New York, New York - Part 2

          I pride myself in being able to sleep anywhere at anytime except for the night before a race. Sure, I fell asleep quickly even with the sound of loud children having fun in the hall and the next room over. However, I woke up a couple of hours before our alarms were set to go off in fear of oversleeping and missing the race. By 5:30am on Saturday, March 22nd  I gave up on trying to get back to sleep. Rita, Shar and I left the house by 7:00am to get to the race and pickup our packets in time for the 9:00am start of the half marathon. The temps in the morning were in the low forties. It would have been more bearable if it wasn't for the wind. I bought running pants specifically for the race and I had borrowed my sister's heavy running jacket. I wore a beanie to keep my head and ears warm, but I kept the hood of the jacket up to keep the wind off of my neck.

Rita and I staying warm before the start.

          Rita and I usually do 3:1 intervals when we train together, but we decided to do 2:1 intervals for this race. To our surprise, it's the best finish time we've had together. We took off our jackets by mile 3. I didn't take it off because I broke a sweat, but because the jacket irritated me. We ran the next 10 miles with the jackets tied around our waists. I ran the entire race with my gloves on.  The cool weather definitely helped us keep an even pace for the entire race. Typically, we slow down after mile 10, but we were able to push through our cramps and fatigue all the way through the finish. Once we passed mile 12, I told Rita that it looks like we can finish in 2:35!  I'm not sure if it was her or I that picked up the pace for the last mile, but we pushed it hard to the finish and wound up finishing in 2:34! I think that's an amazing time considering we were doing 2:1 intervals! Following the race, we went to the beer garden at the after party. It sounds crazy, but beer tastes heavenly after 13.1 miles.

Celebrating our awesome race!

          This race was the reason I went to New York. To run the half with Rita for her birthday. Everything else I was able to do was just a happy bonus. I met Rita through Team Challenge. We actually signed up at the same info meeting. She raised money for CCFA to go to the Chicago half and I raised money for CCFA to go to the Napa half. We quickly found a common pace in order to run together during training. At first, I was the one encouraging and pushing her. She excelled so fast during training that she soon was the one encouraging and pushing me. We help each other get through the difficult mileage. We understand when the other isn't having a good day. She is such a beast that she ran her first marathon with me at Space Coast last November. She made the 26.2 miles look easy while I struggled. I would have never had this opportunity if I didn't take part in Team Challenge. I'm beyond grateful that I met Rita. She's one awesome lady!

          Following the after party, we found a pizzeria and I had delicious New York styled pizza!  Then we went to the house to shower before heading to the boardwalk near Coney Island with Pooch, Dana (Pooch's girlfriend), Shar, Rita and I. It was nice to walk out the stiffness in my legs from the race and all the walking the day before. Coney Island took a huge hit from hurricane Sandy and was still being renovated, so it wasn't opened. The boardwalk was nice. It reminded me of Sea Isle City in NJ when I visited my aunt and uncle. Once we were finished walking on the boardwalk, we went to a hole the wall place to eat gyros for dinner. Talk about yummy!!!!

          After dinner, we went back to the house to get ready to go to a club called Flamingo. I was happy everyone was going in jeans because I thought is was way too cold to wear the dress I brought. Shar doesn't drink, so she was our designated driver for the night. When we walked into Flamingo around 11pm, there were tables and a bar, but not really any designated dance floor. Shar went to talk to someone she knew behind the bar and the next thing I know is that we were being escorted upstairs. As we climbed the stairs you could hear the music getting louder. I felt the vibration in my feet more with every step I took. Upstairs was a whole dance floor with VIP seating around it and of course a bar area. Shar then talked to the guy behind the bar and he walked us over to a VIP table. I can't even describe how loud the music was, but the vibration I felt in my butt when I sat down is a good start. There were eight of us, Rita, Molly, Pooch, Dana, Shar, Shar's two friends that we met in the city and me. Rita's sister, Molly got me started with a long island ice tea... more followed.  Damn, they make 'em good in New York. By good, I mean strong. I think it was an Indian club of some sort, so the music was unlike I've ever heard before. It didn't stop me from dancing though. The clubs in New York are opened until 4am.  I can count on one hand the number of times I've danced and drank like that before. It was so much fun to cut loose for a change.  In the car, on the way to eat at the diner was when I realized how sober Rita was. I'll be honest, the diner is kind of a blur. Perhaps because I was tired for almost being up for 24 hours straight, or it could have had something to do with all of those long island ice teas.

Me, Molly and Rita, the dancing queens

Shar's friend, Molly, me, Rita, Shar and Dana

          As soon as we got back to the house around 5:30am I went to bed. I was exhausted! When I woke up, Rita's aunt had already made pancakes, which were the best I've ever had. They were thick and tasty. I wasn't sure what the plans were for the day, so I didn't waste any time getting ready and packing my stuff in case we didn't have time to stop by the house before they had to take me to the airport later. I didn't know, we were meeting some of Rita's old friends at a beer garden until we were almost there. I wasn't really dressed for a beer garden, but no one seemed to care. Luckily, I've never had a hangover in my life and Sunday stayed true to that. Still, I wasn't in the mood for beer, so I stood with Shar and watched some March Madness while Rita took advantage of the beer garden (Studio Squared) and danced with her friends. We stayed there until it was time to take me to the airport. I slept on the plane ride back to Orlando.

           This was like a once in a lifetime kind of trip. I'll be lucky if I make it back to NYC. Don't get me wrong I want to go back, but I'm sure it will definitely be a while before that happens. I'm forever thankful for Rita and her family for taking me in and showing me New York. It was one hell of an awesome trip!