Where for Art Thou?

Coming up tomorrow, my fitness plan for November and bloggie dates recap.

But for tonight, let’s talk art, shall we?  There are so many amazing exhibits on display or coming up, I feel more cultured just thinking about it!

So here is my hit list of must see art this fall/winter:

A Woman’s Wit: Jane Austen’s Life and Legacy
November 6, 2009, through March 14, 2010

at the gorgeous Morgan Library (entrance free on Fridays 7-9PM)

EAF 09 (Emerging Artists Fellowship 2009) at the Socrates Sculpture Park  Exhibit runs through April

Open 365 days a year 10am-sunset.  FREE

(featured below: Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain, Assisted Boardwalk, and many others)

Tim Burton Career Retrospective at the Moma

November 22, 2009–April 26, 2010 (Sneak peak)

Free Fridays 4-8PM

Also worthy noting, the restaurants at the MoMa are first class, ranging from the moderately priced and casual Cafe 2 to the more opulent and splurge worthy Modern. The MoMa store has some interesting gifts and you are just blocks away from Bloomies and Dylan’s Candy Bar.

Queens Museum of Art

Suggested Donation

Named the essential New York Museum.  I haven’t been but I have read about all kinds of secrets and curiosities at the this museum.  It’s noted for the panorama of NY and it’s ties to the 1939 World’s Fair.

Kandinsky at the Guggenheim

Through January 13th

Pay What You Wish: Saturdays from 5:45 pm to 7:45 pm

Nearby place to reflect with pumpkin and chocolate scone and a cup of tea: Alice’s Tea Cup Chapter 3

Financial Fitness

So this post is a little different than most of my posts, but I think financial fitness is pretty important and is one of my current focuses.

I used to be an incredible saver. I was thrifty and never spent a penny where a penny could be saved.  However, living in New York gets to you.  You see people spending money—everywhere on everything.  You start to value the convenience of shopping at the nearby overpriced grocery store rather than figure out how to lug groceries home from the cheaper store a couple miles away or from Costco, I mean it’s not exactly like city living is equipped with storage for bulk purchases.  You develop a taste for sushi and you want to have a brown rice salmon avocado roll every single night.  But most of all, you want to enjoy your time and take advantage of the city, which is why you live there after all.  You want to see the shows, go to the shi shi restaurants, shop at boutiques.  Why live in the city if you are holed up in your apartment all the time? And since apartments are on the small side, socializing gravitates outwards to bar$ and re$tuarant$.

What’s a girl to do? Here is my gentle plan for simple savings….

While I am certainly good at finding cheap entertainment and snagging fitness deals, I am not a clothes whore,  I don’t own a single designer shoe or bag, but I have to admit, I have developed a pretty embarrassing “latte factor.” I believe I stole this term from “Smart Women Finish Rich” which I highly recommend, although reading doesn’t guarantee success.  The reading was easy, it’s the action that i haven’t been able to master.  But I am going to give it a go.

I was shocked and stunned when I read about the $100 November/Thanksgiving challenge.  I literally could not believe it would be possible for anyone to spent only $100 on food for a month.  Seriously?  I could spend that in a day.  I probably typically spend $100 on food every 3-4 days.  Easy-peasy.  I know that $100 would be impossible, maybe $100 a week.  That would actually be great—taking advantage of my work meal plan more, asking people to go to cheaper restaurants, going out for coffee not wine.  To Emily—the founder and my friend—and to all those partaking in the Thanksgiving Challenge my hat is off to you and I am reading in  utter awe and fascination!

But instead, I am going to tackle my spendthrift habits in a different, but equally effective way.  By reducing my latte factor.

What is the latte factor?

It is the little everyday (or every hour) purchases you make capriciously. Coffee, gum, energy bar, bottle of water, lip balm, drugstore impulse buys, magazines, iTunes, cigarettes, 4 pm vending machine raid, etc.

Everyone has a different latte factor.  But essentially, they are things that aren’t around long, but their cost can really drain your wallet, in a sneaky and speedy way.  Unlike investing in a nice sweater, which you will have for years, you down a coffee and move on with nothing but a slight buzz to show for it.  Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes that buzz or piece of gum makes you happy in a way that makes the rest of your morning or afternoon enjoyable or at least bearable.

This trick is to cut out or down on your non-essential latte items and keep only the one or two that truly make you happy.

