you find out someone is actually reading your blog and that someone is your Secret Santa at work!
WOW! I am floored! Thank you Nicole S. for (a) reading my blog and (b) noticing the fine print about my heartbreak over losing the Dunkin Donuts beanie. You're kind of the best!!!
2017 is just 15 days away, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready to put 2016 to bed. Yeah, it was an okay year, but I can't be the only one who continues to think "next year will be better." Right?
Here comes a big year. If I'm going to make my goal of all fifty states by the time I'm 40, I have to run between 5-6 races a year--that's a LOT of training, a LOT of planning and a LOT of running. I'm not starting off this adventure weak. Here's where I'm headed in 2017.
It had been four years since I last ran a marathon.
Four years ago I said “never again.”
My last was in San Francisco (coincidentally I was living in
New York at the time), so it was a destination race requiring a whole different
level of planning and preparation.
And there I was, four years later, sitting on a cold curb in
Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island thinking “how did I get here and why didn’t I
bring a yoga mat?”
Everyone knows the tried and true “bring throw away layers purchased
from the Salvation Army.”
Here’s a few things I wish I had known in preparation for
running NYC. May they serve you well should you ever be #blessed enough to run
them streets.
1.Bring a yoga mat or a nice piece of cardboard.
The grassy areas of Fort Wadsworth are wet and the curb space is limited. Also,
it would’ve been nice to carve out a space for me and my crew, a la Central
Park picnic blankets.
2.Bring food, magazines, anything else you might
think you could do to waste HOURS while sitting on said curb or yoga mat. I was
promised a breakfast burrito by a friend, but that didn’t come to fruition.
Would’ve been great!
3.Bring a big coffee cup. Seriously. Dunkin Donuts
gives out free coffee but they are in paper cups the size of shot glasses.
Throw all decency to the wind and bring yourself a mug you’d be happy to fill
up and then toss.
4.If you’re bold enough, swipe the airplane
blanket on your arrival flight. I can think of no better layer that is compact
enough for rolling into your Tent City Survival Kit but still acceptable for
donation.
5.This.
I maybe, okay
definitely, had a pre-race panic attack. I had someone there to play this for
me over and over again. It was a welcome distraction (critical in panic attack
situations) but also provided much needed mantras to repeat to myself in the
hardest parts of the race.
6.This is probably controversial, but I brought
along some sleeping pills. I knew the jet lag would kill me...and quite
frankly, I am a big P.I.T.A. without sleep. After a somewhat restless
night-before-the-night-before the race, I popped some pills the night before
the race (after setting no less than five alarms) and slept like an infant. An
infant about to run a marathon.
7.Flip Flops for the flight after—ugly runner feet
be damned. Until that flight, I knew of no worse pain than removing your shoes
midflight, and despite taking the requisite walk / stretch breaks, still
needing to unlace your shoes to shove your now swollen feet into and shuffle
off the plane.
8.Ask a spectating friend to hold a boost for you.
I was nervous to ask friends for anything more than what they had already done.
I had been the recipient of lunch and Wifi (thanks, Jenna!); I had friends
meeting me in TWO spots along the course (Heyyy, Saira); I had the promise of a
donut and a companion for the train ride back to Queens (that’s you, Big). I
didn’t think to ask a friend, if maybe, possibly, could they hold my last two
Honey Stingers and a Diet Coke? I’m sure they would’ve said yes, and I could’ve
used the mid-race boost, but I just didn’t think I could ask for more.
Ten would make for a much nicer list, but that’s all I’ve
got. Prepare your little heart out for races that require travel. Overpack. And
remember to soak it all in.
