I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!

This Christmas, as a throwback to our first Christmas together, Ryan and I went to New York City for the night.  The first time, we went down on Christmas day and spent the day looking around at all the Christmas decorations in the city.  It was nice because, being Christmas day, there were no crowds anywhere, including the ice rink at 30 Rock.  Even if we didn't go skating, it was nice to be able to look down and see the whole thing unhindered.  This year, we went down on Christmas Eve day and spent Christmas Eve/Christmas morning in NYC.  Unlike the year we went on Christmas day, on Christmas Eve night, NYC is PACKED.  At least, midtown is.  Where we stayed, at the Gem Hotel, down by 1st and 2nd, there was essentially no holiday cheer and you couldn't really even tell it was Christmas.  But, you could see Katz's deli from the hotel, so it all evened out for us.
Of course the first stop once we arrived was Katz's.  You really should get a sandwich from Katz's at least once in your life, if you can.  The pastrami is AMAZING. Buuut since the last time we went, last November,  I got a pastrami sandwich, I figured this time I would get a corned beef sandwich.  Bad choice.  Not that the corned beef was bad, it's just that the pastrami was better.  Lesson learned there. Next year, it's back to pastrami for me.  I will make a sandwich trip to NYC a yearly tradition, I'm 100% certain Ryan will have no arguments on that.  As a fair warning though, the sandwiches are a biiiiiiiiit expensive.  Worth it, but expensive, and they are cash only.  So, take heed before you go in.  To be safe, if two people are eating, bring at least $50 in cash.  Obviously more if there are more of you eating.  Then again, if you're not big into eating piles of meat, you can share one sandwich between two people and safe yourself a bit of money there.  Enough about the sandwiches though, I know you're DYING to know about the Christmas displays.
First, we decided to walk from the hotel to midtown, because, well, why not?  It was only 3 miles and, in the words of Ryan, "if you can run a marathon, you can walk 3 miles."  Point taken, so we did.  The walk wasn't so bad actually, even if it was a little chilly.  On the way we saw the Empire State building all lit up red and green, but I didn't take any pictures of that.  Sorry.  When we got up to all the good stuff, we checked out window displays and 30 Rock.  I really like the Lord and Taylor's window display, even though I didn't get any pictures of that either.  They had different scenes made out of cardboard cutouts, totally vintage and totally cute.  Bergdorf Goodman's display was all the different seasons, which was really neat.  Saks had a story of a Yeti, (apparently it's a thing), and a video that was projected on the side of the building every 4 minutes.  Rockefeller center was amazing, as usual, but so crowded we only stayed long enough to get across the plaza.  It was seriously over-packed.  Then on the way back to the hotel, we trekked through Times Square and stopped by Macy's to check out their display.
The next morning, we went to breakfast at a little bakery that happened to be open.  The food was nothing exciting, but we did get some red velvet cupcakes to go, which ended up being delicious.  We left the city around 10 am on Christmas day in order to get home and eat dinner with the family.  We unwrapped our gifts and wrapped up the night by watching Love, Actually.  Overall a great trip to NYC and a great Christmas.
If you were wondering what I got, don't worry, I'll fill you in now. If you're expecting me to tell you all about the new running gear I got, you're going to be highly disappointed, as I got 0 in the way of running anything.  Believe me when I say that's quite alright though.  Ryan got me an amazing bracelet and necklace set that I absolutely love.  I was really surprised by the gifts too, as I wasn't expecting jewelry of any sort.  The only thing I said I wanted for Christmas was a Jimmy Graham jersey, so to get a bracelet and necklace was completely surprising.  I'm doubly happy about the jewelry though because they're perfect for wedding jewelry.  Don't worry, there's a picture at the end of the post.  Ryan and I also got two camping chairs, which were straight off our registry, and perfect for the summer.  For now, they're hiding in the back of our closet though.  We also got a pizza stone (SCORE!), some baking sheets, and of course, a ton of gift cards. Oh yea, and back in NYC I bought a great new Adidas sweatshirt.  It's tough to find the NEWEST Adidas gear around here ever since the Originals store in Cambridge closed.  Anyways, today I decided to hit the after Christmas sales at Target and the malls and see if I could score anything.  Mostly I went for the wrapping paper.  My trip was a definite success though, considering everything at Target was 50% off.  I got the wrapping paper, some bows, gift tags, a cute little wooden Merry Christmas sign, and best of all, two rolls of FAT lights.  Then I went to the mall and got some workout clothes from Old Navy.  You didn't expect me to go shopping without getting at least something to wear during running/boxing did you?  Now I'm busy drooling over a pair of North Face boots that I desperately want, but really shouldn't buy.  But since this post has spiraled out of control, I'll just leave you with a thousand pictures, some from now, some from our first Christmas in New York, we'll see where this goes.  Enjoy.

