Running for a Cure: NYC Half Marathon 2014

Wow. I am speechless. After writing my gratitude list yesterday afternoon, I checked my NYRR profile to see if I had been chosen for the NYC Half 2014. I was surprised when I saw the green alert telling me I  was accepted! I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. This was one of my favorite races last year! I am so excited to be going back. I immediately called Evelyn who also had signed up. When she told me she hadn't made it, an enormous amount of guilt hit me. I felt guilty getting to run in this race again. I learned quickly that I am very lucky to have gotten in again.

Last year I raised money for MS in honor of my aunt. I'm not going to lie and say raising $1,500 was a walk in the park. It was pretty difficult. However, crossing the finish line at the half marathon, knowing I had not only run 13.1 miles but had also raised $1,500 for research and had spread awareness about  MS, made crossing the finish line even more powerful.

Originally I hadn't planned on running for a charity again this year. If I got an entry, I got an entry. If I didn't get an entry, I would find another race. When I got an entry, I was elated. However, deep down I knew I wanted to give back. I realized that the reason this race was so powerful last year was because of the money and awareness I had raised for a charity very important to me.

I debated going back to raise money for MS. I also looked into a couple of other charities. I came upon the American Cancer Society. Cancer is something that has affected so many family members and friends of mine. I was shocked to learn that 1/3 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Earlier this morning I signed up to run with them. Truth be told, since I already have a spot in the NYC Half, I don't have to raise as much money as I did last year. However, I have all confidence that I can raise at least half of what I raised last year, if not more.

Please support me this year as I run the NYC Half Marathon on behalf of the American Cancer Society, so we can celebrate more birthdays and be in a world where we can finally find a cure for cancer.

TO DONATE: CLICK HERE

Crossing the finish line at last years NYC Half Marathon

NYC Half Marathon Recap: Part Two

The alarm went off at 4:15am and it was then that it really hit me I was running a half marathon today. Some say it is when you cross the start line that it hits you, not this time. This time all I needed was “I’m on a Roll” (My alarm clock) to let me know what was happening. So why did I wake up at 4am for a race that didn’t start until 7:30am? It’s called the “Samuelson Early Syndrome”, I get it from my mother. She always wants to be places extra extra early. I felt the need to be there early, especially for this race in NYC, a city I’m not too familiar with. I got dressed, and at last minute I decided to check a bag at the race (given to me at the expo). I thought I could wear my red pull over there and then ditch when I checked my bag in. I got dressed and grabbed breakfast. I had forgot to buy my per usual cliff bar, so I found some almonds and munched on those. I had ordered a taxi the night before for 5am. I tried to sit on the couch and look out the window to wait for the cab, but the honest truth I was falling asleep on the couch waiting. I decided to sit outside, HOLY S***! IT WAS F***ING COLD! I sat on the steps in front of their house debating to go back in and put on more clothing for the race. The truth is since I was traveling, I tried to travel light and that included not packing a sweater I was originally going to ditch at the starting line. Man, did I miss that ugly blue/grey sweater at five that morning. 5:15am rolled around no cab. 5:25am nothing. At 5:30am I hailed another cab, I needed heat. The cab got me exactly where I needed to go. Seeing NYC at 5:30am was actually very pretty, from the warmth of a car.. Would you believe it? I got there too early even to check my bag, they were still setting up. I walked around Madison Ave and then seeing all the doormen, hoping they would invite me in. Delusional thinking, I was freezing. The baggage claim opened, so I checked my bag in and decided that I would be wearing this red pull over during the race. There was no way it was going to warm up, as I had expected it to. Oh and that adrenaline thing wasn’t warming me up at all. Once I checked my bag in, I talked to some people, one woman who had completed many Disney races also, including the Goofy Challenge. I found talking to people, even if it was about how cold it was, helped distract me from how cold I was. I started to walk down central park to my corral, looking back now.. I should have gone somewhere else to warm up... OH WAIT NOTHING WAS OPENED! I stood in central park, thinking warm thoughts. Boy did I miss the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon 97% humidity that AM. The security man didn’t help, he kept repeating over and over to himself “these people are stupid for running in this cold weather”. I started talking to this guy who was very sweet. We talked about everything, just keep talking just keep talking. I found out he was racing with a charity as well and this was his first race. I realized he was in the same corral as me when we took a photo together (for marathonphoto). It was then that I noticed that my number was on my pinnie under my red pull over......  Shoot! I was going to wear this pinnie. I accomplished taking the pinnie off while still wearing my red sweatshirt, and put the pinnie on top of the sweat shirt. I thought this would look horrible, but the colors worked together in a way. Only problem is I look gigantic since the pull over is larger on me, suck it up... I NEED TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER AND THE RED PULL OVER...

