a year ago I became a marathoner

By | November 1, 2020

Holy crap.

I know time has been funny in 2020, but I can’t believe marathon Sunday was a year ago today. I am so grateful I didn’t wait until I was 40 to do it, as there is no way I’d have been able to train through all of this craziness. Major shout out to all those running NYC virtually this weekend and all the other virtual marathons.

#SlideBackSunday to Marathon Monday 2019

Simultaneously, I can’t believe it’s already November. After March 58th, this year has absolutely flown. I’m still nervous about COVID and flu season. I’m beyond nervous about the election. This is going to be a rocky end to a rocky year.

 

I love this slogan

I don’t have plans of a Virtual Turkey Trot, but I love this one‘s slogan: Give Thanks, Not Covid. New York changed the rules to something I think is a lot more manageable: mandatory testing in lieu of a fourteen day quarantine. That just was not feasible for a variety of reasons and it was impossible to enforce, so why not move toward something that might work better. I Hope.

winning signs

The world is upside down, but it was still Marathon Sunday and NYC knows how to (responsibly) celebrate. It was great to see so many of the usual NYRR staff & volunteer faces, and some great signs.

Speaking of running, I ran 95+ miles in October! Would have had 100 if not for my road trip, but I don’t regret one single leaf.

Nailing my running mileage while not hitting step goals is the epitome of work from home life.  Grateful to have Deborah’s RunBet beginning this week to hopefully get some more walks in.

Weekly Run Down with Deborah and Kim:

  • never miss a Monday: morning run that I remember none of. Lunchtime dash to try and vote. The line was too long, but a 15 m walk at lunch was a really nice treat.
  • Tuesday: beautiful day and got in a morning walk as I knew it would be a late evening Zooming with a colleague and I guest speaking at a class. There was another dash to try and vote, but the line was three hours at 745 PM and well, I am not a civilized human after 10pm, so I did not.

you’re wrong, but thanks for the pep talk

glow worm!

  • Wednesday: we had TS Zeta slated to meet a winter air mass on Thursday, so I knew I needed to run after work. I was treated to the amazing find of the full path open again after July’s sinkhole escapades. The run was good even if Garmin was a little drunk in telling me I hit mile/5K/10K PRs.  I knew the mile/5K were wrong and confirmed when I got home that the 10K is two minutes off what I think is my 10K PR. I still enjoyed this pep talk as it has been a while since I saw those terms. Those were all in the Garmin era, so maybe it was blinded by my glowing self into thinking it was PR.
  • Thursday: Zeta soaker. Nothing of note.

the skittles of running

  • TGIFriday: what does Friday mean anymore? I decided to take advantage of Friday hours and get in a last well-lit after work run. The hat selection was slightly deliberate with it being marathon weekend, but did not think of the color palette until I saw this photo. The run wasn’t great as I had some back pain that flared, but there were seals and I was happy to be playing outside.

She and the moon could always be found playing in the darkness.” —A.J. Lawless

  • Saturday: late start, but lovely pain-free run followed by full moon chasing. My new phone is wonderful, but there’s nothing like a camera for night shots. Not really a Halloween person so didn’t feel a particular level of GRR at COVID taking it, and it was nice to see people out and about dressed. I realized I hadn’t been home on Halloween on a weekend in a while so I saw more out than I would in midtown even in a “normal” year.
  • Sunday: finally successful at voting (no line at 745 AM!) and then a morning full of marathon spectating. Felt weird not to at least run on marathon Sunday, but today wasn’t about me. So glad to be a part of Elizabeth’s race. It’s now raining (again) so lazy Sunday watching football.

GoTheDist October:

  • 408,093 steps
  • 185.87 miles run/walked
  • 96.52 miles run

This year is upside down. No judgement. Just continuing to move forward. This is my fifth month in a row of really solid, mostly pain-free mileage and I’m thrilled with that.

 

18 thoughts on “a year ago I became a marathoner

  1. Darlene S Cardillo

    Now I want the iphone 12 but I only have the 8 so if Ii give the hubby mine, I’ll only get the 10.

    Anyway, yes yes. running 26.2 last year was the best decision ever!!! 2nd best was Bermuda.

    I signed up for several NYRR virtuals – they’re free. I already ran the Dash to the Finish 5k one. I’ll probably do the Thankful one on Thanksgiving. What are your plans?

    I am soooo nervous about Tuesday!!

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      My Thanksgiving plans? I have none yet. Too far away. Not Albany though as their house is too small.
      Same re: NYRR. Can’t hurt is my logic since I’m running the distance anyway. Have an NYRR gift card too to use for races, etc. from some of the cancelled ones.
      I had the X and loved it, but the screen died so I had no choice but to upgrade ASAP. I normally don’t.