Ok, the first two, I feel the need to explain. Having Picasa on my phone, I have my photos auto-backed up to Google.  As part of Picasa, there is a feature called Auto-awesome.  This feature puts different effects on pictures, depending upon the picture.  Sometimes it collages, other times it puts a burst of photos together to make them move.  In this case, it added snow and twinkles to this picture.  I LOVE this feature, so I had to share both photos.

Corned beef and pastrami. And a plateful of pickles.  TOTALLY WORTH IT!

Gorgeous jewelry set from Ryan.  LOVE IT!

Halloween - Bergdorf Goodman, or BG from here on out.

Valentine's Day - BG

April Fool's Day - BG

Rockefeller Center Tree

Macy's

My Target 50% off scores. (Well, minus the centerpiece and The Little Drummer Boy.)

Obv Frosty is wearing my Philly Medal

and the penguin gets the Marine Corps.

Nutcracker parade

Jiggity - jig

Awesome new sweatshirt.

And some from 2009.

It's not how you start the race, it's how you finish it

As the end of the year approaches, now is a good time to reflect on my year in running.  Last December, around this date, I decided to embark on a new journey.  Unlike many others, I didn't have a real reason for this journey.  There was no major life change that I was trying to get through and I was already mostly in shape thanks to walking the dogs.  Yet I felt like it was necessary to do something new.  So I ran.  My goal was to be able to run the 2014 WDW marathon.  If we're going off goals alone, then technically, no, I did not meet my specific and set goal.  I will not be running the Disney marathon in a few weeks.  However, since I started running for real last December, I have made it from just a few 5Ks up to a 5K or more every month and completed two full marathons.  Along with those full marathons, I have completed four half-marathons and countless other distances as part of my training runs. So I think it's safe to say that even though I didn't make it to Disney, my running goal for the year has been accomplished.
Looking back, I'm still amazed that I went from 5ks to marathons in less than a year.  When I started running I flat out told Cynthia that there was no way I was ever going to run a marathon.  "That's crazy!" were my exact words.  I felt like I could barely make 4 miles, how could I ever make 26.2.  But then I signed up for a 15K.  At that time, 9 miles seemed crazy, unthinkable, out of reach.  But I did it.  After that, I though, who needs to go any further, 9 miles is more than enough, I would never want to run for more than 2 hours, no way am I running longer.  (For proof, see my previous posts, you can easily follow my progression from NO WAY, to LET'S DO THIS!)  Then some how, Cynthia convinced me to sign up for the Run to Remember half-marathon in May 2013.  I'm really not sure how that happened, but it did.  Of course I decided that a half was fine, but there was no way I was going any farther with that.  I did my training and got my miles in, and I was content with a half.  Until April.  Maybe it was the events of marathon Monday that changed my mind, or maybe my mind was changed already and I just don't remember.  Either way, after that, I started to think, if I can run a half, maybe a full isn't so crazy.  Then we ran the half, and ran it so close to under 2 hours, that I really thought, a full is something I could do someday.  I still wasn't planning on doing one this year though.
Then over the summer, Cynthia procured a transfer bib for the Marine Corps Marathon in October.  Even though I wasn't sure I wanted to run a full, I was in it now.  As we all know, I ran it and mostly enjoyed it.  So much so that three weeks later we were all signed up for Philly and lined up at the start line, once again, at 5 a.m.  Then there was another half just a few weeks ago in Gloucester.  That's the last race I've run recently, but I like to leave on a high note.  I crushed my previous recorded time of 2:01, with a new time of 1:58.
Sure, there will be more halves and fulls in the new year, and even some 5ks and 10ks. Of course I will continue with the boxing club and I have plans to stick with the Lynn Woods Running Club in the summer time as well.  I'm even throwing caution into the wind and applying to be a girls track coach at a local high school.  I have no idea where 2014 will take me but I know that if I can do all of this is one year, I can do so much more next year.

