NYRR Bronx 10M

I wasn't sure I was going to be running this race, until about a half a mile in. I still wasn't feeling good and it had traveled to my chest. Boo. I felt like if I continued going, I was going to die. I couldn't get my breathing down and I felt like I was sweating too much for the weather being so nice (Sunday was gorgeous to run in!). Dehydration from sinus medicine has happened to me in a race and I definitely did not want a repeat of that. Clearly, there was a lot going on.

Around the 1st or 2nd water stop, I ran into my guardian angel and breezed through the rest of the race. To be honest, I forgot why we started talking, but we didn't stop for the rest of the race! She was great and a complete distraction from the pain and lack of ability to breath. She's new to running and training for the full, also, so we had tons to talk about! Saturday was her 16 miler and she was running this 10 for fun. Crazy! But I don't know what I would've done without her. I actually stopped run/walking and ran the majority of it with her, only stopping at water stops. I think if I would've been healthier, I could've done more, but breathing without coughing was getting hard. I can't wait to run more with my training now! I really need to break the habit of running by my gymboss and not listening to my body.

I've never run in The Bronx before, so it was really fun getting to see it. My running partner for the day knew all about it though and pointed out landmarks. Now, the only borough I haven't run in is Staten Island. I'm tempted to sign up for the half marathon there, but it falls on the only 20 miler week that I have that won't be interrupted by a race. Maybe next year. I am kind of glad they changed the Borough Series to have different distances. And of course, that they all get medals now. That was the main reason I wouldn't run them in the first place.

This was my favorite sight; Old school theater.

Since I got through the race, I decided to finish my 15miler in Central Park. I really wanted to be done and crawl back into bed, but I knew if I did that, I would've been really upset with myself, especially after freaking out about training. But I survived! 15(.9) miles done! I was in more pain than I should've been due to the break in commuting to the park, but I did it! They were a ton slower, but that's ok, too! I was super proud of myself for sticking it out through the cold (and obnoxious amount of tourists. UGH!).

I feel like doing it really boosted my confidence in this marathon. Now that I'm upping my miles to distances I've never done before, I'm re-excited! It's been a long time since I've run a new distance! Those little milestones really motivate you and I had forgotten that. I thought about how I felt before my first half marathon and I realized this pretty much mirrors it. Glad I've finally seen the light. Now hopefully I'll only freak out for the important things :-)

An ice bath was definitely needed after this and I was super excited for it, knowing I'd feel better after. Unfortunately, I didn't run the water cold enough, so the ice melted super fast. Oops. The water was pretty cold, just not as painful as it usually is. I'm actually looking forward to next week's ice bath more than I am the run. That's weird, right?

  10 Miler done.