Last week, Fred DeVito, co-founder of Core Fusion at exhale spa, tweeted this:

BREATHE – FEEL – MOVE – THRIVE – SHIFT YOUR ENERGY. MAKE TRANSFORMATION YOUR REALITY . . . every time you take a class. This is what separates us from the pack . . . we create Mind Body experiences. It’s not just a class, it’s a lifestyle. Core Fusion is therapy.

He is so right.

Last Thursday I was feeling really down. I’ve been having trouble sleeping and called my doctor in tears after the medications she prescribed weren’t working. I felt so upset and even though I was really tired, I decided to sneak out of the office for a lunchtime Core Fusion class. I know how great I feel after class and thought it could make me feel better.

Turns out I didn’t even need to wait until the end of class for savasana to feel great. I felt better within the first five minutes of class. By the time we got to the thighs section (the most painful section!) I was pushing myself so hard, staying so low in our waterski position, pulsing and working and not letting myself stand up and straighten my legs — and the woman next to me turned to me after we were done with this part and said, “You were so inspiring!“

I couldn’t believe that someone thought I was inspiring, when everyone else there always inspires me. That is part of the magic of taking classes at exhale. I know I sound like a broken record and I know saying I sound like a broken record makes me sound like a broken record because I have said that before (still following?), but I love Core Fusion and here’s why:

• It is fun
• The time flies by and is never boring
• The music is awesome — where do you think I learn many of my running songs??!
• I like being strong/having muscles/being toned/being able to life heavy things
• I wore a bikini last weekend without feeling any negative thoughts about myself for the first time in five years
• When you only have an hour to exercise, it is an extremely effective, all encompassing hour
• You see results quickly (other people notice, too — I heart validation)
• You notice improvements during class quickly — ability to hold planks, do pushups, etc
• Even though it is expensive, one hour costs a lot less than a personal trainer would — and I equate this class to being the same as a personal training session, NOT a group fitness class
• It made me a much faster runner — my running time improved by an entire minute/mile with no speedwork and not much running practice
• I always  feel accomplished, strong, amazing, relaxed and at peace after
• As Fred tweeted, Core Fusion is more than a physical result of higher butt, flatter abs and long lean thighs . . . it shifts your energy and reduces your stress
• It just works

Now that I have been taking Core Fusion, Core Fusion Yoga and Core Fusion Cardio consistently for six months, I can’t even begin to get into what this has done for my body and my mind. I don’t even think twice when it comes to making sure I get my classes in for the week — I automatically include it into my day the way I include lunch, or sleep. And I want to offer my readers the chance to try this class out for free.

The details:

What?!: FREE Core Fusion – Open level class
Date: Thursday, August 12
Time: 7:00 pm
Place: Exhale Spa, 980 Madison Avenue at 77th street

Class Description:
Fusing the disciplines of core conditioning, Pilates, the Lotte Berk Method, interval cardio training, and yoga, this highly-acclaimed and publicized mind body experience incorporates 50 years of collective teacher expertise from co-founders Fred DeVito and Elisabeth Halfpapp. Allowing you to work from the inside out, this transformational class consistently delivers results, including washboard abs, a tighter and higher backside, long, lean muscles, and an athletic, toned body.

Class size is limited, so please leave a comment on this post or email me or tweet me to RSVP.  This class is first come, first served. Once I have the final list, I will send an email out to everyone to confirm. I will put together a wait list in case anyone lets me know that they can’t make it. So let me know, the sooner the better.

The teacher we will be having is one of the best.  I am so excited to share Core Fusion with you. If this goes well maybe we can do it again with Core Fusion Cardio or Core Fusion Yoga. Hope you can make it!

On Saturday I found myself closer to running the 2011 NYC Marathon as I completed my final qualifying race in my 9+1 with the Central Park Conservatory Run for Central Park 4 Mile. For those who don’t know, if you run nine New York Road Runners races and volunteer at one, you are guaranteed entry to the following year’s marathon. I actually ran 8 NYRR races this year, but the Run for Haiti counts twice because it was more expensive. All I have to do now is volunteer!

