Super Bowl Update

The Marathon today went very well. It was cool and cloudy, but no rain during the day. I finished in 3:50:52 for a 8:49 mile pace. That's 33 minutes faster than I ran last year and over a minute faster per mile. I am quite pleased! I was hoping for a 9 minute pace, but I've had several long training runs over the past few weeks where I was having a hard time staying that fast. Today I just felt really great. I zoomed through the first half of the race feeling no fatigue. I slowed down a bit in the 1st Ave stretch to look for my family and friends and it was great to see them along the way. Miles 18-20 were a bit tough, but once I got back in Manhattan, I felt really strong. When I realized I was in no danger of missing my 4 hour goal, I got very emotional. I was so happy when I finished the race!

As wonderful an experience as last year's marathon was for me. I really think this year was even more special. It was so nice to have my cousin Alene with me as she was running her first marathon. I was also so proud of my friend and co-worker Cathy who was running her first marathon and had been training so hard for so long to make it happen. I'm so proud of both of them. I also had friends and family on the course this year and I was able to see everyone at least once and that was really just an incredible boost. The spectators are really what make the NYC Marathon so amazing. I think it's one of the best events in the city. Everyone is so happy and so supportive and each borough gets to be represented - even if it's just a little while in the Bronx and Staten Island. It was just wonderful to be running the race and see posters with my name on them and my friends cheering. It's really exciting! It made me feel great.

I wanted to send a thank you to everyone who donated to Children's Tumor Foundation this year. Not only did I meet my goal, but CTF surpassed their fundraising goal for the event. I'd also like to thank everyone who sent me well-wishes and notes of encouragement, everyone at work who emailed back and forth about where Cathy and I were on the course, and everyone who came out to the race or showed up at the post-party. It was an incredibly special day and it would not have meant nearly as much without you.

I also wanted to send a thank you to all the volunteers, the New York Road Runners staff and the NYPD officers who work so hard to make this such a successful event. They handle such an insane amount of runners and yet everything goes so smoothly. It's really an impressive operation. They all deserve a big round of applause.

See you next year? I sure hope so!