Now What?

Runner’s World sent an e-blast this morning that essentially mirrored one of my post-marathon write-ups regarding PMD, and essentially every other thought that’s crossed my mind since Nov.12th:

i've asked myself that question every day for the last 10 days. holy crap. it's been 10 days??

Apparently I’m not the only one who equates race-day excitement to Christmas morning. And post-race depression to the after-holiday haze.

And my being one of those people is the reason it’s taken me until 11:30 to get myself writing a post for today.

I spent a good hour or so covering the dirt paths of a quiet and overcast Central Park this morning, racking my brain for ideas of something to write about once I finished.

I didn’t do anything cool and NY-ish last night. I had a late night at work, plugged away for a bit on the elliptical and went home to have a bowl of cereal for dinner. Not exciting at all.

I wanted to try a spin class as part of my plan to “use this month of downtime to train in fitness areas outside of running.” Spin class was filled. Fail.

I banged out 6-ish miles on my favorite running route this morning. Big deal. I’ve done that a few times in the last two weeks. It wasn’t part of a marathon training plan so I can’t even mention Hal’s name when rehashing it to you. And you’re probably bored by the rehashing.  You probably don’t care or need to know that I was way overdressed for the warm weather this morning or that my glutes are still a little tight from The Marathon but overall, I felt comfortable, and good. And like my legs are getting back to normal and I really, realllly want to hit a distance higher than 6 in the near future.

So last week PMD left little hints that he was planning on making an appearance in my life in the near future. I acknowledged those hints for about 5 seconds, then pushed them aside and started gushing about my marathon again. If you want to see another picture of my medal, I’m happy to show you. Or perhaps you’d rather take a peek at my sweet marathon-worthy tshirt:

this shirt won me two awesome friends on Race Day. their names are larry and tracey. you knew that because i talked about them 24/7 last week and still hope they will stumble upon this blog some day and say hi to me.

But this week, despite my trying to convince him not to come–my NYC apartment is way too tiny, and my life is too busy since I finally have a real job and the holidays approaching–PMD moved in anyway. The jerk.

Luckily I’m only one more boring run around the reservoir (please note that my whining about my “monotonous” runs these days have nothing to do with how I feel on them or the route–I love them, just hate boring you), half a workday, and one very long and potentially frightening Chinatown bus away from the greatest holiday of all time with the most fun fam in the world:

raise your hand if YOUR thanksgiving includes props?

there are no words. but everyone’s welcome. so if youre interested in having the best turkey day of your life, let me know and book a chinatown bus ticket.

I’m 100% positive that this weekend will convince PMD that I don’t need him in my life. I have plenty of other things to make me happy. Like the people you see above, and many, many more. Not to mention…the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, pumpkin bread, delicious food, board games and of course, wine.

 

I plan to come back happy, refreshed and miles away from that nasty PMD. And I plan to come back with a gameplan on how I’ll tackle this next month of non-running focused fitness, but also a gameplan on how to get back up to 8 miles, and 10 miles and more. Not just for me, but for you reading about my recaps on it.  

 

In the meantime, for putting up with me and my PMD-afflicted self, you get the chance to win free delciousness. Friday’s giveaway is still on, and readers can continue to enter until it closes tonight. A winner will be announced in the morning!

 

Have a very happy Tuesssssday kids! I may not, thanks to the unwanted guest I’ve got, but I still certainly hope you do!!

Marathon Love

I should maybe take a few minutes to chat about my first day at the new job yesterday and thoughts as I prepare for day 2. Or brief you on my return to NYSC last night and the fact that I listened to Hal and only ran 3 easy miles this morning. But I have more important things on my mind.

Like taking a second to say a big fat thank you to so many supportive, awesome people in my life, but more specifically [at least this week] in my marathon training.

So here goes.

Thank you to the “healthy living” blogging community…or whatever you are called. If it weren’t for you (and the many hours of boredom at my first NYC job), I may never have devoted 43243 hours to reading up on Garmins and discovering what the term “negative splits” means. And therefore never gotten hooked enough on the subject of running to ever want to hit that “register” button for the Suntrust Richmond Marathon.