I took a tally of my major latte expenses and man, was it down right embarrassing.  Here is a what I could save in a given day or week

Imprudent Purchase             Cost per day             Cost per week

Bottle beverages                               $8                                $56

Coffee                                                      $2.50                          $5 (twice a week)

Gum                                                         $1.50                              $4.50  (3 times a week)

Magazines                                              $4                                  $8 (2)

Unnecessary snacks                          $4                                      $20 (average per week

Total Possible Savings:                $20                                     $93.50

Wow, that is almost $100 a week on stuff that provides minimal real enjoyment.  I mean at least eating a meal out reflects meaningful social time.  A trip, a sweater, at least there is a memory attached, I don’t have much memory of my last piece of gum!

So this is my challenge and feel free to join me!  I am going to tackle this progressively.  I am going to try and eliminate one “imprudent purchase” each week for 5 weeks (cumulatively) and keep track of my total spending and saving in these areas.  I will check in each week.

Week one challenge: cut back to only 1 bottle beverage purchase per day. Yay for the environment too!

Another great read, I highly recommend: City Chic: An Urban Girl’s Guide to Living Large on Less.  Fabulous book to help you save!

Finally, a few things I have really enjoyed compliments of my magazine obsession:

Padma Laksmi’s 15 Healthy Snacks (in the December Marie Claire).  It’s not online yet, so here are my favs:

• orange or grapefruit sliced into rings and drizzled with honey and cinnamon (dessert, breakfast or with tea)
• baked figs with balsamic vinegar and black pepper
• hummus on endive with parsley
• Cucumber spears dusted with salt and chili and lime juice

I am also loving Tim Gunn’s new Marie Claire Fashion column

Here are Tim’s Rules for Dressing for a Big Night Out

Here’s a Gunn quote, perhaps directed at me

Why, oh, why do people persist in dragging around luggage-size handbags to evening events? I see this with more frequency than I care to recall. What are people thinking? Do they line these behemoths with plastic in order to escape with leftovers?

All right kids, I am going to try to knock off some more school work before the big Gossip Girl OM3 episode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s my one night at home this week and I will watch teen tv shows if I so please

PS: DJC, I hope you are enjoying Mozambique!

ENTER KATIE’s Amazing Your Choice Giveaway–magic bullets, spiralizers, oh my!

Marathon Photo Recap

One whole week has passed since the marathon!  I promise that I will stop talking about it soon, I do have some more substantive posts planned, promise.  Anyways, today I had my first real workout.  I am excited to start ramping it up for November and December, the beauty of the freedom to do whatever type of workout I please is quite loverly!  All I want is a spinning class.  Sorry, got sidetracked once the My Fair Lady soundtrack started running through my mind.

So today I did my first actual “run.”  I fought for every step of the first 2 miles.  I actually thought I might be able to walk faster.  Once I got to the Socrates Sculpture Park (mile 2), I decided to take a walk around.  The exhibition was rocking my world.  So I plopped down in the gorgeous sun and stretched a little while I took it all in.  Fortunately, the 2 mile run home was much easier.  I was breathing like a maniac, but at least I felt like I was moving.  Wow, this Turkey Trot is going to be interesting.

After the four mile run, I did a nice 25 minutes on the elliptical and felt completely exhilarated.  I am going to bust out one segment of the 30 day shred and call it a day.

So I caved to the brightroom photos of the marathon, and while I feel like kind of a jerk for posting so many sweaty pictures of myself, I figured I would at least try get my $107 worth.  There were actually about 40 shots that I was tagged in, although many of them I don’t think I was actually in.  I was shocked that I was in as many as I was since I didn’t have my bib displayed until mile 25. There were so many people running, finding myself was like a big game of where is waldo.  Maybe I should have worn a robe.    However, they also included some great photos of the start…. so here we go

The Verrazano pre start, check out all the buses

The race begins

Another shot of the start, this is just the runners on the upper level of 1 of the 3 waves!

This may be my favorite sot, I love the two level view

 

 

There I am somewhere around 6 miles in Brooklyn I believe

 

 

 

This is a shot of runners coming down 4th Ave in Brooklyn

This is another shot of the bridge, I couldn’t seem to move it up where it belonged

My favorite pic, taken by Miss Elizabeth as I ran down Vernon

This is around mile 22-23, talking with Sue and Derek

 

Sue was either psyching me up or distracting me, either way, I was grateful. Smile Derek!

