can i just say AWESOME!!!!! what a great day!! the weather was on our side and no rain or snow as predicted - can i tell you how psyched i was - ran with 2 long sleeve running tops and my MVS singlet and long pants - just right for today - headband for the ears made it perfect by the ocean!! this was a race i've heard so much about and was so excited to be runinng and even better went down with 2 fellow mvstriders which made it even more fun!! the hills between miles 2 and 3 were longer than i anticipated - was thinking it was just one hill at mile 3 rather than a series of 3 hills but felt strong and pushed thru - they weren't steep hills just long. tons of MVS runners out there today which was pretty cool!! the miles along the ocean were cold and windy - hard to believe i was feeling warm moments before - couldn't wait to get out of that wind but it just kept blowing!! mile 11 i could tell i was my legs were really tiring and then came that dreaded hill at mile 12.........somehow between 10 and 11 i hit the lap button my mistake on my Garmin and had not hit it at the start of the race or at the mile markers foolishly considering we did about 1.8miles for a warmup and there wasn't a starting mat but anyway - my point was ithought i was crawling those last 2.5 miles but my avg pace for that section was 9:30 so not too horrible - ACTUALLY - EDITING to say MUCH BETTER than i thought!!.........the downhill to the finish was exhiliarating!! so with my messing up with my Garmin i have to go by gun time of 2:01:11 - another PR for me altho i am sure i was easily 30+ seconds from the gun time for my actual start........my total for today with warmup was 15:06miles ...... way cool!! only downside - i was hit with horrible cramps/GI distress after the race.........this hasn't happened to me (at least not to this degree) in ages ........and the smell of the fish and CHOWDAH in the gym wasn't helping - lol - so i stuck with the oyster crackers and part of a banana.........the good thing - it finally subsided about an hour after i was home and i've since had a wonderful dinner with some of the family!! thanks for reading!!

I really love your reports, Denise! They are always so uplifting and happy and make me smile a lot. Well, except the part about the GI distress that is, but I was smiling again when you said they had oyster crackers. I could eat a ton of those things... with a little butter on each, yumm. Anyway, congrats on your PR in tough conditions on a tough course, and I'm glad you got to share your awesome experience with some good friends in your company. That always makes a great day even greater. I can't wait for you to do another race just so I can read another one of your race reports! Thanks for sharing your day and your PR with us!

Nice race. Congrats on the PR! Thanks for sharing.

Hi Denise, Congrats on a great day and a wonderful PR! It seems that you stood right up to the wind, and despite tiring legs, battled the hills on your way to a fast finish. Except for the post-race distress, it sounds like a near-perfect day! Jay

You can absolutely say AWESOME----since this was/is awesome. Congrats on the time and whole experience. I toyed with doing this one and couldn't make it work time-wise. You ran a smart and well executed race. Isn't it wonderful when you think you are going slower than the actual time displays? It's a happy surprise and a sign of your fitness and tenacity. Are you planning on doing the Eastern States 20 mile race on 3/30? I would love to meet you one of these days and hope we'll cross paths before Boston or perhaps there or somewhere along the New England race beat. Great running! CNYrunner

What a great race.....AWESOME is by far the only way to describe a PR.....sorry about the cramps...but a PR makes it all ok...

Congratulations on your PR! Great job! At least your cramps and GI distress hit you AFTER the race. That's always one of my fears, that I'll get that right in the middle of some race, far from the finish line and port-o-potties.....

You did very well! First of all, you had a PR, but you should also consider that very few runners do well in a race with a strong wind, so you had some conditions to contend with. This is I am sure a big confidence builder for you and it's easy to see why you are so excited. Keep it up. There's more good stuff to come. Spareribs