I finished the race!

Published by Jana on April 28, 2009

With the seemingly endless ups and downs of the past couple of months, I am so glad that I have had the constant of the More 1/2 marathon to prepare for.  While Kai kept asking me if I was going to win, I had to continually explain that my goal was just to finish - I wasn’t competing with anyone except myself.  So, I was thrilled to have exceeded my goal of 3 hours by a whole 7 minutes. I’m sure there were plenty of people who finished in less than half that time, but that wasn’t even among my thoughts. I have never crossed a finish line before - it was an incredibly exhilirating moment for me even if there wasn’t anyone there to cheer me on.

The challenge of the day was definitely the heat and humidity - a surprise heat wave hit the area - but at least it wasn’t pouring rain.  In fact, the marathon portion of the race was canceled due to the dangers of heat exhaustion. So, 8,000 of us crowded the Central Park race route for the 1/2 marathon.  It took a while to spread out and actually be able to get into my pace, but once I did, I felt good about my run. At the advice of a marathoner, I walked most of the hills in order to conserve energy - and didn’t feel guilty about it as it was strategy as opposed to laziness.  While my knees were complaining each step of the way, I was determined to run every inch of the last mile - once I saw the finish line, I knew I was in the home stretch and sprinted to the end.

Exhausting - yes. Worth it - definitely. So glad my friend Kim made this her goal and let me tag along. And I’m glad that running (outside at least as opposed to the treadmill) is now something I enjoy, not dread. Now I have to find a new goal to prepare for - I’m definitely not about to retire my running shoes.

the squeaky wheel…

Published by Jana on March 21, 2009

So, at my training partner, Kim’s suggestion, I contacted the MORE race peeps and asked to be put on a waiting list for the race. While I didn’t try to sound too sob storyish, I did explain how our current situation had prevented me from registering for the race earlier. Well, much to my surprise, they let me in! So, 1/2 marathon, here I come. While I feel like I’ve come a long way over the past couple of months - from running for a minute to running 3 miles, I am still nowhere near the 13 I would need to run the entire race. Luckily, walking is allowed…

Kim and I did nearly 8 miles on Forbidden Drive this morning. Spring is here and while the trees are still brown, the sky is a gorgeous, invigorating blue. There is just no comparison to running on a trail to running on a treadmill.