Thank you all so much for the overwhelming birthday wishes yesterday! I felt very loved on the blog, Twitter, Facebook and, of course, in real life. (I know, real life? What’s that?)
I had a lovely, low-key day, which was exactly what I wanted.
Soooo yeah…everyone got me food.
Do my friends know me or what?
After work, I got dinner with a few friends at my favorite Thai restaurant downtown, followed by drinks with a group uptown. It was easy (Lauren did all the planning and coordinating), stress-free and so nice to spend time with some of my favorite people (and delicious alcoholic beverages).
So here’s how responsible I am now that I’m a year older: I consciously alternate taking sips of wine and sips of water. I mean, the sips aren’t necessarily equal. It’s OK for one sip of water to come after 19 gulps sips of wine. But still, that added water means the next morning is pretty much hangover-free.
Older.
Wiser.
Coach Cane had 12 miles on my training schedule for today, and in my head that was “no big deal.”
When did that happen?
When did 12 miles become “just another run?”
Marathon training is going to be so fun. I’m excited about it and am strangely looking forward to accomplishing my 15, 18 and 20 mile runs!
Despite not getting as much sleep as I probably should have (oops), I was excited to bang out 12 miles this morning.
The weather was amazing: sunny and in the mid-60s.
Central Park was alive: tons of people, smiling, happy, and not wearing jackets.
And I felt good…despite my mad dash for a bathroom somewhere around Mile 6.
Blame it on the birthday booze.
Anyway, the run went great and although I would have liked to tack on a few more miles, I’m carefully following Coach Cane’s plan.
I like rules. I like structure. I appreciate authority.
I’m not going to mess with Coach Cane.
After a trip to the grocery store, a shower and some serious snacking, I went downtown to join my friend Danielle at a street fair.
Street fairs are among my favorite things in NYC. They mean summer is here. They mean deliciously fried foods. They mean corn on a stick.
They mean awesome.
We walked around for a while, bought some gifts for people (Mom’s birthday is coming up!) and caught up on life.
Now I’m relaxing before heading out to celebrate Danielle’s birthday tonight!
Tomorrow = resting and catching up on life.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
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I get tons of food on my birthday too. I’m totally okay with that- I have everything I need, but I can always use more deliciousness in my life!
What a nice birthday! I’m so glad you felt special and had fun 🙂
Awesome job with the 12 miler! Isn’t it funny how marathon training totally changes your perspective on what’s a “long” run? It seems like you’re really enjoying having a coach, which is so great! I think it would make me anxious to have someone telling me what to do, but I’m sure it would also be incredibly helpful. There are so many times when an outside perspective would be nice – I can’t always rely on myself to make the smartest running decisions! I do consider my mom my semi-coach – she has a lot of experience and wisdom that’s really helpful.
A perfect birthday! Glad you had so much fun!
Hi Ali,
I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of weeks now and really enjoyed it 🙂 I’m a young, fairly recent transplant to NYC, too (fall of 09) and I just live a few blocks down from you. Thank you so much for posting about your running life – I’ve been dealing with some chronic health issues and a series of injuries and so haven’t been able to really run in over a year and a half. I miss marathoning and long distance running so much.
Even if you wonder at mile 25 why you ever agreed to run that far and you swear you’ll never do it again in your life, when you cross that line at 26.2 (and the 0.2 is the longest 0.2 in the history of measurements) you’ll be ready to sign up for your next one – they can be addictive. Go get this marathon – it’ll be an awesome experience!
Thank you for your cheerful, sunny attitude towards running and for reminding me that I will eventually get back out there, and also for reminding me that New York is not a giant city with no community. You’ve proven over and over that there is wonderful community here through your running friends.
I can’t wait till I’m healthy enough and injury free enough to just go run again, but until then, I’ll hobble along at my 3 and 6 milers and smile as you train towards 26.
I’ll be rooting for you as you train and raise money for Crohn’s disease (I was misdiagnosed with celiac for three years, so I can feel a little sympathy) and maybe, someday, we’ll bump into each other on the street or smile at each other as we run the East River.
(And if you have any tips on how to find running buddies, I’d love to hear them. My mom and I trained together for all four marathons we ran and I get lonely now that she’s on the other side of the country. But I’m slightly terrified to try to find new running partners for the same reasons you outlined. What if they’re too fast and I hold them back, or I get an asthma attack interrupt their workout, or the distances we’re running aren’t equal or if I just look funny when I run? And how do I meet them in the first place??)
I’ll be posting about my struggles with running later this week on my site, and hope you won’t mind if I link to your site as inspiration in that post. (I already have you listed on my links page 🙂 ), but I promised some friends a few recipes for scones and scalloped potatoes first 😉
Good luck, Ali and keep running!
Taryn
http://havekitchenwillfeed.blogspot.com
(OMG that was a long comment. Sorry O_O)
sounds like such a fun weekend so far! again, Happy Birthday!
Hahah – older and wiser. I love it. Glad you enjoyed your birthday! You certainly deserved a night of fun without stress! And props to you for banging out 12 miles the morning after your birthday!