So... I'm running the New York City Marathon in November.
I'm not really sure how this happened. Maybe it was because NYC was the first marathon that ever made me consider wanting to run a marathon when I was in high school.... it just seemed so cool, the idea of conquering this city one borough at a time with my feet, all in one day. Maybe it's because New York and I have a complicated past and this marathon seemed like it could symbolize some closure for that chapter of my life. Perhaps, over the course of 26 miles, I could even finally find something to love about a city that I've vehemently denied even liking ever since I left.
Maybe it was because, at the time that I entered the marathon lottery in January, my uncle and godfather was dying back home because of cancer caused by a genetic mutation that I may or may not have inherited. The sadness that I felt over losing him, and about his condition and not visiting family on the east coast as much as maybe I should have over the years, made me look at this marathon as an excuse to have at least one east coast visit on the books for the year. And the confrontation with mortality and my own health, both in its current and its genetically predisposed state, made me look at the marathon as a real opportunity for motivation to get back in shape and start taking my health more seriously.
Or maybe it was because I was turning 30 a few months later and had been loosely planning to run another marathon during my 30th year. When I look back on this year, I wanted something big to remind me of entering my third decade.
Whatever the reason, I entered the lottery on January 25th. And when I checked my credit card account on March 8th, there it was: a charge for $255. My NYRR account updated a few hours later... I had been accepted into the New York City Marathon.
I didn't really tell anyone for a few days. Instead, I just let the news sink in: I would be running another marathon. I would spend half of this year training for New York. Goodbye lazy Saturday mornings, hello long runs.
I wasn't sure I was ready for it to be real. In fact, I was ok with kissing $255 goodbye and just never telling anyone. But eventually, I started telling a few people. And then a few more. All of my family and friends. And then everyone at my job.
And now all of you.
Just like in 2013, when I started this blog in part so that the online running community at large could act as my accountability partner while I was training for the San Diego Rock N' Roll, I need the support and accountability from this space for another insane five months of marathon training. Starting this past week.
I have one week of pre-training runs down (real pre-training, not blonde moment pre-training-but-actually-real-training like last time) and all of my training plan is scheduled in my calendar for the next five months. I'm learning from last time and working in strength training and yoga into my plan too. And my diet is starting out in a much, much better place than last time, intentionally.
All of which means that NYC will be a little different than my last marathon because this time I will be more interested in my time instead of just finishing. And while I'm not ready to share my time goals yet, I will soon. Until then, every Monday I'll be here, recapping marathon training one week at a time!
NYC Marathon Training Week 1: 6/13/16 - 6/19/16
- Ran 4 Days For a Total of 14.41 miles
- Average Pace: 11'50" /mi
- Strength Training: 0x
- Yoga: 0x