I am not actually in this shot, it must be just after I left Sue and Derek at miles 25, it’s a cute pic of them though

So close (wow, my lag time to the start was 41 miles

 

 

 

 

Even closer

Can  you taste it?

I ran through mat 1, but I wasn’t done

I finished by jumping on the second timing mat with both feet just to make sure!

 

The end…until 2011

recovery week workouts

 

It’s been almost a week since the marathon.  I have to say, I almost didn’t know what to blog about this week now that it is all over!  But actually, I have a bunch of non-running post ideas that I am excited about.

I took the week easy, not that I really had a choice.  But it is good to keep the muscles fluid and flush out the lactic acid.

This is what recovery week looked like:

• Monday: massage
• Tuesday: 25 minutes on the bike
• Wednesday: 20 minutes elliptical
• Thursday: 20 minutes elliptical, 10 minutes bike
• Friday: Yoga at Yoga Works (another good class)
• Saturday: 25 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes ab work on bosu and stability ball, 25 minute jog/walk.

Also, lots of water!

I can’t wait until I can run normally again You read a million different things about how long to wait before running, once I read a day for every mile.  But I think you really just have to listen to your body and your mind and figure out what is going to work for you.

I am buried in school work, so I am going to try to make a dent this weekend.

“You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can’t know what’s coming.”   – Frank Shorter

xoxo bloggies!

Post NYC Marathon Reflections

 

Wow it is really hard to reflect on the marathon and running because I feel like I have a million thoughts!

Huge thanks for all the sweet comments!

I am feeling better, I think I am on the tail end of it today.  I was never on my death bed or anything, but it was the first real illness I have had in years.  And yes, I did go to work for a little while post-marathon, but to be clear I took Friday and Monday off. 

Marathon 1 Vs Marathon 2—Training

1st Marathon:

• -6 months training
• -clear mission from Team in Training to support Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
• -no injuries

2nd Marathon

• 3 months training
• minor aches pains and injuries

Pre-marathon

1st marathon

• total confidence, mainly through coaches constant support

2nd marathon

• huge pressure from self, I felt I needed to finish this marathon or disappoint so many people. 
• I think the pressure turned to nerves, stress and illness
• bad attitude and low confidence
• Re above: so ridiculous, I don’t know why I was so afraid I would disappoint everyone

Marathon

1st

• ran it alone
• wore ipod 1/2 of the way
• stopped twice for bathrooms
• walked several times, probably a mile and a half or so
• hit wall pretty hard around mile 22
• just wanted to finish
• very hilly marathon

2nd marathon

• ran with friends 19 of the miles
• enjoyed every mile and minute
• two tiny stops to adjust shoes
• never walked

Body post-marathon:

• About the same, I definitely feel every single stair I take and boy does it seem like a lot of them.  Really it’s just the quads that took a beating, but I think the worst is over. 
• Drugs.  I typically do everything I can to avoid pill popping, but I freaked out when I got sick and I knew I needed to suppress symptoms to get through the marathon.  Although under normal circumstances, I think it is better to suffer a little and let things run their course.  However, the ibuprofen I took at mile 20ish were the last I have taken.  I have been drug free for two days and besides a tiny bit of congestion and a little bit of a sore throat, I am a-okay.  I expected to take a few pain relievers, but the soreness is definitely just what should be expected and despite no small amount of wincing on my subway transitions, I am dealing.  I did allocate an extra 15 minutes of transit time to make sure I am not late for work!

It is really shocking to me that this marathon was only 4 minutes faster considering how much less walking I did and how much flatter the course was. I guess I ran a lot slower because I was enjoying myself, talking the whole time, and not listening to my ipod.  I also only had half the training period I did for the first one and I was pretty conservative after my injuries. But there is always that what if? why didn’t I go harder feeling I just can’t shake.  Just once, I want to collapse after the finish line, in a good way  of course.

While after the marathon, I kind of wish I had pushed it more, I am glad I really had a good time.  During the race, I realized I am just not competitive, however, it seems a little silly not to ever push myself and see what my potential is and improve my times.

What’s Next?

So I am definitely taking at least a year off marathoning.  Considering I declared several time on Saturday that I would never ever run a marathon again, that is not too crazy.  I think I will do the 9 plus 1 with road runner in 2010 to have guaranteed entry for NYC marathon 2011. Whether I do it in 2011 or defer, I am not sure, I kind of want to do Chicago or Philly.  But the 9 races will give me a chance to improve my speed in noticeable ways, through short distances. 

