My Badass is Ready to Live My Dream!

You guys, this it! This is going to be my last blog before I conquer the NYC Marathon. Race day is eight days away. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whirlwind of emotions that have been washing over me. All of my training comes down to one day, Sunday, November 6th, 2016. There are enough people planning to track me on race day, from co-workers, family, and friends, that it should help encourage me to push through "the wall" when/if I hit it because I know everyone will be watching (tracking) me.  No pressure, right? A part of me loves the attention and another part of me wishes no one knew.

Some things that make me anxious:

• Daylight Savings Time ends the morning of the race, which means time changes at 2AM on November 6th, race day.
• There is a chance of rain on race day. Wet shoes and wet socks are the perfect breeding ground for blisters. Blisters and Marathons are not good friends.
• Aunt Flow could fuck things up.
• The hills and bridges are a bit intimidating.

Some things that make me excited:

• Cooler weather will give me the chance to run my optimal race.
• Frank Sinatra's song 'New York' playing as I cross the start line.
• The energy of the crowd.
• Central Park will be beautiful to run through with the leaves of the trees changing color this time of year.
• Seeing Taylor cheer for me in the Grandstand seats as I near the finish line.
• The sweet taste of victory as I cross the iconic finish line of the TCS NYC Marathon. (I cried as I typed the last sentence.)

On March 8th, when I found out I got into the NYC Marathon, I couldn't run a 5k without struggling. So if you think you could never run a marathon, think again because I'm proof anything is possible with hard work. Since March, I've worked my butt off to prepare for this race. I even overcame some health issues in April and started new medicine in May. Failure is not an option. I'm healthy, I'm strong, and my badass is ready to live my dream!

Who Am I?

When I was invited to a divisional party after work tonight, I didn't even hesitate to RSVP. The party was at Gators Dockside in Lake Mary. It was super nice of the Water/Wastewater division to invite me even though I'm not technically a part of their division. I was there from the beginning to end, 4PM - 7PM. That's right, I didn't just eat and leave. I socialized and I actually enjoyed it!  I would say about 50 people from the office showed up to enjoy free wings and beer.

I have been known to be socially awkward and quiet at times. However, I never once felt awkward or quiet tonight. So what were my go to topics of conversation? The NYC Marathon, of course. Oh yeah, and clowning was another popular topic. I even showed my clown skit graduation video to one of the VP's who found it extremely amusing. He didn't realize the clown picture at my desk was me. It was also fun hanging out with my supervisor whose favorite topic of conversation was her cats. She must have enjoyed hanging out with me too because she invited me to happy hour next time a few ladies in the office go out.

I Have My Life Back

Say what? I'm blogging two days in a row! 

I'm not sure if you've noticed that I haven't been talking too much about my health lately. That's because I am doing amazingly well. I have my life back!!!! My days aren't ruined by pain and fatigue. The shitty feeling is gone. I feel like I'm breaking out of the shell that my bad years with Crohn's put me in. I'm socializing and actually enjoying it. I surprisingly want to make new friends. I am the me I love being. While that might not make sense to you, it makes perfect sense to me. I love having energy. I've got a bounce in my step and a grin on my face because I feel excellent. I love when my wit makes people laugh. My mind is clear and sharp without brain fog and it's awesome! Mostly, I love the fact that Crohn's has not been a factor in my day to day activities. I'm less afraid to make plans for the future. Even though I know a crash from this high on life feeling of being healthy would crush me, I am well enough to consider options I was hesitant to seriously consider before. I certainly wouldn't mind being this healthy for the rest of my life.

Everyone Deserves a Friendship Like Ours

I just want to take this moment to brag about my best friend.  She challenges me and encourages me to chase my dreams. Before I found out I got into the NYC Marathon, she was on board to go with me in the unlikely event that I won a lottery entry.(I never would have guessed I would get in on my first try.) I know this trip isn't happening at the most ideal time in her life as she is busy making huge life plans (like planning a wedding and buying a house). Yet, her support hasn't faltered. She's in it for the long run, pun intended. Since I'm a marathoner, I know and appreciate her commitment to being my biggest fan and her dedication to being my best friend. I'm overwhelmed by the fact that she will be in the grandstand seating area to watch me accomplish this amazing achievement.  Not only does thinking about crossing the finish line make me emotional, the thought of sharing that experience with her has a powerful affect on my race mentality. I want to run the race for me and I want to finish strong for her. She wants me to cross that iconic finish line in Central Park as much I want to cross it! Everyone deserves a friendship like ours! 

As much as this trip is about the race it's also about being on vacation in NYC with my best friend! We haven't vacationed too much together. Will this be a test in our relationship? I doubt it, unless we're testing to see how high we can get our level of awesomeness. Will this be an audition for the Amazing Race? Unlikely, although I have a feeling using public transportation will be comedic and terrifying at times. I believe this trip will be one we remember for the rest of our lives. Even without NYC in the equation, I'm excited to get some much needed Taylor time!

