No Coney Island dogs or cotton candy to report on, but lots of blisters and aching knees to tell you about.  The run went great.  It started at 8am on the boardwalk at Coney Island in Brooklyn.  It was a beautiful morning - sunny and not a cloud in the sky.  It was definitely cold, but gorgeous.  I ran well until about mile 8 when I started to hit a wall, by 10 I was struggling, then at mile 10.5 I got a second wind and kicked it out the rest of the race.  My official time is 2:29:53.  I'll take it! 

 

 

 

 

Upon awakening at 6:45am today it was 19 degrees and 7 with the wind chill.  Normally that wouldn't phase me on a winter morning in New York, but today wasn't one of those lucky Sunday's where I could snuggle back in bed and forget about the temps outside.  Nope, today was the Manhattan half marathon.  Of all the cold ass mornings, today had to be the coldest in quite sometime. CT and I layered like I've never layered before (Ralphie from the Christmas Story comes to mind here) and off we went for our 1.5 mile walk to the start line.  Folks it was flippin ass freezing!  We got to the start line with 5 minutes to spare and off we went.  I knew I wasn't going to run the whole 13.1 miles today, because I just ran a half last weekend and didn't want to push my already sore knees and blistered feet, so I started off with no expectations, just out for a nice Sunday stroll (yeah, right!!!).  Surprisingly, I had a good run.  I ran 7.5, then cut off to watch CT come across the finish line.  He finished his first half in 5 years at 1:47...not too shabby!  Of course, as soon as the times posted this afternoon he had to comb through every age group and make reference to a 68 year old man that beat his time.  Apparently an average 8:11 pace just isn't good enough for a 33 year old college athlete.  I wish I could feel sorry for him.  All day it's been random call out's, "man, 8:11", "can you believe I had an 8:11 pace. I'm going to have to work on that."  "I can't believe it, 8:11."  Poor CT. Well maybe next time he'll get the "almost 70 year old who beat me."   Here's the Bronx Half in February!  https://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/grandprix/bronx_reg.asp

 

 

 

 

So the weather has been incredibly warm in New York.  Unusually warm, especially for this time of year.  With that in mind I signed up for a 5 mile holiday run in CP.  I'm a wuss runner, so when I see rain, ice, temperatures below 40, I'm not so much taking a part in it.  I think its just since we moved to New York that I've gotten this way.  I'm thinking it has something to do with the 1/2 mile hike to the park, so if it's cold and raining, you're drenched or frozen by the time you even start.  Anyway, I digress.  So the holiday run.  Well Friday it was 70 degrees and humid as hell.  So not like any December 1st I've ever experienced in NYC.  Come around 5pm we get a tornado warning on the TV.  Huh?  A tornado??  Well I'm not sure if it was a tornado or not, but instantly the weather got horrible. The high winds, rain, thunder and lighting all brought about the cold temperatures for Saturday's run.  Good times.  I wake up at 7am to get ready and walk Brooklyn before I head 40 blocks to New York Road Runners to pick up my bib (Chris is in Portland, so I'm flying solo).  I walk out of my building with Brooklyn and BAM - it is absolutely FREEZING!  Okay.  I can handle this. Brooklyn gets his walk and then I try to figure out how to get across the park and up to 102nd with just my running clothes on and without freezing.  Mission impossible.  I brave the winds and finally make it to NYRR where the line is down the street and around the block (yes, I walked there).  Hmmm, I guess everybody had the same idea to pick up their number in the morning.  I finally wade through the line, get my number, tie my chip on shoe and throw my millionth racing shirt around my waist and off I go...10 more blocks to the start line.  By the time I make it to the start I am way beyond warmed up.  I'm thinking, shoot I'm ready to go home and call that a work out, but alas the gun goes off and away we go.  The run was great, probably the best 5 miles I've run in a long time.  For some reason I always seem to run faster, harder, longer on race day.  I was gunnin' for this old lady the last half mile, but she kept getting ahead of me and I was just out of steam.  Finally I turned on the turbos and made it across the finish before her.  Boy, that made my day!  Simple pleasures, right??  So with my apple and cup of water I start my trek back 40 blocks home.  It's amazing how good you feel after a great run.  The city was beautiful, sunny and crisp and buzzing with an incredible energy.  I don't think I've ever enjoyed the scenery so much, it really was a beautiful morning.  By the time I finally made it home I easily logged 10 miles.  I was tired, cold and sweaty, but have never felt better!  I'm so glad I didn't chicken out because the weather was cold, Chris was gone and I would have rather stayed in bed.  Enjoy your winter runs!!