Thank you to my NYC running friends and the random runners who I’ve met along my miles. Whether I met you through NYRR, randomly on the streets of the UWS, through blogging or some other weird and sweaty means, I’m so glad I did. Without you, I’d lose every early battle with my alarm clock, drive all of my non-running friends bat-shit crazy with all of my talk about road runner races, GUs, compression socks and bathroom stops and never have conquered 15, 18 or 21.5 miles.

Thank you to my friends and family who (at least at this point) may even be more excited about Saturday than I am (what can I say, I’m currently more scared shitless than I am giddy with anticipation…). So excited that they are also making the trek from New York to Richmond to come cheer me on. That’s right. I have three very awesome people who are traveling by plane and–even more impressively–by car, to watch me cross the finish line. Words just can’t express how cool that is.

Thank you to my friends and family who my not entirely understand why I run, or the magnitude of attempting a 26.2 mile, but support me and cheer me on anyway by sending me adorable “rah! rah! you kickass!” cards, or reply to my inquiries about whether or not they’ll be able to line up along the racecourse with emails like this: ”Even though I think its ridiculous, I know its important to you duh, and I would be out there at some point to watch, but I have to work.” And then promise to come celebrate the second they get off work. There are also those friends who DO have off, and even though they just tied the knot and are likely still riding the honeymoon high, offer to take a timeout from married life and come to said race. And not just to spectate, but jump in the race to pull me through the terrifying nomansland that is the last 10k. Yeah, I have awesome friends. Really, freaking awesome friends.

Thank you lastly, but certainly (by far) not the least, to the JD. My absolutely 100% amazing bf. Who suffered (and continues to suffer) through my whining for 18+ weeks. Eighteen long weeks of early nights that lead to earlier mornings, long runs, laments about nerves and doubts, unnecessary levels of excitement over PRs and nerdy glove purchases, talking about Hal Higdon as if HE were my boyfriend, and far too many hours spent overanalyzing my training plan/running log. Most normal dudes would have probably peaced out long ago. Or atleast gone crazy and/or turned into a raging alcoholic. But the JD has the patience of a saint. And through all my marathonwining, told me not only that I can run a marathon, but I can kick ass while I do it. And in case that didn’t get me pumped up, he had pretty flowers ready to distract me from my scary marathon thoughts.

I had a stressful first day of work. Amplified by the fact the my nerves are a little on edge with Nov.12th fast approaching. But thanks to virtual and real cheers from friends and family–by way of blog comments, cards from Chicago, phone calls from 10k runners in Richmond and hugs from the best bf in the world–I’m feeling good about Saturday. I may not hit the time goal I secretly have set in my head, but I will cross the finish line of my first marathon with a big fat smile on my face. And that’s a good enough goal for now.

 

Holy Marathon Weekend

I’ve got my own marathon weekend coming up in just four short days. But before I bore you with my anxiety over that, let’s back up so I can recap the adrenaline rush I’m still riding from a marathon I didn’t run [yet]…the ING NYC Marathon.

I made an entire weekend out of this event–or at least, running in general. As you know, it all kicked off on Thursday afternoon when I went to the expo at Jacob Javits Center. I came home with lots of goodie bags filled with free treats and bangin’ good dollars spent.

On Friday, I made my way down to David’s Bridal and ordered a beautiful pool blue dress for one of my best friends forthcoming weddings, and spent the rest of the afternoon “crosstraining”…read: walking all over Manhattan. I was given out more marathon freebies in midtown, in the shape of a bright orange cowbell and racecourse maps. Hot dog! And as a last-Friday-of-Freedom splurge, I treated myself to Rice to Riches. I’d been intrigued by this 16 Handles of rice pudding for quite sometime now, and holy moly, was I impressed with what I found. I never thought I’d see the day when I found somewhere to give my froyo mecca a run for its money, but this rando-ricepuddin’ shop did the trick. I wasn’t even sure I liked rice pudding when I went in, and I came out completely in love. Especially with the espresso chocolate chip flavor. Ladies and gents, do yourself a big favor and go here…NOW.

