Gettin’ Excited for NYC: The Marathon In 4 Days

First of all, I want to acknowledge and thank you all for your kind words and encouragement on my last post. As you all may have guessed, it wasn’t easy for me coming up with answers to some of the Q&A’s and in the process, expose personal details about myself that not many people outside my family and closest friends even know, but after reading through all the wonderful comments, I felt as if I made the right decision to answer each question as honestly as I can. So thank you all.

Anyway, so how is everyone doing with their running? By the way, did you know I’m running a marathon in 4 days? Nah, me neither, or at least that’s what my colleagues at work would have you believe because when I walked into the hospital on Monday, I was swamped with deadlines and projects and paperwork that were all due today! Talk about a pre-marathon buzz killer! So instead of freaking out about the weather or what I’ll be wearing on race day, I worked nonstop and way past my bedtime for two straight days. It wasn’t pretty, but everything got done, my research protocols are written, all the patients got seen, and I gave a kickass conference that left my fellow workmates speechless and begging for more. It just goes to show that even in race week, when everyone else who’s running the marathon can’t help but talk, think, and breathe the marathon, I can still contain my pre-marathon jitters and do a damn good job in my professional life when asked to.

But now that all the work is done and pertinent deadlines have past, it’s time to get excited for the New York City Marathon again. Woohoo! (Are you excited yet? If not, you should play this song and leave it running as you read through the rest of this post.)

I feel that I’m late to this game. All week, every local marathon runner has been preparing themselves physically and mentally for NYCM. Some have taken to books and magazines for inspiration. Others are talking to family and friends. Still others are keeping busy with marathon minutiae, as if they have psychic powers to predict the future. Luckily for me, I’m not most people. I don’t read books or magazines (I blame it on the lack of time); my family don’t come to races and I’ve done too many of these to pretend that I can control factors that are outside my control to guarantee a great race.

Instead, I must resort to unconventional ways to get my game face ready for race day. Below are the five things I do to get pumped for the big day:

1. Watching Dave and me cracking up over those who should just give up now.

2. Reading and re-reading race reports from years past:

a. 2007 – My First BQ (Part I, II, III, IV)

b. 2008 – My PR Report (Part I, II, III, IV)

3. Watching inspirational NYCM course videos (I, II, III)

4. Seeing how some celeb (Anthony Edwards) have chosen to train for this race (video). This is actually funny, I promise!

5. Attending a FREE Newton Running Clinic hosted by IronBrandon on 10/30 7AM at the Central Park Boathouse (Please visit his fantastic blog for more information).

Question – What do YOU all do to get excited for race day?