new marathon goal: win nyc marathon.

so this past weekend was my first 18 miler of the season... also the longest run since last years' nyc marathon (that's two weeks in a row that i ran my longest run since last november!).  i wasn't as nervous about this run as i was about last weeks' 16- probably because i felt good after 16 and knew that if i had to (or wanted to, for that matter) run another 2 miles last weekend, i definitely could have.

friday night, i met meghan and lisa out at a restaurant on the uws for a hearty pasta dinner.  i usually sit home alone on a friday night and carb-load by myself... WHY didn't we think of this idea of eating together sooner?  absolute silliness.  anywho, it was glorious.  i love me some pasta. nom nom nom.

saturday morning, i get woken up by the sound of my bbm.  who could it be at this ungodly hour? probably lisa telling me she's not coming because she decided to have fun the night before.  i check.. i'm right.  ohh lisa. silly lady.

okay, maybe these weren't her EXACT words...

so i get all my stuff together and head out the door to meet meghan in central park for 8am.  i love that the weather isn't absurdly hot and humid anymore and we can actual sleep a little bit in the mornings.  i meet up with meg and we set out to run 18 miles.  i was feeling pretty good but unfortunately, meg was having an off-day and had to cut it short so she left me around mile 10.  one thing i've learned from running these past few years is that some days you just don't have it in you.  sometimes 2 miles can feel like 10 and sometimes 10 miles can feel like 2.  you just do the best you can, train and prepare yourself as much as possible, and pray that come race day, you're having an "on" day.

for me, saturday was definitely an "on" day. meg and i completed the first 10 miles ranging between an 11 and 11:30min/mi pace. below are my times for the following 8 miles:

so yea, needless to say, i felt really good about myself.  i KNOW i can PR this november. i'm reworking my marathon goal now.  i e-mailed coach vinny this morning for some advice on my pacing and asking for some help with setting a realistic goal for the marathon.  i want to come up with a plan and figure out the pace i could be running for the first 10 miles, the second 10 miles, and the last 10k come november 6th.  i WILL get  a PR.  i WILL get a PR.  i WILL get a PR.