Empire State of Mind

A few weeks ago when I was fueled with ego and courage and excitement (most of which was maaaaybe provided by a few drinks) after my big Ashlee Simpson-inspired return to karaoke, I also signed the JD and myself up to do JayZ and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind.” Unfortunately, even though I very patiently waited [read: whined like a little girl "when is it myyyy turn"] and waited and waited, the mean karaoke DJ announced he was shutting down for the night JUST as it got to our line on the very long list. Not cool mista dj, not cool.

I wanted nothing more than to belt that song out into a mic in front of a room full of strangers and a few close friends. In hindsight, it’s probably better for all involved that that didn’t happen. It would have been painful for them, and highly embarassing for me. So I’ll stick to waiting until the apartment is empty and belting it out at the top of my lungs for only myself and my kitty to have to bear.

The song has been my theme song for a while now.

While the JD and I mulled over where he should take the bar exam (i.e. where we should live for five years post law school), everytime JayZ and Alicia came on the radio I’d get a little thrill and say “that’s it! that’s it! New York is where we belong!”

And it turns out, it was it.

And New York is where we belong…at least for now (I still miss my fam too much to ever commit to this amazing city 100%. So I’ll stay at 98.9%)

This city helped me run my first marathon. I don’t think I would have been able to train the way I did had I lived anywhere else for those 16 weeks.

And Empire State of Mind brought me to this city.

And the Empire State Building helped me fall in love with it.

(I used to get tingles every time I got off a bus or came out from the LIRR at Penn Station and looked up and saw that glorious piece of architecture. And grr. After I got drinks with Katherine last night I took some awesome photos of it covered in fog, but of course I forgot to grab them off the camera this morning).

So to bring my whole love of NYC/theEmpireStateBuilding/EmpireStateofMind/running full circle…it makes perfect sense that I signed up for the lottery for this “race” this morning:

this may actually invoke more fear in me than the idea of running 26.2 miles. wait--yes, yes it definitely does.

Getting a winning lottery ticket into this race may be just the kick in the toosh I need to focus on non-training fitness for the next few weeks/months. Yes, this is still a race. And yes, I’d need to train for it. But that training would entail taking the stairs up to my office on the 11th floor every single day, and spending my mornings racing up and down the stairwells in my apartment building (instead of lapping Central Park), and using that scary stairclimbing machine at the gym (instead of the boring old elliptical). It could totally shake up my workouts, while providing a new goal to work toward. This excites me.

However, the act of actually racing up 1,576 steps does not excite me so much….details, I guess. Details.

Anywho. That’s that. Outta sight outta mind until…Monday. NYRR has a VERY short turnaround time on selecting the random winners for this guy. Luckily Monday, I’ll be in the Dominican Republic. Likely laying on the beach with a margarita in my hand when NYRR alerts me whether or not I get to tackle this mammoth of a race. Regardless of what that message is (yes, you DO get to attempt and likely fail this feat or no, you were not chosen, go back to your idle non-training fitness slump) I will likely chug whatevers left of my margarita when I find out.

Crap, I just said outta sight outta mind. Oops.

Let’s focus on the fact that I’m going to the DR next week!

Don’t worry, I’ve spent zero time fishing out my summertime clothes from under my bed or packing in any way shape or form and lots of time trying to figure out how I will continue to keep YOU entertained in my absence (because you will still be sitting at a desk and I will be sitting in a beach chair. That was mean, I’m sorry) and how I will be able to get all my runs in. I wish Central Park had a sister park in Punta Cana.

In the meantime, I’ve been working to keep my workouts strong leading up to my departure. I ran 6 very happy, albeit wet, miles yesterday morning (all of which were basically killed by the wine consumed at HH with Katherine followed by a JMU Alumni meetup in midtown last night–any other dukes out there?), about 4.5 this morning, and I’m really hoping to hit another 8-10 tomorrow or Friday morning. Or both? No, calm down Katie.

Have a very happy Wednesday kids!

And keep your fingers crossed for me on this whole 86-flight race…:)

– Would you participate in a staircase race like this? Did you sign up for the lottery?

– If I can’t find a good place to run a good distance while in the Dominican next week, any recommends on how to keep my cardio up? Thanks in advance

Hello world!

Everything about this blog to date is misleading (and its only about 5 minutes old). As I’m sure you oh-so-savvy and seasoned blog readers noticed, I was trying to be creative with the title.

Let me back up a minute. I graduated from JMU in the Spring of 2007 with a degree in Media Arts and Design (concentration: print journalism, minor: writing and rhetoric). Beginning in some of my earliest SMAD classes (abbrevo for school of media arts and design that I will use often) professors were urging us to start blogs–they were the “wave of the future,” “the future of the industry,” “The Reason magazines and newspapers were on their way out the door.”  I never had any desire to, and for a number of reasons:

1. While I missed the leo-line by a mere two or three days as far as birthdays go, I am lightyears away as far as personalities go. It’s hardly ever “all about me” in my own little world, so why would the world wide web have any interest in what I have to say?

2. I don’t have that much to say. At least, not that much that I think is deep and profound enough to shoot off into cyber space. 

3. I don’t even read blogs, so don’t know the first thing in the world about starting one, keeping one going, finding and maintaining a readership, etc. etc. etc.

All of those reasons still ring true as I begin this blog–with the exception of numero tres. Since moving to New York City, joining New York Road Runners and signing up for my first-ever marathon (much more on all of that to come), I have become quite literally obsessed with all-things running…specifically, blogs devoted to running.

So I promised myself that to enhance my career (if you can call it that) and recommit to the fall marathon I’m running (you know what they say, the more people you tell the more likely you are to reach your goals), I would sync up the launch of my first-ever blog with the first training day of my first-ever marathon.

Well, that first training day wassss….last Monday. But better late than never, right?! I did at least begin my training according to my coach’s plan the Hal Higdon marathon guidebook and the delay in the blog was due to lack of creativity in coming up with a name. Which brings me back to where this all started.

I need to to be clear to all those who dare to read any further, that if “Winer” is supposed to be a clever spin on words, its a spin of “whiner” and never “winner.” I by no means consider myself a winner when it comes to running–I still have trouble convincing myself I’m a “runner” at all (I did after all opt to follow Hal Higdon’s Novice 1 program. What, Katie?! Couldnt even buck up for Novice 2?!). And while I do love, love, love my red wine, I am also by no means, a wine connoisseur. I don’t really plan to ever become a wine connoisseur either. But I do plan to become a better runner as I train over the next 16 14.5 weeks, and a better blogger as I track that training. And you better believe that after I hit my first PDR (personal distance record…which will be anything beyond 13.1 miles) my reward will be a glass of wine. Well, I’ll indulge in such a reward for many distances before 13.2 as well, but thats besides the point. The point is, I do love to run. And I do love wine. And after two weeks of trying to sum all that up in a blog name and finally get this party started…and failing…I shared those sentiments with my geniusly creative cousin, and such was born: Marathon Winer.

And for those of you completely uninterested in everything I just said and planning to never return to this site again, I will leave you with this: When I’m not running or enjoying a glass of wine somewhere [preferably outdoors], I am for certain traipsing all over this awesome city–hitting every tourist spot in sight (I’m not afraid to say so) and discovering every little street festival, sidewalk art, musical act, workout freebie, restaurant gem and turning over every other rock this dear old dirty town has to offer. So if you’re not on the island–live quasi-vicariously through me. And if you are–return to this site for tips on whats cheap fun and/or free ( I swear I can give couponmom.com a run for its money) or at the very least, to critique my opinions on what is cheap fun and/or free.