From Spring Street I scurried home for my last night of working at the restaurant. No exciting details to share there, except I made a nice chunk of moolah for my farewell shift, did a quick clicking of the heels and headed home. Things got awesome once I got there, because I had an awesome piece of mail waiting for me from my cousin, whom recently left me for Chicago. Big sad face. But even from there, she’s an awesome cheerleader, and her card said something along the lines of “CongratsongettingthroughyourmarathontrainingandgoodluckonyourveryfirstmarathonandIknowyou’llkickass” and some other sappy/super nice things. Bottom line: my cousin kicks ass.

I went to bed happy. And on Saturday morning I finally got my butt out of bed for an “early” a.m. run (early only in comparison to the times I was running while in the restaurant world) with Katherine, Ashley and Kristine. These lovely ladies were kind enough to cross over from the east side so we could all head south along the Hudson River together. We all had different distances planned for the day, but banged out a big chunk of them together from 34th street down to Battery Park, South Ferry and the Brooklyn Bridge. I stopped at about 10 miles right under the bridge and u-turned to find a train back uptown. Once home, I was greeted by another marathon-inspired surprise, this time from the JD:

hello pretty flowers. that match fall foliage. that colors the richmond marathon course.

Have I mentioned how great my boyfriend is? Because he’s pretty effin great.

After admiring my flowers, I inhaled some delicious coffee, showered and headed out for another delightful NYC day with the boy.

We went shopping for fancy work clothes–me for the new job, and the JD just because Afterwards we caught an early movie (50/50 with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gorden Levitt–both funny and touching, highly recommended) at the Loew’s at Lincoln Center (which may be my new favorite NYC theater) followed by dinner at Cleopatra’s Needle. I’d been dying to try this place for a while simply because I liked the name of it. I liked the name of it even more when I learned it was shared with the mini-Washingtonmonumentlookalike in Central Park.

what's that? dc is too far a run? fine. i'll get a glimpse of my monument in central park.

Unfortunately, while the restaurant has a swanky fun name, and some decent mediterranean fare, I don’t think I’ll be making a return. Not quite enough bang for the buck in my opinion, but there was some fun jazz music, and it was the first time in a long time the JD and I were able to squeeze in a datenight. So, success all around.

And then came Sunday. Oh, Sunday. Because of the time change I literally woke up  like a kid on Christmas morning–super early and super giddy. I was annoyed that marathon coverage wasn’t starting until 9 a.m., but got over that disappointment rather quickly, as PBS was repeating the Fred Lebow movie “Without Limits” over and over again. I only got to see a few minutes of it before switching back over to NBC, but anything marathon related was okay in my book.

I had originally anticipated going for a short run or making a return to the gym (oh by the way, my NYSC membership is BACK BABY!) before suiting up to cheer on friends actually running the race, but the elites got the best of me and I was literally glued to the TV for 2 hours. Never in my life would I have thought watching people run on TV could keep my attention, much less for such a long span of time. But kids, I was ENTHRALLED. Eventually, I managed to pull myself away and head over to first ave, where the JD and I were meeting up with some fellow cheerers. As soon as we got off the subway on Lex I could feel the change in the air, and once we hit 3rd ave, I could see the crowds in the distance. By the time we made it over to first, I was ecstatic.

We were easily able to find our friends as the ran by, and stopped for some sweaty hugs and well wishes. From there, our group traveled down the east side of the park toward Mickey Mantles where we popped in for a quick drink (well, they sipped, I dutifully abstained) because you know, spectating can be a tough job!

After hydrating we went right back out to the crowds to cheer our friends on as they came down around mile 25, the cowbells were ringing and the Mr and Mrs were smiling and going strong (I have an amazing picture to prove it, but not sure on their thoughts on sharing with the internet world)! We screamed and yelled and cowbelled for them to keep on going, and once we knew they had it in the bag moved down to Faces and Names to wait for them. Once the achy but happy couple made it in, I pulled up a seat to congratulate them and immediately set in on their thoughts, feelings, advice and any other peep they could muster on marathoning. It was the mister’s first-ever race (his wife was on her 5th), so I was thrilled to learn that he loved every second of it, said it was the most amazing experience ever and that he had no doubt I’d feel the same come Saturday.

