On a rainy Friday, I left on the Megabus for NYC. Unfortunately we got stuck in traffic and I arrived there late. Then I had to quickly walk almost 20 blocks to Port Authority to catch a second bus to PA.

Ouch…ouch…achy foot. It’s fine unless I walk on it. Yeah, right. How can I race?

I missed the bus that I planned to take but there was one a half hour later. My friend’s hubby picked me up at the bus station and I thought it rude to ask to take me to the expo to pick up my bib.

During a delicious dinner, we planned the next day. Despite my achy foot, I wanted to do the race. I wanted to finish under 47 minutes and get my medal.

So the plan was to get there at 7 am, get my bib and do the race. I said would walk it but run enough of it to finish under 15 min miles.

My friend hates getting up early but her hubby was supportive. As it turned out, they both dropped me off and then they went out to breakfast.

I must say that the race atmosphere was electric. There was music, lots of famous racers and RW folks.

I immediately bumped into runningskirts.com ladies and took a photo with them since I was wearing my skirt.

There were about 1500 runners but it was so well organized. Lots of signs, volunteer staff, even real bathrooms.

The weather was perfect for running …sunny, no wind, temp in the 50s. I was chilly in my short sleeve pink top (honoring breast cancer awareness day) but as soon as I started the race, I immediately got warm.

And we started.  I was in the middle and of course I started running immediately. My plan was to take it slow and not have pain and I continue to run.  I did walk a little. The first mile had a big hill but after that the course was nice. I took in all the sights and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I knew that I could finish under 47 minutes.

And I did. I wasn’t last. I even sprinted through the finish. My friend was waiting there. And everyone got a medal.

Yes, my time was sloooow. 5 minutes slower than my wounded 5k 2 weeks ago. But I did it and I was happy that I did.

My foot hurt a lot after but again when I don’t use it, the pain disappears.  I would have liked to go to the expo but I just picked up my shirt and limped to the car.

I know that I have to find out what is wrong even it means NO running for a long time.

The rest of weekend was totally relaxing. My friends were wonderful hosts. We chatted, laughed, even got some reading done (finished The Weird Sisters). We drove around the area to show me the sights, we went to an Amish farmers market, saw an awesome production of Gypsy, ate great food, even went to a wine tasting festival at a country club.

I left this morning by bus.  I had 3 hours to kill in NYC.  Normally I would be excited since the weather was great but I couldn’t walk well.  I wound up doing some shoe shopping (like I really need shoes??), had lunch in Bryant Park and slowly limped to my bus.

Now back to real world.  Tomorrow I have an appt with my foot doctor!!!

Happy Running! Hope you had a nice weekend!