INGNYCM

Completely forgot to blog yesterday--my excuse is that I knew my main blog reader (Mama) was headed this way and wouldn't have time to read it anyway!  We are having fun visiting with Mama and Missy, and I'll put up some pics tomorrow.  For now, a latergram from November, when I ran the New York Marathon.

It's a little tricky to get entry into the marathon.  You can run it if you are really really fast, or if you raise around $3000 for charity, or if you get lucky in the lottery.  I entered the lottery last year and did  not get picked, but this year I got lucky.  The odds are about 1 in 10, so I was beyond thrilled.

Mama watched the kids so that John and I could go to New York.  We thought we were going to have to cancel the trip when my mother-in-law had her injury, so we ended up not planning any activities in advance.  But everything worked out so that we could still go, and we had a wonderful time.

Our biggest hiccup of the trip occurred before we even left Daytona.  I realized as we were going through airport security that I'd left my phone at home.  At that point, we didn't have enough time to run back and get it, and I felt it was important to have it so that I could carry it in the race and have a way to get in contact with John.  So my poor mom overnighted the phone to our hotel!

We stayed in the Sheraton near Times Square--we chose it so we could stay on points, but found out after we made reservations that it was one of the official race hotels.  One perk of this was that there was a shuttle from the hotel to the expo, so that was handy.

The expo was huge!  Even bigger than the Disney expo.

Picking up my number:

The news was full of stories about increased security for this race following the Boston bombing, but the only visible security at the expo was a whole bunch of bag-searchers slapping orange stickers on anything they could:

After the expo, we went to Otto for dinner; it was enjoyable, not my favorite Mario Batali restaurant, but not bad.

The next morning, John and I went for a short run in Central Park.  The fall leaf colors were gorgeous:

We ended up running on part of the marathon route, but I made John veer off before we got close to the finish line.  I wanted to save that fun for the next day.

We went back to the hotel, where I changed into my new handknit sweater--I was pretty proud of this one and so glad to have some cool weather so that I could wear it:

We ate lunch at Num Pang, and I had the best pork belly sandwich with pickled asian pear slaw.  After lunch, we ran back to the hotel for an important delivery:

Reunited and it felt so good!

We spent the afternoon watching the Gators, going to a movie, eating some Famous Ray's pizza for dinner (mediocre; there's better pizza in NYC, stay tuned!), and turning in early.

Sunday morning, I woke up, donned my race gear, and took the very crowded subway to the Staten Island Ferry terminal.  I joined the crowds pushing on to the ferry and found a spot near the window.

Manhattan in the morning:

You can see the police boat above--there was one on each side of the ferry, along with two Coast Guard boats:

So yep, lots of security!

The Statue of Liberty:

Once we arrived in Staten Island, we filed along in a very slow moving line.  I was freezing--it was windy and in the mid-40's.  I was so thankful to board a warm bus and take the 20 minute trip to the staging area.  I was also lucky in my corral assignment--I was in the first group of the last wave, meaning I got to run across the top of the double-decker bridge (better views!) and also meant I didn't have much of a crowd in front of me.

Moving toward the start line:

The race has a tough beginning--the first two miles are over the Verrazano-Narrows bridge.  That first uphill mile was exhausting, made worse by cold temps and near 20 mph wind.  But after that, it was pretty smooth sailing through Brooklyn.  I felt pretty good until we turned into Manhattan from the Queensboro bridge and started uphill on First Avenue.  By mile 18, I was getting tired, but I spotted John about that time and the encouragement helped.  I also saw him at mile 23:

At that point, I was close enough to the end to feel energized.  So I gave him my water bottle and other junk and, feeling lightened, ran as fast as I could toward the finish line.

After finishing the race, we had to walk about 2 miles to get out of Central Park.  I chose the "no baggage" option, so they gave me an orange poncho to keep warm.  It was lined with fleece and felt heavenly.

I met up with John in the shops at Columbus Circle.  My phone battery died at mile 24, so I had no idea what my finish time had been, but John let me know I beat my previous best. :-)

We went back to the hotel so that I could rest for a little while.  I always feel nauseated for about an hour after a race, so I waited for that to pass, then we went looking for burgers for dinner.  Shake Shack was packed, so we went to The Burger Joint instead.  Good burger, good fries. :-)

The next morning, we went back to the finish line area so I could take a picture:

I promise I didn't wear my medal all over New York!  I carried it with me that day to get it engraved.  I also picked up a copy of the New York Times so I could admire my name in print:

We went to the Natural History Museum to pick up a souvenir for the kids.  I was modeling another handknit sweater that day:

We had lunch at Colicchio & Sons.  They offer a prix-fixe menu at lunch, and the food was fabulous.  We spent the afternoon shopping and exploring, then went to Eataly for dinner.  I know it's sort of a crowded touristy place to eat in the city, but I have had some of my best bites of food there, and this night was no exception.

