Race 1 of 9

One of the first things that I thought of when making our decision to move to NYC was that we could do the 9+1 program to get guaranteed entry into the NYC marathon.  The marathon is extremely tough to get into unless you are super speedy or have a newsworthy name or do this program.  I found out about the program a few years ago when looking into how to get into this marathon.  So jumped at the chance.

Since our plans on how long we will live here are pretty undefined, we decided to do the program immediately to make sure that it happens.  So early January we became members of NYRR and started planning out our program.  They have tons of race but not all of them are marathon qualifiers.  And as you get later in the year the number of marathon qualifiers dwindles and becomes things like the 18 mile marathon tune up race. The last thing I wanted to happen was to get part way through the program and then not be able to complete it due to the number of available races.  So we decided to frontload the spring.

Our first race was February 23rd in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. 

We woke up at 5:30am and got all three of us ready to go.  We jumped on the 1 and then switched to the express 2 for our long ride out to Brooklyn. It was over an hour.  Then we met up with Jaime's nanny who took the little dude to a nearby coffee shop that was filled with a bunch of sofas to hang out during the race.

We were cutting it close and had to run about half a mile to get to the starting corrals. The race had started when we got there so we went straight to running the race.  It was about 40 degrees and drizzling. Thankfully we have our super awesome running jackets that are waterproof.

This was my first post-baby race.  And at four miles it was the longest I had run since getting pregnant. Honestly, it was a tough race.  I was happy to be out there but also it was pretty crummy.  I knew that my time would probably suck as since going back to work I had been doing maybe one run a week.  I was starting this program with realistic goals and not worrying about time - just finish the nine races.

We ran it together and it was a very slow run.  But regardless, it counts.  First of nine done and done.

Then we had to go back up to the top of the park to pick up the little and head back to Manhattan.  We ended up taking the long route so ran most of it so that it wouldn't take so long. 

The train ride home was so slow.  Poor Jaime ended up needing a diaper change when we were 2/3rds of the way home... that kid is a trooper.  We finally got home, all of us wet and hungry.  And we stayed inside the rest of the day.