As good as it feels to be done with my racing component, I did find myself wishing during the race that I was volunteering rather than running. That is because this race was tough. So many small things went wrong! I still came out on top though.

The night before the race, well past my self appointed bedtime of 10 pm, I realized that I forgot to make a race playlist — this happened to be before my last race too. What is wrong with me these days! I quickly worked off my last 3 mile playlist and put something together quickly. I woke up before my alarm on race day and took my sweet time getting ready. I fixed up my playlist for a good 10-15 minutes. I don’t have a screenshot of my playlist because, again, I am forgetful lately, but here is a typewritten (is that a word?) list:

Why I Am (Dave Matthews Band) <– went to his concert THAT NIGHT at Citi Field!
@LaurenConrad Get Us On The Hills! (Super Mash Bros)
Shooting Stars (Bag Raiders) <– new favorite running song
Livin The Dream (Super Mash Bros)
Mr. Boom Boom Jones (The Knocks)
Hey Girl (OAR)
United State of Pop 2009(DJ Earworm)
Say Hey [I Love You](Michael Franti)
Cosmic Love (Florence + The Machine)
This Is Definitely Not the 405 (Super Mash Bros)
Lord of Tranz – Sanctificum (DJ Tiesto)

I stretched, got dressed, put on my hat, took off my hat, put on my hat, took off my hat and put on my hat, and then I was out the door!

I was a few blocks from home when I realized that I forgot my Garmin! My brand new Garmin that I was so excited to race with, to use as a guide, to have an understanding of my own pace, to push me and pace me. As I was laying my gear out the night before, I saw the Garmin on the dresser and decided to leave it there since it was in the charger. The charger wasn’t plugged in, yet I wanted to leave it there? Why? So of course it was not with my other stuff and then I just forgot it.

I was pretty upset at myself but decided I would run a great race anyway and try not to let this setback get me down. It turned out the Garmin wouldn’t have helped me anyway. . .

I got to my corral and while lots of people were complaining about how hot it was, I was loving it. I have been at so many races where I am freezing waiting for them to start, I really enjoy not being cold and not having layers to think about. I couldn’t hear any of the pre-race speeches or the national anthem which was very strange, because I’ve heard those  from much further back before. I did hear the starting horn and three minutes later crossed the start line.

And then I knew I was in for a very difficult race.

My legs were like lead. I partly blame myself for taking Core Fusion Yoga the day before the race. While yoga sounds like it would be a nice pre-race stretch, this class (especially with the teacher I had) was heavy on the quad strengthening. It was the opposite of a rest for my legs, so I did not go into this race with fresh legs at all. I only partly blame myself, because sometimes heavy legs just happens. So I am considering this a mix of my fault and not my fault.

Right away I knew that my Garmin would have been pretty pointless. I couldn’t run any faster than I was running, and I felt like I was moving pretty slowly. The race was counterclockwise around part of the Central Park loop, which I find to be the MUCH hillier route. There were so many uphills it was crazy! All I could do was keep moving. It was hard not only on my legs but on my chest, too. I hadn’t run at all since my 3 mile race on June 24, which was obviously not the smartest thing to do. I felt very out of shape in the running department. I quickly abandoned any ideas of running nine minute miles for a third race in a row.

To make matters worse, my right shoe felt too tight on the laces! I wanted so much to stop on the side and loosen it. I did that during my second half marathon, but I didn’t want to stop during a four mile race. I could push through. It only hurt sometimes. Other times I didn’t even notice it.

More! More ailments! I had ribcage pain. I practiced my breathing (breathe in on the right foot, out on the left). Also, I had to pee! I didn’t get to the race early enough to use the portapotties, and even though needing to pee during a race is usually nerves and not real, it still felt like a nuisance for the first mile. I even considered stopping at the portapotties before mile 1 was even over but decided I could push through. I knew deep down that it was not real! And while I thrive in hot weather, I do think the humidity affecting me as well. It just all kind of sucked.