(Provided that’s true, and I don’t end up LOATHING 26.2….ING NYC Marathon, I’ll see YOU next year!)

We stayed in midtown munching on delicious pub-food and talking running for a few hours before heading home. I finally pushed the thought of a workout out of my head and instead focused all of my attention on making some peanutbutteroatfudgies–a recipe recently sent to me by my mother. With the marathon four days away, and my first day of work at the new job a few hours away (well, now its more like 40 minutes), peanut butter goodness seemed the best line of defense against all anxious thoughts and jittery feelings.

So with that FINALLY said. I’m off to the first day on the new job. Followed (hopefully) by a return to my favorite NY gym so I can zone out for a few more hours. And once I get home tonight, I may have a nervous breakdown.

Happy happy Monday kids!

It’s in the Air

Manhattan is buzzing with all-things marathon this week. And it is awesome. Even for someone NOT running the ING NYC marathon. I can’t help but get completely caught up in the excitement–and get pumped for my friends running the boroughs on Sunday, and for my own marathon less than a week later.

In fact, that excitement carried me down to the Jacob Javits Center yesterday afternoon for a little expo action. Hey, it’s open to the public!

hiya, expo. next year, i hope to visit you as a nyc marathon runner. not spectator.

The expo provided me with a lunch of freebies–powerbar samples, Gatorade chews, Odwalla protein shakes–you name it, I tried it. But worry–I did not make a name for myself as a spectating freeloader. I tried those samples, and then I opened up the wallet and stocked up for my own marathon needs:

those little oatmeal raisin powerbar balls may be the best thing ive ever eaten. go try them.

words can't describe how happy i am about this purchase

I stocked up on lots of running fuel–both because it’s important to have while running, and because it was all delicious.

I also purchased some new Brooks running gloves after having lost mine during a random McDonald’s bathroom break last winter. These are amazing gloves for so many reasons. They are reflective, have mitten covers to shield the wind, and are super warm and comfy. A must have for winter running!

After the expo I decided I wanted to squeeze in a quick shakeout run after Wednesday night’s 12-miler. I have been reading that it’s important to do practice runs in your race day gear. Since the JD can’t make it to Richmond for Race Day (sad face), I definitely want to race in the shirt he had made for me, so yesterday I suited up in my marathonwiner/Richmondmarathon tee and went for an easy jog down Central Park West.

the crazy/terrified look on my face is due to the fact that the next time i rock this shirt will be marathon morning. eeks!

As it turns out, this shirt is good luck! Well, whether or not it’s good luck as far as crossing the finish line after 26.2 miles is yet to be told, but it I was wearing it during my first-ever, legitimate NYC celeb siting! While cruising down CPW in the 80′s yesterday I SAW ALEC BALDWIN! Holy bigtime siting. If there is a celeb to see in NY, I can’t imagine a better one than that! And perhaps the greatest part of the entire event was that I kept my cool–didn’t get all googly-eyed and trip and fall on my face. I’ll take that as a win!

After my star-studded run I was super late to my second-to-last shift at the restaurant. After a considerably uneventful night there I came home and stalked the internet for more marathon tips, tricks and other reads. It was then, that I stumbled upon one of many lovely little articles that talks the big 5 marathon courses (Boston, NY, Chicago, London and Berlin) and read this little gem:

The toughest: New York

The London, Berlin and Chicago marathon courses are all almost completely flat. Boston has its famous Wellesley Hills, but the course is a net downhill and it has hosted some pretty fast times. The toughest course among the Marathon Majors is New York’s. It features three significant hills and a lot of small ups and downs. And cruelly, the toughest part of the course is the end, where tired runners are slammed by the rolling slopes of Central Park.

This was a big confidence boost for me, because taper time has made me feel slow, undertrained and undermileaged (yes, I just made that word up). And even though I may have blacked out during it, I must remember that I DID in fact, run 18 miles through the “rolling slopes of Central Park.” And if those same slopes help dub that one of the trickiest marathon courses in the world, than I feel so happy and proud to have them under my belt. And I hope, hope, hope, that means I’m ready for Richmond on November 12th.

