On Sunday I ran my first race of the year, the NYRR Fred Lebow Manhattan Half Marathon, in Central Park in NYC. The race was two loops around the park. I am not a big fan of races that loop because I always see the winner run pass me as I hit mile 6 or 7 and that irritates me to no end!! It's a little disheartening to see that because you know you still have more miles to run before you can finish.

The day before the race, we got a few inches of snow but nothing too crazy. I was happy to see that the park was in good condition and the course looked dry (no ice or snow). Also it was a balmy 35 degrees which was great and much better than the temperature for the race last year, which was 19 degrees (yikes)! The course itself was....well it wasn't good or bad. Central Park is known for their hills. To me the course had many rolling inclines and one or two substantial hills.

Once I saw the mile 13 marker I kicked it into high gear because I was really tired and in pain and I just wanted the race to be over. After crossing the finish line I pretty much inhaled a bagel in 2 minutes - I was starving!

What did I learn from this race? I REALLY need to incorporate more hills into my training runs. The inclines/hills got the best of me and it really frustrated me when I was out on the course. I have another half marathon on that same course at the end of February and I'm really hoping I can improve my time. Also my quads were completely tore up for 2 days straight after the race and I had a slight ankle injury so I think I also need to incorporate more strength training to build up those muscles. I'll be making some changes to my current training/gym schedule.

We went to the Expo the day before the race and it was great! I loved the fact that we could tell shuttle buses to the expo. This was my first expo and I couldn't believe all the different vendors -amazing! My only complaint about the expo was the t-shirt pickup. If i indicate a shirt size when i sign up, it should be there when i go to get my bib and shirt. I asked for a small and got a large, which basically means its useless to me.

The hotel (Hyatt) was only a few blocks from the starting line for the race so we had no problem walking to the race. Unfortunately the weather was kind of crappy - cold, a little windy, and raining. Of course I wished that the weather could have been better, but I was too excited to focus on that.

The race started near the United Nations and ended in Central Park. Our finish line was actually the same finish line for the Marathon!!

There were over 7,000 participants. The first mile or so was very, very crowded so I spent a lot of time weaving in and out of the crowd. A lot of people walked the race or stopped to take photos - it was kind of annoying at first but I understand why they did it. When you're running down 6th avenue, you can't help but to want to take photos! After the first mile I got into my groove and mile 2 was very fast for me. I slowed down in mile 3 due to this but I was also taking in all the sights and the energy. Coming into the finish and knowing that was the same finish line that the marathoners would be crossing the next day - I just can't describe that feeling! I honestly cannot wait to do this race again next year!

The race is relatively flat with a small incline once you hit Central Park. If you're looking for a fun 5K, I would really, really recommend this one.

Post race food was great as well - fruit, bagels and water.

As always, this race was run by NYRR and they are so organized.

On October 26th, I ran The Reservoir Run Half Marathon in Weston, CT. This was a small race with around 300 runners. The first 3 miles of the race were great. Not too much weaving through runners and the course split for the half marathon runners and 5K runners before the second mile. The middle of the course had a lot of rolling hills, but I kept pressing on! Mile 11 was totally BRUTAL. This was the section called the "Weston Climb". It was a very, very steep hill. Basically everyone stopped running and had to walk up the hill. I may have seen one brave person running this hill. I lost SO much time during this mile, but I really didn't care. After getting over the hump, I knew I had less than 2 miles to go so I tried to push it until the end. You finish the race on a school track which is great. Plenty of space for spectators to cheer you on when you come around the finish!

There were plenty of aid stations along the course. This wasn't a huge race but I thought it was organized very well! After the race we had a good variety of food to choose from.