Going into More/Fitness my overall goal was only to finish strong. In my opinion I finished DC in a horrible condition and I never wanted to experience that again. My ultimate goal in the half marathon distance is to break 2hrs, and let's face it, in Central Park that was realistically probably not going to happen. Not to be a debbie downer, but Central Park is tough, and two loops around the park, and a part of a third? Yeah, not easy. Or not easy for this girl! :)My morning started liking every other race (all 3 of them) have before with a whole wheat thin, peanut butter, and a banana. I chugged 32 oz of water from 6-7am and then split a cab with my neighbor, Theodora. I checked my bag and made it over to the corrals. I signed up for this race a long time ago and somehow ended up in the last corral. Looking around I realized I knew I wasn't THAT slow and I just couldn't fathom starting at the back of 7000 runners. I cheated (shhh) and moved up about 4 corrals and started in the middle of the pack. It started raining while we waited and I was definitely not a happy camper. Luckily by the time the gun went off it had cleared. My Garmin had a perfect signal before I got to the start line but must have gone into power save mode and then lost it RIGHT when I got to the start line (Awesome). I crossed the start and realized I needed to go regardless of the Garmin having a signal or not. I think it caught a signal pretty quick as I ended the race right at 13.11.
The race: miles 1-3 were great, I felt fine, weaved out from some slow runners/walkers (why were people already walking at 1.5?) and kept a steady pace. When I got the top of Harlem Hill something was going on my with my stomach and I was definitely worried. I pressed on and somehow it passed. Whew! I thought I'd be seeing some friends at mile 5, but alas I missed them. I shot around one loop of the park and was feeling ok. I wasn't looking at my Garmin much and just wanted to run. Again, was never sure of an actual time goal. I knew I'd be seeing my roommates in between mile 7-8 so I pushed through to them. I could see them from afar and they started screaming with signs! I am so blessed :) At mile 8, my besties in NYC were going to be there to hand me a bottle of water. I saw them from afar opened my GU packet and got to them said THANK YOU and kept going. The GU didn't do much for me as far as energy but I figured it was best I take something. My good friend Morgan and her cute dog were right at the Engineers Gate and seeing them made me so happy too! I pressed on through the East Side and met the Harlem Hills again. UGH. By the time I passed those and got to mile 10 I was pretty done. My legs were very tired, felt very heavy, and even my left knee was starting to hurt. I contemplated walking just to get a little break but I have too much pride for that :) I knew I'd be seeing some friends at mile 11. I saw them, more signs, more cheering. It lifted my spirits some but I was could tell my pace had slowed down a lot. Finally made it to mile 12 and I was like, ok, Leticia only 1.1 left. You can do anything for 10 minutes. A little past mile 12 I saw Jocelyn hauling right in my direction! I immediately lifted my hands and was waving like a crazy person. She was running 22 yesterday so she wasn't quite done. Seeing her absolutely made the rest of the run so good! I kept up with her speedy pace and she made that last mile fly! We split ways at mile 13 and she went up Cat Hill and I sprinted to the finish. I felt SO STRONG in the end and I was glad I pushed that last mile. I finished with a huge smile on my face and was just so happy to be done! I had no idea what my time was because I knew my Garmin was off and when I sprinted through the finish I didn't look at what the clock read. I found my friends and we snapped a pic! Half marathon #3 in the books with a big smile to prove it! To God be the Glory each race, thankful for His strength!
Post run I went an capitalized on my free hat/massage/snacks at Athleta and then went to brunch at Lansky's with my besties, and some other twitter friends were there too! At brunch I discovered my official time of 2:08:07 with and average 9:47 pace. No PR, but proud of my time. I never walked even when my legs tried to convince me to and I finished strong which is what I wanted. Central Park is no joke, even when you train there. It's just so different in a race!
Sara and I at brunch. All I wanted in my life was a mimosa and pancakes and that's exactly what I got! :)
So what's next? NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon on Saturday, May 19th. Now this race my friends I has some BIG goals for. I really really really want this to be the sub-2 half. It's a relatively flat course and I think a PR is in the cards for me if I'm smart the next four weeks. Here we go!
PS: 201 days till the NYC MARATHON! I officially registered with Team World Vision today! Feels a tad bit surreal! 26.2 miles! I CAN do this.
"Running is a mental sport and we are ALL insane."