There is more. When I started running last year I got this sharp pain in my right hip. Once I learned the right stretches to do before I ran, the pain disappeared. Even if I forgot to stretch, the pain never happened again — not through my half marathon training, not through my half marathons, not through my super fast 10K. But on this day, that pain came back. OH NO. I  really hope this isn’t something I will have to seriously deal with or a real injury. Yoga yoga yoga. I have another half to train for! Why is this happening now?

All these things were working against me. I didn’t feel awesome. I just wanted the race to be over. I considered quitting but it was only four miles (I say this not because four miles isn’t an accomplishment or is easy, but only in comparison to the 10Ks I recently ran, and the half marathons before that) and I knew I could push through. Soon enough it would be over.

My music was great, but it wasn’t motivating me. I just kept going because it was all I could do. I tried hard not to get myself crazy about my time, but I couldn’t help but be happy when I passed each mile marker and almost exactly 10 minutes had passed each time. That meant I was still maintaining a good pace despite the less than ideal conditions. I was trying not to focus on time because I just wanted to finish without feeling like death, but I am so competitive with myself and couldn’t help hoping to finish in less than 40 minutes.

When we got to the last mile I was so happy to see it was all downhill. I had some energy left in me since I just couldn’t push hard through the first three miles, so I was able to use the downhills to my advantage. I sped up and started passing people. Down down downhill. I smiled because I finally felt more like myself. Eventually that energy ran out too and I was thinking I still had a ways to go to to the finish line and I was SO ready for this to be over. And then I saw the finish line — much closer than I thought it would be! That last mile felt fast! Also, I was in the middle of the last song of my playlist. I always seem to time these so well.

I crossed the finish line and was just as happy to be done as at my very difficult second half marathon. I saw a few photographers during the race, but they were either fiddling with their cameras or I noticed them too late. We all know how I love hamming it up for the race paparazzi. I did get a couple finish line pictures!

(That guy is much happier than I am)

My official time was 39:06, for an average pace of 9:46. So happy with this time! I thought I was moving so slowly, but I was doing just fine! This  goes to show that my running has improved so much that what used to be a comfortable pace for me now feels slow. I love this! My time made the entire not-so-great race experience pretty . . . great!

(Smiling to be DONE)

Now I plan to get back into a regular running routine. And very soon I will start training for my next half marathon. I am so excited!

Have you ever had a difficult run and it turned out you were much faster than you realized?

This post is kind of all over the place because I have so many unrelated topics to discuss. I will try to keep this as clean and organized as possible. Starting . . . now.

Unrelated topic #1:
I plan to review something for you all soon that I am very excited about!  It comes from the same place that sells some pretty cool LED lighting sets, which I hope to buy if I am ever able to move into my own apartment. However, the product I will review is more relevant to my healthy lifestyle. Hint: Rachel loves it and it is small and you put food in it.

Moving on.

Unrelated topic #2:
I was very lucky to have the chance to visit the Boston location of my favorite place in the world: exhale spa. I love visiting familiar things in unfamiliar places — everything is kind of the same, but also different. It is like seeing your 4th grade teacher at the mall.

I got excited just seeing the front door!

I got to take a class there! Core Fusion Cardio fit into my schedule and it was SO weird taking a class I know well in a place I don’t. Liz from @exhaleboston was so great and showed me around and got me all set up. My teacher Andrea was awesome! She was upbeat, motivating and so much fun. I definitely recommend everyone in Boston take her class. And it turns out Andrea recognized me from my Core Fusion Challenge, she just didn’t realize it was me until after and she commented on my blog later to tell me!

I was thinking about where I might one day want to live, and I realized I don’t know if I could move to a place that doesn’t have an exhale spa and Core Fusion classes. That is a little sick, right? Hopefully exhale continues expanding. Some places I would especially like to see them pop up are Seattle and London. Hint, hint, Fred.

Exhale Boston is on two floors there, which is really great for keeping the Core Fusion room separate from the spa and yoga areas. And so I got into the elevator.

