Wrightsville Beach Half Marathon Race Report

Wrightsville Beach, day before race

 I have been running since I was in high school and joined the track team my freshman year.  I was on the track team all four years, I also ran cross country and indoor track, for a year or two.  I’ve always enjoyed running, but not so much competing.  I just liked running for the fun of it and the social aspect, but I always felt so much pressure for upcoming races. 

I ran sporadically throughout college, but focused more on the social activities while at St. Bonaventure.  I played club field hockey, but I wouldn’t say this gave me that much exercise either.  I didn’t really begin running again until I decided to train for my first marathon.  I signed up for the Chicago Marathon in 2007.  At this point, I really didn’t know anyone who ran.  I followed the Hal Higdon training program for beginners.  I ran 3-4 days a week.  Generally, 3-5 easy miles a few days a week and then my long run on the weekends.  My long runs were always by myself, and they weren’t always the most beneficial runs.  I allowed myself to stop and walk whenever I wanted, just though the point was to be on my feet, even if it was walking. 

You can imagine how this marathon went.  I had no clue how to train or what a marathon would feel like.  My only goal was to finish, but I definitely did not train the correct way.  Add to this that this was the Chicago Marathon of 2007.  It was SO hot and humid.  I was able to cross the finish line of this race, but I walked at least half of this.  Not even just because I needed to, I was made to walk the last 6 miles by cops on the course.  The streets were flooded by the open fire hydrants, meant to cool the runners down, as well as hoses being sprayed.  I was very happy just to finish this marathon though.

I had the great idea to sign up for another marathon in 2008, and yet another poor training attempt for my 2^nd marathon, Marine Corps.  This was the year I moved to NC and, probably trained even worse for this one.  Not to mention, taking almost a whole month off before this marathon due to an injury in my left leg.  Again, I crossed the finish line, but I hated marathons now.

I did start running more when I moved to NC and joined the Charlotte Runner’s meetup group.  This is where I met some of my first friends in Charlotte.  The Common Market run was my first group run.  Running with people was very new to me and it took some getting use to.  I didn’t even completely ditch my headphones until a couple years after this.  I loved how Charlotte was such a great running community.  The Charlotte Runners were my first running group, but from there I met the University City Road Runners and ran Saturday mornings with them, and later on, joined the Charlotte Running Club.  It is great how many running groups there are in Charlotte and how much support there is in this community.

Running really has helped me make friends throughout my life.  Starting in high school when I was new to town my freshman year and joined the track team, then fast forward to my move to Charlotte, NC and met almost all my friends through running.  Not to mention, this is also how I met my fiancé, at a Charlotte Running Club social.  We really did not like each other at our first encounter, but we got along better at the next function, for a mutual friend’s birthday party.

All of this is just to say that running really has shaped my life in so many ways.  I do tend to get injured more than others, and because of this, I really only allow myself to run 4-5 days a week and stay around 30 miles on average for my weekly running mileage.  This may sound like a lot to my non-runner friends, but to many of my runner friends, I know this is considered not even running! Haha.

Okay, the point of this post, the Wrightsville Beach half marathon. 

One goal of mine was to break the 1 hour 40 minute barrier for the half marathon.  I think this was my 10^th half marathon.  Many of the half marathons I have done were just done as a training run, a few of them I was injured going into them so they were just done for fun.  I was hoping I would finally get the chance to run one with a goal.  Even though, this made me pretty nervous. 

I asked Chris to help me get me to my goal.  This doesn’t always work so well, as I am not the best listener and don’t always take his advice.  I am terrible at stretching, icing, warming up, etc.  I do take 2 strength classes a week to help prevent injury.  I just do not train with the same intensity and thought that Chris does. 

He started giving me speed work training about a month and a half prior to the race day.  I also signed up for a couple races, a 10 miler and a 5k to get some additional speed work into my training plan.  My best time before this race was 1:44:xx in the half marathon.  I had gotten this time a few times prior.  Taking 5 minutes off my time meant going from just under 8 min/mile pace to the 7:35/mile pace.  Keep in mind, my previous 5k’s were about this pace.  I have only done a handful of 5k’s, ever, and not too many races, but still, I was not sure I could handle this pace for 13.1 miles. 

The week before the race I was getting pretty nervous, I was worried about the potential of wind, since it was at the beach, humidity, etc.  I ran a couple times that week and I did not feel good through either of them.  I am a total mental runner, so this did not help me.  I really had no clue if I could run the time I wanted.

We drove to Wilmington on Saturday morning, drove straight to the expo to pick up my packet and then went down to the beach to relax for a bit.  It was pretty windy so we didn’t stay long.  Chris’s friends, Adam and his wife Andrea, were nice enough to offer to let us stay at their house for the weekend.  Adam was running the full marathon and Andrea, the half.  We got to their house and settled in, chatted about the race course and the plan in the morning.  We sat down for a nice dinner and had a glass of wine, before turning in for the night around 9:30pm!  The race had a start time of 6:40am, and we had to take a shuttle to the start, so this meant a wake up call before 5am!  I am not a morning person.

