams of jubilation, and even a guy juggling across the finish line. It was so inspiring and it reminded me of when I saw the Boston marathon in 2003, which was when this nutty seed to run a marathon was planted in my brain. It doesn’t matter that it’s taken 4 years to come to fruition, all that matters is that it has.
Now it’s off to sit and enjoy some of this wonderful sunshine. I think I may have a few endorphins still kicking around in my brain and I’m off to read the final Harry Potter.
Oh yeah, and major kudos to my friends at Team in Training whose main event was this race this morning. Michelle, Robert, Mady, Sheila, the list goes on and you all rock- go Brooklyn! We’ll miss you at practice!
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