Moving on, more and more people started arriving. As more and more people started arriving the sun started coming up! Yay, the sun brought with it some heat. We started lining up in our corrals. There were these two jerky guys in back of me, talking about having sex with their girlfriends, I looked down and noticed how small their shoes were.... haha... Finally we started moving. Closer and closer to the start. When we got close to the start the elite runners were running pass us. They were finishing mile six the loop in the park. So as we crossed the start line, I was running next to the elite olympian runners. HOW COOL! Try pacing yourself next to that! I did start off fast, per usual, but I was finally happy about this race. It has been so flip flop about running it, but I was finally happy to be running in it. 

It was great running in Central Park. So beautiful there, as the sun was coming up. I love how runners who weren’t in the race would run along us or even come in a join us and then go their own ways. Also the people cheering us along was overwhelming and great. I was feeling good. I hit my first hill, I was warned that Central Park was hilly, after this hill I was like “seriously this is a hill to you guys”?! And then I hit our second hill, and I was like hills suck, even in Central Park. I knew that once I got out of there it would be flat sailing. Central Park wasn’t as bad as I thought. I came out still pretty strong, which I was happy about. At mile 5, which was dedicated to the people who boo me in life, a great song came on and I felt like an all star!

As we crossed the starting line on the other side (6 miles in) where we had earlier seen the elite olympian runners, it was then that I really started to believe that idea that we are actually running in the steps of the olympians, HOW COOL! 

Once we entered Times Square, I wasn’t expecting so many people to be cheering us on, after reading Dori’s blog post about her first half marathon. There were people cheering us on, but not as many as other parts of the race. It was so cool running down Time Square with all the lights. A very once in your life time experience. However, I noticed myself getting very distracted by all the hoot and holler. I found it getting harder and harder to run. Was I getting tired? Oy! All I kept thinking was this is the beginning of the end. Instead I tried to focus on staying on track of running. I tried to not let my mean thoughts get me down. They just kept coming up. I tried to have one of my GU packs at this point, however, the water at the water stations had frozen pieces of ice in it, from being so cold. I found it hard to have GU, and slush it with water. I gave up on the GU. I kept running. At mile 8, I figured out where we were. I also realized this was a part of the race that had been badly hit by Sandy. One of the many reasons why the ING 2012 NYC Marathon was canceled. I felt guilty being able to run here in a race, after so many of my friends who had trained for a MARATHON, hadn’t got to run here originally! I’m weird about guilt, after all I am Jewish. 

Throughout the race I kept noticing the people running for charities and cheerers on the side. Every time I saw orange cheerers I thought, YAY it’s for MS, but they weren’t. I started wondering, where are all the MS cheerers. Right when I thought this, there they were! FINALLY! They started cheering me on! I ran fast by them and raised my hands in the air “Woot woot”. But after that I never saw any of them again, even at the finish line. Maybe I missed them, but I just felt like other charities were more spread out along the race, and that could simply be because they are bigger organizations. Still I was proud to raise money for MS and be able to run for the National MS society.