We made it to the shuttle in time to wait at the back of the line and get on the very last shuttle to the start.  I think I was still asleep on the shuttle.  We got to the start line about 5 minutes before the gun.  Chris was not very happy about this since he wanted me to warm up and do some dynamic warm ups (which I have never done,) but I didn’t have a problem getting there right before.   I didn’t have time to be nervous, it worked out well.

The first few miles were in the dark, I felt great.  The plan was to make the first couple miles feel very easy.  7:45-7:50 pace.  I was not sure this would feel easy, but when we were running, it felt very easy.  We started to pick it up at mile 3.  We were even passing people at this point.  So many people we ran by were already breathing heavy, and this made me feel more confident because I felt good and my breathing was good.  I felt like I could have held this pace forever.  The first two miles were low 7:40’s, and then we got into the low 7:30’s  from mile 3 on.  Not too much to report on throughout the middle of this race.  It was nice and flat, there were always plenty of people around us. 

I was not sure I wanted Chris to run with me because it has not always worked out well for us in the past.  I tend to get frustrated with him when he runs with me, since my race pace is his easy running pace.  I like to know that the people around me are hurting as much as I am.  Megan Hovis was signed up to run the marathon, but she ended up not being able to go, so she let Chris use her bib as long as he didn’t cross the finish line. 

I will say, I did get angry at Chris a few times, but kept it in my head, mainly because I didn’t want to waste the energy talking.  In the beginning, every time we went by a cheering zone, he would get all rowdy and yell back at them.  This annoyed me, since I didn’t even have the energy to whisper.  He was also carrying Megan’s bib in one hand, instead of wearing it, the bib was yellow, for about 8 miles I thought he was holding a peeled banana in his hand, and this also annoyed me, that he was just running with a banana in his hand, again, I did not have the energy to ask him why he was holding a banana, so until I looked at it about mile 9 and figured out it was the bib, I was frustrated with him running with a banana. 

Chris was really good throughout the race with not talking to me.  He would say a few words here and there, like, keep your shoulders loose, keep your jaw loose, you’re doing great, we’re right on pace.  I’m sure these sound like encouraging words and I shouldn’t get mad, but they annoyed me during the race and I yelled at him in my head.  It wasn’t until about mile 11-12 , when he said “you’re doing great,” and some other words, that I said “shut up…please”.  I was struggling at this point, it was getting warmer out, there was more wind and I just wanted to be done.  I had no energy to pick up the pace like I thought I would.  The mile markers were so far off.  We still had over a mile to go. 

I thought we were a good bit ahead of our plan since every time my watch beeped a mile, we were always about 7:30, and our goal was high 7:30’s.  When we turned into the plaza where the race finished, Chris jumped out before the last couple turns.  He actually thought that was the end of the race since his watch already had 13.1.  He yelled to me to pick it up because I was already at 1:38:xx.  This made me nervous b/c I just didn’t have that much left in me to pick up the pace.  I pretty much wanted to walk at this point.  I could see the finish line, but the time was not easy to see.  I never looked at the time on my watch throughout the whole race, and I didn’t want to look down at this point, b/c I thought I was going to be disappointed. 

I crossed the finish line and the clock said 1:40:04.  I actually told myself this was okay, because I felt I gave it all I had.  I looked down at my watch, which I stopped at the finish line, and it said 1:39:46 for 13.18 miles.  I was thrilled!  I wasn’t sure if the official results would have me under 1:40, but I was still happy.

My official chip time ended up being 1:39:48.  My watch had me running a 7:34 pace, the official time has me at a 7:38 pace.  Either way, I’ll take it!  I’m happy with my effort and with how the race went overall.  It was the first time I ‘raced’ a half marathon, and now I know what this feels like.  I know it will be harder to knock more time off this PR moving forward, but I am looking forward to the day when I will beat this time!

Enjoying a free beer after the race.  Happy!

Now I can focus on our wedding, this race has been such a focal point for the last month, that I haven’t though too much about how close we are to our departure date. 

We are now 16 days away from our flight to Jamaica and just 18 days until our wedding!!!

Running, Rooms to Go, Wraps and Red Wine



My new running shoes

It has been busy as usual around here.  This was an eventful week.  We had new bedroom furniture delivered, Chris bought me a brand new pair of Newton running shoes, I ran a 5k, Chris joined It Works as a distributor and some of my girlfriends here in Charlotte through me a bridal shower with wine tasting!