Some pictures from the Gloucester half, because I'm not sure I ever shared any.

Pre-race porta potty shot

Staying warm before the run

Finishers!

Race swag

And a pair of brand new shoes for the new year.

Hope on the horizon.

Well, sort of, even if it is a long shot.  Cynthia informed me today that the One Fund just received 50 more bibs for marathoners looking to get into Boston.  Of course I immediately jumped on that one.  Running for the One Fund is one of the only charities I would actually want to raise money for, along with any charity that funded families like Morty's or maybe the ASPCA.  I know I shouldn't be picky when it comes to charities, but I feel like if I'm going to ask everyone for money, it should be for a cause I feel strongly about.  Obviously the One Fund is high up on that list, being a fund that supports all those hurt by the bombings last year.  Filling out the form doesn't mean I'm in though.  I have to wait until at least January 10 to get a decision from the One Fund.  I'm fairly certain that there are going to be a ton of other people hoping to get in with this team, so who knows if I'll even make the cut, but if I do, I sure will have a lot of fundraising to do.  So, if that happens, expect to be bombarded with links and requests for donations.  But it's my blog, I'll do what I want! I'll keep you posted on that as soon as I hear back.

All I Want for Christmas

Right now is an entry into the 2014 Boston Marathon.  It's not what you think either.  I'm not just jumping on the marathon bandwagon or hoping to run it because it's the next year.  Of course being the year after the bombing makes it special, but up until 2 weeks ago, I really didn't want to even try to run it this year anyways.  There were a lot of factors included, but mostly the fact that it would probably be very crowded this year anyways.  Why the sudden change of heart?  Well, you see, a week ago, my two marathon partners found out that they were receiving an invitation to run this year.  As a way to help those affected last year, the BAA hosted an essay contest for anyone who wanted to run this year.  Since my marathon partners were at the finish line last year, one of them sent in an essay describing the after-effects of the bombings and why she and her husband needed to run this year.  Rightly so, the BAA agreed that they both deserved the opportunity to run, and gave them both an entry in.  Now I'm here all by myself, wishing I could run it with them, instead of watching from the sidelines.  Here's why.  I'm fairly certain that this is going to be their last big race, at least for a couple of years.  After all, that's what they've been working towards from the beginning, running Boston without having to run with a team.  With that opportunity at hand this year, this eliminates me from running Boston for at least a couple of years, maybe even more. Unless I want to run alone, which I don't.
I know Boston is a big marathon, even if I don't fully understand why.  What I mean by that is, there are plenty of other marathons throughout the U.S. and I'm fairly certain that no other marathon has such out of reach entry methods as Boston.  Even before the bombing, when I thought of running Boston, I always though, there's just no way.  Look it up if you don't believe me, but the minimum fundraising goal for teams running Boston is a whooping $4000.  That's not including the entry fee, which I believe is in the $300 range for charity runners.  I get that the BAA wants to raise money for charities and help out those in need, but do you really need to set such unrealistic goals?   Besides the charity portion, what if you want to just run Boston on your own accord?  In other cities, you rely on lotteries, or are just lucky enough to be able to sign up, pay your $150, and run.  Not so in Boston.  In order to run outside of a charity, you have to qualify.  Not just by running a marathon or two, but by running a marathon in a certain amount of time.  For someone my age, that qualifying time is 3:35.  That's an entire HOUR faster than I've ever run.
Ok, I didn't mean to turn this into a whine-fest about the Boston Marathon.  It just kind of happened.  I am well aware that even without all of this in place, I most likely would never have gotten entry into this year's marathon.  But for the future, I just hate knowing that I only have two real options: push myself into a zone i have yet to come close to reaching, or beg people for money so I can run 26.2.  I just don't understand why BAA can't consider a third route, for people who actually run marathons, in an average time, not fast enough to qualify, but that demonstrate the stamina and endurance necessary to prove that you are not just bandwagonning.  Think about how many other people would have a chance at running, who might previously have run other marathons, but don't have the resources to raise $4K or the ability to qualify.  It seems to me that you would be more open to having marathoners be able to run, instead of people that intend to run in 6 hours, just to say they did it once.  I guess there's no real point to this, unless it gets me a magic entry into Boston.  Unfortunately, I think most people are going to read this a whine-fest, instead of what it is meant to be, which was just a world wide vent.