Next up is the Turkey Trot, I am debating whether to do the Cardiac Classic, which I do every year or switch to the one in downtown Saratoga which is much flatter.  While I would like to try and get a good time on a flat course, a lot of my friends do the classic and it is always more fun with camaraderie. I will probably just stick to the classic despite the hills.

Also on the docket: Indoor Triathlon and a 6k in Central Park in September.  I have a training plan in mind, which I will share soon.

Why take a year off marathoning? 

Mainly because a marathon is a 5-6 month commitment.  And I want to focus on other areas of my life too.  Half a year is a lot of time.  Work, non-running friends, traveling, saving, blogging are all important to me and I feel like a year off will be good for me.  Plus, I do like exercise that doesn’t involve running!  I miss spinning and cardio classes and all that good stuff.  So hopefully, I will have some good class reviews soon!

Believe me, post-race you do get that addictive marathon energy and it is hard not to immediately plan your next race.  Yesterday, after my massage, Heather and I were sitting in Bouchon Bakery over looking the Central Park South stretch to Columbus Circle  we ran just days before discussing how amazing it was, but how many other things in life we also enjoy. I think some 5 and 10Ks and maybe a half or two will be a good way to test and improve my speed.  It is important to see improvement and with 26 mile races, you only have so many opportunities to improve.

Thanks again for all your support guys, and remember ANYONE can run a marathon, I am certainly nothing special or a super athlete of any kind.  The only thing a marathon takes is commitment to training and your goal.  Having a charity to really keep you driven toward your goal helps too, that’s why I love team in training.  But really, there is no secret or special gene that marathoners have, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

On a random note, I had a lovely dinner at Pipa (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places), which my cousin and fellow two-time marathoner, and she is casting an upcoming move and looking for suggestion for hot 20-something actors.  Any suggestions?  Outside of the cast of Gossip Girl and Friday Night Lights, I wasn’t much help, but those are the types in the running so far   Thanks ya’ll

The Race

I woke up at 4AM wide awake.  The first thing I did was check to see if the Yankees won.  I didn’t even have to move to do this since I sleep with my blackberry.  They had!  I debated going back to sleep at catching a later bus, since 4:30 or Bust left a great comment that they don’t check bus times. But after 15 minutes of lying in bed, I knew I wouldn’t fall back asleep. Once I am up, I am up, so I decided to start getting ready.  I put on my tank, thermal and sweatshirt, my capris and fleece pants.  I put my stuff in a whole foods bag to make it easier to carry.  I gargled with salt water. 

And I headed out to the subway.  The bus stop is only two stops away from me, so really that is like 5 minutes in transit once you are on the train.  Unfortunately, the manhattan bound train was not running on the correct track, so I had to cross the street and enter the other terminal.  We just missed the train.  Another train came about 10-15 minutes later (pre-5am on Sunday is not peak hours).  They were definitely not checking reservation times at all at the bus stop, which is  annoying, since I could have definitely got on a 6:30 bus no problem.  Oh, I also had 3 times more stuff with me than any other runner! Or even a ferry, since they don’t check there either, even though 5 different official people at the expo swore to me up and down that there was no way to board a ferry without a reservation.  No ferries for the public! Apparently, they mistook a whole bunch of drunk people in costumes for marathoners then because lots of runners reported riding over to SI with hard core halloweeners returning home.

Anyways, I was on Staten Island by 6AM latest with 4 and a half hours to kill.  For a little while people were sitting on concrete in a parking lot until someone pointed out the tents.  I was really glad I brought my beach towel, so I layed down and rested half asleep until about 7.  Then it was getting pretty noisy.  I had a tiny cup of Dunkin Donuts coffee and mixed my emergency in an 8 ounce poland spring water (thank you sponsors) and started to talk to those around me.  I will say the time passed faster than I though it would.  4 hours is a long time to be in a cold, muddy, rainy place, but I took it for part of the NYC experience and met two really nice guys.  They made fun of my pants and my huge bag of supplies.  Around 8:00 I ate as much of the bagel and PB as I could with my stomach feeling okay.  I also took 3 ibuprofen (with dr.’s approval) and a cough drop.  I was feeling pretty good, the best I had since Thursday.  Then I downed the red bull.  I hate red bull and have like 4 a year, but I consume a ton of caffeine in my daily life and I was afraid not to have any on race day.  Red bull is a good concentrated form of caffeine as gross as it is.