As I sit here writing this on my couch, I have an It Works ‘Ultimate Body Applicator’ wrap on my stomach.  Chris joined on as a distributor for a company called It Works.  Our friend Lisa has been a distributor for the past year and has really enjoyed this company and growing her business over the past year.  I am not going to go into detail on this blog post about the company, as I am still learning, but I am trying their body contouring wrap to help tone my mid section before our wedding.  I have seen and read great results from these wraps, so hoping it helps!  I will post more about this, and maybe even some pictures once I finish using them.  I am going to do one wrap a week over the next four weeks.  I also have been taking their Greens each day as a supplement, and do find these give me more energy.  More on all of this in a later post.

Me with my wrap underneath my shirt  (and new running shorts!)

A couple weeks ago Chris and I went to Rooms to Go to purchase a new bedroom set for our bedroom.  This took a long time to agree on which set we liked the best.  We finally agreed on a sleigh bedroom set, with a dresser, two nightstands and bed frame, along with an area rug.  We chose a delivery date two weeks from when we purchased.  The night before the scheduled delivery date, their customer service department called us to inform us that they do not have the headboard for our bed, it will not be in until the end of the month, BUT they were going to give us some sort of loaner piece so the bed could still be put together.  We were not very happy about this, but this stuff happens, what can you do?  They arrived on time, but I was informed that the bed would stay in the boxes until the headboard is delivered.  Basically the loaner piece they told us about was just bed rails to hold the mattress, which we already have.  So, now we have to keep these 3 large boxes containing our bed frame in our room until March 23^rd.  We have been sleeping in our guest bedroom, which is nice and cozy, so I don’t mind so much. 

New bedroom furniture minus the bed!

I signed up for a 5k on Saturday to run as part of my long run of 15 miles.  I normally do not like 5ks, but I knew it was a good way to get some speed work in as part of my long run.  There was a 5k at McAlpine which worked out perfect, because my friend Amy was planning on running 20 miles there that morning, so she could meet me at the finish of the race to run my remaining 10 miles.  This 5k was called ‘Run Jen Run.’  All the money raised from the race was going to the ‘Go Jen Go’ foundation.  As stated on their website; The GoJenGo Foundation is a non-profit institution dedicated to providing financial assistance and emotional support to individuals and families, in North and South Carolina, who are battling breast cancer. 

The race had a great turnout, 532 participants for its first year!  It was run on the cross country course, which I had never run before.  I run at McAlpine a good bit, but I always have avoided the hill.  Chris and I ran the hill as part of our two mile warm up, and I didn’t think it was so bad; it’s steep, but short.  The downhill was the worst part for me.  It is pretty steep going down, so I naturally slowed myself down because I felt like I was going to fall.  I did not do much better with this downhill in the race either! 

I really didn’t have a plan for this race, just knew that I wanted to feel good through it so I could finish my ten miles after feeling good.  I have only done a hand full of 5k’s, ever, so I don’t really know how to race these or run these as a workout.  I decided that I should stay in the 7:20-7:30 range for the first two miles, and run faster for the last mile.  I felt really good in the first mile; I clocked a 7:17, for this mile, feeling really relaxed and having fun.  The next mile included the up and down hill, this mile was clocked at a 7:24, the last mile I did in a 7:09.  I got passed at the very end by some woman who came out of nowhere.  Chris never even saw her behind me through the whole race.  I finished in 22:17 and got 1^st place in my age group.  The best part was that I felt great and really relaxed through the whole race.  Amy met me at the finish and we ran 10 miles to complete m 15 mile run for the day and her 20 mile run.  It was fun, and even snowed, a good bit, on us!

5k Start

My 5k finish

Amy and I in the middle of our run, soaked from the snow!

The best part about this morning was something that happened right before the race.  Chris and I just finished our warm up and went to the bathroom before heading to the start of the race.  There were a 2 woman waiting on their two friends in the stalls when I got there.  One of them saw my Charlotte Running Company WWC trail race sweatshirt and asked if I ran that race.  I told her I didn’t do it this year, but I did last year.  She also said how she liked my bright Newton running sneakers.  Their other two friends came out of the stalls and I went into mine, as they continued to talk in the bathroom.  I figured they were just in there staying warm before the race.  I came out and asked them if the race started at 9, which I was pretty sure it did and we had about 10 minutes.  They said yep, we have plenty of time.  So, I went to wash my hands and one of them said “I promise we’re not creepers, but we want to give you something,” she continued to say how they are Lulu Lemon girls and have a new pair of running shorts for me.  This made my day!!  So exciting, what are the chances?!  I felt a little embarrassed since I was wearing a pair of competitor shorts, but one of the girls told me she actually was as well.  They said they didn’t expect me to wear them in the race, but wanted me to have them and try them out.  What are the chances of that?!  A $54 pair of brand new running shorts just for visiting the bathroom before a race!

