Yesterday marks exactly 1 year since my first ever blog post. So Happy Blogaversary to me!

 

My 2nd ever post was my recap of last year’s Oakley Mini 10k.

This year was quite a different story to tell. The night before I laid out my gear…

It’s felt like forever since I did that! I was giddy! Alarm went off at 4:50am and I got ready and had a little breakfast. Duncan’s lucky streak ran out and he finally had to endure an early morning rise due to my running habit.

I got my ankle secure with some KT tape and my slip on ankle brace.

I was on the road before 6am

 

I headed to Lisa’s house in Brooklyn, parked the car and then we hopped on the subway and met up with Karen along the way. We got to the start at the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park about 40 minutes before the start and eventually connected with a few more gals…

I didn’t really have a plan. Really I wanted to follow doctors orders of not running for 2 more weeks so when I crossed the starting line I was having a little anxiety….

The thought bubble above my head with my inner thoughts went something like this “What if i set myself back? What if i make it worse? What if I don’t finish before the cutoff? Crap I forgot to start my watch! I’m hungry. I can’t possibly walk the entire thing. I wish I brought music. Am I getting a blister already?”

I initially started out running SLOW. It was just as crowded as last year but I wasn’t pushing to weave in and out. So there’s a silver lining =). I finally locked in satellite and got my watch going about 1/4 mile in. My pace was right about 12:00. I shuffled along and stopped to walk every now and then just to check in and feel how the foot was doing.

This was my slowest 10K time ever…..but I crossed the finish line with only the discomfort of a blister! (Wearing new sneakers on a humid day) My tendonitis did not present a problem.

 

I cried a little and just felt very emotional at so many points from driving to Lisa’s in the morning to different points during the race. The entire “high” of running, races, running friends, etc had returned and I was reminded of how much it all means to me. With each mile, each medal, each starting line and each finish line, I fill my “happiness tank” I come home knowing I’ve done my body good, I’ve done my soul good and I’ve created memories to stay with me forever. Injuries are humbling. And climbing back up makes those lows of limping for days worth it.

Too much sappiness for you? Sorry! =) After heading home, I showered, ate and took the dog to the park for a bit. I knew I had plans to return back to Central Park for my friend Gary’s birthday picnic and only had a couple of hours from the time I got home from the race until the time i’d have to head back into the city. Duncan was happy to strut his favorite route doing the usual sniffin’ and squirrel hunting.

Before I knew it the time had come for me to get back on the road for the picnic. I made a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts for a box of munchkins and this time took the bus to Manhattan.

Living in Staten Island is great but the commuting times to and from Manhattan really suck. I spent over 7 hours yesterday either in a car, on a subway or on a bus.

But it was all worth it! The picnic was fun! Gary got some gifts that I was really jealous of.

We all dined on cheese, crackers, fruit, wine and sweets. Perfection!

One last goofy pic before we packed it up and headed home.