Today I will try everything in my power TO NOT RUN. And to fully take a rest day (even though I’ve still got runner’s guilt over two rest days in a row last Saturday and Sunday). I’ve got a trip to David’s Bridal (don’t get excited, it’s for a bridesmaid dress and not a wedding dress) and piles of laundry to hopefully distract me until MY LAST SHIFT AT THE RESTAURANT tonight. Then its a weekend full of running with friends (Katherine, let’s talk about tomorrow–and anyone else who wants to join) and watching friends run in the 2011 ING NYC Marathon on Sunday. Good luck out there runners!!!

Have an awesome weekend kids!

- And as always, I’m getting boring with my questions/requests. But any and all last-week-of-taper advice is more than welcome!

Nightrunning

I officially have the song nightswimming by R.E.M. stuck in my head…anyone?

Anywho. As I mentioned yesterday, I had attempted to wake up early and get a run in before work, but sleep got the better of me. I pushed snooze and lounged almost until it was time to walk out the door.

My original plan to wake up early had had many reasons. I really want to get myself back in the habit of early morning runs before the new job takes off on Monday morning. I also really wanted to get myself in the habit before November 12th, when I’ll have to wake up at 5 something in the a.m. before running 26.2 miles. Eeks.

But I’ve been told sleep is just as important–if not more important–than mileage during taper time. So I took the mini fail in stride.

As often happens in the restaurant business, I didn’t get out until a full hour later than I had anticipated. This meant I had to tell Katherine to run without me, rather than continually keep her waiting (sorry again, Katherine!) and change up  my own Central Park attack plan. Since it was getting dark out and I had gorged myself on a gross amount of spinach dip before leaving the restaurant, I didn’t think the 12 miles I had planned would have been the greatest idea. Instead, I figured I’d see how busy the park was (I’d never really run it at night before) and if it looked like there was a good sweat crowd out, I’d do one outer loop and then head home.

Well, you know me. I’m stubborn.

I had 12 miles on the brain yesterday, and so 12 miles is what I ended up doing. Oops.

In all fairness, the park was probably just as dark as it would have been had I made it out at 6:30 a.m. (watch this be the one time my parents decide to read the blog and go apeshit when they see I DARED enter the park after dusk), but it was ALIVE with runners, bikers, tourists and who knows who else!

There were lots of glowstick-clad pace training groups sandwiching me in every segment of the run, and I felt 100% safe. And I guess the “newness” of a nighttime run super charged me, because the spinach dip as fuel did not have any negative impact on my run. In fact, it was best run I’ve had in a couple of days–I felt great!

I did one outer loop as planned, including the full scale of Harlem Hills, and then stuck around for one more 4-mile jaunt around an inner loop.

There were more bats than the birds I’m used to seeing. So that was weird. And I did get a little confused by the corral-like structures lining the west side of the park for this weekends marathon and had to retrace my steps a few times, but the run was otherwise a dream. Awesome views of the city skyline lit up, great weather, and an overall feeling of excitement from the other groups of runners and the entire west side of the park, but specifically, this little gem:

again, dumphone quality. but if you're a runner, you likely already know that this is the finish line of the ING NYC marathon. annnnd says "run for life" on it. LOVE.

I figure last night may have been the last chance I’ll have to get that close to the finish line…until maybe next November? We’ll see.

Once I got home I tried to be better about stretching and foam rolling and then spent the remainder of the evening stalking every single page of the Richmond Marathon to see if there’s anything I’m missing. It appears that the elevation for the course is considerably flat though, so I’ll be good to go if I keep my runs from here on out along Riverside park or even just the neighborhood streets. Because other than an 8-10 mile jog on Saturday, I really, really REALLY want to keep the distance down to Hal’s taper time recommendation. If you see me post about any other longer runs, leave your computer, hit the streets and track me down. And then punch me in the arm and drag me home. Because taper time means rest time.

Not sure what’s on the agenda for today, but very likely some wandering around the city until my shift at 4:00, because its beautifulllll outside If there’s time, perhaps a VERY EASY 3-4 mile shakeout run, or maybe even a spin class to switch things up a bit! Who knows. Recommendations welcome!

