A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with A Single Step ... Literally and Literally

Hello World!

Thanks for coming.  I need your help.  I am a woman on a mission, and its a doozy.

Where do I even begin?  Lets see .. the last amazing thing:  I had the best possible 1st marathon in Chicago (2016) that anyone could ever hope for!!!

... Immediately followed by a ridiculous amount of life turbulence. 2017 proved to be the year of the casual relationship with running.  Who even knew that was possible for all-in cray-cray about running Judy?  Alas, there was a new job, a long commute, an ugly rough patch on the personal relationship front, and possibly a bit of mild depression /  burnout / mid-life crisis-ing along the way.  I continued to run, but my mileage dropped to an inconsistent 10-20 miles per week on average.  I still ran two marathons in '17, but I would use the term 'ran' loosely.  I finished CHI with a time over 5:30, and tacked on Soldier Marathon  the following month because it was cheap, in my area, and not a lot of people were doing it.

Finished that about as expected .. like a 90 yo carrying an elephant through peanut butter... but it really was fun to be out there on the course without a care in the world, just me against the day, moving forward one step at a time with no goal in mind, just for the adventure of it.  After that, I kept to the casual 8-10 miles per week, and DNFed a 2nd Jeff Galloway Half in December 2017.  I made it to about mile 7.  Just wasn't trained for the distance by that point at any pace, and didn't want to keep the carpool waiting.

2018 brought with it some 'new year, new me' energy, but the habit-building process takes time.  I kept to a couple of slow runs per week, raced a little for fun, and along the way, FINALLY talked hubby into jumping on the fitness wagon.  This made running stick around.  Enjoyable, even.  It just wasn't making it to the front burner priority very often.

Right about now, I can hear you thinking:  this is lame, Judy.  Where's the nutty BIG LIFE run girl we know and love?  Patience, grasshopper.

Enter Drama: Player One
February 2018 brought with it the NYC Marathon lottery.  You can already guess what happened, but here's the back story:

1. its kind of the mantra that you throw your name in the hat each year. with barely a 1 in 5 chance of getting in, the idea is that you pop your name in every year, and run it when the lotto gods are in your favor.  This used to be an official guaranteed thing; after so many rejections, you were assured a place.  That's since been done away with, but I think many runners hope there is still some version of this playing out in the lotto draw behind the scene anyways.  So name in the hat = probably won't get in this year, but maybe it will help my chances next time.

2. I turn 4-0 in October!  Years that end in 8 are MINE!  1978 .. born.  1968, hubby born.  1998.. married.  2008.. bought home and relocated to ATL.  I already had tentatively earmarked it that if I didn't get in via lotto by 40, I would run it for charity.  NYC Marathon is *the* bucket list item for this Jersey girl.  Its GOING to happen.  Showing 40 who's boss with it just seemed like perfect milestone celebration time for it.

3.  In 2017, I lost both of my grandparents.  From their balcony on the 13th floor of a Jersey high rise, I grew up in awe of the NYC skyline.  I could watch the boats, the blimps, the buildings, the sky .. for hours ...  chatting with Abuela or Abuelo, drinking my Cuban cafe con leche, using the binoculars (con cuidado now, Judy) to pretend-spy on the world below.  The Manhattan skyline is home.  Neither grandparent would get to see me run a race ever, but on the day that I run NYC, both will be with me every single step of the way. This is our town, and we'll run it together.  The race the year after their passing just seems perfect.



In fact, the only reason NOT to enter the lottery this year was that in Feb 2018 .. I wasn't running.

Never the less, of course ..

So I am running my dream marathon in November, and as of race entry date, had about a solid 7 miles under my belt at a cozy 12min/mi pace.

I usually am not a fan of public f-bombs; I save them for the big, big things: like marathons, the 2016 presidential election, cancer, and stubbing toes.

