Race Day: A Reflection

So today was the Half-Marathon! It was a great experience. Though we did have an early morning thunderstorm while waiting in the runner corrals, I managed to stay dry and the heavens were kind enough to let the sun come out for the entirety of the actual race. The race was a challenge but really really fun. The highlight was running down 7th avenue from 57th to Times Square, which is an area i walk around a lot, but in this instance,, i got to run in the middle of the street and disregard all traffic signals, which is normally what i feel inclined to do to avoid the tourists. At long last, a dream fulfilled! :) My overall time was 2:05:50 and my pace was 9:36/mile. That was a bit better than my anticipated pace of a 10 minute mile. And while I was extremely tired at the end, my body held up well and I felt like I still had a couple more miles left in me. :)

Before I sign off about the half-marathon, several thank-you's are in order. I would like to thank everyone who donated to my charity run to support the Organization for Autism Research. I managed to exceed my $1.000 fundraising goal, and I'm thrilled and amazed that I could raise that in just a few weeks' time. I'd also like to thank everyone that sent me messages of support - it was a huge motivator to keep me headed toward my goal. I need to thank my Dad for coming to see me at the finish line and for finally bringing me that air condition he promised me long ago, so I won't be sleeping in a puddle of my own sweat during the next heat wave. I also have to give a special shout out to Lin-Manuel for letting me stay at his place in Manhattan last night so the N train wouldn't have the opportunity to screw me over with shoddy service as it has done on several other early morning race days. A special mention must go to this very nice runner who offered me a lift in her cab across the park when it started to rain around 5:45 this morning. And a thank you to the two trees in Central Park I stood under during the thunderstorms. You kept me dry and you were not struck by lightning, so good work.

I'm sure I'll be extremely sore in the morning, but right now I feel really good.

Nadaledon

Wow. Rafa did it. He won Wimbledon! It took all day. I literally was watching it from like 9:30am until almost 4:30pm. There were delays for rain mixed in, but still it was almost 5 hours of A-game tennis from the two best players in the world. It was an amazing match. Just look at the score 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (10-8), 7-9. Incredible. I was rooting for Rafa, and he had many chances, but somehow as the match went on, I believed less and less it would happen for him. I still hoped and wished and called out to Grandma in The Heavens, but I thought Roger would somehow pull away. I had seen this all before last year. Nadal was physically stronger, but Federer just couldn't be broken mentally. Going into the 5th set with Fed having the better serving order, I just didn't see how Nadal was going to succeed. But Nadal was just an inch more amazing than Federer. It was so intense. Really great stuff.

Poor Fed. My heart goes out to him. He's probably the best player ever and this has been a hard year for him. He's such a classy guy though and such an amazing athlete. Now that Rafa has won Wimbledon, I think I can finally root for Fed to win at Roland Garros, so he can get his much sought after Career Grand Slam.

I'm not expecting a ton from Rafa at the upcoming US Open in the end of August. Rafa is really more of a threat in the first half of the calendar year on clay and grass than he is on the American hardcourts. I will never count him out, but i also wouldn't mind if he rested those knees a bit during the grueling hardcourt season.

Congrats, Rafa. You earned it. Thank you for an amazing Wimbledon viewing experience. You're the champ!