The first attempt of three at gaining entry into the NYC marathon is always a no-go for me. Attempt number one this time proves to be no exception to that rule. Update 1 – 4/28/2011 – The above image has been slightly altered due to overly concerned parents (or you can say that they care too much.)
Finding a spot near behind the 9 min per mile starting corral, I catch a glimpse of a woman looking behind her. She looks familiar from somewhere. “Excuse me,” I say as I cut in between two women in front of me. I ask the familiar person if she went to the same high school that I did, and she responds with a “Yes.” I say, “Hi, I’m Joe.” As it turns out she graduated in the same year as I and has run in two half marathons, the OUC and Gasparilla halves, which I ran in but just now we’ve bumped into each other. “Is this your first 10K?” she asks. “Nah, I’ve run a bunch of them.” I learn that she will…
From year to year the cost of entry to the WDW half and full marathons increases by $5. So, if you think that the race is already pricey to run, it will be more expensive the following year. More appealing than the “vote on a finisher’s medal” from 2010, their recent e-mail blast includes a cool to-do list item: After walk/jogging two marathons in this year’s running season, I naturally wonder “what’s next?” NYC for me is unknown until the lottery is held in late April, and reading this e-mail message makes it very, very tempting to sign-up for WDW. At the bottom of the e-mail I discover: Register … by April 24, 2011 to save on the race entry fees! On first thought,…
There are advantages to having a dailymile account, a social networking site dedicated to exercising enthusiasts. First is that you can see what everyone is doing in your area. If I feel like slacking off and read about people running 10 miles on a Saturday morning when I chose to sleep-in, I feel guilty and am slightly more motivated to head outdoors and hit the pavement. So, there this built-in peer pressure to keep up with everyone in your area. Secondly, it’s a great resource to get answers to problems. For example, my heel began bothering me late last year leading me to post an entry about it. A lady in Lakeland commented on my post with how to work around the issue that…
Earlier this week in a computer lab like temporary room, the co-worker at the far end of the tables gets up and walks a few tables over to me. “I think I have the perfect marathon training plan for you,” he says. “Oh really? What’s that?” He continues, “There’s his guy who’s training for a marathon and is eating nothing but McDonald’s food for the last 30 days.” The scales of thermodynamic equilibrium tip in favor of “calories-in.” At first thought this sounds like a runner’s version of Super Size Me; however, after closer examination of the Food Diary in progress, this person, Joe, is tightly clinging onto the healthier side of the menu, a wise choice in my opinion. Link to his blog: …
The guy behind the counter notices me with a medal hanging around my neck and before I can ask him to unlock doors to take the elevator to the tenth floor, he asks me about it. Even though I’ve lost 6.8 pounds, most of which I sweated away, I don’t mind happily taking about how awesome the race was. He mentions that his brother did the half marathon today. I dwell on the common highlight of the race, running through downtown and the approaching turn off. “Yeah, there’s a decision to make.” He asks, “A decision?” “You go either left for the half marathon or go right for the full marathon, but of course you already decided when you signed up months before the…