By this time in 2016, I was running aggressive (hilly) half courses in 2:10, five plus days of REALLY consistent 6+ milers, and long runs at 13+ weekly with a consistent, committed group of a friends, all in the high 9s, low 10s. Today, I have none of that even close to under my belt.  Never the less, if I cut less corners in my training this year, really ramped up the weekly mileage early, gave it EVERYTHING I had, cross-trained, lost weight, .. just did EVERYTHING perfect, could I hope to match (or best by one second?) my Chicago 2016 race?  At the very least, I could give training EVERYTHING and feel amazing about the experience ... as long as I left 2017 habits behind and gave this ALL.OF.EVERYTHING, I would feel wonderful.  But then ...

Enter Drama: Player Two
I don't want to talk about the surgery today.  Maybe down the ways.  I'm not an all that private person.  But today, I just don't wanna.  What you need to know to follow along... last Friday, I had me a serious surgery!  With it comes a 3 week restriction on all activity, and a 6 week run restriction. Today is Day 6 post-op.  Yesterday, I finally felt more human than zombie, and so I gave myself the training activity of a 3 minute walk around the house.  Today, I doubled that.  Boom.



I thought about cancelling the surgery when I got into the marathon.  I thought about deferring the marathon after I came home from surgery.  I think about quitting my job so I can just train.  (Like, in 30 years, will I even remember being in HR middle-management? lol.  No.  But I'm going to be telling my grandkids about the NYC marathon until I am blue in the dang face haha.  That said.. well.. I kinda need to make sure I can fund the airplane ticket, and the hotel room, let alone the two kids in college, the soon to be a four-vehicle auto insurance payment, and so on and so forth).

So .. none of those are options.. what do we do?  We do exactly what we said we would do:  we give EVERYTHING we have, nothing more, nothing less.  We start today.  We aim for perfect, and hope to fall at proud.  We start further back than we even imagined when we tossed the name in that hat.  But we stand firm by the thought I accepted when I got in:  if I give it EVERYTHING I have, it will be enough to make me very happy, no matter what.

Up Next

Peachtree training is the highlight of my year, and even as I sit here trying my best not to split myself in half with a cough, I am friggin energetically delighted that I get to start a new cycle soon.  I get released to start walking on April 13th.  The first In-training practice is April 14th.  Coincidence?  I think not.  3 weeks after that, at 6 weeks post-op, I hope to be given the green light to begin running, and from that day forward, I plan to start my *cue trumpets*.. "Judified COUCH to MARATHON  Extended Edition Training Program." The gist is not hard to imagine:  build mileage from 5K to 10K, to Half to Full by November. Speed will have to go by the way-side to step up that kind of distance without any kind of base to speak of.  Ce la vie.  I embrace my back-of-the-pack status.  That doesn't mean failure.  Failure would be not giving it whatever I have to give it these next 7 months.  I'm also counting on my veteran status to give me a smidge of a leg up.  Last, I am not kidding myself:  I've made a refundable reservation in lower Manhattan, and that's it.  I'll wait until after Peachtree to purchase the flight.  If I look out on July 4, 2018, and all signs point to a repeat of unhappy Chicago Marathon 2017, I won't be an idiot.  I'll defer.

Unhappy Chicago. There is crying in running sometimes. But we're not going to let it happen again.

I'll re-pay the entry fee, but that's a small price to pay for loving the memory of your dream race.  We can be playfully stubborn AND a wise soul at the same time.  Years that end in 9s are, after all, also MINE! lol.

Outfit:  random thought of the post .. I think I want to run NYC in my friend's singlet from her NYC marathon.  It will know the way home. :)  Hope it fits by then. Lol.

Final Thoughts
So ... in other words .. stay tuned for some chaos!  <3 ya'll homies.  Judy out.

*** stands up, hunched over, stomach clutched, ready to take a nap and 2 more Tylenol.  But I am and will forever be a sub 4:30 marathoner, so yea, I can do anything. :) ***