After a long week and some issues with my phone, I took it easy the night before my 10K. Obviously, you’d think. Well, the night before my last 10K, I went out and had a few drinks, which is a few more drinks than I like to have the night before a race. Miraculously, I PRed (for non-runners, that means I set a personal record). I was joking around on Twitter that I should really go out and have a few drinks on Friday night.

I laid in bed a bit too long and walked up to the start line about five minutes before the race started. The race was all women, and the pre-race chat was even louder than usual, as you might expect with 10,000 women! The very pregnant Kara Goucher and Paula Radcliffe were there, and Radcliffe still ran faster than me despite having a baby in her belly! The race started at Columbus Circle and ran up Central Park West to about 90th Street, where we entered Central Park. Running in the park is awesome, but I LOVE when the roads are closed for races — it feels like you own the city! The rest of the race was relatively uneventful, albeit pretty hilly and humid. They had “misting stations” (aka sprinklers) towards the end, which felt pretty amazing on my hot, sweaty body and ensured my hair looked super-sexy by the end of the race. Despite the heat and humidity, and in spite* of my lack of wine the night before the race, I managed to PR at 58:07!

*I clearly am totally joking. You should not drink the night before a race if you can avoid it, but if you have a drink or two before a shorter race, you’ll probably still be okay…