It will humble you
So it has been a week since the New York Marathon. A week of not running. A week of eating all the food. A week of processing. A week of much needed rest.
I have now officially ran 10 marathons, all 3 American World Abbott Majors, and 8 states. This one was special for so many reasons. I finally broke the 3:15 barrier by running a 5 minute PR. Personal bests are nothing compared to meeting my fundraising goal for Parkinson's research and seeing the impact the Michael J. Fox Foundation has made on people affected by Parkinson's disease. So just a heads up, this wrap up is going to be in multiple posts.
Here is Part One to my New York Adventure, my reminder that running is more than about me:
Saturday November 3, 2018 (Expo, Post Expo hangries, Team Fox Dinner)
My husband, Michael, and I arrived in the late afternoon on Friday. We shared a hotel with his parents, his brother, and my cousin in a small room located in Time Square. His mother and I both ran the marathon so we were both thankful for our support group. We may have been a little crammed but it worked.
I woke up early enough on Saturday to walk to one of my favorite bagel spots (Pick-A-Bagel, everyone must go there) with my cousin, Cassie. After getting my everything bagel with salmon schmear and a large coffee I was ready to get to the expo and collect all the swag. So we gathered our race squad and took the subway to the expo. Thankfully our hotel's location was close to many subway stops, which helped minimize the walking.
The expo was one of the best race expo's I have ever been to. It was very well organized, the lines were almost non-existent and I definitely spent more money than I planned. About an hour and a half and two full bags of swag later, we were all starving and ready for lunch.
We choose dumplings but did not factor in the time and distance it would cost us to get dumplings from China Town. I will just sum up the experience with this: I was hangry and runners do not want to walk a lot the day before running a marathon. Thankfully, the dumplings were delicious enough to fix my hanger and my husband survived my hanger tantrum.
By the time we got back to the hotel to eat the dumplings we had only an hour to get ready for dinner, so I napped. The Team Fox dinner was held at Ristorante Arno and it was in walking distance from our hotel. I was allowed to bring two guests, so I brought my mother-in-law, Patti, and Cassie. We let the boys loose to fend for themselves.
The dinner was everything I needed to mentally prepare for the race. We had a group comprised of first time marathoners, first time New York Marathoners, and veterans to the course. We were from all over the country and all had different personal reasons for running for Team Fox but we shared one common goal- the desire to outrun Parkinson's. Our table had a girl who was running for her father, a woman who was running in honor of her father, and me who was running in honor of my Nana.
Something that my great aunt pointed out to me this past Sunday was that Parkinson's does not just affect the person. It affects the family and friends too. We are helpless to this disease that has affected our loved ones. All we can do is fight for a cure. My great aunt told me my nana suffered for years without a diagnosis. The woman who was sitting at my table who was running in honor of her father had never ran a marathon before. Her father suffered from Parkinson's for about 25 years before he passed. She said if my father could get up everyday and overcome every challenge that was thrown at him because of Parkinson's, the least she could do was run a marathon.
The biggest surprise of the evening was when we were told that Michael J. Fox was going to be making an appearance. He came and spoke for a few minutes and stayed to take pictures with every group there. One of the things I have always admired about Michael J. Fox was his ability to take the negative and spin it to a positive. His speech was brief but it had us all laughing and crying at the same time. He told us that he had fallen earlier that year and had to have surgery. A few weeks ago he had to have another surgery. After a brief pause, he said well that is why I am not running tomorrow. We all laughed.
Meeting Michael J. Fox and hearing him speak reminded me what I was doing in New York in the first place. If he can get up everyday and still make people laugh after everything he has been through, what is 26.2 miles?
All the stress from the whole day went away. Runners can be pretty selfish. It is very much an individual sport focused on individual accomplishments. It is about being better than you were the day before. None of that is bad, but sometimes it can take away from what impact running can have on others. Prior to the dinner, I was focused on myself. I was focused on what I could do, but not on what impact I could make. I needed that reminder from the dinner. I wasn't running New York for myself. I was not running it just for my Nana. I was running for those that can't, to inspire those that can, and to spread awareness about Parkinson's disease. I wasn't going to run for myself, I was going to run for everyone else and I was ready.