After returning home, showering and eating lunch, Chris drove me down to Amy’s house for a bridal shower/wine tasting party for me!  I figured since we were sampling many wines, it would be best for Chris to drive me.  My friends put this shower together and had a wine tasting scheduled with a rep from a home wine tasting company.  It was so much fun learning about the different types of wine and food to pair with different wines.  It’s always good to hang out with the girls as well!  This was so much fun!!

All in all, this has been a fun week/weekend.  As I am sitting here, I see the clock and realize I have left this wrap on a little too long.  So, I better go take this off and see if there are any instant results!  Results are supposed to take place over the next 72 hours.  Will keep you updated.  For the rest of the day we have plans to visit Lowes, and plant bulbs!  Snowed yesterday, gardening today, such strange weather we have here!

I Love Productive Weekends!

Chris paiting our bedroom!

This past weekend was fun and productive! We started off by running in the Charlotte 10 Miler down in Ballantyne. I won a free entry to this race from Theoden’s (running) facebook page. It worked out well for a running workout Chris had planned for me. I am running the Wrightsville Beach half marathon on March 17th, so just a few weeks left to train. I have a goal, just not sure I am going to be ready for this goal in a few weeks time.

For this race, Chris had a plan for me to run a two mile warm up, then run the first two miles of the race at an 8 minute pace and get progressively faster with each mile. Then a mile cool down to finish. I was a little worried about a hill I heard about around mile 8, almost 6 miles of the race was ran on the greenway, so you think it’s going to be a flat, fast race.

That morning we woke up before 6am to heavy rain. We debated even driving down to the race in the cold rain. I decided since I was awake I might as well go, even if I don’t want to run, I could at least cheer others on.

As soon as we got down there and parked, I realized I forgot my race bib at home! Luckily, they were very kind at registration and let me have a new bib, since they were so nice about this, I decided I had to at least run. So, we went back to the car, sat in there to warm up and headed to the start line just in time for the race to start. No warm up for us, and also decided to just use this as a training run, no workout.

Chris ran with me, and we didn’t end up following the workout as planned, but still did get a good workout. Although, that hill before mile 9 was not pretty. I thought the two previous hills into the neighborhood were the hills people were referring to, but when I saw the crazy hill before mile 9, I was not very happy. I started running, but decided I was going to walk. I gave up. Chris tried to encourage me to keep running; saying the last mile is all downhill to the finish, but I did not believe him. I figured he was saying anything to get me not to walk. I did not like this hill, you go up a steep hill, then turn and go up another steep hill. As soon as we made the next turn, it was all downhill to the finish. I do wish I had previewed the course and knew about these last two miles before the race, because then I would have beeen mentally prepared.  My 9th mile was 8:44 pace, yowza! Then my last mile was 7:15, it was such a nice last mile to the finish line.

Overall I finished 14th female and 2nd in my age group, with an average pace of 7:46. Overall it was fun, and I would do this one again.

When we got home, we got to work in the master bedroom. We recently bought furniture for our bedroom, so we had to paint the room in preparation for the delivery on Friday. We chose a light brown color, not exactly what I had in mind, but I think it will look good with the furniture.

painting over the green walls





the finished room, waiting for furniture

won't be empty for long

We are also having my treadmill that is currently at my parent’s house in NY brought down in a few weeks. So, we had to make room in the other rooms for this. We re-arranged our guest bedroom and also our workout/movie room. Soon we will have a treadmill along with our bike trainer in here. Chris hung up a projection screen and mounted a projector on the opposite wall so we can watch movies while working out or relaxing.

workout/movie room

sitting down to watch a movie Saturday night

Sunday, Chris was able to clean out the gutters, finally. It seems like it is always raining down here so we were glad to get this finally taken care of on such a nice day. We also got a bike ride in through Davidson earlier in the day. It felt like a spring day and it was nice to be outside enjoying the weather!

Chris's Dad helped holding and moving the ladder

Just 40 more days until our wedding!!!

Less than 2 Months!!

Our wedding site, how beautiful is this?!!


Chris has been reminding me lately that I have not posted anything on here in a very long time. So, I am going to give a wedding update. We are now just 52 days away from our trip to Jamaica, and 55 days away from our wedding! I am trying to make sure we are getting everything done that needs to be done. We’re almost there, I still need me dress alterations, Chris’s wedding ring and a few minor items finished/bought.