My name is Allison and I'm a marathon addict

I'm going to credit this to the runner's high phenomenon.  Even though I KNOW I struggled in the last 6 miles of the last marathon, now that it's been a  few days, I want to run another one.  Right now you might be asking yourself, WTF is wrong with this girl?  If you are, just know I'm asking myself the same question.  There's no reason for me to run another marathon.  Now, I just want to.  Is that weird? Maybe.  Sadly, as the winter rolls in, marathon options around here are supremely limited.   Most of the big marathons are being held on the West Coast or the Southern states, where it's probably a good 30 degrees warmer than the East Coast in the winter.  Since Ryan basically ruled out all travel for the purpose of running a marathon, I'm kind of limited here.  Not that I can argue his point.  We have a wedding to pay for and spending money to run 26.2 really isn't the best idea.  I suppose if I could find a marathon in, say, Saugus, he'd probably tell me to go for it.  Unfortunately, the closest marathon I've found that's coming up, is in Delaware.  Aside from the fact that I don't really even LIKE the state of Delaware, it would require another road trip, and neither of us is up for that.  In regards to why I don't like Delaware, I really don't have a good reason, or any reason at all.  We just paid a lot of tolls traveling through, so that made me sort of hate the state.  Oh well.
Louisiana has a marathon in January, which COULD be do-able, since Ryan has family there, so at least we'd have a reason to travel, but I'm pretty sure that's still out of the question.  Airfare is expensive, especially for a weekend trip.  You know what's really funny about this whole thing?  My original goal was to run one marathon, and one marathon only.  Walt Disney World 2014.  You know what marathon I'm not running? WDW 2014.  Though, 2015 is certainly an option in my mind at this point.  I'd also like to run Boston, but I can't fathom asking people to give me $4000 just to run, and I'm not in any shape to BQ anytime soon.  Plus, that's sold out too.
You know what I really want though?  Another running club.  The Lynn Woods Running Club was great for the summer months.  I really enjoyed having a group of people to run with every week.  Since those runs are over though, and most of my friends don't run long distance, I'm left with two, occasionally three, running buddies.  That's great and all, but if the others can't run with me, I end up either not going, or turning around earlier than I plan.  Running long distances alone is harder than you may think.  I know I can convince myself to run to a certain point, but eventually I end up turning around, even if I didn't make the distance I intended.  With a running group, I feel like I would have more success in running longer distances more often.  Knowing that I had to meet others would get me moving on days I didn't want too, and having people keep pace would keep me moving even when I started to feel done.  Ideally, Title would start a running club on the side.  I'd run with the people I box with, and I think it would be good for their business.  Or at least for their trainers, who could add in some extra workouts on the side.  But what do I know? I'm not the head of that business, and really, what I think and what is true are not always the same.  Either way though, all I know is that I could really use a winter running club, preferably one that meets more than once a week.

IIIInnnnnnn West Philadelphia....

