I just can’t get enough of the amazing colors surrounding me these days. I love this time of year.
I told y’all about my scenic drive on Friday. Well yesterday and today I spent time hiking and walking and took in some more gorgeous scenery.
oh the colors!
beaches are fun in the fall!
Oh, and I ran the Trenton Half Marathon yesterday.
Full recap will be up in a bit but all you really need to know is I wanted to die at mile 4. I basically thought about the meal and adult beverage that I would be having at our post-race celebratory lunch. It worked. Visions of french fries and hard apple cider got me through =)
November is just an extension of Oktoberfest….Bring on the Strongbow Cider!
Big group! And lots of PRs. Some raced the 5k, some raced the 10k and others raced the half. Pick-yo-distance! Photo courtesy of Jane
Since I actually didn’t feel too banged up today I took my bike out for a short recovery ride. Instead of cruising the neighborhood I put the bike in the car and went to the beach to ride along the flat paved access road. First time that Schwinn(y) got to ride in Forest(er). All my wheels have nicknames!
I hope you had a great weekend too.
What’s your favorite thing about Fall or November?
First, remember I told you about my friend Pete who has run 14 consecutive NYC Marathons? Well our local paper did a piece on him. You can read it here. And if you scroll through the photo slideshow you’ll see the last photo is the one I took of him last Sunday! =)
Tomorrow I’m running the Trenton Half Marathon in Trenton, NJ. It will be my 6th and final half marathon of the year. Crazy to think that last year I ran 11 half marathons!
I was originally going to let my friend Jane grab my race bib at the expo since it’s just over an hour’s drive from my house but the other day my dad asked if I could take him to his mechanic to pick up his mid-life crisis car which is pretty far into New Jersey. I took a look at the map and saw that the expo was about 30 miles from the mechanic and figured while I was in New Jersey i might as well just head there myself. Then I saw that I’d be traveling along a route that runs parallel to the Delaware/Raritan Canal towpath. I’ve always wanted to check it out since it’s 77 miles of (mostly) paved path that would make a great long run route and bike route as well. So I made a plan and the plan involved taking the doodle.
back seat doodle
We hit the road at 9am. Duncan was a gentleman and sat in the back so my dad could sit shot gun. By 10:15am we dropped off my dad and then Duncan jumped up front.
Co-pilot
About 20 minutes later we made our first stop in Stockton, NJ where I let him off the leash and stretch his legs.
Yippee!
Bull’s Island
Rt 29
Then we stopped in Lambertville where I got gas. The gas attendant gave Duncan some head scratches and a biscuit!
broken biscuit
And then we took a lovely stroll along the towpath in the most magical spot.
so scenic it almost looks fake
Duncan met a new friend, Max
Duncan and Max
And I just took in the view
Pretty as a picture
Delaware/Raritan Canal
Next thing I knew it was 11:45am so we jumped back in the car and continued the last 20 minutes until we reached Trenton where I literally walked into the expo, grabbed my bib # and shirt and walked out in a whopping 3 minutes and 27 seconds.
In….
….and out!
I really like the shirt for so many reasons:
1. it’s a women’s fit, not unisex.
2. It’s long sleeve with a v-neck which is my favorite!
3. It’s heather gray and I don’t own a single tech shirt in gray.
4. The design on the back is really cool and unexpected.
Shirt, race # and nifty gel hot/cold pack
back of the shirt
A total last minute plan really came together. And now I’m home resting up and planning on what winter gear to break out. It’s going to be 40 degrees at the start. Not terrible but maybe, just maybe a pair of throwaway gloves might make an appearance =)
As far as goals for tomorrow? I just want to finish with a smile on my face and no injuries. I’ll be sporting my knee brace again and probably taking lots of pictures. To be honest, I think I’m more excited for the post-race celebratory lunch with my friends. But I’m also looking forward to a relaxed run with no pressure.
On a totally different subject, today is a special date. 16 years ago on this day (way before I became a runner) I was a bride. I posted this picture (and caption) to my Instagram today.
I was a bride on this day 16 years ago. I was a widow 5 months later. My life is so wonderful and full of love again today but I will always remember the love that built me and the loss that changed me.
Have a great weekend!
Anyone else have a special date to celebrate or acknowledge this weekend? Anyone racing?
Happy Monday! It’s chilly here in New York today but I’m so happy that we finally have daylight at 6:15am again after turning our clocks back in the wee hours yesterday. I love daylight savings for that reason, although I’m not looking forward to seeing darkness at 5 tonight when I leave work. Time to take the flashlight now when walking the dog. Speaking of, yesterday I got up super early (another perk of daylight savings!) and took Duncan to the park. He had been trapped in the house all day Saturday since the rain just never let up. The leaves were peaking and just so gorgeous yesterday.
Then I drove to my boyfriend’s house where I left Duncan to hang with him for the day. Once the doodle drop-off was done I hopped on an 11:30am train to Penn Station and then switched over to the subway to get me up to the north east tip of Central Park, 110th St. and 5th Ave. (gee, sound familiar to my commute to the Dash to the Finish Line 5k on Saturday?) I arrived just a few minutes past 1pm. The weather temps were perfect for running but the winds were way out of control 🙁 I read today that there were wind gusts of 60mph on the Verrazano and 45mph at many other locations along the route. That’s tough for a runner. I’m proud to say that it didn’t deter any of my friends. They all finished!
Happy spectator Sally
Shortly after squeezing in and settling into my official spectator spot my friends started passing through. Some noticed me, others did not. First we had Robin…
Robin was looking for me as I took the picture.
She finally heard me screaming her name and waved! Next up was JD, who was running his first marathon. He was so in his zone he didn’t see me either…
In his zone! JD’s first marathon!
Then I was lucky enough to recognize this guy…
38 year streak! This is 71 year old David Obelkevich
Dave Obelkevich who is 71 years old, has run every NYC Marathon since 1976! I only recognized him in that split second because yesterday morning while having breakfast they had some pre-marathon footage on the news and he was interviewed! Crazy!
Next up was Carey.
Every Mother Counts…especially this girl. She’s run so many marathons getting really close to completing all 50 states.
I even saw Waldo!
I found Waldo!
I missed seeing Cindy somehow but I didn’t miss Lisa. So here’s an AMAZING statistic. In the 43 years that the NYC Marathon has been in existence and with the 1,000,000th runner finishing this year, only 354 women have run the NYC marathon 10 or more times and my friend Lisa, the Lisa that inspired me to start running, is one of those impressive people. Yesterday was her12th NYC Marathon and 51st overall marathon. Can you say UNBELIEVABLE?!!!
Go Lisa Go!
Next up was Jorge with his infamous smile!
It’s so easy!
And last but not least, another loyal NYC marathoner. My friend Pete (1 of 1,947 finishers) has run every year for the last 14 years straight! And get this? His training consists of running basically 3 miles a day every day and then he does a half marathon a month before. Easy peasy!
Go Pete Go!
He even used his camera to take a selfie with me.
photo courtesy of Pete!
I’m so happy that I chose the spot that I did to spectate. It was easy to get to and so full of energy. There was a band playing music and I was in awe of how many runners still looked so strong and effortless at mile 22.5! Here’s a quick 10 second video.
I had such a great time watching from the sidelines. It pumped me up. I’m only one race away from securing my spot next year. I thought I was done running NYC after running it twice but somehow it’s just contagious. If you ever get the opportunity to run it or watch it DO IT! Trust me, you won’t ever regret it =)
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