Ali’s Big Break

On my way home from the gym tonight—after an amazing spin session—I decided to stop at Ricky’s near my apartment to buy a new shade of nail polish.

I hardly ever paint my nails. My toenails are always painted some shade of magenta—brighter in the summer, deeper in the winter—but my nails just chip all the time, so I don’t bother.

But for some reason, I’m feeling nail color this week. I broke so many nails during the move that they’re all a short, manageable length now. And they need to be brightened up.

So I’m looking at the wall filled with shades, feeling totally overwhelmed, when one shade catches my eye: a shimmery, somewhat sparkly deep red shade. Perfect.

Nice, right?

It gets better.

I pick up the bottle to check the name of the polish: Ali’s Big Break.

O. M. G.

Spelled correctly and everything.

I took it as a sign and didn’t even check the price tag before bringing it to the register. (It was $9.99 by the way. More than I would pay for a shade with any other name.)

Tomorrow night’s project is, obviously, giving myself an at-home manicure. I’m anticipating that the unpacking process will be complete by then, so I can do some pampering.

In unrelated news, NYC has caught a severe case of Marathon Fever and I love it. There are good luck signs for the runners on shops and restaurants, the signage is hung in Central Park indicating the marathon course and people everywhere are excited.

I’m starting to seriously think that 2011 will be my Marathon Year…

TELL ME: Have you run a marathon before? I’ve run three 1/2 marathons, but never a full, and I’m starting to think I really want to do either the NYC Marathon or the Chicago Marathon next year. I’d love to hear from you about the process: training, nutrition, preparation and race day. What did you love? What did you hate? And of course, what’s your advice?

Ali

Ali

4 Responses

  1. That’s awesome the nail polish had your name on it!

    I ran my first marathon this last summer. I was scared to run a full after a handful of halfs, but it was so much fun! Painful, but still worth it! Training does take a lot of time–especially for the weekly long runs (2-3 hours), but I would do it all over again–and plan on it!

  2. … and how awesome is that that you found a nail polish with your name on it! Once I was going to a lawyer convention with my dad and couldn’t pick out a color. The first one I looked at was Politically Correct! How cool is that?

  3. You should definitely do it! I am very excited – I’m running on Sunday and it will be my FIRST full marathon! I’ve loved every minute of training and I think that’s because I tried to not let it interfere with my daily life too much. I decided long runs were the most important so I never missed one and stayed home every Friday night to rest up. Other than that, I took the less is more approach to try to ward off injury and not burn myself out. (My dad has run 25 very fast marathons using this philosophy so if it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me!)
    I’m not sure if any emotions will take over me, I’m just not that emotional a gal but I am excited and hope I make it over the finish line without any bad surprises.

  4. I’m going to try to get into the NYC 2011 Marathon! It will be my seventh marathon. I love training for SOMETHING. I need a goal in mind! While training can get exhausting, and there will be points during the marathon where you’ll want to quit and/or cry…crossing that finish line is a feeling that I cannot even describe…the feeling of accomplishment….pride…unreal. 1/2 marathons are SUPER fun and definitely hard…but there’s something about a marathon…

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about ali

I’m the creator of the Ali on the Run blog and the host of the Ali on the Run Show podcast. I’m also a freelance writer and editor, a race announcer, a runner and marathoner, a mom, and a huge fan of Peanut M&Ms, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (way better than the first one!), and reliving my glory days as a competition dancer in the early 2000s. I’m really happy you’re here.
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