Diva Half Marathon

As I mentioned in the review of my first half marathon, I was set to run a second one less than a month later. This one was fun in a whole different way as I had Christopher there for support and ran alongside hundreds of other women and a handful of my closest NYC pals :)

The night before the race, we stayed at Chris' parents house in Long Island. This meant we only had a short commute over to Eisenhower Park bright and early the next morning.  Which was great considering we attended a wedding in the Catskills the night before!! I know. Crazy, right?  Unfortunately, we missed out on a good portion of the dancing since we left around 11pm so I could get some rest before the second big event of the weekend. Thankfully, Chris was sweet enough to let me sleep in the car on the ride back to Long Island! He knows I need my sleep :)

Once we arrived at the park, we managed to find my group of friends and get a few pictures. Then, I was off to the starting line. My friend, Tarra (in the white shirt above), and I stuck together for the first mile and a half before we both settled into our own grooves. Since I had a half under my belt already, I felt confident and relaxed. I wasn't worried about running the whole time or finishing by a certain mark. I just wanted to have fun and enjoy the experience. And that is exactly what I did!

Chris was set to meet me at a couple of points during the race.  One near the beginning and another around mile 8.  Just before mile 8, I stopped for a brief port-o-potty break and was just starting to get back into my groove when I saw Christopher!  I was so excited to see him!  I stopped and talked for a couple minutes and we staged a picture or two before I headed off to the finish.  We had plans to go watch the 1pm football games so he encouraged me to run fast!  And I did my best....

Around Mile 8 with a big smile on my face!

I started to drag a bit around the last couple of miles, but pushed through when I saw the fun boas and tiaras at various stations along that last mile or so.  It was a little awkward to have the boa wrapped around my super sweaty neck, but it was definitely a fun feature of the race.


Just before crossing the finish line!!

Chris got a great shot of my profile just before I crossed the finish line at the end of the race.  At this point, I was just focused on finishing and getting that shiny medal!!

I finished this one in 2:47:06. One minute and twenty seconds faster than before.  Hey, improvement is improvement.  To top it off, this experience was much more relaxing and enjoyable.  I walked a handful of times throughout the course, I stopped for a bathroom break, and I talked to Chris for a few minutes at Mile 8, yet my time improved...even if it was ever so slightly.  That's what I call a win!  I think the knowledge of having completed a half marathon previously helped tremendously.  It is incredible how much of running these long distance races can be mental in the end.  Either way, I finished, I had fun, and I was proud!

Definitely recommend the Diva Half Marathon Series to any fabulous women looking for a fun race!!

From start to finish, I had a lot of fun at this race!  Big thanks to Christopher for the support along the way!

Andrea :)