Going to Central Park for a 7am long run seems ridiculous when I could just as well run near here at whatever time I want. Having to deal with the MTA's increased weekend flakiness does not making the run easier. Nor does it help to have to get up even earlier on a Sunday.
Getting to the start line is half the battle. There's the sleepless night of tossing and turning followed by feeling tired in the morning and wondering if it's such a good idea. Can't possibly run without having slept well! For anything under 10k, I don't have this feeling anymore. But I probably should assume I'm not going to sleep on November 6th, and I probably won't get much sleep on November 5th either.
Though I am pretty easy going and I'm calm when dealing with emergencies, I'm the excitable type. By that I mean I let myself get excited by anything and everything I want to do, eat, or see, to the point where I sometimes am unable to sleep or make myself sick. I get so pumped with energy I could give any Christmas day kid a run for his money.
In order to practice trying no to be too crazy on marathon day, I decided it would be good for me to do the NYRR Marathon Long Training runs. It's going well. I'm all psyched for this weekend's run. I'll try my best to get a good night's rest on Saturday, but I won't make any promises for who can sleep with the prospect of an official long run?
What makes this exciting?
I'll get to run with a pack
Though I love running on my own, the running with a pack gives me a thrill and it will feel more like a race
I'll be on a measured course
Since I don't run with any gadgets besides a watch, I never know exactly how far I've run and thus don't know my pace. Though I feel like I've gotten faster, I don't know if this is true and I don't know what my pace should be for the marathon. It's time to start figuring that out.
There's support
Water and gatorade stops! Misting stations! Nathan is annoyed that I'm not bringing him, but I think it's good for him to rest. With fluids provided and a bag check, I'll be fine with what I can carry in my pocket. Having misting stations means this weekend I won't have to deal with the glares of parents for my running through playground sprinklers.
There's more support!
When I signed up I hoped I'd get to meet people, whether they ran at my pace or not. Since then, I've discovered the power of twitter, and now I have plans to meet some twitterfolk before the run. Better yet, it looks like one of them might run at about the same pace as me! We'll see. Either way, it's only Friday and I'm already excited enough that I didn't sleep well last night.
Yup. It's Christmas day and this marathon training is going to be full of them!
I'm having the same excitement and nerves that you are! I also agree with what you said before, about how it was more "real" once you got the print booklet in the mail. For some reason, that made it more real to me than when they debited my bank account for the ridiculously expensive registration fee!
ReplyDeleteI know! Bank debits are just numbers on a screen (though you need those numbers to pay the bills) and it's easy for that not to feel real. But a printed booklet? My god, we're running a marathon! For real!
ReplyDeleteIf real is what you want, you get a pile of it when you go to the Expo. My heart started racing just by thinking about it and I have done it ever year since 1993.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the expo! Just reading about on the guide schedule and I started getting excited.
ReplyDeleteAt least now I don't get a lump in my throat every time I look at the Verrazano. Not every time.
I always get that lump in my throat.
ReplyDeleteI can deal with the lump, but I can't deal with the semi-histerical hiccups which I was getting earlier this year. I got those during Coogan's and though I cried and hiccuped my way to a PR, I was almost hyperventilating. I don't think I can run 26.2 like that.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to work my way to a zen relationship with the Verrazano. A heartfelt nod to say I see you. Whatever that means.
That is the best way to run 26.2
ReplyDeleteFound you through RuglrJoeRunning on Twitter! Hope your training is going well! I'm also running NYCM as my first marathon ever!
ReplyDeleteAnd umm, chicken & waffles in Harlem is great motivation to run! I put it at the end of my long runs a couple months ago! a-ma-zing!! :)
Hi, Christina! Welcome fellow NYCM first!
ReplyDeleteMarathon training has taken over my life, and this poor blog is getting dusty but I'll get back to it soon.
Food is a great motivator for running. Now I'm planning my long runs around what I eat before and after them!