21 Days Until the Race!

You guys, the race is THREE weeks out!!!  On my long run yesterday with the group I logged 17.5 miles. I felt pretty good for the most part considering blisters are healing and a toenail is barely hanging on. I used the run as a dress rehearsal. I wore what I plan to wear on race day, minus the arm warmers (Um, hello, it's not cold enough to practice with those on a long run). I practiced fueling with the energy gel and Gatorade I plan on using on race day. I did experience some stomach cramps that started around mile 12. I'm not sure if it was the energy gel I ate, the Gatorade I drank, or a combination of things. Afterwards I think it was just because I had to poop because after I relieved my bowels, the cramping went away. At this point, I'm not sure if I should consider trying a different fueling method or just go with it. I made it back to where we started at mile 17.5 for a hydration stop. While I intended to go back out for two to four more miles once I started back up again I felt dizzy and nauseous, so I decided to stop.  It was so bad that I almost went to my grandma's house a block away to have someone pick me up because I wasn't sure if I could drive home. In the end, I chose to give myself a few minutes to hydrate and rest before driving home. When I got home, I ungracefully made my way to bed by holding on to the walls and door frames to balance myself. I slept three hours and woke up feeling better even though I had a killer headache.

I'm not sure if I was dehydrated, experienced some sort of heat stress, or what exactly happened. Even though I'm a little bummed I only ran 17.5 miles, I'm also really excited to have come this far in my marathon training. I went out for 4 miles this morning because I thought running on tired legs is exactly what I need to help me on the back half of 26.2 miles on race day. In two days, I ran 21.5 miles, which is damn close to 26.2 miles. Now, I am officially in taper mode, which means I'm supposed to be taking it easy just to maintain my training. I will still be training on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but my last two weekend runs before the race aren't likely to be more than ten miles each.

My running group is absolutely amazing! There are five of us ladies that run together Tuesday and Thursday mornings as well as Saturday mornings. We are like our own little group inside of our much bigger group. We even have a WhatsApp group called Running Divas! These ladies push me to be my best and keep me accountable when necessary. They make the miles fly by and I love running with them. One lady, Wellsy (that's her nickname), and I are going to be dressing up as the Ugly Stepsisters from Cinderella for the Walt Disney World Marathon.  Wellsy, is constantly making us laugh on our runs and always chit chatting mile after mile. The Disney Marathon is going to be so much fun with her!

I finally know my race number and starting time for the TCS NYC Marathon. I will be starting in the last wave at 11AM. Since I'm in the Green corral, I will be running on the bottom level of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. It's not exactly where I wanted to be, but how can I complain? I'm just excited to have the opportunity to run this race!  To track me on race day:

• Download the TCS NYC Marathon app.
• Select "TRACK UP TO 20 RUNNERS"
• Search "69071"
• Click "+" to add me to your list of runners, and then you'll be able to see my splits on race day every 5K, half, and finish.
• I've been told that if you click on the course map it will show my initials with an estimated position of where I am on the course. It uses my previous mile times to predict future mile times and estimated position on the course.

Text me cheers on race day! I have an app that will read me your messages! Although I'll hear your messages, I won't likely be responding until after I finish the race. Don't let my silence stop you from cheering me on. Text me jokes, text me quotes, text me nonsense, text me what you're doing while I run a marathon, and text me compliments.

29 Days Left!!

Where has the time gone? In one month, running the NYC Marathon will be a mere memory. I will have achieved a huge dream of mine by crossing the finish line in Central Park! Even though I'll likely walk funny and be in pain after the race, I cannot wait!!! The pain I feel after I've put forth my best effort is one of the most rewarding feelings and sweetest victories around. After I cross the finish line, I want to be able to say, "I left everything I have out on the course!" I'm hesitant to set a time goal. Perhaps part of me is cowardly because I don't want to set a time goal and disappoint myself. However, I think the real reason it's difficult for me to set a time goal is because I'm not sure I know what a realistic goal would be. Sure, I know which pace group I train with, but there are going to be different factors that I haven't encountered before. The weather will likely be drastically cooler with lower humidity than the weather I've been training in, which will actually increase my overall speed. But then there are the hills and bridges, which might slow me down. The first mile is all up hill on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and then the course is relatively flat until mile 15. Honestly, I'm a little intimidated about the second half of course being full of bridges and hills. The other factor that comes into play is the crowd. I've been told the crowd can carry a runner through the race. There are going to be millions of people on the sidelines cheering throughout the race. Once we get into Manhattan the crowd in some places are known to be more than ten people deep just lining the course encouraging the runners! The last factor that has me a bit concerned is the fact that I am almost certain Aunt Flow will be accompanying me during the race.  Won't that be fun??? My main goal is to have fun during race. I want to run in the moment and enjoy the dream I worked so hard for! Although a PR would be nice. lol

The race is 29 days away!!! This is it people! I am really going to run the TCS NYC Marathon! I didn't run this week as I was letting blisters heal from my half marathon on Sunday. To make matters worse, my long run this weekend with the group was cancelled because of Hurricane Matthew.  I don't think a week off will set me back since I've stayed on track with training very well for the most part.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get a run in on my own this weekend. It probably wont be 16 miles like my schedule suggests, but anything is better than nothing. Plus, I have my longest training run on my schedule set for October 15th. I'm going to attempt a 20 miler with my group, so I'm not going to beat myself over taking it a little easy leading up to that long run.

I am super excited about the NYC trip!!! I have a lot of expectations and I have no doubt NYC will deliver and exceed them!