That Time I Ran a Marathon: Part One Recap!

After 18 weeks of training and some life changing events, I did it! I completed the 2014 NYC marathon, I still can't believe I can say "I did it". It really didn't hit me I was running a marathon until I was actually running it. And it is still hitting me that I ran a marathon. I'm a marathoner. 26.2 miles. Everything leading up to race day and race day itself was everything I DIDN'T expect. I still can't remember all of the race but I will recap what I did remember. 

On Thursday I ran over to meet my friend (who wasn't running the marathon) at the expo. To say my anxiety and stress was at an all time high the week leading up to the race would be an understatement. Although finally picking up my bib and seeing the expo was exciting, it was pretty stressful. We looked around and took a few photos, but I think it stressed my friend out so she left. I poked around a little more then headed home. 

On Friday I overslept and ended up meeting my friend Starr for lunch at Tavern Over the Green. It was fun catching up and seeing the finish line. We had lunch and then watched a little bit of the opening ceremony. I then got us lottery tickets for Kinky Boots which was tons of fun. 

Saturday morning I had to work, which was a bummer but tried to keep it easy on my feet. At 3:45 I met my dad at Penn Station and we went shopping. The weather was pretty yucky and I still didn't believe I was about to run a marathon the next day. 

We went to Amanda and Timur's house for a carbo loading dinner. Ever since I ran the NYC half marathon (for my first time), it has been decided that when I finally run the NYC full marathon I will stay with them and carbo load. They are my NYC family and I am so grateful for them. It was even more fun having my dad around since he was Amanda's high school drama teacher and have become friends throughout the years. Little O and Miss E were precious. I love nothing more than rolling on the floor with those two and being silly! Before leaving Miss E showed me the beautiful sign she had made for me. I mean how precious. 

After a delicious dinner and some candy (carbs right?) we played some more and talked some more until it was almost 9:30pm and I had to start heading back uptown. I had to check on the kiddos when I got back. I was surprised to see a great big mess of dishes and them being difficult when I got there. I got them in bed and dishes cleaned as fast as I could. I was pissed! They didn't seem to give a crap that my bed time was dependent upon them falling asleep. I understand they are kids and all, but they were being extra difficult or maybe I was just extra stressed. 

Finally I got back to my apartment and my dad (God bless him) had run out to the local Duane reade to get me gloves and a hat for tomorrow's race. While I was getting everything laid out and ready for the next day, my dad was there to calm my nerves. We chatted about everything. It was obvious that just as stressed as I was, he was even more so. At around 11:30 pm he was off and I was finally getting into bed. I was happy to be reminded that because of daylight savings I got an extra hour of sleep. Did I sleep at all that night? Sure I got at most a few hours, but I was waking up almost every hour freaking out about missing my alarm clock.