Cherry Blossom & 210 Days Until NYC Marathon!!

I haven't posted in awhile- correction: I haven't ran in awhile. And it's all Polar Vortex's fault!! Hehe.

This weekend, I ran in the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler Race in DC. It was chilly out and disappointing in the sense that cherry blossom has not bloomed yet, but the weather was manageable (low 40s is OK... nothing below freezing please!). I finished the race with a PR time of 1:39:04 (which was only a few seconds better than last year's). If I had pushed myself on the course, I would have definitely gotten a better time (I think), but given that next Sunday is the Raleigh Half, I did not want accidentally get hurt. I'm happy to report that I truly feel that Cherry Blossom marks the start of my running season and I am ready to buckle down and truly make running my priority for the rest of the year. Only 210 days until the New York City Marathon!!!

Completed Races
Jan 19th: Rock n Roll Arizona Half Marathon
April 6th: Cherry Blossom 10 Miles

Upcoming Races
April 13th: Rock n Roll Raleigh Half Marathon
May 25th: Rock n Roll Liverpool Half Marathon
June 15th: TBD
July 13th: TBD
August 31th: Rock n Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon
Sept 28th: Rock n Roll Montreal Half Marathon
Oct 5th: Rock n Roll San Jose Half Marathon
Oct 19th: Rock n Roll Denver Half Marathon
Oct 26th: Rock n Roll Vancouver Half Marathon
Nov 2nd: NYC Marathon!!!

The goal is to run a long distance race at least once every month. My Rock n Roll tour pass is good until year end 2014 and I'm trying to make the most of it. I'm excited to check off so many states this year- :)

2014 is the year that I will run my first marathon and I'm really excited! Who knows? If all goes well, I hope to complete all the major marathons across the globe, including Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, Virgin London Marathon, BMW Berlin Marathon, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and ING New York City Marathon. Call me crazy, it's always on the back of my mind to maybe one day try to qualify for the Boston marathon!!!

Just out of curiosity, I looked up the qualifying time for women (from this year):

Almost 10 years ago, I set a goal to complete a full marathon before the age of 30. Do I dare to believe that I can possibly qualify for Boston marathon before I turn 40?? 

OK OK, enough day dreaming, first things first. 210 days until NYC Marathon and I need to get it going with the training. I need to be eating healthy every day, increasing my mileage run every week, losing weight and strengthening my core. I will be scouring websites and articles for interesting running advice and sharing my progress regularly. 

I'm so pumped! If anyone is out there and want to join me in my running endeavor, please leave me a message and join me! 

Brooklyn Half - injury :(

Stupid me, why, oh why did I decide to break out a new pair of running shoes when I'm doing a race as long as the Brooklyn Half???

There was a promotion for a black and pink running shoe and I got it because it's cheap. Note to self: never run in unbroken into shoes, it will hurt you. Lesson learned.

Brooklyn Half-Marathon

My first half-marathon!!!!

I ran my first half-marathon today and wow, I'm ALIVE!!!! Honestly, it really wasn't all that bad. In fact, I feel like I can do more and still be ok with it!

The race was located at Everett, WA (about 40 mins out of Seattle, WA). It was a small race, maybe 500 people at most in attendance, probably less. It was more or less a community event and everyone from around town came.

It was my first race, so I was really going for completion, rather than speed, which is why I was surprised to finish the race at 2:22:39!! (a 10:53 pace...mind you, I was walking a good chunk of it between mile 7-9 when it started pouring!)

My first half-marathon medal & bib

Chris told me that it's possible to do more. "You got it in you," he said. I guess?

In a couple of weeks, I will be running the Brooklyn Half-- almost done with the NYRR 9+1. If I still feel good after running that, then I'll make a decision about whether I will continue.

We'll see.