      Reply
  2. Deborah Brooks

    Way to finish the month strong with a high mileage. Glad you got your marathon in last year. Doing a virtual marathon or half does not appeal to me at all! Love that Turkey trot slogan it’s perfect

    Reply
    1. cari Post author

      I got through 9.5 running with a friend. On my own I usually mentally tap out around 8. 13.1 seems like a marathon further. I could do it, but why if we have no desire to?

      Reply
  3. Kimberly Hatting

    I had all those FOMO feeling last weekend, a year since my MCM (in all the rain). Hard to believe an entire year’s gone by since that finish line, and even harder to believe there weren’t many other finish lines since. First world probs aside, at least we all still have running (well, most of us)…and we still have plenty to be grateful for. Great news on all those months of great pain-free mileage 😉

    Reply
  4. Marcia

    Happy Marathonaversary! I can’t believe NYCM weekend snuck up on us already. This year is weird but it’s flying by in its own special way. I runfess I sort of regret not getting a Dunkin hat the year I ran. Not sure how I missed where they were giving them out. Hooray for 5 solid, pain-free months and for getting in to vote!

    Reply
  5. Lisa @ Mile by Mile

    This year has been so weird- it feels so long and short at the same time. I am also nervous about what the next few weeks/months will bring. I can’t believe how many people ran virtual marathons. Now I’m really considering doing one in the spring (assuming that I can’t do a live race, which I probably won’t feel comfortable doing).

    Reply
  6. Wendy

    So close to 100 miles for the month! And NYC memories. You know what, I always feel the FOMO this time of year; it’s more than fall, it’s Chicago marathon time!

    Reply
  7. Beckett @ Birchwood Pie

    Happy Mara-vessary! What a different world it was back then. I am a long way from running a full, but I think the lesson is: do it when you’re ready, don’t save it for an even-numbered year.

    This was my first year doing an absentee ballot and I’ll never look back. It was really nice to be able to do my research with my ballot in hand instead of trying to remember or bringing notes with me to the polls.

    Reply
  8. Coco

    Yay for the solid month of running! I was surprised to reach 100 miles after our trip to CO, but I did a few longer runs in the nice fall weather. And yay for voting! My city had early voting for weeks – maybe that’s why I didn’t have a long wait? There were lines elsewhere in VA. Interesting on the new covid rules — that’s for people visiting? VA has no travel restrictions but does have a mask mandate. Still our numbers are on the rise like everywhere else. Will you see family for TG? We will see my son, his wife and my mom, but we’ve been seeing them throughout.

    Reply
  9. Liz Dexter

    I’m so glad you got to cheer on the marathon and yes, SO glad you got your own one in last year (I feel the same about Race to the Stones, I’d have never been completely ready and at least I got it done). We saw at least one runner doing NYC virtual on our run yesterday, and then found a Facebook post about her: it was her first marathon, so amazing work there!

    Reply
  10. Michelle D.

    Great month Cari…and even better that it was pain-free! I hope that streak continues!!

    I cannot imagine how hard it would be to run a virtual marathon! Like you, I’m so glad I decided to run my first last year.

    Glad you were able to vote early – I’m bracing myself for Tuesday and the days to follow.

    Reply
  11. Jenn

    Yay for voting!

    I will need more info on these seals.

    If I ever complete another marathon, it will be NYC. I don’t know if I can do it, physically, but it’s the one I would want.

    Reply
  12. Chocolaterunsjudy

    You should be thrilled with pain free running! It’s the best.

    Congrats to Elizabeth. She is one gutsy lady.

    Luckily Halloween has never been my thing, especially as now it’s tied to a bad memory. We voted by absentee ballots, which Mr. Judy dropped off instead of mailing to make sure they got there.

    Reply
  13. Kim G

    Way to finish the month strong! NYCM snuck up on me this year and when I finally thought about it, I got all the feels! I love that so many people did their own virtual NYC Marathons over the weekend – it was really inspiring to see that!

    Reply
  14. Lisa @ TechChick Adventures

    Isn’t it weird how Garmin does that sometimes with the PRs? It did that to me this year and I was all excited until I realized it wasn’t true! I voted on election day. My first attempt had about an hour wait, so I didn’t go. But when I stopped in the afternoon there was no line! In and out in 5 mins. Woohoo!

    Reply
  15. Debbie @ Deb Runs

    Yay for five month of mostly pain-free running!

    I’m not really into Halloween either, but this year our neighborhood kids had a parade so their parents were out and it was fun to catch up with everyone outside in the cul-de-sac.

    Reply

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