After more waiting and talking, I check my bag, pinned on my bib, threw out all the stuff I didn’t need anymore—towel, whole foods bag, etc.  At this point it was so muddy everyone had garbage bags tied around their shoes.  It was pretty fashionable with my hot pink pants. 

Finally it was time to get to the corral.  To the Marathon’s credit, navigating SI and the corral, start villages was really easy.  The wave starting was also great, there was less congestion at the start than most road runner’s races.

I took the first mile easy, after mile 1, the bandaid on my toe was driving me crazy, so I decided to stop, right next to a bunch of men peeing over one side and take off the bandaid and change to a thinner sock.  After that I had to make two quick stops to get my shoes to feel comfortable and kept going.  It was really just fun, I passed someone giving “free hugs” and every once in a while there was a great band which always pumped me up.  I was being really conservative because I knew I had to make it to 10 fresh as a daisy if I wanted to have a good race.  At mile 6 I put on my ipod and listed to three songs, all from a mix that Gena made for me before I left for South Africa.

• Catastrophe-Rainer Maria
• Off the Record—My Morning Jacket
• Sleepyhead-Passion Pit

Not high energy songs, but very special to me since they are from my dear friend.

At around mile 7, Greg jumped in with me.  I was so thrilled. I knew it probably sucked to run so slow with me, but he kept me company and we chatted through Brooklyn.  Greg is an amazing runner.  He trained for Philly in 2005, but had to withdraw just a week before due to injury.  But I saw him run Marine Corps in 2006.  I made him talk about it, since he really struggled in a way.  He said at mile 13 he blew by the 3:20 pace group and thought to himself, “if I am running significantly faster than 3:20, my body probably can’t handle this, but I don’t care.”  So around mile 17, he said he “collapsed inside.”  He could just not do it.  He kept going until he just stopped.  Then his friend came up to him, put his arm around him and said, “you have to walk greg.” Greg said he couldn’t.  And Paul was like, “just move your right foot, now your left.”  Despite being in pain, Greg finished the marathon in 3:28! He is now a serious biker, but he said he if he was more cautious, he could have finished in that time in way less pain.  Believe he was toasted after.  But I was so so so proud! 

Anyways, I was really holding back, probably too much.  Around mile 10 or 11 we passed a great church choir in Brooklyn.  It was fun to run through williamsburg and greenpoint.  And I was so so excited to hit the Polanski Bridge into Queens!  I was literally dying with anticipation to hit Vernon around mile 13.5, the street I walk down many times a day!  My heart pretty much burst with Long Island City pride and I was dying to see my roomates and cheer squad.  As I hit the corner of my street and Vernon there they were!  In costume with many many signs!  I screamed when I saw them.  In case you couldn’t tell from my idiotic grin in the photos!

 

I handed them my hat and gloves.  And then my heart rate monitor!

You guys rock my life!

Then I kept going.  My friend Debbie joined Greg and I as we head toward the Queensborough Bridge.  People say this is the hardest part of the marathon, but it really isn’t that bad.  Of course, I was going pretty slow.  The bad thing about being slow is that at every mile you have to run over piles of water cups and get your sneakers totally sticky from spilled gatorade.  It was pretty treacherous and gross at points. I mean 40,000 runners is a lot of cups!

We entered Manhattan just after mile 16.  I was freaking out because so many people start suffering at 17.  But I was excited to meet Sue.  I couldn’t believe Greg was still with me!  I only asked him to run a mile!  He said to me at one point, “ I think I could finish this thing!”  He ran until I met Sue at mile 18.  Sue was carrying a fuelbelt of supplies for me like the goddess she is.    My stomach was really bothering me at this point, I had two chomps at mile 6, a gu at mile 13 and grabbed half a banana from someone on the street at mile 17.  The banana seemed to help, but every time I drank water I got that queasy feeling. But I decided to worry about that later. 

Sue really pumped me up.  We chatted steadily into the Bronx.  I had to stop and readjust my shoe for a minute or so, but then the weird pain went away and all was good.  I would say mile 18-20 were probably were I felt it the most, but really nothing bad.  I was being really conservative and just enjoying running with my friends and the street party all around me.  Sue was amazing sharing her water and offering me pretty much everything.  I took 3 more ibuprofens around 20.

