First of all, I’m still extremely proud of this run.  I would have never been able to do this a year ago–not by a long shot.  You can’t see me right now, but I’m patting myself on the back.  Again.

So I ran this race on January 11th, 2015, right after having a week-long stomach bug.  I made sure to take it really easy the day before, and then I prepared for what I thought would be the race from Hell.  It even started kind of crappy.  Nick and I had to catch a cab in order to get to Central Park on time.  Somehow we made it just as it started (and then poor Nick got car-sick).  Here’ my icky before picture:

I felt as strange as I look–I was in the middle of running to the starting gate.  I got there literally as the gun went off.  The course was pretty cool–it was one giant loop around Central Park with water stations every two miles.  After running each Sunday in Prospect Park, this felt like nothing.

I was doing well until I hit the first water station.  I drank the frozen water, and about a half mile after that, felt really sick to my stomach.  I kept going, and it only got worse.  When I got to the second water station, I felt horrible.  I mean, I drank water anyway, but I thought I was going to explode.

Nick watched me finish from on top of a rock, and in all my race photos, I look like I am about to vomit (which is exactly how I felt).  I finished five miles in my fastest time for that distance to date, and celebrated by drinking a lot of water.

I felt really sick for a while, as seen in my post-race photo:

Even though it was harder than usual, I’m still pretty happy with this race.  Plus the mug’s image was on the right side this time!

Race Stats

Total Distance: 5.19 miles

Total Time: 1:06:51

Pace: 12:53 min/mi

Place: 493/527