A mile after seeing the MS society cheering squad, I saw Peter and Carrie. I can’t believe I saw them, I was convinced I was going to miss them. I waved my hands in the air to get their attention, I ran towards them and gave them both a big sweaty hug and kiss, and ran off. It was so great seeing them and having someone cheering you on throughout points of the race. 

After mile 10, it got hard. I had to finish. I wanted that medal and that super cool cape. I also knew Tamar, a DM friend was going to be there. I felt myself slowing down. It was getting hard. I was getting dizzy and light headed, but I knew it would be over soon enough! I think I also was just exhausted. What I noticed a lot through the race and especially at this point, was the charities who were cheering us on, one person would come run in the road with a runner running for that charity and cheer them on for a little while. I was pretty jealous! I wanted someone to come cheer me on. It was like having your own personalized coxswain. 

Not looking too happy

We hit the tunnel, which I wasn’t expecting... I got even more dizzy being in the dark. Especially going from light to dark. It was weird. However, when I saw 800 meters left sign, I got excited. They didn’t have these signs when I was in Disney, and I loved it. 800 meters, thats a 1/2 mile! And then I saw the 400 meters left sign, THAT’S ONLY .25 MILES. How many .25 mile sprints have I done while training... So many. As I turned the corner to head to finish line with .1 mile left. The crowd support was awesome! I loved it. I was looking out for Tamar, but I was also taking it all in and sprinting as fast as possible.. I was almost done. I crossed the finish line and jumped with excitement. TWO HALF MARATHONS DONE! Seriously I felt like a major champ. My phone started vibrating like crazy when I finished the finish line. It was all my friends who had been tracking me congratulating me on my finish! I also realized my time on my own clock, which was ahead of the official clock, said 2:32--- PR taking 10 minutes off my last half marathon. I couldn’t believe it. I got my medal, took my official photo, got a goody bag, got my cool cape and picked up my bag that I checked earlier. 

I started walking towards the band and I went to check my phone to meet up with Tamar. Right then I felt a tap on my shoulder. We made eye contact and we both said at the same time “are you Tamar” “are you Catie”. Tamar gave me the biggest hug ever and congratulated me on my race. We got a photo together and went to the local bakery/grocery store. All I wanted was fruit, watermelon, craving it like a pregnant woman. She was so sweet and bought me cup up watermelon and a cup of assortment strawberries and blueberries. We found seating outside next to the band and started talking about everything. Why she got into running, future races...etc. It was great to finally meet her, and I wish I could have spent more time with her. She is seriously one of my many Dailymile Moms!Seriously. As fun as it was spending time with her, I was getting pretty tired and cold and we decided to walk to find a taxi for me to take home. She was so sweet, she wouldn’t leave me until she knew I was safe in a taxi on my way home! We found a taxi and said our goodbyes! I hopped in and went back to shower and nap. 

When I got back, Ms. E ran up to me and Amanda was about to ask me how my race was, but Ms. E beat her to it. It was so sweet, she looked up at me adoringly and said “HOW WAS YOUR RACE”? I told her all about it and showed her my awesome cape. She was over the moon thrilled, as we decided that then that the cape would be perfect as the magic carpet when playing Aladin. 

Here is what I learned from the race, never do two half marathons so close together, my heart could have been more in this one from the beginning. Secondly, I know where I now struggle, it’s mile 7-10. I just need to keep running longer distances. Also I need to find a way to fuel, GU’s work on long runs alone, but at races my stomach just doesn’t agree with it. Thirdly, I have finally convinced myself I am a runner. I may not be the fastest one out there, but I am a runner. Next thing I learned, is having people cheering you on throughout the race, really helps. Especially someone at the finish line to meet up with! 

The day before the race, the Crew team was off to Virginia and I was feeling sad. I felt like I didn’t belong to anything anymore. Not the case. I have a running family. It’s the people on Dailymile and the thousands of people running the races with me. 

