I made it...

After 8 months of serious running, I completed my first half-marathon; the New York City Half. In fact, it was my first race ever (not by design but my schedule didn't permit even a single 5K race). It was really humid and that affected my overall pace but I managed to finish at the 43rd percentile in the age adjusted ranking. That means that of the 10,000+ people who ran, 57% were faster than me if ages were equal. My overall time was 2 hours, 28 minutes; slower than my personal best but not bad considering the first-race jitters and the heat. What a great experience.

Here is the plot of my run. The heat got to me around mile 9 but then I picked things up again and finished strong.


And a few pics of me in Central Park and in Times Square...

Marathon Training

Many of you know I've been training for the upcoming New York City Half-Marathon later this month. Today marks a milestone of sorts since I completed my first 13.1 mile run in 2 hours, 14 minutes. That's an average pace of 10'15" per mile; not too bad... My long runs were averaging 10 to 12 miles but I thought it was time to do the full half. So at this point, I think I'm ready...