Uhh . . . I just wanted to go up.

What does this mean??! Which is up and which is down?? I stared, confused, until someone in the elevator with me who had been there before pressed the right button.

It did give the meaning of each in small letters underneath, but I was in too much shock to register that.

Speaking of Core Fusion, I wanted to hold a little poll.

NYC readers: If you were able to try ONE free class at exhale, would you want to try Core Fusion or Core Fusion Cardio? Both are absolutely amazing and challenging and rewarding. Please comment below, tweet me or email and let me know.

I might have something up my sleeve. Except it is summer and my arms look awesome from Core Fusion, so I am not wearing sleeves.

Unrelated topic #3:

Cooler Cleanse giveaway winner!

Thank you thank you thank you to all of you who commented here and wrote on Cooler Cleanse’s Facebook wall . We took all your votes into consideration, weighing extra heavily those who entered by comment and wall post. It was a very tough decision but in the end we agreed there was one clear winner:

Congratulations Elizabeth KS!

Elizabeth KS said:

Where to start?! I have been really curious about the Cooler Cleanse for some time, after hearing about the company from several friends (and okay, I’ll admit it, reading about it in magazines as a celeb favorite!) I’ve been intrigued, dying for more info… and yes, hoping to try it very soon myself. I’m really excited to see such an in depth, honest and super-validating review! Thank you for all great info and detail – it’s really very helpful to know what I can expect (like, love and not love) before diving in and trying the cleanse. The Cooler Cleanse just sounds like a great option for all folks, both cleanse-veterans and like myself, cleanse-novices (aka it tastes good and is simple to follow – WITHOUT sacrificing the hard core health and nutrition benefits.) Many of the cleanses out there are either intimidating/downright inedible OR on the flip side they are easy to follow & swallow but they don’t provide this same level of cleanse effectiveness and/or nutritional awesomeness. I have personally had a very rough year with my husband losing his job and a host of other issues (sadly as we all know, tough times often lead to bad eating habits and poor health) but I am now looking toward the future and want to kickstart better days with good nutrition and a positive outlook. What better way to re-start my system, body, outlook and life than by Cooler-Cleanse-ing it out for three days!! I would be so sincerely grateful if I were to win this cleanse – I think it might be the (much-deserved) start of a whole new me! PS This late-breaking-news that very soon they will be extending the delivery zone outside of NYC is especially fantastic… we recently relocated to Boston and I can’t tell you excited I am to have a little piece of (healthy, innovative, awesome) New York available here! I was seriously considering making a pal from the old neighborhood drive me the cleanse 3 hours away

We hope you enjoy your cleanse, Elizabeth!

If you didn’t win and you live in NYC, get 10% off your Cooler Cleanse with the discount code ESSENTIALGREEN. This code is valid through July 19 for NYC local delivery only. Read my review of Cooler Cleanse here.

This is probably not the last you will see of Cooler Cleanse on this blog. I hope to give you more chances to try a cleanse because so many of you had such inspiring responses.

Happy Fourth of July! Hope you all enjoyed your long weekends. I enjoyed mine, although I had to work a little each day, especially on Monday. For some reason I have to work over every long holiday weekend — what is up with that?! I did get to spend a good amount of time out in the sun, so being sun-tired combined with stressed from work means Tuesday blags is late tonight. But worth it.

As you might know I’ve tried Blueprint Cleanse twice and Organic Avenue once. What I haven’t had a chance to discuss yet is that last month I tried the new kid in town in the world of the juice fast — Cooler Cleanse. A collaboration between Salma Hayek and Eric Helms (founder of Juice Generation in NYC), Cooler Cleanse officially launched earlier this year. Their history, from their website:

Since 1999, Eric Helms, founder of Juice Generation, has offered the ultimate juicing experience in New York City. In 2008, he received a very specific challenge from friend and fellow juicing devotee Salma Hayek. She asked him to custom-blend the perfect detoxifying drinks: raw, nutrition-packed juices that would improve her cleanses to make them as effective—and enjoyable—as possible.

