Last night, after finishing work at 9pm, I walked through the door dreading my weekend plans. I was supposed to head down to Philadelphia via train this afternoon in order to run the Rock N Roll Philadelphia Half marathon tomorrow with Leslie.

When Leslie told me that her ITBand was giving her issues and may prevent her from running, that was all I needed to sway me against the trip. Even though I’ll be losing the entry fee, I’m saving $150 by not buying a train ticket and a lot of sanity. Every now and then I have to make a smart decision and think of my sanity versus what I necessarily want to do!

Therefore, last night’s quesadilla slice and chips and salsa that were shared with my co-workers ended up being the perfect carb loading for this morning’s long run.

As soon as I made the decision to run this morning, I chugged a huge glass of NUUN infused water and went to bed.

At 6:30 this morning I woke up ready to run!

In case you were wondering, I’m still not tired of peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

I debated what to wear since it was nice and chilly, my favorite running weather. I decided up on my Lululemon Groove shorts and my marathon technical tee.

This is the face of a happy and very stress free lady! I didn’t realize how much the trip down to Philadelphia was stressing me out until I decided against it. I slept wonderfully, woke up happy, and was excited to run.

I didn’t plan my run ahead of time since I thought I’d be running down in Philadelphia. With my Garmin on and my iPhone Run Keeper I was ready to go. I decided to challenge myself by running up 1st Avenue, part of which is on the marathon route. I ran all the way up into Spanish Harlem before turning over towards Central Park. The whole time I was running down Fifth Avenue all I could think about was last year’s marathon. I remembered passing the botanical gardens, each street sign, and the museums.

These cobblestones are harder to run on than you may imagine! I’m thankful that we have the wide open road during the marathon.

I turned into the park right around the reservoir and enjoyed a relaxing loop around the reservoir. I’m still not in love with the area but this morning the views were relaxing and gorgeous!

Even better was the fact that I felt great! I was around mile 10 at this point and was averaging a 10:31 pace.

As I exited the reservoir, I heard the lead vehicle warning runners to move aside. The elite men had already started the Fitness Magazine 4 Miler!

Their speed inspired me to run over to the registration area as fast as I could at this point in my run. I kept a 9:54 pace as I ran across the park.  It probably wasn’t the smartest move in the long run but boy did it feel good to sprint around the park!

I picked up my bib, stretched, and started looking for my lovely running friends who were running a few miles before the race, just like me.

Luckily, I spotted these two goobers easily. I mean really, how could you miss these two between Theodora’s awesome sweat shirt and Tina’s fanny pack.

We headed over to the corrals, meeting up with Rebecca along the way! At this point she had already run 16 miles, Theodora had run 8 miles, and I was at the 11.5 mile point!

My legs didn’t really enjoy the 15 minutes of standing around. That is the worst part of sticking a race in the middle of a long run. But, the best part is that you’re surrounded by thousands of other people and the energy helps the miles fly by faster than a normal long run.

This pace includes a 3:15 bathroom break which therefore makes me even prouder of this time. I ran the entire time, Cat Hill didn’t kill me, and I loved watching people as they clearly ran their first races; including Ali’s awesome friend who was rocking it when I saw her!

After the race I was lucky enough to spot tons of my friends including Camille, Ashley, Rebecca, Tina, Theodora, Meghan, and others! It was so fun seeing everyone! After catching up for a few minutes Tina, Theodora, and I decided it was time to start moving. I followed them towards the southern end of the park and waved goodbye as they headed for the West Side Highway and I continued towards the east side. I tend to always exit the park around the corner of 59th and Fifth Avenue as I love the flowers and action in that area!

I had two more miles left by the time I left the park. To say I was anxious to finish would be an understatement. I kept looking at my iPhone every few blocks, hoping I’d see the number 17. Luckily, the new windows in Bergdorf’s, Saks, and Gucci kept me occupied as I headed towards home.

Finally, success was mine! Seventeen miles done in 3:01:38 (actual running time) which is a 10:40 average!

Too bad I forgot my key in my rush to leave this morning. Luckily I knew Bo’s 11am spin class would be over soon and he could let me in.

While I waited I went to Walgreens, stretched, iced, and sipped this new to me recovery drink. The G Series Fit 3 was far more delicious than I expected. With only 120 calories and 12 grams of protein it was the perfect thing to drink after this morning’s run AND it was on sale at Walgreens!

Within twenty minutes of finishing my run I was in my happy and very cold place! Hopefully my legs and itBand will thank me later for suffering the cold.

Now, my feet are ready for some pedicure pampering! Have a great day and enjoy some college football! Go Irish! Go Dawgs!