We came close to missing the deadline for getting our documentation sent in for our marriage license. Since we booked our trip/wedding almost a year ago, I couldn’t remember what we did do and what we didn’t do. Apparently, we did not fill out the application for our marriage license, to make our wedding legal. We found this out on the Friday evening of my college girl’s weekend for my bachelorette/shower/birthday celebration. We needed to have our application sent in, along with a notarized copy of each of our birth certificates. This had to be received in the Sandals/Beaches Miami office at least 60 days before our arrival in Jamaica. We had just 8 days, 5 business days, to get our birth certificates copied/notarized and delivered to the Miami office. This was a little stressful, considering if it was not received in time the resort would not perform our wedding. Also, Chris did not have a copy of his birth certificate so he had to make time to visit the office of vitals downtown to get his birth certificate. He was also, of course, out of town until Monday evening. Thankfully, it all worked out. He got his certificate on Tuesday, I had mine notarized and we overnighted it down to the Miami office. PHEW!!

As I mentioned earlier, my college girl friends organized a shower/bachelorette/birthday weekend for me here in Charlotte. This was the last weekend in January, and we had such a great time! It is so fun to get together with these girls; it is always like no time has passed when we all hang out, just like old times! Catherine, Jaime and Kara planned the fun-filled weekend, it was perfect! Jess flew in on Wednesday from Colorado, Kara flew in Thursday from Ohio, Beth flew in Friday from Long Island, Shannon from Chicago and Faz from NJ (she almost didn’t make it with the blizzard we were getting in Charlotte :))

We started the weekend with a home cooked chicken parmesan dinner at Catherine’s house, hanging out and catching up with some wine, of course. (Thanks to Catherine’s husband, Matt, for sponsoring us with endless wine this weekend!) Saturday morning, a group of us headed out to get a cold run in before the festivities began. They had a shower for me during the day, followed by a little flip cup outside and then a trip to the bowling alley for food and a couple games. After that we came back to Catherine’s house and got ready to go dancing uptown! It was such a great weekend and I’m so thankful for all my friends who planned the weekend, flew down to Charlotte to celebrate with me, and my friends in Charlotte who came over/out to celebrate with us all!

I think everything else is on track, we’re getting very excited! We have 25 guests coming to celebrate our wedding with us in Jamaica! All the minor details are taken care of, and we are getting anxious!!

I have been slowly working on my bouquet for the wedding, it is almost done. I started this project last year, after seeing a picture of a similar bouquet on Pinterest. I just hope it all stays intact on the flight to Jamaica!

Our dining room table has turned into my crafting table!


I saw these shoes as soon as I walked into the store and fell in love with them right away. I love these shoes, and am excited to wear them with my wedding dress!

My wedding band came in as well!

I would post a picture of my dress, but guess I shouldn’t do that before the wedding. I love it! Will post pictures after the wedding!

Other than that, we have been busy doing work in and around our house. Chris and I took a trip to Greenville, SC last weekend to celebrate both of our birthdays together. We took Flat Stanley with us as well (for Alex's classroom.)

We stopped at Crowder's Mountain on the way home to hike!

Life has been treating us well this year, so excited for April 6th!!

Meeting Katie Holmes and Suri...well, not really meeting...

I am first going to highlight my encounter with Katie Holmes and the infamous Suri Cruise.

Here is the first picture! On Saturday, Chris and I met up with my friend John Rogers and his girlfriend, Stephanie at Pershing Square Cafe. They have great brunches right by Grand Central Station!

They decided to walk with us back to our hotel after brunch and enjoy the city. We walked through Bryant Park and saw the skating rink set up. We then stopped in Rockefeller Center and viewed the skating rink there and Democracy Plaza. From there we went to Central Park to walk around and see our THIRD skating rink of the day!

BUT, this post is about Katie and Suri!

So, after we spent time in Central Park I asked John and Stephanie if they wanted to come with us to have a drink at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Our hotel, The Essex House, is overlooking Central Park, but unless you have a Central Park view, which we didn't have, you don't see much. I asked our concierge if there was anywhere to go that had a great view of the park and he recommended the Mandarin Oriental. John and Stephanie were happy to join us.

We went up to the lounge area and we could see the breathtaking views! We waited for a table for about ten minutes. The drinks were pricey, but worth it for the view. The staff were all so nice and accommadating.

Okay, now onto to the real story...the point of this post...Katie and Suri!

Chris decided he had to get a run in, so was planning to meet up with our friend Bjorn, who travelled from Sweden for the marathon. Chris left after one drink to meet up with Bjorn for a run through Central Park. John, Stephanie and I stayed for one more drink. Afterall, the views were amazing :)

As we were ordering our second drinks, a woman walked by. All I noticed was a woman carrying, what looked like a stuffed animal, kids stuff, all dis-oriented by a child. I saw Stephanie nudge John and say, "don't we know her?"

I thought, why would they know a woman with a child?

I then looked up, because they were walking in my view and were seated directly in front of me. I said, she looks so much like Katie Holmes. Stephanie said, YES, that's who I thought it was, but I didn't want to say that as she walked by.

I couldn't help staring, I mean, she was directly in front of me, in my view of the skyline of NYC.

