Half Marathon!

This last Sunday, April 3, I ran (and finished) my first half-marathon. After running the charity:water 10-k last November, I was motivated to do a half. So...in early January I signed up for a half with New York Road Runners and started training in mid-January. I generally ran three times per week on the treadmill, with distances ranging from 3-6 miles per day. On the weekends, I did one long run in Central Park, ranging anywhere from 5 to 12 miles.

This was the finish line. I took this picture before I even started running.

Waiting for the race to begin.

I was at the back of the pack. I entered with a really slow pace time, since I really had no idea what my pace would be for 13 miles.

The race was a little over two laps of the loop in Central Park. Fortunately, this was where I did my long training runs each weekend, and we ran the same direction as I usually did on my training runs. The first 3 miles were difficult because I was passing people (since I started at the back - but it did feel good to pass so many people). There are two killer hills on the loop - Heartbreak Hill and Cat Hill. These hills were approximately at miles 2, 4, 8 and 10 - I ended up walking up the last hill at mile 10. After that hill though I knew the end was close - only 3 more miles. After mile 12 I tried to really push it to the end, but the I didn't think that 13th mile was ever going to end.

My goal was to finish in 2 and a half hours, and my official time was 2.08:26. I was happy with that time. I don't think I would want to do half-marathon's often, but I could see myself potentially doing another one. It is a good feeling to cross that finish line :)