MORE & Fitness Magazine Half Marathon

Today was the More and Fitness Magazine Marathon and Half Marathon in Central Park. I registered with a few girls from my work (Organic Works) earlier this semester, and was so excited to run! 

This run was a lot different than my last because I actually got an amazing night's sleep last night. I went to bed at about 10:45, and slept soundly until my alarm work me up at 5am. I was so rested and ready! My friend Kristen (who lives in my building) had a friend in town, Lisa, running too. We met in the lobby and headed out around 7. I mention the time of day because it's quite remarkable how hot it was already. When we got to the starting area to check bags, I was already sweating. 

We were enjoying the usual pre-race excitement when they made a rather shocking announcement...Due to the heat, the full marathon had been cancelled! What? And furthermore, the half marathon was no longer going to be officially timed! WHAT? 

Apparently the race directors had a rather difficult decision to make. They wanted to avoid a potentially unsafe situation, remnant of the Chicago Marathon heat wave last year. Luckily I wasn't running the full, so it didn't matter much to me, but I can imagine a few people were pretty disappointed.

7, 700 women lined up at the starting line. It was possibly the most crowded race start I've ever been in. Because the full marathon (which had a separate starting line) was cancelled, everyone ran the half, and everyone lined up in the half starting area.

After picking my way through throngs of enthusiastic runners, all dressed in either pink or some other type of girl power gear, I settled into a comfortable pace with my new running buddy, Lisa. We ran 8:50 minute miles for the first two, and then I said good-bye and picked up the pace. I actually found one of my friends from Organic Works, Megan, while running. We hugged quickly mid-jog and I was off again. 

I picked up my pace to around 8:40 - 8:35 minute miles. Despite the heat I was feeling really great. The first 10 miles were awesome. I was actually surprising myself! I was on a roll! 8:40, 8:35, 8:30...really comfortable and fun.

Needless to say Central Park is beautiful, and it was a lovely run. But right after mile 10, the heat really hit me. My body was done. 10 miles! Time to stop before you pass out from the 90 degree weather!

I kept pushing and finished a few minutes slower than I had planned, but still PR'd and had a true runner's high when I was done.

After a bagel, banana and chocolate soy milk, we stretched out under a cherry tree. Way to beautiful. We sun-bathed, got a quick tan, treated myself to a mimosa and some frozen yogurt.

At the awards (which were based on clock times, no chip times) I saw USA Olympic marathon runner, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, which was pretty cool. She won with 1:08:10. (Jeez! In this heat?!)

It was an all-around beautiful day and a fairly successful race. Hopefully the actual professional running pictures will be in this week!

Happy Earth Day!

I hope everyone is having a wonderfully eco-chic Earth Day! 

Here are a few of my ideas to celebrate all year round...

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Run:

From Atayne's line of eco-chic clothing

Replace old running clothing with eco-friendly performance clothing from my new favorite company Atayne. The running tops are moisture wicking, UV protecting, odor controlling, and temperature regulating, as any good athletic top should be. However, they are made from recycled polyester (from plastic bottles) and activated carbon (from coconut shells) instead of from virgin polyester and harsh chemicals. Visit Atayne to lear more and buy a super-cool, eco-friendly running top.

2. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Bike:

This isn't my picture, but I thought it illustrated the point well!

for transportation instead of just for fun! I just bought a basket for the back of my road bike, and now I find myself riding it to the grocery store, on errands, to work, and to school. Granted I live in a city, and my other means of transportation are usually walking (very eco-friendly) or public transportation (more eco-friendly, but busses still do emit harmful gasses that contribute to global warming). Replace just one trip you'd take in a car with a bike...to a nearby friend or relative's house, to the store for a small purchase, or to the gym for a warm up! Here's the bike basket I bought.

3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Swim:

Picture from Manhattan Island Foundation

Swimming in a pool is normal, but not very eco-friendly. If more people took advantage of the various natural bodies of water for swimming, maybe we'd be more inclined to take care of them, stop pollution, help the earth, and stay healthy ourselves. Visit NYC Swim to learn more about swimming around New York City, and the efforts to clean the waters for us and the earth.

What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?

Beach Run

I spend the weekend in Florida (awesome) and took several day off of training (not so awesome). But I did get an absolutely beautiful beach run on my last day. I'm back in NYC, where it's spring-ish still, but for one wonderful run it was definitely summer...enjoy the pic ;)