MORE half-marathon weekend.

Long time, no blog! I'm going to skip over lots of what's been going on in the past couple of months, and will just post a few of the more recent highlights.

Starting with that fact that I finally ran the MORE Half-Marathon in Central Park on April 26th.

Tons and tons of ladies milling about in the post-race waiting area.

I was really excited for the race --- I'd trained pretty hard and completed my last long run at my goal pace. So you can imagine my disappointment when, on the morning of the race, I found out that the race wouldn't be scored and that it was downgraded to a "fun run." I was really bummed. The change meant that the scoring chips (which monitor the amount of time you spend running a course) wouldn't work and that the race wouldn't be listed on my New York Road Runners record. Not a big deal in the long run, but the competitor in me was sad. I've been working to improve my speed in a long-distance race (which isn't saying much in terms of all runners, but good in terms of my personal goals).

But it made good sense why the race got downgraded. When we started the race, it was 70 degrees. By the time I crossed the finish line, it was just about 80 degrees! Way too hot for a 13.1 mile race, even with lots of hydration. Especially considering that 7,700 women ran or walked the race, many of whom had not completed a long-distance race before. The ambulances kept very busy throughout the course. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. And I was happy because (although I had to time myself) I beat my personal goal in terms of race time!

With Nick near the finish line -- a sweaty mess, but happy to be finished!

After the race, Nick and I grabbed brunch at one of my favorite Soho restaurants, Lure. They have a great weekend brunch menu -- $24.95 for a prix fixe meal that includes a drink (including my fav, the bloody mary), appetizer (which includes 1/2 a dozen oysters as an option) and entree. Perfect post-race fuel. Plus, the restaurant is under the Prada store. Who could resist?

Later that evening, Nick and I met up with some friends for a low-key early birthday dinner at Mary Ann's, a Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood.
It was nice to get together with some of my NYC favorites, especially given how busy everyone has been lately!