Is where we hit mile 8 and I got a high five and morale boost from Ryan.  In East Philadelphia, where the race started and ended, and indeed, spent most of the time, is where I ran through every possible emotion a person can have while running a marathon.
Let's begin at the beginning.  Another early start, because apparently Boston has a super late start compared to fall marathons.  The race went off at 7 which means we had to be there by 5.  Yea, right, I got there at 5:45, and still had plenty of time.  I met Cynthia and Murdock around 6:30ish and we headed straight for the porta-potty lines.  There we waited for about 20 minutes, and actually heard the race start.  So, maybe I didn't have PLENTY of time, but this wasn't like MCM.  In Philly they corralled people and walked the corrals to the start.  So our corral actually didn't cross the start line until 20 past.  I was actually not nervous at all this time around and was really just in it for fun.  At the start, the crowd was pumped and the mayor was handing out high fives. (I totally got one on my way over the start line!)  Basically right from the start the energy was awesome.
Since the crowd was a lot smaller, we were able to get a better start. In fact, most of our first half was in the low 10s/high 9s minute wise. That comes back to haunt me later on, but one mile at time for now. We started out at the Philadelphia Art Museum and ran a bunch of streets which I have no knowledge off.  I can tell you that we ran by the oldest four masted ship still afloat, near Drexel University, by Chinatown, and the market.  My working knowledge of Philly's streets and our race route beyond that is pretty much non-existent.  The first miles were amazing.  Spectators were out in full force and having a grand old time.  I knew Ryan was at mile 8, so I was having fun counting down the miles to him as well.  We got lots of high fives and even some beer offers from the Frat Houses.  A little after mile 8 I got my high fives from Ryan and kept on trucking.  Of course we found the dreaded up hill at mile 9, but honestly, it wasn't that bad.  There were worse ones later in the route.  Plus, after the uphill, there was some lovely downhill coasting.  Somewhere in there we ran past the Philadelphia Zoo, but there wasn't much to see.  Around mile 11/12 we started splitting and seeing the signs that sent the half-marathoners back to the finish and the rest of us off to the other half.  I'll admit, for a brief moment I wished I was running the half and almost done, instead of only half way in.
At the half split, we passed the art museum again.  I got a nice surprise when I saw Ryan at the steps of the museum, waiting for another high five.  Then we turned the corner and tackled the second half of our run.  For the second half, we basically ran a straightaway up the Schulykil River.  The scenery was nice and for a couple more miles there were crowds and cheering.  We even saw the first place female finisher coming down the stretch as we were heading up.  That was exciting, even if it was a little disappointing to know that she was almost done and I still had an entire half left to go.  Around mile 16 the crowds really started to taper out and things got a little boring.  Part of that was because Cynthia and Murdock, once again, ended up far enough in front of me that I was basically on my own.  This time though, I used my playlist as a little extra push, so I didn't feel totally bad about being behind.  Plus, since it wasn't my first, I knew I could finish and just find them at the end if I had to.
I'll admit, this straightaway was far worse than any part of the MCM.  Including the bridge.  Some people really enjoy straight roads, but I hate them.  I need changing scenery and direction.  Seeing everything in front and knowing there's no turn around in sight is damaging to my energy.  Aside from that, it was actually a fairly warm day out, which was not helping.  I was drinking plenty of water and taking in gels, but it just wasn't enough.  I was burnt out totally by mile 20. The hill at mile 19 didn't help.  Who puts a hill at mile 19?!?!?! This isn't Boston people.
I'll admit, I almost called Ryan and told him I was walking the last 6.2, and to come meet me half way if he wanted too.  Luckily, my stubborn side kicked in and I couldn't let myself walk.  Having some spectators reappear at miles 19 - 22 really helped too.  I've noticed that people must really be able to tell when us runners are struggling, because people were yelling my name, telling me I was looking good, all sorts of encouraging cheers that pushed me to keep going, even though I really just wanted to stop.  Around mile 22 the 4:30 pace team caught up with me.  This was a surprise, as I actually thought I was way behind my goal time.  I ran with the pace team for a mile or longer, I'm really not sure, I think I made it to mile 24 with them.  They helped me pick up my pace, but also offered a distraction.  The woman holding the pacing sign just kept up a steady flow of talk, which I was listening to, more to forget about the pain in the entire lower half of my body, than to actually care about what she was saying.  Following with the pace team, I actually caught back up to Cynthia and Murdock and found out I wasn't the only one struggling.  We ran through to the next water stop, then I sort of fell behind them again.  But, I made it to mile 25.5 with them, so by that point, I was at least close enough to be basically on track.  At mile 26 a rush of adrenaline kicked in.  I've never given much thought to that whole adrenaline rush thing, but I finally know what it is.  Honestly, I didn't think I could move any faster or even keep running when I was at mile 25.  At mile 26 all I knew was that I was almost there and I had to run.  Suddenly I heard the crowds yelling and even though I'm sure they weren't, it's like they were all cheering for me.  I could hear the DJ at the finish line and more importantly, I could SEE the finish.  Those last .2 miles I all out ran, faster than I even knew I could at that moment, just to be done.  So fast, in fact, that I caught back up to Cynthia and Murdock and crossed 1 behind Cynthia. Quite a feat, considering I couldn't even see her anymore when I got to mile 26.  I also got a high five from the mayor on the way over the finish. My final time was 4:37 and some seconds.  If we're going by recorded times, it was almost 10 minutes faster than the MCM.  If we go by Garmin times, it was a minute slower, and that was without a bathroom break.  I'm a little disappointed, because I was really hoping for a faster time, even just by 5 minutes.  Part of it was the weather and the fact that I had too much caffeine in my energy supplements, but part of it was that I didn't do much running between MCM and Philly.  I did a few 5Ks and a 10 miler last weekend, but I should have done more.  Oh well.
Of course after we finished we took pictures with Rocky and ran the steps to the museum.  We wanted to buy finisher shirts, but they were all sold out! The car ride home wasn't too bad, mostly because it was shorter, but it was still fairly uncomfortable.