Using his top-of-the-line hydraulic press, Eric created a rich array of nutritious concoctions from organic, sustainably grown produce. Salma taste-tested and reviewed them all. The process took months as what started as a friendly challenge evolved into a dynamic collaboration to create their dream line-up of detox drinks.

The result of their efforts is a cleansing program that is easy to accomplish, ultra-fresh and absolutely delicious. To complete the cleansing experience, they worked with some of the best nutritionists and vegan chefs in Manhattan to develop additional raw-food menus, always using the premium-grade ingredients on which Eric built the success of his stores.

So it sounds great, but Blueprint Cleanse also sounded great and well, I really disliked their green juice. I drink green juice every day but BPC’s was just too sickly sweet. I think it is the apple. Organic Avenue was okay but the delivery was annoying and expensive. I was excited to try Cooler Cleanse to see if it was any better, since it is very helpful to me to have a juice fast that I like because of my GI illness.

Even though my stomach has been feeling much better than the last few years, sometimes I still feel really badly. A  juice fast helps get me on track again. In fact, right before I had four months of feeling almost completely better, I did a juice fast. I really believe it is a good tool for resetting and getting back on track to a better stomach and healthier habits.

For those of you not familiar, the hydraulic press used to make these juices retains the most vitamins, minerals and enzymes so you are essentially drinking vitamins and nutrition and health and rainbows and unicorns. Drinking your meals also gives your digestive system a break so your body can use less energy digesting and more energy absorbing nutrients and healing. Check out the reasons you might want to try a juice fast.

While on a juice fast, you will miss the act of eating but you will probably not feel hungry. There are SO many vegetables in these juices and they are just so filling. Sometimes I am not able to finish a whole day. I do recommend getting the advice of a professional before starting any cleanse and following the instructions on easing into the fast — and out of it. And please read the SIX BIG QUESTIONS, which has valuable information on who should — and shouldn’t — cleanse.

So last month I checked out the Cooler Cleanse website and decided that instead of the standard 3-Day Cooler Cleanse, I would instead go with something I thought was a fantastic idea — the Custom Cooler. In the Custom Cooler, you can choose exactly which juices you want from their menu. If it is your first time cleansing, I would absolutely recommend going with their 3-Day Cooler Cleanse because the juices (and the order) are carefully selected for the purpose of, well, cleansing. In my case, I’ve been around the juice fast block a few times and I know what I like and I know what I need for my specific stomach problems. And that is why I ordered three days worth of Custom Cooler.

Before I go on I just want to say that I receieved no discount or free cleanse to try. I paid in full because I wanted to try this out.

And . . . I loved it.

Seriously, their Essential Green juice. SO GOOD. Like real green juice. Not sickly sweet or overwhelming or very veggie-tasting even. I read that Salma Hayek went through many green juice taste trials before they perfected their green juice recipe. (The secret ingredient is pear!) I also tried some other juices from their menu.

I really loved the Pineapple & Ginger juice. I drank it on my first of three days and wished I had ordered it for all three. But then I also loved the fruit juices I ordered for the other two days — the Pineapple Mint and Waterlemon Lime. Uh, yeah, how could I not? The Essential Red was all right, not my favorite. I tried the Almond Milk and the Brazil Nut Milk. Both were good and sweetened with dates only, so they weren’t as sweet as other cleanse’s  nut milks I’ve tried on cleanses that contain agave. There is a debate going on about whether agave is good or bad for you so it was nice to avoid that whole issue and stick with a true natural sweetener. That said, these nut milks really are not as sweet as you might be used to, so prepare yourself. While they were a great treat at the end of a long fast day, the “dessert” feeling was a little lost. But I still thoroughly looked forward to and enjoyed the nut milks.

Would I do Cooler Cleanse again? Definitely. Would I choose them over their competitors? Yep.