We chatted through the Bronx, I knew I was slowing a little, worried about the hills of Central Park.  Derek met us at 22 or so and I made them entertain me, so I could take a break from talking.  Sue really pumped me up, counting down the blocks to the park, describing the finish etc.  The park was not nearly as bad hill-wise as I expected.  The hill at 23 kind of sucked, but I finally realized, I was almost done and totally fine.     I couldn’t believe it!  Had I held back too much?  How did I get to 23 in no pain and with no walking?  I finally trusted myself to push the last couple miles, I took of my thermal to display my bib at 25 and said goodbye to Sue and Derek.  Then I pushed on to the finish. I passed pretty much everyone around me.  Lots of people were cheering my name.  It was amazing.  I finished strong and felt like I could have kept going, which is probably not a great thing.  The only silly thing was that I got really nervous about my chip tag, since my friends said it wasn’t reading my intervals.  So after i had walked 50 or so feet past the finish, i went back to stomp on the mat a few more times.  I got yelled at by an official.  I am not sure if that screwed with my time, since my watch said I finished in 4:46:48, and my official time was 4:48:50, but I really don’t care. 

After the race, I got my medal and had to stand in what was a silent death march to the baggage.  Everyone seemed so down and beaten.  I couldn’t believe it. I felt like a caged animal and I just wanted to run my UPS baggage truck.  I did start weaving through the crowd since I couldn’t take it anymore. Be happy, we’re done people.

I somehow made it beyond the crowds.  On my way to Derek’s, I stopped at Ann Taylor and the Gap since I realized I need to go to a bar and to work and I really only had sweats.  I couldn’t find anything so I showered at Derek’s and ran down to Banana Republic and bought a few things.  At this point, I realized that while my stomach wasn’t feeling great water and a hunk of baguette was in order.  Then we headed down to Pete’s Tavern for Heather’s post-marathon party. I had a glass of champagne and a few piece from the appetizer trays. But I had to be at work at 7, so I could stay long.  Work was just judging a preliminary hall talent competition and everyone was so supportive of me, lots of hugs and more congrats than I was comfortable with.  I had some dinner there, eggplant parm and ziti. 

After that I took a cab home , I assumed the cabbie would take the midtown tunnel, but almost symbolically he took the 59th Street Bridge that I had run over hours before. 

I got home to the greatest surprise of all.  My windows had been postered.  Tell me I don’t have the greatest roomstars and friends ever!  Amazing!

I am so glad they celebrated the day with me.  When they said the were having a mimosa party, I baked a cake for them.  From Emeril’s recipe.  I don’t know how it turned out, I might not use the glaze next time!    

And my friend Jessica sent me these gorgeous flowers.

I couldn’t sleep much last night.  Still energized I guess.  I ran out to get the NYTimes just in case they decided to extend the 4:30 cut off for finishers.  But sadly, I just missed it, 4:44 was the last time published.

Oh well, it was a fun day and a great race.  Afterthought to come another day. I am looking out my window at the 59th Street Bridge and I can’t believe it’s all over!

 

I am off for a massage and to meet Heather for coffee before she heads back to London.

HUGE THANKS TO YOUR UNBELIEVABLE SUPPORT THROUGH ALL THIS!  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Getting to the Marathon Marathon

So this is part one, but I will say, the marathon was painless and amazing, no wall, just fun, I had friends jump in with me at various points for over 19 miles of the course and talked the entire was through it.  Congrats to my fellow finishers, Jesse, Heather, Rev, Andrea, and Scott!

The days leading up to the marathon were another story.  Despite all my mantra-ing, I just could not get excited about the race. I was dreading it.  I had this huge mental block.  On Thursday, I started getting a really sore throat.  On Friday, it was really painful to swallow and my ear was aching.  My appetite was non-existent, which only happens when I am sick. By Saturday, swallowing hurt so much that it took a huge mental preparation and then I would close my jaw as tightly as possible to make the opening as small as possible. I was also having a little trouble keeping food down.  My body was telling me not to eat, but I was like, I have to eat something before the race!  So the three smallish meals I forced down were followed by periods of nausea.  I had to leave a hot yoga class on Friday and then ran to the nearest garbage can on the way home.  As someone how can absolutely not nap during the day, I would get exhausted from basic tasks, putting laundry in machine and pass out for 2 hours.  I took a nap every time I even thought about packing for the race. I slept more Fri and Saturday than I have in the last week. 