I have now officially ran 10 marathons, all 3 American World Abbott Majors, and 8 states. This one was special for so many reasons. I finally broke the 3:15 barrier by running a 5 minute PR. Personal bests are nothing compared to meeting my fundraising goal for Parkinson's research and seeing the impact the Michael J. Fox Foundation has made on people affected by Parkinson's disease. So just a heads up, this wrap up is going to be in multiple posts.
Here is Part One to my New York Adventure, my reminder that running is more than about me:
Saturday November 3, 2018 (Expo, Post Expo hangries, Team Fox Dinner)
My husband, Michael, and I arrived in the late afternoon on Friday. We shared a hotel with his parents, his brother, and my cousin in a small room located in Time Square. His mother and I both ran the marathon so we were both thankful for our support group. We may have been a little crammed but it worked.
I woke up early enough on Saturday to walk to one of my favorite bagel spots (Pick-A-Bagel, everyone must go there) with my cousin, Cassie. After getting my everything bagel with salmon schmear and a large coffee I was ready to get to the expo and collect all the swag. So we gathered our race squad and took the subway to the expo. Thankfully our hotel's location was close to many subway stops, which helped minimize the walking.
The expo was one of the best race expo's I have ever been to. It was very well organized, the lines were almost non-existent and I definitely spent more money than I planned. About an hour and a half and two full bags of swag later, we were all starving and ready for lunch.
We choose dumplings but did not factor in the time and distance it would cost us to get dumplings from China Town. I will just sum up the experience with this: I was hangry and runners do not want to walk a lot the day before running a marathon. Thankfully, the dumplings were delicious enough to fix my hanger and my husband survived my hanger tantrum.
By the time we got back to the hotel to eat the dumplings we had only an hour to get ready for dinner, so I napped. The Team Fox dinner was held at Ristorante Arno and it was in walking distance from our hotel. I was allowed to bring two guests, so I brought my mother-in-law, Patti, and Cassie. We let the boys loose to fend for themselves.
The dinner was everything I needed to mentally prepare for the race. We had a group comprised of first time marathoners, first time New York Marathoners, and veterans to the course. We were from all over the country and all had different personal reasons for running for Team Fox but we shared one common goal- the desire to outrun Parkinson's. Our table had a girl who was running for her father, a woman who was running in honor of her father, and me who was running in honor of my Nana.
Something that my great aunt pointed out to me this past Sunday was that Parkinson's does not just affect the person. It affects the family and friends too. We are helpless to this disease that has affected our loved ones. All we can do is fight for a cure. My great aunt told me my nana suffered for years without a diagnosis. The woman who was sitting at my table who was running in honor of her father had never ran a marathon before. Her father suffered from Parkinson's for about 25 years before he passed. She said if my father could get up everyday and overcome every challenge that was thrown at him because of Parkinson's, the least she could do was run a marathon.
The biggest surprise of the evening was when we were told that Michael J. Fox was going to be making an appearance. He came and spoke for a few minutes and stayed to take pictures with every group there. One of the things I have always admired about Michael J. Fox was his ability to take the negative and spin it to a positive. His speech was brief but it had us all laughing and crying at the same time. He told us that he had fallen earlier that year and had to have surgery. A few weeks ago he had to have another surgery. After a brief pause, he said well that is why I am not running tomorrow. We all laughed.
Meeting Michael J. Fox and hearing him speak reminded me what I was doing in New York in the first place. If he can get up everyday and still make people laugh after everything he has been through, what is 26.2 miles?
All the stress from the whole day went away. Runners can be pretty selfish. It is very much an individual sport focused on individual accomplishments. It is about being better than you were the day before. None of that is bad, but sometimes it can take away from what impact running can have on others. Prior to the dinner, I was focused on myself. I was focused on what I could do, but not on what impact I could make. I needed that reminder from the dinner. I wasn't running New York for myself. I was not running it just for my Nana. I was running for those that can't, to inspire those that can, and to spread awareness about Parkinson's disease. I wasn't going to run for myself, I was going to run for everyone else and I was ready.
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