Week 15: Training milestones, new accessories, fame, and a new hair style!

Just over one week from today, all of us will be making our way across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge to start our 26.2 mile journey. I had heard about an Asics sponsored exhibit in the Columbus Circle Station, and that there was a wall with the names of the marathon runners. I resolved to check it out sometime this week and get a picture. 

I didn't run Monday, and although I planned on running Tuesday, I should have known better than to schedule a run the day after orchestra rehearsal. I get back late from White Plains, and I am usually so wired up that it takes me forever to fall asleep. I wanted to go after work, but it just didn't happen. 

Wednesday I went out for an easy 5 mile run, and didn't bother with the Garmin. It's very uplifting to see the marathon route signs, and the bleachers by the finish line are now starting to be covered in orange. 

Thursday was my "dress rehearsal" so to speak. I wore my entire marathon outfit, down to the arm warmers, and did 6 miles with 2 @ goal marathon pace. 

Happily, miles 2 & 3 were on pace, and I ended up with 6.11 miles - as usual, the Garmin didn't catch a signal until I reached Central Park.

During Friday evening's run, I decided to take a detour into the Columbus Circle train station to look at the Asics marathon exhibit. This includes a wall that has all of the marathoners names on them (in theory). So, I look at the wall, and after a few minutes, look what I found.

I didn't have my phone with me, but a fellow first time marathoner was nice enough to take these pictures and email them to me. Thanks Tanya! I then ran up the West Side, and less than two miles name, I heard my name being shouted out. I turn around, stop, and see two figures racing towards me. It's my former co-workers from HSS, Jerry & Anny! What a pleasant surprise. We run a couple of miles together before they go to NYRR Headquarters to pick up their bibs for Sunday's race, which may or may not be cancelled for the second year in a row due to weather circumstances. Miles 5 & 6 were faster than planned because of this, but it was great to have the company. 

The next morning, I decided to stick to Central Park. I had considered taking another crack at the Queensborough bridge, but I didn't feel like carrying water with me. I ran as much of the race route as I could. I started off by running down the park drive towards Columbus Circle, then went onto Central Park South and back towards the finish line. After crossing the still not-set up finish line, I ran towards Harlem Hill, but I left the park after doing the first hill, I ran on Central Park North until I hit Fifth Avenue. 

Last weekend, I only hit Fifth Avenue at 96th street, but even a mile and a half made a huge difference in how I felt about that stretch. It felt far hillier than last time, and my thought was "geez this course is going to be HARD! Exactly why did I think that sub-4 was possible?" Then I told that voice in my head to shut up. 

Anyway, I finished just over 7.5 miles. Below are the Garmin stats and route I used. I was faster than expected, and I didn't eat anything, but I felt great almost the entire time. 

After finishing this run, I realized that I hit an extremely important milestone. At the end of last year, I made it my goal to run 1,500.76 miles this year, and as of today, I have achieved that goal by running an average of approximately 5 miles per day in 301 days....and it's not even the end of October yet. 

I celebrated this important milestone like any other girl with extremely unmanageable hair would do. I went to get the Keratin treatment done on my hair, and the results came out very nicely in my humble opinion.

I don't know how my hair matched the "blonde" swatch at the hair salon, but oddly enough, it did. I don't get it. 

My next mission was to get more orange bling for my outfit. After Thursday's dress rehearsal run, and after looking at the weather, I realized that it would be too warm for my orange arm warmers. I compensated by buying a headband and orange socks. There cannot be too much orange in my marathon outfit! 

Even the bloks are orange. No worries -
I plan on trying one before assuming
that I can take them with me next weekend.

After that, I didn't do much for the rest of the day, other than buy some non-perishables in case NYC loses power because of Hurricane Sandy. It's unlikely, but better safe than sorry. I still don't know whether the subways will be running Monday morning, and I won't be finding out until tomorrow. Even if the MTA isn't running, I still might have to go to work and take extra security measures to prevent my hair from getting wet. 

Since I can't wash it until Tuesday, and since the weather will be awful due to the storm, I won't be running tomorrow or Monday. I will call these days SHDs - scheduled hair days. 

Anyway, thanks for reading. Please keep an eye out for a spectator guide later this week, and I will be writing one other entry to cover my week 16 runs before the marathon. Thanks for reading!!!