*All this of course…AFTER I watch Hoda (and KLG, if that mention is necessary. sorry, that was mean). It’s my second-to-last morning of non-office freedom to enjoy the Today Show, so my butt will be glued here for a few. And I just found out Hoda and KLG will be reporting from Orlando [read: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter] next week. Maybe I should have put my work start date off a few days? Bahaha/Sera, sera.

Have a very happy Thursday kids!

…on being social

at the Social Table, that is.

This is something I highly, HIGHLY recommend. And my recommending it to you shows how much I care about you, because Chef Rebecca’s (owner, operator and cook at the Social Table) classes fill up so fast that it takes weeks and sometimes months of waitlisting to get in. Considering how much I love going and want my own name to move up on the list, I should keep this NYC class a secret for as long as humanly possible. But Rebecca is awesome (she even donated some classes to a great cause for me back in August) and deserves the plug, and blog friends are just as awesome and deserve this experience.

Last night the JD wrangled away from work early enough to meet me in midtown just before our Fall Chicken Dinner class. The menu consisted of:

- Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Mushrooms with crispy Shallots (that I will now be making every single night for the next 6 months or so)

- Smashed Fried Red Potatoes with Rosemary & Parmesan (this is the crunchy french fry lovers heaven. words just can’t describe)

- Pan-Crisped Chicken with Carmelized Onions and a Garlic Pan Sauce (anything carmelized always becomes 432423 times better)

- and a Classic Apple Crisp with Vanilla Icecream (super easy to make and the perfect fall dessert)

Sadly, my NOT being a food blogger was evident, because this is the only photo I walked away with last night:

this photo only just falls short of really capturing the fun and excitement of the evening...

Guess I got far too wrapped up in the cooking, and more importantly–the eating, part of the evening. Oops. Sorry kids!

Any who, the night was awesome but ended late. Which means that it was near impossible for me to drag my toosh outta bed when the alarm went off at 6:15 for what I hoped to be one last 12-miler through the park.

Hal and many others have told me that sleep is just as important (if not more) than mileage during taper, so I turned the alarm off and zonked out for another few hours. Now I’ve got some coffee to sip, foam rolling to force myself to finally do (it’s been ages) and my last 10-5 shift waiting for me at the restaurant. I’m reallllly hoping to get that run in after the work day is over. *Fingers crossed*

I know if I don’t hit 12 miles it’s not the end of the world, and I’m mentally preparing for that because I know it will be far more difficult a. late in the day and b. after being on my feet all day, but I know it would make me feel better about my overall training/taper. So we shall seeee what happens!

Have a verryyyy happy Wednesday

Again, a giant plea to all of you runners out there–my marathon is in 10 days. Holy crap.

- What do you recommend for miles from here on out?

- Howwww do I stop myself from wanting to eattttt as if I were in peak training?

Oh hi. I ran 20 miles today.

That’s what I’m going to say to every single person I come across for the rest of the day. And tomorrow it will change to “Oh hi. I ran 20 miles yesterday.” And so on, and so on. Because guess what…I RAN 20 MILES TODAY! Actually, according to MapMyRun I did 21.58, but who’s counting? Oh, I am. Because if 20 is cool 21.58 is 1.58 times cooler!

Word vomit over. Let’s recap correctly.

I didn’t get home from work last night until about 1 a.m. and it was straight to bed. Rather than attempt a big run this morning off zero sleep, I decided to forego the alarm and let myself wake up when I wake up. Unfortunately, I had a lot of pre-marathon nightmares dreams going on and didn’t sleep that well anyway. Oh, well.

I rolled out of bed a little after nine and was pretty hungry since last nights work dinner was a simple PB&J. I decided to risk switching things up a bit and rather than doing my normal pre-run snack of a nature valley bar (or two) or a honey stinger (keep forgetting to buy) smothered in peanut butter, I lathered up two Van’s low-cal, low-fat waffles instead. They were filling enough and I figured had just about the same amount of fueling ability.

After letting that settle a bit and doing some half-assed attempt at stretching (my legs were still super sore and tired from lots of running/working/etc) I laced up and headed out the door!

