Here we Go Again

2009 kicked off with me whining a lot about adjusting to new roommates. I found out today that my bestie roommate Marissa got an amazing promotion at work that will be taking her to London. My initial reaction was to jump up and down in excitement with her. There will be trips to visit her for sure filled with Harrods, high tea, and double decker buses. Emotion number two was my stomach turing over at the thought of losing my yoga pants GG marathon buddy and having to interview 500 more Craig's List hopefuls. So yes, here we go again.

NYC Marathon 2010

Holy SHIT! I just signed myself up to run the NYC marathon November 7, 2010. For some reason I have an itch to run THIS particular race. Something in my brain tripped and I thought, "gee, wouldn't it be nice to take a long leisurely run all around NYC?" Crazy right? It's up there with pregnant women wanting to eat dirt nuts.

I won't know if I actually got in until March, 25. But even submitting the application made me sweat. Running 26.2 miles is pretty insane. Training for the half last month was tough but doable. When I got to the finish line man was I glad I wasn't one of those suckers who were only half way done. Next year that will be me. So I guess it's a good thing NYC is only a full so I won't be able to turn off half way and cheat! Right now I am not sure what I want to hear on 3/25. If I do get in and cross that finish line it would be pretty amazing.

Red Cup Time

I'm not talking about the red plastic solo cups that are synonymous with bbq's and drinking games. Starbucks red holiday cups roll out tomorrow. That means gingerbread lattes (my fave), eggnog lattes, and peppermint mochas. This is very exciting shiite folks. I'm normally a straight up soy latte person the rest of the year. No sugar, no syrup, just soy milk and espresso. But during the holidays I can't seem to get enough lattes with just a touch of gingerbread. I might not be able to sleep tonight I'm so excited. Seriously.

Book Crush

I often get crushes on pretty books. This time it's on the new editions of the penguin classics. Especially the Treasure Island volume. How can you not want this book????? They look really smart all lined up in a row, but its this one that I daydream about. Bummer is it's in the half of the collection that's only available in the U.K. right now. Sigh. If a certain friend who goes to London every month for work really really loves me maybe she'll fetch me a copy?? yes? to be continued.

Home Economics

I've been on a DIY kick lately. My apartment was a mine field of paintbrushes, staple guns, sandpaper and baking pans. I repainted my hideously ugly kitchen table with chalkboard paint. It's now so much fun to sit there and doodle we fill it up every week with new designs. I recovered my desk chair with girly hot pink waffle fabric. I love I love. And I made my own vegan version of the amazing 1/4 pound chocolate cookies they make at Levain Bakery in NYC. Mmmmmm. Photos are attached to document my domestic triumphs. I cheated and added in another one of my cupcake extravaganza. This pic is soooo much better than the first one I really couldn't resist.

13.1 Miles

I DID IT! I ran 13.1 miles and it felt amazing. This was my first half marathon and a goal of mine for the past 5 years. If you asked me if I'd be able to do it even a year ago I'd probably have said "no way!" I got the itch to run a half five years back. I was at the top of my athletic game in college. I rowed on the crew team and was in the best shape of my life. My dad is a runner so I wanted to surprise him by running a half with him. My training did not go as planned and left me with horrible plantar fasciitis. Apparently rowing in boats does not translate to running :) My left heel was in so much pain I could barely walk. I was convinced I'd never run again.

My foot finally started to feel more like the old me this last January (4 years later!). So without telling anyone I secretly started working out a little bit to test it out. Man is it hard to get back into running when you haven't done it in forever. It was clear I needed some motivation to keep me going. I gifted myself a nike+ ipod system and was really amazed at how easy it was to push myself when I could track the results and join challenges. The only problem was I didn't get a lottery entry into the half marathon. Luckily Amandah was able to help me out with that. The NWM half was on!

I was equal parts excited and nervous going into race day. So nervous I woke up every hour on the hour. I knew I was prepared thanks to the Nike training runs I did every weekend, but that did not shake the jitters. I also had a race plan down to my pre-race breakfast (strawberry poptarts!) and as long as I stuck to it I knew I could make it across the finish line. Getting to the start line by 6AM was not as painful as I thought it would be. Since I was up most of the night, I was rearing to go by the time my alarm went off. And I'm glad I got there with plenty of time to wander around because it was exciting to see all the runners go through their own pre-race routines.

Nike does so much to make this race really special through out the entire experience. I crossed the start line at 11:21 on the start clock to a DJ spinning beats that made you want to sprint on through. The adrenaline was pumping and I managed to stick to my race plan even after unexpected mile 2 and 3. If the gorgeous scenery wasn't enough, every mile along the way brought something cool to keep you from thinking too much. Some of my favorites were the gospel choir, cheerleaders, and signs listing the reasons for running the race. Support along the course from friends and family was so amazing. And I was so proud of myself for running the entire race, even hill 2 and 3 which I had not expected. I was all smiles when I crossed the finish line and collected my Tiffany's finishers medal.

I got a chance to talk with my parents after I stretched out and rehydrated. They were of course happy for me. In the excitement of it all I may have committed to running 2 or 3 more half marathons next year. I start training for my next one in three weeks if anyone is interested ;)

Peak Week

I made it through peak week for the Nike Women's Marathon. Hooray! This meant lots of milage and nerves. So many nerves that I was afraid to blog about it until it was in the bag. We ran 12 miles on Saturday so now I'm confident I can make it the full 13.1 on race day. The best part about it all is that I get to start tapering now. Awesomeness.

Saturday went so well that I'm going to do everything exactly the same on race day. Whatever I did that morning must have been the magic formula. So it's poptarts with peanut butter for breakfast + pink socks + 3 skinny headbands on race day. I did manage to run through the back of my shoes on Saturday, owie, so I'll be wearing newish sneaks on race day. Not ideal. But better to have 2 weeks to break them in then 2 days riiiiiggghht?

Apologies for the running overload that's going to happen on my blog for the next two weeks. But I just can't help it. I'm on a runners high :)