I ran the Shape+Health 5.8 mile Central Park loop yesterday for my first NYRR race as part of my 9+1 qualifying races for the 2023 NYC Marathon. I'd never thought I would take on this goal but here I am, performing at the circus like the clown I am.

I'm not a morning person so waking up and getting into the city early was brutal. It was even more annoying because I couldn’t really sleep the night before either for some reason. I don’t even know why because it wasn’t even a race I was excited for or really cared about; to me it was just a qualifier and a short distance I knew I could do so there was no race jitters to it other than it being my first NYRR race. I did have a nightmare that night though where I thought I was running late to the race and it started before I got there so maybe that’s what caused it. Sleep anxiety. 😅 I ended up calling it quits trying to sleep and got up at 5am to get ready. Luckily I had my stuff picked out and laid out beforehand so it made getting ready easier. I just had to get ready and go. Traffic wasn’t too bad at least for it being so early on a weekend morning. I got in, found an easy parking spot and ran over to the bib pickup in the park. That run helped as my warmup, as well as keeping warm since it was freezing at 7am. 45 degrees as we waited to start.

And when we finally did start, I was a little disappointed. The start launch was not as fun or eventful as runDisney. The first mile was rough simply because it felt like I was running forever before I reached that first mile marker for some reason. And then having to run them Harlem hills after the Loeb Boathouse turn. Miles 2-4 was no joke, thank the gods I only signed up to do one loop and not an entire half marathon. Hills are the absolute worst for running and the Central Park loop on the North side is all hills. I felt like I wanted to die. On top of my ankle still killing me after last week's 10 miler despite my taking it easy all week since I got home. I'm hoping this injury is minor and heals soon.

After the hills ended though, the leg of the course was much easier to get through. It’s funny because the first half was running up the East side of the park which is in full bloom of cherry blossoms. The West side, however, is all bare. It’s funny how mother nature is fickle like that, even in the same park. I’m hoping the West side blooms this weekend so I can shoot some pretty blossoms when I visit so maybe it’s a blessing in disguise, the delayed blooms between the two sides.

The finish line was just ask lackluster as the starting line. RunDisney definitely has spoiled me and now I feel like I can never go back. Do I even want to finish these qualifiers and continue on with the NYC marathon goal? LOL. All in all, though, it was a fairly decent run for my first NYRR run. It was an easy, doable distance and a cool morning. They did provide a nice goody bag, bagel, apple, pretzels, those weird foil blankets, and water after you finish. All the volunteers were excellent and everyone was great at cheering on the runners along the course. No medal for this one but at least running through cherry blossoms makes for a beautiful backdrop against the city.

Afterwards, I grabbed brunch with my sister and best friend for a quick second before racing back home to get to work after. Now to repeat this 8 more times. My next one is in 2 weeks. UGH. These early wake up calls at the crack of dawn are going to be the death of me but once I get them done, I can finally go into hibernation mode and take it easy for the rest of the 2022 race season. I swear these early wake-ups are so much easier at Disney for some reason. It only reminded me why I prefer RunDisney in Florida lol. That’s the funny thing about this race and last week’s DC race. All I could do is keep comparing them to Disney runs and now I know why people would rather pay the premium to run in Disney. You actually have to get up earlier but it’s honestly not as bad and all worth it. I would rather do a Disney run in a heartbeat over these nonDisney ones, honestly.