Comparing the two, this is what I've come up with.
MCM Pros: Better course, in my opinion. More spectators along the miles, or so it seemed.  Great volunteers and Marines, who were inspiring and happy to give a high five.  Plenty of food stops along with the water stops; four altogether, oranges, gels, sports beans, and munchkins. Awesome medals at the end, given by a Marine.  Fantastic jacket for body temperature regulation and a food box for the finishers.  Bananas, water, and Gatorade as well.
MCM Cons: The Gauntlet and Beat the Bridge time limits are terrifying for a first timer.  Even though I knew my training time was well inside the time limit, I was still nervous for both milestones.  Lots of runners go off together, making a very crowded first few miles.  No time clocks at every mile, instead someone calling out times as you run by.  Hard turnaround somewhere within miles 6 - 9, not sure exactly which miles, but seriously hairpin turn which caused a giant bottleneck again.

Philadelphia Pros; Much smaller pool of runners and more controlled corral releases, which spread out the runners, giving a better starting pace. Lots of scenery at the beginning. Nice to run with half-marathoners too. Time trackers at every mile marker.  Great volunteers.  Awesome medals at the end. Food bag at the end with orange juice and other small snacks.  Astronaut blanket for body temp regulation.
Philadelphia Cons: Longest out and back of my life.  Not enough spectators in the later miles, which is when I, at least, really needed them.  Only one food stop, gels at mile 9.  A bit hilly, in which the downhills caused a bit of an issue with my knees.

Overall, I liked them both, for different reasons.  Now though, I really want to do Boston, just for a straight course from one end to the other, without looping back around.  I think it would be fun.  If only I could get myself in there.  Someday. All in all though, I'm not sure I'll ever run two marathons in 3 weeks ever again.  You never know though.  Stranger things have happened.

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Philadelphia Marathon Race Weekend - Marathon

RUNNER

11581

ALLISON RUNYAN

LYNN, MA

Female / 29

View All Female 25 - 29 Results

Division
717

Gender
2924

Overall
7380

Finish Time
Finish Net	4:37:34
Finish Gun	4:38:36

Location	Net Time	Clock Time	Time of Day	Pace	Pace Between
Start	00:00	1:03	7:20:47
10K Split	1:01:50	1:02:52	8:22:37	9:57 /mi
					10:23 /mi
Halfway Split	2:13:29	2:14:31	9:34:16	10:10 /mi
					10:45 /mi
30K Split	3:13:01	3:14:04	10:33:48	10:21 /mi
					11:09 /mi
Finish	4:37:34	4:38:36	11:58:20	10:35 /mi

Other Results for ALLISON RUNYAN

Date	Event Name	Name	City/State	Age	Bib	Place	Cat. Place	Pace	Time
2013	38th Marine Corps Marathon	ALLISON RUNYAN	LYNN/MA	29	30456	12303	878	10:47/mi	4:43:01