NYC Half Marathon 8-16-09 At Least I Made It This Far.

The song by Eminem – Till I Collapse was going through my mind.
Sometimes you just feel tired.You feel weak. And when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up. But you gotta search within you,gotta find that inner strength and just pull that shit out of you, and get that motivation to not give up, and not be a quiter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.

Ok, it wasn’t quite that dramatic but I am a bit disappointed in myself. I did not quit but I did not reach my goal. It was not for lack of trying, but it was hot and I guess it just wasn’t my day.

I even tried for the first time Power Bar Gel Blasts. Even better then GU although GU is like eating chocolate pudding.  :O)

My garmin really screwed up on the splits because it says I ran mile 9 in 7.14. Hmmm, maybe I did?

She is bobbin’ her head, but in a good way. Who gets bored watching running? Not me and apparently, not my mom. So when Paula Radcliffe won the NYC Marathon in 1.09.45, I was still running in Central Park. She was only 1 hour and 36 minutes ahead of me.

Photo courtesy of Cris. There are lots more awesome photos click to his blog.

Don’t get me wrong, I have zero regrets with the way I handled myself at the Half Marathon,  In fact, quite the contrary.  It would have been very easy to say FUCK THIS and walk out of the park into Starbucks and sip on an iced coffee, while watching the rest of the race go by!!  But, not once did that cross my mind.  All I thought about was getting through the park and out onto Times Square where there was a nice downhill and lots of shade.  I was happy when we finally left Central Park and was able to run up 7th Ave Times Square. Lots of spectators and music to keep my mind distracted. Then I thought, if I can just get through mile without thinking about the next mile, everything would fall into place!

I am not one to write a mile by mile race report.  Not my style and honestly I don’t remember each mile and how I felt.  If I can sum up my feelings I would have to say I really thought I had a shot at sub 2.30 but it quickly became apparent, due to the heat, my goal wasn’t going to be met.  So, then I switched my mind set to beating my Brooklyn Half Marathon time of 2.40.18.  That too, kinda faded and as that reality hit me, so did my speed or what was left of it.

I trained for this race.  I really do not think I could have done much more than I did.  Admittedly, I truly believe if this race was run 2 months from now, I would be writing a very different race report.  But, then again – who knows really.

I feel good.  I am not injured except for a nagging and not new knee/thigh pain – left foot.  Each and every race run is a learning experience.  There were lots of folks walking and many had slower finishing times due to the heat.  I was proud to be running with the best of the best.  Running is the only sport where us amateurs can run with the elites.  We get the same medals as they do!!  SWEET!

All in all a great race that I would love to run again next year. Well organized and fun. But, no massages at the end and no dancing either.

13.1 miles 2.44.47 12.34 min/mile.

I 100% have the desire to get out there and run tomorrow.  And, I will.  I have lots of miles to cover and more memories to make.

Let’s all get out there and just have fun.  Go for a nice walk or do some push ups.  Whatever you love to do, just grab it and love it.

The man/woman who can drive himself/herself further once the effort gets painful is the man/woman who will win.

Sir Roger Bannister

Sir Roger Bannister, first man to break the four minute mile