This was my pile-of-suck results from yesterday’s race. I had been aiming for 1:30, and given my previous long runs, that should have been right on pace.

What happened? I’m thinking:

• the cold (for reals, it’s tougher for your muscles to warm up)
• stress (a disagreement I had with someone immediately prior to the race and the subsequent text messages I received during the race)
• slacking on my training as of late. Just because I’d run 9 miles or more before didn’t mean I could basically take off a few weeks and hop back on the proverbial horse. Yesterday’s race was TOUGH, and my time definitely reflected that.

But since I am a glass half-full kind of girl, I’m glad

• I raced my first Central Park race
• I raced my first 15K
• Ran yesterday. (Yes, as of late, this is a big enough accomplishment in itself. Le sigh.)
• I had a bad race. I think this is like a good-luck omen for the half-marathon. It *has* to be great, right? Right.