You know when you go to a restaurant and there is a child that does not stop whining/crying. This was Suri. She was LOUD. I thought, well, I don't mind b/c, well, it's Suri, but at the same time. She was loud! Shut that girl up! I could tell Katie was trying her best to get her to settle down. Later I learned, through Perez Hilton, that they had just come from Katie's Broadway play practice and Suri was bored and tired from sitting through it.

I was beside myself at this point. I was star struck. I held everything back from taking a picture with our Canon Rebel. Instead I just pretended I was taking pictures of the skyline and John and Stephanie, in front of me, on my iphone. Katie surely caught me, as I will document in a picture below. Here is all that I took. Pardon the blur.

While we were there, we noticed that they roped off our small section. As tables left, they weren't letting anyone else sit in our section. Also, when Stephanie, John and I went to take pic's by the window of the skyline there was a waitress in place by Katie's table, which we were sure was there to make sure we did not take pic's of them.

Finally, we got up to leave. At the same time, Katie must of been ready to go as well. Beacuse as we walked to the elevator, Katie and Suri were right behind us. We waited by the elevator with them!

It was a bit awkard, mainly becuase I felt she knew I was taking pictures of her. Also, because even if she didn't know, she knew, we knew who she was. Suri was on the phone saying, very loudly..."I love you Daddy" at least three times. Then Katie took the phone and told, we presume, Tom Cruise, where they were going next.

As we waited, and they were off the phone, Katie also said loudly..."Suri, Suri, Suri" So, she was, in no way, trying to hide their identity. She was explaining to Suri that they would be seeing (someone?) tomorrow.

The elevator came up and we all got on. It was a small elevator and I was shoulder to shoulder with Katie. She is very tall. It was awkward. The silence got the best of me, so I had to talk. I just said dumb stuff to John and Stephanie, while everyone else was silent, even little Suri.

We got off the elevator, they followed us out the doors into Columbus Circle and we did not see them again.

Pretty surreal experience nonetheless. Got us all pretty starstruck!

As for what they ate/drank. I saw they had sliders, I think this was Suri's meal, with french fries. Suri also had some sort of red drink that she was sucking down. Katie, it looked like, had a Diet Coke and her food was hidden to the window, but she was chowing down. Their table was full with food.

Most people say that when they see celebrities, they are always so much thinner than what they seem on screen. I will say that Katie did not look 'skinny' to me. She looked normal, healthy, good. She was much taller than what I thought of her, but I am short.

Katie, appeared to me to be a great mom, she had no nanny with her, she was very stearn with her when she acted up and she seemed very loving. I give Katie an A+. (You know, becuase I judge celebrities often!)

My Thoughts and Experience with the NYC Marathon 2013

I am going to put my thoughts out there on the NYC Marathon this year. Some people may have their own opinions and not agree with how I feel about it, which is alright.

This was a very difficult decision, deciding if we should go to NYC in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. I did believe it should have been canceled, and I would have supported this decision 100%. From watching the news, we got an idea of what was going on up there. My biggest concern was starting the race in Staten Island, which was hit by this storm in a terrible way. Hearing the story of the two and four year olds who lost their lives in this storm was devastating. Starting a marathon on this island seemed wrong.

As days went on, NYRR and Mayor Bloomberg announced that the marathon was to go on, and that this was the best thing for the city. The city needed the runners to still come to the city and even more so now, to help the economy. I do not live in NYC, so if the mayor of the city believes the marathon should go on; I decided to support his decision. I remember after 9-11, so much of the local economy was hurting because so many people canceled their trips. I spoke with friends who live in the city and they also thought it was best to come to town.

Other factors that were weighing on my mind were my health. I had been sick for a week and a half leading up to our trip. I was still not fully over my illness. I had picked up an antibiotic two days before our departure, and felt a world different, but I was still fighting a cough. I also had not run for a week and a half leading up to our trip because of my illness. I decided I was still going to go, if I ran or not. I was feeling better each day, and maybe by Sunday I would feel well enough to get through the marathon. I already knew my time was not going to be great for the race since my training for the marathon had been less than par, so I was okay with if this had to turn into a walk/run by the end of it.

The NYC Marathon has always been my dream. NYC is my favorite city in the world. I have never cared about running the Boston Marathon, which is many runners dream. For me, it has always been NYC. I got into the race by the lottery, missing out 3 years in a row; I was automatically in this year. I saved up hotel reward points for a year, booked my flight in January, my parents planned to come to the city with us, and Chris and I decided to run for something more this year, and so we chose to raise money for The Isabella Santos Foundation and their fight to end childhood cancer. We raised over $1300, all of which went straight to the foundation.

Since this marathon was still on schedule, we were going. Our flights were never canceled leading up to the race, so we didn’t have to mess with any rescheduling.

