Race Recap!!!

race medals! SO legit, I know. 

My half marathon was this past Sunday. It was the Long Island Divas half marathon and I have to say, it was awesome!!! I ran 2:12, which is a little slow but okay, I was happy to finish. Two years ago I fell down during the Celebrate Life Half Marathon and messed up my knee very badly. I have had to wear a knee brace ever since but I've improved greatly. There was this feeling, though, that I'd never be able to run a distance race ever again. I picked this race knowing that it would be fun and that it was flat. Just finishing the race was a great accomplishment because I now know that I can do the distance. I am planning another half for the spring and maybe someday, I will achieve my dream of running a full marathon :) My dream is to run the New York Marathon with my dad.

Anyway, the race started at 8 am but we had to be there by 7 am so I had to leave at 5 am :( I drove up with my friends and we got there right at 7. The race was at a beautiful park and even though I was planning to run 10 minute miles, I moved a little closer to the front (there were a lot of walkers) My friend paced me and we ran pretty even splits the entire way. There were clocks, water and gatorade, and music at nearly every mile. There were also high school cheerleaders at about four places along with many, many people just cheering. The race overlapped at many spots so it was easy for people to cheer. I saw my dad at about 5 different places. He was the paparazzi :) I slowed down a little bit towards the end to receive my pink boa and tiara (oh yeah!!!) and then was just a mile from the finish. I crossed feeling tired, a little sore, but SO accomplished! I met my dad at the finish and immediately started discussing the flying pig half lol. There was champagne, luna bars, fruit, and oatmeal raisin cookies at the finish along with a DJ. We hung out for a few minutes but then we walked to the car. We JUST beat out the rain, thank goodness. It got really chilly and started to drizzle as soon as we started walking over to the car.

pink zebra stripe cookies for post race :)

post race meal- cheese and pepper omelet, salad, and mashed potatoes. 

The Half marathon is a great distance. It's long enough for me to really feel like a challenge and I love training for it. Signing up for one keeps me motivated because I know I've made this big commitment and I have a strong desire to keep with it. Hopefully someday I will do a full but until then, I'm going to focus on my half time and try to break 2 hours!