What would you do if you woke up to this gloomy scene? I wanted to roll back over and go back to sleep, but I was registered for the NYRR 4-Mile. I checked Twitter to see if any of my friends were bailing. Ashley and Ali weren’t, so I decided to (wo)man up and do the damn thing. I knew I’d be really mad at myself reading their race recaps, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, anyway.

That I have to walk Bailey before I can leave for a race is the best thing ever and the worst thing ever. When there’s good weather, it’s great. I’m excited to get out there. When there’s bad weather, it makes it that much harder to go back out once I bring him back to my apartment. I got a preview of the rain this morning, brought him upstairs and turned right back around to leave before I could change my mind.

I huddled in the bandstand with a few hundred other runners trying to keep dry. Finally, Ashley showed up and we chatted for a few minutes and walked over to the corrals, where we ran into Melissa, who looked like she REALLY didn’t want to be there. We all started together but separated within about 30 seconds of the start. I knew from the start that I wanted to PR at this race, and I figured it was probably within reach.

The last four-mile race I did was the Race to Deliver in November, which I ran in 35:15, about a month after the marathon, when I still felt like my legs were a little heavy. I did a lot of speedwork for the half-marathons I ran last month, so I knew I had it in me. The first few minutes, I ran a bit gingerly. I was really afraid of slipping on the rainy road, breaking something and never being able to run again. The course was the same as the Race to Deliver–it ran a small loop counterclockwise. There were a few uphill climbs, but there were also a TON of downhills.

Running three half-marathons last month helped a lot mentally. I just kept thinking “I ran three times this distance THREE TIMES last month. I totally got this.” I only checked my watch at the mile markers, and all of my miles were UNDER 8:45. (8:25, 8:08, 8:39, 7:57, and the last .05 at a 6:55 pace!) Less than two years ago, when I started running, I was running nearly 12-minute miles. It just goes to show what hard work and stubbornness can do. I crossed the finish line at 33:28!!!

Afterwards, I went to the JackRabbit Running Show with Ashley and a VIP.

It was sort of a glorified expo–even in the same building, the Metropolitan Pavilion, where most of the expos are held.

But I bought some goggles for my upcoming tri.

Ashley got some new sneaks (and poured water all over this poor man when her hood flipped over when she was trying on these shoes)

There were jazz hands. Um, my hands were too cold to properly jazz-hand.

And there was ladies’ Body Glide? We asked the Body Glide guy–he said it’s just the same as the men’s. Yup. Marketing trick.

Yeah, I was pretty wet.

When I got home, I ordered an egg and cheese on an everything bagel. As you know, I usually get bagels after I run. They’re amazing, but eating nothing but carbs means that I’m usually hungry again within an hour. I decided to go for adding some protein, and it was delicious!

I’ll be walking around with a smile all day today after my badass PR in the rain, thankyouverymuch.