Official Race Time:  2:31:50 PR

NYC Half Marathon Recap: Part One

This is a hard blog post to write because it means my marvelous weekend in NYC is coming to an end. But let’s start from the beginning, shall we? I wasn’t actually planning on coming to New York City to run the NYC Half Marathon until one week before the race, when I got my confirmation email from the NYRR. At that point I contacted all my friends in NYC to see if I could stay with any of them. Amanda, an old student of my father, who actually used to babysit me, offered up her home. I left on Friday morning and arrived mid afternoon. When I arrived, I decided to go straight to the NYC Half Marathon Expo since my bus arrived pretty close to where it was being held. I got to the expo, picked up my bib, t-shirt and goodie bag. I looked around for a little bit, but I had my luggage with me and was pretty exhausted from the bus ride, not having had lunch and only a mini luna bar for breakfast. 

I was originally planning on meeting J early that evening, but once I got to Amanda’s house I pretty much crashed and caught up with her and met her newborn little O and her 3 1/2 year old daughter, Ms. E. Ms. E and I bonded right away listening to Disney music and playing Aladin. So much fun! Before I knew it, it was time to head out to dinner with Alysa. Alysa and I attended a private boarding high school together, ironically the same one as Amanda. The last time I saw Alysa was at my graduation, May 2010. I can’t believe it had been so long. The minute Alysa and I saw each other it was like no time had passed. Similar to me, Alysa says anything and everything on her mind and has a great sense of humor. We went to a dark little Italian restaurant and enjoyed an amazing dinner and split a bottle of wine. After dinner we went to a quiet bar for more drinks... (Note to self: two days before the race, really should have no more than one drink) 

The next morning I woke up and had breakfast with Ms. E, Amanda, little O and Timur (Amanda’s husband). I then headed out to meet up with Graham. Graham, is another friend from high school. However, he is two years older and the last time I saw him was five years ago. We were best friends his last year at high school, and tried to keep in touch once he left for college, unfortunately we grew apart. It was great reconnecting with him. After our coffee date (water for me, since I’m not a coffee drinker and needed to start hydrating) I got to see his apartment, which is adorable. We only got to see each other for an hour or two, before we had to go our separate ways. We planned on meeting Sunday for lunch after my race, so I refused to hug him and say goodbye that way we would have to see each other the next day. Stupid me those plans fell through and I didn’t really get to say goodbye to him. 

As Graham headed off to a meeting, I was off to have lunch with one of my favorite bloggers out there, Dori. Dori’s blog was the first blog I started reading three plus years ago. I came across it after she did a 30 day Core Fusion Challenge. After that I started following her on twitter and continued to read her blog religiously. She was one of my key inspirations to creating my own blog. I was so excited to meet her! When I entered the restaurant, it was like catching up with an old friend, despite the fact we never actually met. She greeted me with one of the best hugs I have ever received! She was so sweet! We talked for hours, I can’t even remember what exactly what we talked, but the time went by so quickly. Oh and I had the most delicious turkey burger ever!  After a great lunch, we decided to go to Lululemon also known as Heaven on earth. 

We said our goodbyes, and I was off to meet Carrie and Peter (the Godparents) for a drink (Shirley temples). However, they had car problems so I ended up walking around a bit and heading back to the house. It was already 5pm. When I got back home, Ms. E and I played dress up while listening to more Disney music and used Photo Booth as a stage. Rindy, Amanda’s mom came and joined us for dinner. I have known Rindy for a while now. In fact, every year we would go to Rindy’s house in Boston to watch the fireworks on the 4th of July. Rindy told the story of when I was four years old and first went to her house for the July 4th and pulled the fire alarm. Whoops!  I hadn’t seen her in a while, and it was great to see her again and as a grandma. For dinner, Timur had a prepared a yummy pasta carbo load meal! It was delicious. After dinner, I got the honors of putting Ms. E to bed, and then I got my outfit and everything else I needed out for the next day and went to bed. Tomorrow I was running my second half marathon... Went to bed still not believing this fact.