1st ave to the finish

I came off the roundabout onto 1st ave. in Manhattan and knew it was guts and glory time. We had been keeping our pace just great and that is when I felt a pain in my knee. I kept running and thought about it. "How bad can it be?" I kept pushing. "Well this is what I've trained for so if something happens I can heal up and feel good about it, but if I don't give this my all I will be disappointed." I pressed on and lo' and behold the knee pain began to subside. I was making my way to the Bronx which was a short stint and then we came back into Manhattan ran through Harlem and back down entering Central Park. I remained focused and then figured where I would see my family next and concentrated on that. I saw them at 96th street which gave me a boost and then shortly after we entered the park. This is where I heard all the advice everyone told me kick in I knew I could do it, this was it. It was helpful having run here so many times when I lived in New York because I knew about how much farther I needed. I also knew that there was no way I could make Boston qualifying time but still ran hard. I counted to one hundred in my head and focused on the finish. Whoosh - the finish came lickety split and I finished in a time I was proud of and close to 30 minutes faster than my 2003 marathon run. I found J-R at the finish (he was awesome and finished two minutes ahead of me) and we talked about the run, both feeling really good about our runs and how we felt at the finish. It was the end to a great marathon day made fabulous by all the spectators including friends and family from all over. THANKS GUYS! I couldn't do it without your support.