I really enjoyed their juices, the convenience of their delivery and the fact that they offer a Custom Cooler ($60/day — but think about buying a few margaritas and dinner!).The typical 3-Day Cooler Cleanse ($58/day) contains six juices a day. This is the sample menu.  They also have a 5-Day Cooler Cleanse for the more ambitious of you and a Raw Cooler ($62/day), which delivers a full day of delicious raw-food meals and drinks. And if you do the Raw Cooler you get SMOOTHIES. They look so good. You can read about the different types of cleanses here.

Want to try Cooler Cleanse for free?

Enter for a chance to win a FREE 3-day Cooler Cleanse.

Here’s how:

• Leave a comment here telling us why you deserve a 3-day Cooler Cleanse (one entry)
• Leave a note on Cooler Cleanse’s Facebook wall telling us why you deserve a 3-day Cooler Cleanse (two additional entries) – don’t forget to Like them!

Be creative! Or be honest. Or be . . . something. There is no random number generator at work here —  I will work with the Cooler Cleanse team to select a winner (your extra entries mean your answer gets has more weight) and I will announce the winner here on Tuesday, July 13. You must be a US Resident to enter, and if you are selected as a winner and live outside the NYC area, you will have to select a cleanse date beginning after July 19 when nationwide shipping begins.

In NYC and want to try a juice fast and save some cash? Get 10% off your Cooler Cleanse with the discount code ESSENTIALGREEN. This code is valid through July 19 for NYC local delivery only. I’ll be using that code for myself.

Okay, so remember — leave a comment here and on Facebook for a total of three entries to win a free 3-day Cooler Cleanse! This prize is worth $189 with delivery or $174 with pickup. Good luck!

[All photos taken from the Cooler Cleanse website]

Every year, my company sponsored the Wall Street Run, a 3 mile race through the streets of the Financial District in Manhattan. There is a running portion and a walking portion, and the groups are split up with separate starts. I always had free entry to this race through my job and access to the after parties where the margaritas were a-flowing!

Then another company bought my company, and that new company doesn’t care about helping heart disease. Or something. My point is, my company no longer sponsors this race, so this year I had to pay for my entry — which is good, since part of my entry went to the American Heart Association. My grandpa had two heart attacks and double bypass surgery, so this is an important cause to me.

I have to admit, it was very strange not having lots of people in my office all getting ready and going down to the start together in our matching shirts. In fact, the two people left in the office when I was getting ready asked me how I knew about the race! Without our company to sponsor it and promote it on the intranet, no one there even knew the race was happening. How sad. How different things used to be.

I really like that this race starts and ends right outside my office building at 6:45 pm. Convenience is key. I changed at work and went downstairs to meet my friends Missy and Melissa before the race. It was Missy’s first race, so I was excited for her! So excited that I insisted on attaching her D-Tag timing chip on her shoe while she stood helpless.

The night before the race, at 10 pm (bedtime) I realized that I forgot to create a race playlist! I abandoned any hopes of getting to sleep early and worked on a fun, fast 3 mile playlist.

My playlist was so awesome and I love myself for selecting these songs. It was the official race of the mashup.

I am still not ready to give up on Say Hey (I Love You).

Even though it was 93 degrees out with 60% humidity and many people were concerned, I was excited. When people are comfortable, I am cold. When people are cold, I am shivering in pain. When people are hot and sweaty, I am comfortable.

I thrive in the heat.

This was the first year the race was held in June. It is usually in May and I have a feeling that after this year the NYRR might switch it back to May again. According to all the normal temperatured (I can make up words if they make sense) people, it was a very hot, sticky race. And I knew it was hot, I am able to recognize that. When I saw a girl in a cotton t-shirt and cotton full length leggings, my heart hurt a little for what she was about to experience.

Because I like the heat, I decided to push myself a little — but not too much. I am not stupid, and I do know to slow down or stop if I am not feeling well. I hydrated well all day, having a cold pressed green juice with a dash of sea salt right before the race. Having come straight from my office to the start, it was my first non-portapotty race and I have to say, it was nice.

I turned on my new Garmin and then someone sang the National Anthem. I was chatting to my friends and this guy turned around and yelled at me! Oops.

