Hamptons Half Marathon....

After six months of training the time has come and gone (my cute sister-in-law) and I set out to NYC to enjoy the city then head to the Hamptons for our Half Marathon. We got to NY bright and early Thursday morning. We both took red-eye flights, Austin came from Las Vegas, and we meet at JFK. We rode the subway to our hotel and they said our room would not be ready until 3 PM, it was 9 AM and we had 6-hours to kill. We headed out to see the sites. I think we covered more mileage than a marathon. We saw World Trade center, Wall Street, The Staute of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Canel street and headed up to Rockefeller Center, then Time Square where we purchased our broadway tickets to see "Mary Poppins". We went back to our hotel and took a quick shower and napped for a couple of hours before our play.

Here we are in front of the theater were we saw "Mary Poppins" Yes, we both look exhusted. The play was awesome, but if you ever go request balcony seats, you'll have to see the play to find out why. We went out for NY style cheesecake after, yummy!

The next morning we continued out site seeing by going to the Empire State Building, Central Park (us at the park) then......The Children's Natural History Museum, we both love night at the museum so it was a must! Then we rode a train to "HicksVille", no lie that was the name of the town where Austins friend Kim picked us up and took us to the Hamptons. We picked up our race packets then headed to "Nick and Toni's" a fabulous restaurant that the Barefoot Contessa recommended. I don't like pasta but loved the Arugula pasta that I order. I wish I knew how to make it. After dinner we headed out to the cool house that Kim had found for us to rent for the weekend. The house was soo cool. I felt like we were in Ikea. It was all black and white, no window coverings and very modern. It would be soo cool to rent for a week and stay in the Hamptons. I was pretty tired from all our travels, and my feet were completley swollen. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to run the next day. Austin helped me tape up my ankles, then I took Ibuprofen and headed to bed. I woke up feeling so much better and most of my swelling was gone. The weather could not have been more perfect. I turned on my ipod and headed out. This is part of the 2,000 runners that ran that day. It was such a beautiful run. The roads were lined with trees so we were shaded for most of the run.I just had to stop and take this picture of "Friends of Karen" , it was at mile 11, thanks everyone that wished me luck and supported me these last 6-months. This really did boost me when I saw it.Here I am at the bay. I had someone snap my picture for me. I figured I wouldn't have another chance, so what the heck. I met my goal of making it in 2:30 hours, I came in just barley after that. I was soo tired, but it was so incrediable to achieve a goal I never thought I could achieve. WOW!So here we all are after the race. All the gals and Gavin. L-R- Kathy, Katie, Darlene, Kim, Austin, Me, Gavin, Amy and Lizzie. Such great gals, and guy.This is all of us after we showered and went out by the pool to relax for a minute. Here we are in South Hampton. We ate at another awesome Italian resturant then walked the streets in the quaint town.We came across this funny sign, we wondered what "Proper Attire" means. I guess we were all dressed to code. After our stroll in town we headed back to the house and stopped at the wonderful produce and flower market.The fall colors were amazing!The fall beauty just never ended! Look close at the bumps on pumpkins in the middle row. So fun! The next day were were going to go to the beach until we had to head to the airport, but we woke up to pouring rain. So Kim just drove us by all the mansions on the beach. They were astounding. It was so beautiful there, I will have to take Steve back to see everything. Speaking of Steve. He and Cameron met us at JFK on their way home from their 7-day cruise. We all had a fabulous time and made such wonderful memories. I am soo glad that I survived my race. I am doing a 10K in November, then Austin and I will have to find another goal to achieve!