Have Yet to Catch the Blogging Bug...

My first two races are complete, I'm only 7 races and 1 volunteer shift away from qualification for the 2012 New York City Marathon. My third qualifying race will be this Sunday in Central Park, the Scotland Day 10K.

The first race on this journey was the Coogan's Salsa, Blues & Shamrocks 5K on March 6 in Inwood. Two classmates were also signed up for the race and early that Sunday morning we bundled up and braved the rain to run through Fort Tryon Park up to the Cloisters and back. It was hilly and crowded and cold, but the race went well and I finished ahead of the pace I anticipated with a time of 26:40 and a pace of 8:36 minutes per mile. I walked once, which has bothered me since because I know I didn't need to do it, but for a first race I was rather proud of myself. My delightful friend Jessica was kind enough to make the commute to Inwood in the rain to watch and take photos, she's an "above and beyond" kind of friend.

With my classmate Brittany before a cold and rainy run.

My second race was the Colon Cancer Challenge Fund 15K in Central Park on March 27. When I signed up for this race I decided to fundraise for the charity in a friend's mother's honor and was thrilled to reach my $2,500 goal the day before the race and exceed it the next day. The outpouring of generosity from those I'm close with, people I haven't seen in years and even people I've never met was humbling.

The run was a challenge. 9.3 miles with the adrenaline of the race pushing me left me exhausted after mile 6, but I pushed through and finished with a time of 01:18:28 and a pace of 8:27 minutes per mile. My boyfriend Sid came to cheer me along and my cousin Lorah came in from Connecticut to take photos of me running/finishing, it felt great to have supporters along the track. There were a number of children lined up watching with their parents who held their hands out for high fives from the runners going by, I made a point to high five all of them and it put the spring back in my step each time I did.

Running the 2011 NYRR Colon Cancer Challenge Fund 15K in Central Park.
Photo by Lorah Haskins.

My training has dropped off a bit lately, my weekly mileage has dropped as I've attempted to integrate more cross training into my program. Today is the two year anniversary of my move to New York and I'm using it as a kind of renewal, like a New Year's resolution but specifically for the life I envisioned for myself in NYC.

The blogging bug hasn't bitten me yet, but I'm determined to have this serve as a record for me during this particular goal so I'm going to keep trying. Future posts will hopefully be more frequent and more interesting than just an update, but I felt like I needed something to serve as a general update for the two months I've let this sit here.

On Sunday it's supposed to be cloudy and sixty degrees. Should be a nice day for a run!

"Running is a big question mark that's there each and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a wimp, or are you going to be strong today?'" - Peter Maher, two-time Olympic marathoner from Canada