Fact: it is not possible to watch “Girls” without a glass of wine. Or four. Which is why my honest attempt at a quiet Saturday night ahead of the Manhattan Half devolved into a storyline from said television program. Fast forward to 6:30am on Sunday when I discovered that I was not excited to be running a half marathon imminently. Although I had laid out my running outfit prior to my liquid dinner, I managed to forget to pack a gel… which is why my run was fueled exclusively by the Monster I chugged at 7am. However, despite my aggressive attempts at self-sabotage, I actually had an amazing race. Just goes to show how far race experience (…and the fact that I had just trained for a marathon) can take you. I crossed the finish line in 1:38:12, beating my previous half marathon (on the same course) by almost 6 minutes. Nothing like a PR to infuse you with pride and determination to improve… and nothing like a boozy pre-race evening to discourage future misbehavior. I’m pretty excited to run a flatter course (and take better care of myself the night before) to see how much faster I can take it.

In other news, I joined a running team; I am a New York Harrier! A couple of weeks ago, I went along to a team birthday party with a friend, couldn’t get over how cool everyone I met was… and decided I wouldn’t mind seeing them more regularly and simultaneously do what I love. As a testament to character of my teammates, I saw them running in the opposite direction of the race on Sunday, cheering people on as they passed. These are good people. I’m pretty sure they will help make me a better runner. I am not so sure they’ll help moderate my alcohol consumption.

And finally… I closed on my apartment on Friday! Just like that! Renovations began bright and early this morning at 9am… and I don’t even want to opine on how long they will take. But… I did drop by the apartment over the weekend just to dance around the empty living room by myself.