I did feel some negativity from online social media sites about still going to NYC. I read news publications and on facebook about people who were canceling their trips for the marathon because they did not feel it was right for them to go. I understood this and supported them in their decision. Although, I did feel that people who chose not to go, and people who just did not feel anyone should go, (even if they had nothing to do with the marathon,) were trying to guilt us and others into not going. Some people were acting like martyrs in their decision not to go. This I really did not understand. I understand if you feel bad about going to run the marathon so you choose not to, but keep your opinions on others to yourself.

I can tell you that we did not take anyone’s seat on a flight to NYC, as our flight to LaGuardia on Friday morning was less than half full. When we got to the airport, we had no problems getting right to Manhattan on a shuttle. The tunnels were still closed, so the trip into the city took a few minutes longer than usual, but still, not long. Once we got into Manhattan, it looked like business as usual. We chose to walk from Port Authority to our hotel on Central Park South. When I am in NYC I like to walk everywhere, if we wanted to take a cab or the subway to our hotel, it would have been no problem. I never noticed cabs in short supply on our trip. I have been to NYC many, many times, and the city was just as crowded as it ever has been. I also believe that us keeping our hotel reservations, in no way took away from anyone who was hit by the storm to have a hotel room. Our hotel was by Central Park, the majority of people hit by the storm would have a hard time getting to this hotel and I also don’t think they would be spending $600/night on a hotel room(again, we used hotel points). So, if we were to cancel our trip, and give up our room for someone who needed it more, it probably would have just gone to waste.

On the other hand, if someone was to give up their room, but actually still pay for their stay and donate it to someone in need, well then yes, that would be a mighty good deed!

Chris and I went to the expo on Friday afternoon at lunch time. We took the subway from our hotel to get there faster so we could get lunch after. This was the only time we took the subway our whole trip, and it was free on Friday, which was great! The expo had a line wrapped around the building to just get in to the expo. We did not expect this at noon on Friday, especially hearing that so many people were not coming to the marathon anymore. We waited 20 minutes before we got into the expo and then were quickly able to get our bibs and shirts. The expo was slammed so we got out of there as quick as possible. This also made us feel good about the marathon again, seeing everyone there so excited for the event and all the volunteers in full support.

Chris and I then stopped to have lunch at an Irish bar/restaurant before making our way to Times Square to wait in the TKTS line for a Broadway show that night. Time Square was just as packed as any other trip I have been on to NYC. We got our tickets and walked back to our hotel. We needed a nap after getting up at 3am for our flight. When I woke up I checked facebook on my phone and saw a post by Théoden Janes about the marathon, and saying that is still may be canceled. As I scrolled down to comments, I saw that people were confirming that it was, in fact, canceled. I shared the news with Chris. It was pretty hard to believe after just being at the expo and watching the news and Bloomberg that day saying it was still going to happen without a doubt. We texted people who were working the expo and they confirmed the news.

My thoughts on the decision at this point were that it was just wrong. I was still in full support of the marathon being canceled due to the circumstances, but this late in the game was not right. There were so many of us here in the city, some from so much further than us. They never should have announced with full certainty that the marathon was on days ago.

For many of us, a trip to NYC is not an easy thing to afford. Not to mention the $250 fee to run the marathon. One reason I decided to make the trip was because I did not know if I would ever be able to have the opportunity to run in the NYC marathon again. If I deferred to 2013, I would still have to pay the $250 to run, plus buy another flight to the city, and pay for hotels, because not sure I would be able to have enough hotel points again. Chris and I are also getting married in 2013, so we may not have the vacation days to use for the trip, or the money, after all the finances for the wedding. If I could not make it back in 2013, I don’t know that I would ever get in again. The qualifying time has been changed to a much faster time that I don’t see myself ever attaining.

I still have not heard anything as to what the NYRR plans to do for those of us who made it to the city for the marathon and did not choose to defer. I am not even sure if we get automatic entry into the marathon next year (automatic entry just means a spot, we would still have to pay the $250 fee to register.) In my opinion, I think we should get automatic entry into a future NYC marathon, but it should not have to be 2013. Maybe a choice of one in the next 5 years? I know this will not happen, just wishful thinking. It is hard to get there two years in a row. Thing is, NYC marathon will go on, and they will still sell out, so they really don’t have to do anything.

When we found out there was no marathon, we were disappointed, but in support and chose to make the best of our trip. We were, of course, in NYC! It would now just be a vacation. I will write another post on how much fun we had on our trip and everything we saw and did!

One thing I really wanted to do, since we were there, was to volunteer to help relief efforts. I posted on facebook, asking for people to let me know where we could go to do this. I figured it would be easy to find an organization to volunteer with. I looked into the links I received and it left me confused on how to still actually help. Upper Manhattan was business as usual, but lower Manhattan was not, and not easy to get to, especially with not being a New Yorker.