By Saturday, swallowing hurt so much that it took a huge mental preparation and then I would close my jaw as tightly as possible to make the opening as small as possible. I didn’t even have the energy to drop my post-marathon goods off at Heather’s hotel so I could just go there after the race.  I was freaking out, poor Liz did her best to try to pump my cranky pessimistic ass up, but I could not break out of the funk.  I called a friend who is a running coach and she said, if it is not in your chest, you can run, but take it as easy as possible.  However, she said the books will say not to run.  I was a little worried by the marathon magazine I got in the expo, it said do not run if you feel ill the week of the marathon.  I had until 5PM on Saturday to defer, but I decided that there is no way I could go through the training and mental and emotional anguish of running a marathon again, and I would rather be defeated at mile 3 than defer.

Great mentality right?  So I was prepared to walk the marathon or just drop out.  What got into me?  I was actively trying to get better, taking lemon ginger honey cough drops, kombucha multi-greens, emergen-c, salt water gargling, etc.

Somehow I dragged myself to dinner with my friends Andrea, Scott, Sue and Greg.  Andrea and Sue I met at TNT.  Greg is my best friend from high school—and marathon inspiration.  Scott is Andrea’s fiance, they are both running.  Andrea’s lovely mom came to show her support too!  I arrived at the restaurant naseous and barely able to swallow, but somehow the friends lifted my spirits and I think hot food really helped sooth my throat.  I ordered whole wheat spaghetti with cauliflower and currant, hold the pinenuts and ate as much as I could. 

I actually felt great leaving the restaurant.  A little sad to miss all Halloween festivities, save for sewing my roommate trev’s sash and doing Elizabeth’s eye make up on Friday. I finally packed my stuff and made finally decisions on what to wear on the big day.  Yeah, I didn’t pack light.  I knew if I had to be sitting on Staten Island for 4 hours, I wanted to be warm and entertained.

What I had:

Clothes

• race tank-hind brand
• Adidas running capris (after trying several brands, I found these and love them!)
• Thermal long sleeve tee
• sweat shirt
• two pairs of socks
• visor
• nike hat and gloves
• hair elastic
• fleece pants
• long sleeve shirt (for after the marathon)
• yoga pants (for after)
• extra dri-fit
• my BIB and chip tag!

Drugs etc.

• 1 liter poland spring
• 16 ounce poland spring
• bandaids
• moleskin
• 8 hour tylenol
• ibuporfen
• dayquil flu
• zantac
• tylenol severe cold and flu
• emergen-c
• sugarfree red bull

Entertainment:

• ipod and arm band (only listened to 3 songs the whole race and before the race!)
• 3 magazines (didn’t even look at them)
• a marker

Other essentials

• huge beach towel (thank god)
• two plastic garbage bags (a must!)
• astroglide (didn’t end up using this free sample I got at the more half marathon, but I didn’t realize it wasn’t just for sports until I took a closer look at the package—real pleasure last longer!)

Food—I packed enough for at least five runners because I could figure out what my stomach would accept on the morning of.

• plain bagel
• glob of PB in tin foil
• whole grain oat meal cookies (didn’t need)
• kashi tlc bar (didn’t need)
• Mariani Prune Support (didn’t need)

After the huge pack fest, I watched a couple innings of the Yankees game and went to bed.  Oh, but first I set back my clocks and phone and alarm for 4AM!

Race recap soon!

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Expo and Transporto

 

I took today off to rest up for Sunday. I have woke up with a really sore throat the last few days, so it was a very good call. I think a little extra sleep over the next few days will  be all I need to feel in top shape for Sunday.

This morning I headed to the Expo.  Wow, the Javits Center is so big!

 

 

You couldn’t help but get really really excited upon entering!

Healthy options ($5 for juice was a steal considering they were charging 3.75 for a bottle of water!)

Not so healthy options

 

 

I was suprised at how short the lines were!  I had my bib in less than 5 minutes, if that!

After I grabbed my bib, scanned my tag/chip and picked up my shirt and goody bag, I met up with my friend Derek to check out the expo.

I think the cowbells were the most tempting!  Such a weird running tradition!

 

 

After that Derek and I headed to a find a place for some coffee and food. On the way back to subway I spotted the MUJI store!  I was really tempted to buy New York in a bag, but somehow, I resisted.  We also saw the NYTimes building.

