NYC Half Marathon!!!

I DID IT! I RAN THE HALF MARATHON!!! What an experience!

So, where do I start... well... lets start from the beginning... Last week seemed to drag on and on. Not only was I anxious for Sunday, I didnt feel well. My allergies (yes, my allergies in this concrete city) were killing me! I ate more vitamins last week than I have in my life. I didnt want to get a cold. The whole week, I took it easy. Well.. aside from Tuesday. Tuesday we had a TFK dinner party (thanks to Ren who organized and hosted in his ridiculously awesome midtown condo!) which was a pretty late night. Good times getting to know everyone outside of our running lives. Friday and Saturday, I relaxed, soaked up some sun and went to bed early both nights. Saturday, I made a killer lasagne again. This was definitely the best one I have ever made! mmm... Right Jackie!!!

Ohhh... Sunday... you finally came! At 4 am, my alarm goes off. Its very dark out, not a car or person to be heard on the streets. around 4:45, we waited on the subway platform with many other Half Marathoners all of which looked as tired and bleary eyed as me. 5:30 we meet our team at Engineers Gate at 90th St to drop our bags off. Its amazing how the city is asleep... well aside from those night hawks who are walking home from thier night out, and the me walking to the park to run 13.1 miles. I meet my teammates, grab my water, snap a few photos, grab my energy packs and head off with the team to our stretching/warm-up spot.

6:00 we are stretching and our coaches are telling us how to run the race - "dont take it out too early, you will die out there, its hot out and you want to have energy at the end" "Hold back, dont weave in and out of the crowds too much, save your energy." "Let people pass you, dont get frustrated. You will be passing them all later." "Take the hills in the park easy, remember - short strides, pump those arms - thats what will get you up those hills."

6:45 we are in our corrals awaiting the start. About 10 of 7, the national anthem is sung and we slowly progress to the starting line. I eat my Gu (an energy fuel gel) and shake out my legs which were tense with excitement. At 7am, the gun goes off and the race begins!!!! wow! My heart is pounding with excitement and I am still about 6,000 people from the start! I cross the start just over 5 minutes after the official start. I set my watch and begin my first ever Half Marathon! Through the park, I kept a really good pace. My goal was to stay around a 9-min mile and then book it when I got out of the park. For my first race, I did pretty well! I kept around that pace throughout the park! Go me!

The excitement of the crowds was incredible! Seeing teammates on the sidelines cheering me on! Seeing all the kids cheering us on, seeing people who I never met cheering me on! The experience alone of the enthusiasm and support of everyone who came out to watch was incredible!! People were giving out Hi-Fives all over the place! how cool! Around the park I go, up those dreaded hills of Harlem, and back down towards 7th Ave. After running the park so many times, I couldnt have been more excited to finally get out of the park and run the streets of Manhattan! Rounding the bend to the entrance to 7th Ave, I see a fellow TFK'er snapping pictures, "Smile Alicia, your doing great!" - thanks Evan! it gave me the extra boost I needed to blast through the race! Once on 7th Ave, the runners really had a chance to spread out and do thier thing. This was my chance to really pick it up, and I did! Flying down 7th ave, I see Cristina cheering me on!!! Yaaay! Thanks friend for coming out to support Jackie and I!!!! :) Into Times square, the music is playing, there are people dancing and tons of people cheering everyone on! I felt somewhat like a celebrity, LOL! All eyes on me, and well alot of other people too, but still... it was pretty awesome to be running down the middle of 7th and 42nd! Onto the dreaded 42nd st - this is where I started to hit a wall. Mile 9 and 10 were the hardest miles! My legs began to feel like Jello. My knees started to tighten up. I started to get mental and thought that everything the Dr told me was coming true (that I would never run a marathon). And then there was this lady in her Car stuck in traffic on 42nd. She was hanging out her window yelling, "your doing great! keep it up! come on! you can do it!" That random lady brought the biggest smile to my face! At the next fluid station, I grabbed a gatorade and ran under the misting station... perfect... a little pick-me-up and I felt my confidence come back!

Rounding the corner to the West Side Hwy, the musics pumpin and the sun is blaring! Here I am - my home turf! I have run this road a million times!!! I told myself, 'you know where you are, you know how much energy you need to get down to Rector St, do it!' and of course I reminded myself I had the most important person in my life at the finish waiting for me, my Dad! A few water and misting stations later, I am under the footbridge at Chambers street and I know I have a half mile left!!! You can hear the finish line, the music and the announcers, so what more motivation would you need? So Close! I give it all I got (while trying to spot my dad out in the crowd) and book it for the finish! There's DAD! Cherring me on right at the finish... I look up - 1:59.34 the race clock ticks... and here I go again... Im not letting it turn 2 hours!!! I cross in 1:59.48 under 2 hrs!!!! I hit my pace watch and look... 1:53.53 nice! and I remembered I started it about a minute late... 1:54!!! wohoo!!!

After we cross the finish, theres a progression of treats! Ice cold wet towels to cool yourself off, water, gatorade, pretzels, apples, almonds AND THE ALL IMPORTANT MEDALS! I find my dad, and of course he cant congratulate me enough and tell me how proud he is of me! I was so happy he was there to share this experience with me! I bring him over to the TFK tent, and introduce him to the all my fellow TFK'ers and make him tag along for brunch!

At brunch, my teammates and I all shared our experiences from the race and looked up our final times while sipping some much deserved bloody mary's and mimosas and some grub. Rehydration and replehishment!!! mmm... delish! Oh, and it was Dimitri's Birtday, so we surprised him with a piece of cake and sang happy birthday! What a great day!

Thanks my fellow Team for Kids runners and dad! If it wasnt for you all, the day wouldnt have been as special! All the support from my friends and family was such a great motivation! Thank you so much! Now... WE GO FOR THE FULL MARATHON! November 1st is just around the corner!!! Keep checking back! Its just going to get better and more exciting now!!!

xoxo
Lee