And then we were off! I took off and . . . could not move. There were so many people, no corrals, many non-runners. Lots of the people there were part of teams through their company. But I wanted to try and run! So I weaved. I followed other runners up on sidewalks to get around people and dashed between friends. I did make sure to take in my surroundings because I love running races on actual streets of NYC! I think it is so cool when they close the streets for runners, and I am impressed by NYRR’s ability to close off so much of the financial district during rush hour.

I’ve worked in this area for three years now, so it was also fun running through familiar territory. Now, when I walk along these sidewalks, I can think “I ran on this street!” As I ran down Church street, some kids who were around 14 were holding their hands out for high fives. I took one, of course.

So as I said I wore my new Garmin and here is the map of where I ran for this race:

You can see a lot of my weaving here! The race was straight down streets and around corners. All the little squigglies are my dogding people an trying to maintain a decent pace. Although I have to admit the Garmin was a little off. I assure you I did not run directly over Ground Zero.

There was only one water station, on Water Street (ha), which was not nearly enough on such a hot, humid day. I didn’t even get to see it because so many people were crowded around, although there was a person with a hose again. I didn’t run directly under the water, but a couple drops got on me and it was nice.

Sometimes the crowd would clear a little and I’d have room to run, other times it would be completely packed and I would have to slow down and figure out how to get around everyone. A lot of people would just start walking right in the middle, which I completely understand and think is a great thing to do in these temps — but I wish they would have moved over to the side. Oh, well.

At the last mile, the road really cleared up. I finally had space to run! Except I was tired and didn’t have much left in me, so I was just going through the motions at that point. My big push at the beginning took a lot out of me. When we turned onto the West Side Highway, I did get some new energy back because I knew we were getting near the end, and I love this running path! I’ve walked this path many times during breaks from work.

The sun was beating down on us and the river was gorgeous. There were so many people cheering us on! I was surprised by how quickly I saw the finish line ahead — this race went by so fast! I was on my last song of the playlist, so I timed it well, but I was still shocked. I’m usually wishing for the finish line and wondering if it will ever come, but for this race (yes, it was just three miles, but still a tough race) it hit me out of nowhere. I wanted to speed up and sprint for a strong finish, but the path is pretty narrow here and there was no way to get around the masses of people. So I just kept going and then I was done!

I didn’t immediately stop in my tracks or feel like I need to collapse like I do after many other races. I felt great! I could have run more. I walked over to the water bottles, got one for myself and then secured a table outside at Southwest for me, Missy and Melissa.

Shortly after I finished, they joined me at our table overlooking the water for margaritas and quesadillas!

Our view from dinner:

I need to take advantage of this more often. My new BlackBerry takes very nice photos!

Amazing Grilled Vegetable and Goat Cheese Quesadilla (Grilled marinated vegetables, caramelized onions, roasted poblano peppers, Goat cheese and Mexican cheeses).

Oh! How did I do? According to the New York Road Runners, here are my stats for this 3 mile race:

Time: 27:15

Pace: 9:05
Age: 35

Okay, so I am not 35, I am 27.  But I am so happy with my time! Even though it felt like I was running so slowly because of all the people, I managed to run pretty fast anyway! I wonder how I could do in this distance in better racing conditions? I felt like such a real runner too, trying to get around so many people who weren’t taking the race as seriously as I am. Probably because they are not insane like I am.

My Garmin actually says I ran 3.4 miles, which makes sense with ALL my weaving. I definitely ran more than 3 miles in this 27:15.  Seriously, I went so far out of my way to get around all the people! Although the Garmin also thinks I ran over a construction site, so, you know.  I think I can compare this to my 5K races and officially call this a PR.

So happy with this race! Most other people I spoke to found the weather too hot and humid and had a less than ideal race. And although the race conditions were far from perfect, I still managed to have a great time and be happy with my time.

Have you ever ran well in a race that other people found difficult? Or found a race challenging or annoying when no one else seemed to?

Good news for you: next week’s post will NOT be a race recap. Rejoice!