The plan was to do four of the 5-mile loops around Central Park (102nd street driveway looping around the southern tip and back up). During the first 10 miles/2 loops all I could think about was how much more enjoyable that distance was two days ago with Katherine. However I got myself through it mentally by reminding myself we covered that distance in the rainnnn, so surely today–a beautiful (albeit slightly overcast) fall day in NYC–two loops would be a piece of cake!

Cake? Maybe not. Slightly enjoyable red velvet cake flavored yogurt or those low-fat dark chocolate decadence jello pudding cups? Maybe.

About halfway through my third loop (this is maybe mile 14?) a fellow runner strided up alongside to make a bit of conversation regarding my compression socks. Do they work? He wanted to know. I told him the same thing I tell people about the knee bands I occassionally wear: I’m not so sure that they do anything, but in my head, they are life-savers.

Compression sock question answered and fellow runner stayed in stride. And here is where we get to the part of my 20+ mile recap where I gush about HOW MUCH I LOVE NEW YORK. Where else, other than Central Park, do you just make friends with other sweat /self-induced pain lovers? My new bff (his name is Paul) was out on a lunchtime run as part of his taper period before the NYC marathon in two weeks. This is his 5th time running the race after about a 3-year hiatus. And from mile 14-about mile 19, I got to pick his brain, chat marathon training and gush to each other about our mutual love of Central Park. I doubt Paul reads my marathonwining blog (afterall, with a full-time job in Manhattan and a family out in Jersey he’s a very busy man…and yes, I gleaned this information and much more somewhere between miles 17 and 18), but Paul, if you’re out there, please know you saved my run today, and without you I may have never ever finished this distance. You Paul, are an angel.

Not only did my new friend Paul help me through some particularly tough miles, he encouraged me to switch up my plan of four 5-mile loops, and together we tackled HARLEM HILLS. This came at about 17 miles in…when I had NO desire to climb any unanticipated hills. But we did it. And we did it at what I’d call an impressive pace for mile 17!

We both let out giant pants sighs of relief coming back down around the west side and stayed together over the 72nd transverse. From there we exchanged names, thanked each other for the company and gave giant high-fives and well wishes for our respective marathons. Paul headed back south to the office, and me back north toward home.

I pulled out of the park and walked the mile or so back to my hood–only after lots of internal turmoil debating whether or not to jog it. My conscience finally told me 20 is enough to be proud of. And if I broke my ankle at any point after that just because I wanted to feel a little more like a badass, I would be a very, very unhappy (non)marathonwiner. I dragged my toosh back home, but not before stopping at Westside market and getting myself the BIGGEST salad known to man, a bottle of raspberry-lime HINT water annnnd a mini chocolate-chip muffin loaf…just in case As it turned out, the waffles were wonderful pre-run fuel, because I accidentally forgot to fuel as much as I should have during the run. In fact, while Paul and I discussed our favorite fuel tactics and failures (more so in my case, as I the marathon is three weeks away and I still don’t know what my plan is), I assured him that I had already had 2 vanilla GUs. But when the run was over and I was digging through my gear belt for my cell (so I could text everyone under the sun about my accomplishment), I found two full GUs and only one empty one. Oops. Told you guys, I really think I black out when I run and forget MANY, many details of many, many miles. Better luck next time? Oh wait, next time is THE MARATHON.

In the meantime, taper begins NOW. Which means I’ve got the next few weeks to carbo-load (no problem there), stalk the marathon website/course elevation chart/everything else related to Richmond, figure out EXACTLY what I will be wearing/consuming/every other detail of raceday overanalyzing, and probably lose so much sleep due to nerves that I’ll spend the month of December catching up. Good plan?

Happy happy Friday kids, have an excellent weekend!

- Are you running NYC? I’m getting so pumped to watch everyone!!

- What’s your max mileage/taper period like? I feel like after doing 15/18/13/18/14/20…three weeks of taper maxing out with a 12 mile run just isn’t enough before the marathon. I KNOW it is, but it FEELS different. Gah!

- Any other exciting weekend plans? My favorite running friend and the JDs sisters are all in the city this weekend Good times!