Why do I do this to myself?! I ran a half marathon on the hottest day of the year and on the craziest course!
Let's start with how scared I was to do this half. I have to say, I was more scared then I was for my first Marathon last year. I got up at 4:30 Saturday morning, wiping the sleepiness out of my eyes. I turned on the TV to see what the weather was....I thought to myself maybe the weather dropped like 15 degrees overnight. It did rain, right? That would have been heaven. The outcome...uhmmm yeah a whopping 83 degrees. I had to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but I wasn't. It was 83 and it was only going to get hotter!
As Blondie and I walked to meet Vane, I was getting more and more nervous. I thought to myself - "Will I walk? Can I even run in this heat?" All these questions were coming at me and then I stopped and thought - it's mind over matter. No matter what, I have to go into this run knowing it will be hard, but I can do this. I know I can. I am stronger then I think I am. As we meet Vane we noticed her OCD self was out of wack…The girl did not wake up two hours before to eat her bagel, so she too was a hot mess. This is not good, as she is the one that keeps our group calm and collected. This time that was not the case. The drive to Queens was filled with laughter and fears and maybe some tears. As we got to the course we found our coach, Skinny Vinny, who told us to tack on at least 15 minutes to our normal time. It was way too hot to try to be a hero on Saturday.
Now the course... I must say, it SUCKED. There is no other way to say it. See the attached picture so you can understand. Anyway, I stuck with Vane as we ran these 13.1 miles in some of the worst weather conditions ever.
Lets move to the positive sides of the race. There are not many so we will do those first:
1. Sprinklers at every other mile were my salvation. There was a point when I stood there and just let the water fall on me.
2. So many HOT men!! Funny enough, usually when I see a hot guy, I am rather shy (shocking I know), but on Saturday I was engaging in a lot of yelling, whistling and shouting. Listen, before you go ahead and judge me, it was super hot that day and I needed something to get me through that run. Plus what man does not enjoy a little cheering to get him through that run especially. :)
3. NO WALKING!! We did not walk. WHOOT WHOOT! That was a major accomplishment.
4. I finished the run, which was my goal for this race.
Yes, I think that was it on the positives of the race. Now we shall move on to the negatives:
1. I chaffed between mile 1 and 3!! Man did I ever! I had applied so much body glide on my body, but it was so hot and I kept getting soaked with water. I somehow managed to lower my shorts to where I was able to run the last 10.1 miles.
2. No PR, but I am ok with this as I know sometimes you cannot beat the elements.
3. Did I mention the course sucked?
4. Had some pain in my hamstring.
All in all I ran the race. I didn't run it but I ran it. I completed another half marathon on the hottest day of the year, but I did it! I could have easily said no way I am not going and stayed in my nice, cold bedroom, but I didn't. There was only a little over 4000 runners which is not a lot for a half marathon. I congratulate everyone who crossed that finish line, whether you walked or ran. You are still a great runner for coming out in the heat and completing 13.1 miles.
After that, we went to a local diner in Queens and I enjoyed a nice, cold, chocolate milkshake. The best recovery drink ever.
I want to give a shout out to my girls Vane and Blondie. I really don't know what I would do without those two in my life. We go through so much together and that's what makes it so much fun and better to deal with. Thank you for being there for me when I needed you the most and to be that shoulder I cry on, lean on and sometimes pull on.
One last thing last night I recieved my New York Running Magazine and guess who made it twice? Yes, me along with Blondie and Vane. I guess you can say we are the new unoffical faces of TKF check it out!
Till the next run.
Happy Running.
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