Long Island Half Marathon

Today was the day. The day I had been training for the last 4 months - the Long Island Half Marathon. My goal was to break 2 hours for the race - my previous best time was 2:03:50 at the Hamptons Half Marathon this past September. I have been busting my butt, running 4-5x a week, just for this one race. The weather called for thunderstorms, yet they never materialized...in fact, it didn't even rain. Mike and I met up before the race, and we started together. We stayed together for the first 2-3 miles, and then it happened - my right knee "twinged." I don't know exactly what happened, but I knew it hurt. And I still had over 10 miles to go. Needless to say, I toned my pace down a notch, and Mike took off. At around mile 6, I felt the rubbing sensation on the bottom of my left foot. I knew a blister was forming rapidly, and within minutes, it started to HURT. And I still had over 7 miles left. This was not going according to plan. I plodded on, pretty much in agony, for the rest of the race. Oddly enough, as I looked down at my GPS watch, I never went much slower than 8:30 min/mile, despite not being able to bend my right leg and each step on my left foot resulting in pain. I carried on as such, and finished the race in 1:52:28, which obliterated my old personal best! I was thrilled. Mike finished in an amazing 1:47:35, an average of around 8:08 min/mile. This made me think that if I weren't in acute pain, maybe I could have done even better. It was a great accomplishment, and as I sit here with my knee wrapped with ice packs and my foot covered in bandages, I am also filling out the forms for my next 10 mile race in 3 weeks, and am going to see how I can do on the extremely hilly Fairfield Half Marathon in June - can I match this pace? Better it? Stay tuned...

Mike and I at the finish.

Oh, yeah, and for everyone who doesn't give a poo about running........here's some Ella pics:

Think she likes the slide?

Ahoy!

Eyes?

Yahoooooooooooooooo!

Finally she is old enough to earn her keep around here.

PS - I must give a shout out to my sis and her man Dan for completing a full marathon today in approximately 5 hours - SO impressed with them both!