My first race back was great. Not great in the sense that I am satisfied with my performance, but great because I felt strong and eager to come home and ramp up my training. The NY Mini 10K celebrated its 40^th anniversary this year and along with that, celebrated the life of Grete Waitz. Grete was a huge inspiration to me and a pioneer in women’s running. Much of her success happened in Central Park, as she won the Mini many times and the NYC Marathon 9 times! What a feat!

With all this accomplishment, the most noteworthy of her successes came from starting youth running programs with the New York Road Runners. Because of Grete, the youth programs of the NYRR have helped over 100,000 inner-city school children to choose running. And we all know that if you run, you are pretty much choosing a life of success because of it. Grete wanted to share the sport she was so passionate about because she knew that the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other had a positive impact on every nook and cranny of our lives. Running makes you better at everything you set out to do.  What an amazing sport we have all chosen. To help honor Grete, we should get out and recruit people to share in this wonderful journey.

With my first race behind me, I mostly look forward to training in Mammoth Lakes this summer. Once I am more fit, I look forward to running a Rock n Roll half event somewhere in the US. Maybe San Jose, Virginia Beach or Philadelphia. Hope to see you there!