 

Now I am just chilling and catching up on homework, but I have one big decision left.  Transportation.  For some reason, I was assigned to a 5AM midtown bus.  I really don’t want to get up at 4AM and then have to wait outside until 10:20 to start running.

Unfortunately, you are not allowed to change the transportation option they give you.  I am tempted to just take a public ferry myself and then try and get on a shuttle bus.  I asked a few friends and they said they had no problem getting on a ferry and shuttle without a reservation last year.  However, everyone I have spoken with at NYRR has suggested that the ferries are only for runners with reservation, no public ferries.   I can’t imagine that absolutely no one can board a ferry without a bib and reservation, the SI Ferry website does not indicate that the ferries are closed to the public.   What about friends and family? HMMMM.  The other reason I am confused is because the Marathon Handbook states that if you miss the bus, you will be directed to the ferry and includes the ferry in the public transportation options.

Any NYC marathon veterans have any thoughts on transportation?

Bib, shirt and loot, no turning back now

I get by with a little help from my friends

 

****Enter to win my $50 Fitness Gear Giveaway***

***Athlete Tracker for the NYC marathon is up, if you want to track me, you can register here. ***

I got all the details for the big day, my # bib is 43173.  I am in wave 3, the blue section, corral 43.  I start at 10:20AM.

This marathon season has been a pretty emotional one for me.  This week it got even more so, in a good way.  The funny thing is, I am not an emotional personal at all.  But I have definitely been humbled and touched by all the great people in my life and their generosity and support.

So Monday night, I met Heather at Lupa.  Many of you had suggested it to me since I love Otto so much, thus I was very excited to try it.  It was very yummy, we split the Brussels sprout with pecorino, broccoli rabe with ricotta and delicata squash vegetable appetizers and split the cacio e pepe pasta.  I still love Otto, but Lupa definitely has a more relaxing dining atmosphere.

Night before the race decisions

Heather very generously offered to let me stay at her hotel on Columbus and 63rd the night before, so we could travel together.  Interestingly Derek also offered me his second bedroom, two blocks away from Heather’s hotel on 65th and bway.  I am still debating whether I want to sleep in my own bed, since it isn’t any faster to the start from their places. But it would be nice to go with someone in the morning and navigate all the craziness.  hmmmm.  In any case, I will drop my stuff for after the marathon off at Heathers, so that I can go there and shower and change right after the marathon—it’s pretty close to the finish.  I still can’t believe the race is the day after halloween, there are so many parties on friday and saturday, I don’t even like halloween and I feel left out!

When there were only one set of footprints, I carried you

After, dinner with Heather, I went to a birthday party for another friend I met through Team in Training.  She actually offered to run me in from mile 18 to 25!  And bring me water and GU!  I was blown away and so excited.  Plus, Derek may also run the last few miles and I have a friend meeting me in Queens to run with me into Manhattan.  This was a huge relief because I just know I will need the support and it will make the race so much easier!  Sue promised me that if I get to 18, she will get me to 25

My cheering team!

My darling roommate has invited some people to watch me run.   The best part is, they are making it a post-halloween hangover celebration, and there is a good chance they will still be in full-costume and holding mimosas.  I will die if I have Zorro and Rainbow Brite screaming my name.

So yeah, I am feeling unbelievably lucky to have such great friends and so much support for the marathon.

No pressure

I said I had a mantra for the marathon, I thought I would share it:

This is my race, I will run it anyway I want to run it.  I will enjoy my race.  I will run pain and injury free.  If I feel any pain, I will acknowledge it, thank my creator, recognize that the pain is no longer necessary, and release the pain into the light.

I know that sounds a  little granola, but I am a big believer in the power of the mind and thought, so I am sticking with it.  Basically, it boils down to not putting any pressure on myself during the race and trying to enjoy it.   This has gotten a little bit easier because last night I found out the NYTimes is only including names of finishers up to 4:30.  It used to be 5 hours.  So I am not even going to try for 4:30, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the day if i did and honestly I am a bit afraid to push myself that hard while my foot is still very tender.

MUSIC

In an unrelated note, here are a few of my favorite new workout songs, I think you may enjoy or be enjoying them already too!

3 – Britney Spears

Sweet Dreams—Beyonce

Africa-Stab the Matador

Red light-Stab the Matador