Last night while nervously prepping for the More/Fitness Magazine Half Marathon, I made a list.
I wrote about my ego and all my glorious race plans, but my brain wasn’t truly on-board with my race plan until late last night. The reality is that I’ve been really anxious about this race. I’ve been running without a watch for the majority of my runs and really wasn’t sure what to expect.
Not knowing what to expect was probably the source of my pre-race anxiety. Once I realized that my true expectations had nothing to do with pace, I finally felt ready for today. A DailyMile friend said something that resonated, “Let the race come to you“.
Heading out to Central Park with a grateful and thankful mind, I knew there was nothing to be anxious about. This race had a specific purpose and I stayed focused.
The race itself was composed of a challenging course and a high humidity level. No matter what your goal is come race day, two loops in Central Park is never easy. Never ever underestimate the west side hills the second time around. And never ever underestimate the amount you will sweat when it’s 65 degrees with 70% humidity.
Any time I run loops in Central Park I break it down by the number of “big hills” I have to run. If I’m running counter-clockwise the direction of today’s race course, I focus on checking the four big hills of my imaginary list (2x up Cat Hill, 2x up Harlem Hill for a total of four big hills). After I went up Cat Hill the first time, I was already thinking “okay, only three more hills to go”.
My mental game was on fire today. Although my husband said I looked intense when he saw me crossing the finish line, I don’t believe I’ve ever smiled so much during a race. When I got to the 5k mark and realized if I pushed I could accidentally pr, I held back. Today wasn’t for pr-ing. Today was just the season opener, aka the beginning of a comeback.
I owe Fitness Magazine an enormous ‘thank you’, for inviting me to run this race and pushing me to do something I hadn’t planned on doing. Thanks to them, I’ve been riding high on endorphins all day long.
{My race entry fee was covered by Fitness Magazine. They did not carry me up the four hills or inject me with synthetic exercise endorphins.}
Great recap! I also split today’s run into 4 big hills. I focused on the task at hand; worked my way up each, trying not to think too far ahead. In this humidity, it’s the only way I got through all 13.1 miles!
My favorite part of this post: “My race entry fee was covered by Fitness Magazine. They did not carry me up the four hills or inject me with synthetic exercise endorphins.” Your legs, your heart and your mindset took you through this course! Congrats!
Love this, Jess! Congratulations on a wonderfully executed, strong mental and physical race. You’re going to do great things on the race course in 2012 and I can’t wait to cheer you on the whole time. Keep the positive energy going!
And that photo is great. Frame it.
Congrats! Central Park looks like SUCH an amazing place to do runs – jealous!
You look so great in those photos!! And wow, looks like there was so much crowd support! Makes the Manhattan Half look bad 😉
Haha, it’s reassuring to see I’m not the only one who writes down a race morning schedule!
Congrats on a great comeback!!! Can’t wait to hear about all the hard work and success that is on its way 🙂
Congrats! You look awesome in the photos!! Yay for the start of the comeback!
Congrats on race today. You got some great race photos!
You look awesome! Great job today! Excited to run with you next month!
Love that you count by the hills – I kind of did that too. But miscalculated during my first lap on the west side. And forgot about a hill. And was very unhappy with it. What a great day though! Awesome pictures! Congrats on a great race.
Congrats on a great run! Love your goals.
I always break my runs down similarly…except sometimes it doesn’t help…like when I run one mile in a 20 miler and tell myself I’m 1/20th of the way done, haha!
Congratulations! You already know I love that picture. Ali is right – you should frame it. Also, the fact that you knew you could PR and deliberately held back really shows what a mental bad ass you are. You are going to have an amazing year.
Wow- that picture! GAME FACE. Smart race plan and loved your recap!
Congrats on the race!
I am so proud of you my amazing friend! You trained well, raced hard, stayed focused and succeeded. Can’t wait to continue following your training for NYCM. You inspire me!
Good job! I am running my first half marathon this Saturday. I had to cut back for a week and a half on my training due to a leg injury, any advise on how to tackle my first half without pushing my leg more than it can handle?
You look fierce in those race photos! Nice 🙂 And I like your idea of breaking down the race by hills – those 3 hills on the west side are always so tough. Congrats on your comeback race – can’t wait to see what else 2012 brings!