Last weekend I ran The Staten Island Half Marathon! It was such an amazing experience. I had so much fun and was really able to draw from the energy of everyone around me ... the fellow-runners as well as everyone who lined up to cheer us on! I finished in just under 2 hours. My goal is to finish the NYC Marathon in under 4 hours ... more focused training to come ... can't wait till the big day ;)
 

I just want to give a very heartfelt thank you to EVERYONE who has donated to the cause these past few weeks. Some of you donated more than once, others were extremely generous, some of you even threatened your friends into donating too (just kidding :) all in all I've been extremely touched by the support we've been able to rally for the LLS, especially in these past 2 weeks. I went from 40% to 100% in 2 weeks, and you guys have kept up the support and generosity. We are now well past $4000 in funds raised for the LLS and basically at 110% of the original goal! Thank you and Well done everyone!! 

Now ... time for a road trip to Philly and another small Jiu-Jitsu tournament today, and back early for the Staten Island Half tomorrow morning. There'll be time to rest later .. Batman wouldn't need to rest! ;)

So just like in Jiu-Jitsu, I never entered the big time tournaments until putting in a little work at the smaller local tournaments first. I figured I would apply this same approach to running by signing up for The Staten Island Half Marathon this coming Sunday. The other benefit here is that the NYC Marathon (only a few short weeks away) one of the biggest and busiest marathons in the world, won't be my first newbie experience. I definitely want to run through (no pun intended) all the logistics of race day before that, and no less in the borough the NYC marathon will actually start as well. I'm very pumped for this! Wish me luck. Looking to finish in under 2 hours ;)

This is my peak long run before tapering down. The marathon is only a month away. I'm super-excited. I've done 19 miles before and it was rough. I find that I enjoy different routes and scenery but because of time and convenience will probably finish off this run with two loops around Central Park. I did run into the city from Queens over the 59th Street Bridge ... not missing the MTA there ;)

Hardest run yet ... I needed a full day to recover! My IT bands and Achilles in particluar. I've learned to listen to my body and am icing them diligently. I do enjoy this challenge. This was a rough one (I don't typically use Gu, but I definitely could have used it on this one, will plan it out better in the future) All in all, I got through it and I can't wait for Nov 2nd!

I was fortunate enough to come away with 2 victories in my division this past weekend in order to take home the Gold!! So happy and grateful!

Mission: Accomplished on the competition Jiu-Jitsu To-Do List!
Now back to marathon training! ;)