I talked with a couple friends who live in NYC and they said they have been having a hard time with volunteering themselves. They said it has not been easy trying to help. One of my friends is on a volunteer committee for the city and she said that any time slots open up to register to help, they fill up so quickly that she still has not been able to find a volunteer slot. My other friend said the volunteer postings are just so vague it is hard to tell exactly where to go to help and how to get there.

I later saw postings on facebook of groups of runners who went to Staten Island to volunteer, but these opportunities were not communicated to everyone. It seemed like if you came here with a group or charity group, these were the ones who were organizing, with their groups, to help and organize ways to get there. There really was no communication that we saw on how to help. Even my friends who were not running and lived in NYC were hoping the Road Runners would communicate ways to help for everyone.

It seems that the perception given on TV to the rest of the world is not as accurate as if you are there. Upper Manhattan seemed to us to be just as crowded as ever, business as usual. It was not hard at all to get around, if you wanted a taxi, there were plenty. If you wanted to take the subway from 34th Street up, you could. Tour busses were running as normal, the city was bustling as ever before.

If we can afford to go to NYC for the marathon next year, and the timing is right, we will be there. If not, maybe one day, in years to come, I will get into the marathon through the lottery and will get to finally run in the NYC marathon. Either way, I will definitely be back to this wonderful city!

1 week before NYC Marathon, Sick :(

It is ONE week before the NYC Marathon, and I feel like this:

I started to feel a little sick on Tuesday and it got worse on Wednesday and Thursday, my whole body ached, everything hurt. I thought, from previous experience, that I had the flu. So, I made an appt. with my doctor so that I could get some meds to get this out of my system ASAP, with the marathon being so close. Normally, I wouldn't bother and would just let it pass in time. I was running a fever and just feeling like I got ran over by a car. My doctor said they have not seen any cases of the flu this year so she would be surprised if that is what I had, but she decided to test me for the flu as well as get a CBC and a blood test to test my electrolytes. This was Friday, the flu test came back negative and my CBC came back normal. She said it is a virus and just to take things conservatively and it will pass in time. My electrolyte test will come back on Monday.

Saturday I went out for a run with Chris and made it about 1.5 miles before I had to walk back home. My body just felt so weak to run. I decided I would leave my 8-10 miler for Sunday, and hopefully feel better. This morning, Sunday, Chris and I ran at Latta Plantation and I just felt terrible, still. My body felt so weak, it was just so hard to run. When we stopped at about 3.5 miles, I had a really hard time breathing, I felt like my chest was closing in on me. I then just kept coughing about the whole walk back to the car. Realizing that my body is just not ready to run still. Maybe tomorrow? Maybe just take it easy and get this out of my system and hopefully feel 100% on Sunday for the marathon? I guess the advice would be to cross train this week. Ride my bike, spin, swim. Ughhh. Oh, well. It is what it is. This girl just ain't cut out to run marathons. If it's not one thing, it's another. It is what it is.

I am THANKFUL that I can run, I get to go to NYC and RUN in the marathon...the ONLY marathon, I've ever really wanted to do, I'm healthy (minus this minor setback,) and I was able to get my 20 mile long run in a couple weeks ago. So, it's not so bad! :)

In other news, Chris and I did not make plans for the weekend, since I wasn't sure how I would be feeling, so Saturday we ventured out for a car ride in the mountains. We pulled off a couple places to walk around, the leaves are just beautiful right now! We saw a sign for the 'Bunker Hill Covered Bridge' off of I-40 West. I thought this sounded fun, so we followed the signs. They took us to the entrance to the trail for the bridge. It was not a very long trail, but it was pretty, so many trees with pretty leaves. We learned that the Bunker Hill Bridge was built in 1895 and is one of the two covered bridges left in NC. Pretty exciting stuff, huh? Ha. Yeah, there wasn't much to it. Here's a couple pictures.

We had to get back to go to the Latta Plantation Ghost Walk. I had never been to Latta Plantation before this, and have always wanted to go to one of their Civil War reenactments. It's a pretty cool place. Their ghost walk was very well organized and staged. Nothing real scary, many characters that jump out at you in the woods, but mostly it's funny. They got me a couple times!

This morning, I went to watch Chris run in the Monster Dash 5k (before heading to Latta to run,) put on by RunningWorks. Taken from their website: 'RunningWorks is a non-profit running program founded to encourage the homeless community to rediscover the power of teamwork, discipline, confidence and respect for each other one stride at a time.'

Good Event, great foundation!

I am going to sign off now since I took some NyQuil about half an hour ago. Trying to get some rest today while Chris is at his friend's house watching football. I've been taking Epsom salt baths everday, doubling up on my Greens and drinking green tea. Hoping to knock this sickness out of my system ASAP!