Behold, some fabulous gnocchi with broccoli rabe:

I recreated that dish at home with some success. :-)

We enjoyed a great massage the next morning, then strolled around the upper west side.

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

We wanted some good pizza for lunch, ideally Grimaldi's, but we didn't feel like trekking to Brooklyn and waiting in line.  So we decided to give Lombardi's a try--it's supposedly the oldest!

And it was awesome:

We asked if we could take a photo with the original oven door, and they kindly let us:

I spent the afternoon doing a little Purl Soho drooling/shopping:

We ate dinner at Perilla (we are Top Chef fans!).  I had the fish special and honestly, there were so many things going on in that dish that I don't even know where to begin describing it.  We shared a side of "Toasted Brussels Sprouts Leaves" with toasted nuts and raisins.  (I've also recreasted that dish at home with pretty good results.)

The following day, we explored Chelsea Market and the surrounding area...

...and then we headed to the airport (where they had these fanastic computerized ordering systems)...

...and eventually arrived home.

The trip was great and I looooooooooved that marathon.  That was easily my favorite race ever, and I would love to be able to run it again some day.  For now, I'm already getting ready for the next race! :-)

runDisney! (we did.)

We just returned from a fun weekend running in the Disney races and playing in the parks.  Well, we didn't JUST return (it was a few weekends ago) but my knees still feel like they just ran a marathon. :-)

Our weekend plans started looking dicey when Will came down with a high fever on Wednesday.  I hauled him into the office Thursday and confirmed it was indeed influenza.  He couldn't keep any medicine down for about 48 hours, so he was like a little hot potato on the couch until his fever finally broke.  On Thursday night, when Will was informing us of his impending death ("I'm probably going to die, Mama.  I think so."), John and I started trying to figure out alternate plans while reassuring Will that he would, in fact, pull through.

On Friday morning, though, he woke up without a fever and looking slightly perkier (I told John he "got de turn" and John just looked confused...guess he never read Anne of the Island).  Leah texted me that he was asking for chicken nuggets by lunchtime, so we all ended up heading to Orlando that evening after all.

We barely got to the expo before it closed, then checked into the hotel, ate dinner, and went to bed so John could get a little sleep before his 3:30 wake up call.  He ran in the half-marathon race on Saturday, and did really well--he'd hoped to beat 1:50, but because it was so hot he wasn't quite on pace to do that, but he still beat his previous best by 3 minutes.

After he left the hotel at 4 am, Will popped out of bed and announced he was hungry.  So I decided we would try to watch part of the race and cheer for John.  We made it to the viewing spot next to the Polynesian, but somehow missed seeing him. :-(  To pacify the kids (and me), we stopped for some breakfast at the Grand Floridian:

We met back up with John at our hotel, then all headed to Epcot.  

Anna is finally tall enough for Test Track--she loved the "fast car."

After awhile, my legs started getting tired--not good, since they'd need to support me through 26.2 miles the next day--so we went back to our hotel for dinner and an early bedtime, so that I could be here...

at the marathon start line at 5:30 am.  Thank goodness for the fireworks, I needed them to wake up!

I had a few goals--I mostly wanted to beat 5 hours, so I lined up in front of the 5:00 pacer and vowed never to see her again.  I thought I should be able to do 4:45, and my stretch goal was to finish in 4:3something.  The Disney website didn't list a 4:45 pace group, so I ordered some pacebands (and cute tatoos) from this website.

My running mantra:

Not eloquent, but it gets the job done.

I was tired and a little cranky from the crowds for the first 8 miles.  At about mile 9, I remembered how much I paid to do the race and decided I better enjoy it.  By the time we hit the Animal Kingdom (around mile 12-13), I was feeling absolutely awesome and having a ball.  I passed the 4:45 pacer (there was one after all!) and kept on going.

Mile 18 is usually when I start getting fatigued, but I was still doing fine and on target to finish well under 4:40.  Miles 19-20 were a little slow because we ran through the Wide World of Sports complex, but all the Disney entertainment kept me distracted.

Then we looped back onto the highway...and at mile 21, the sun crested the trees...and that's when the whole thing became a lot less fun for me.  I'm still not sure if I "hit the wall" or had some mild heat exhaustion.  I was really thirsty but couldn't drink without feeling like I would throw up, and my heart was racing.  So I took a lot of walk breaks during that mile.

The kids and John were waiting in Hollywood Studios, at about mile 23.  I was so glad to see them, but I didn't stop running for long because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to start again!

Anyway, I kept on going and eventually finished.  I went straight to the medical tent and grabbed the bags of ice that they keep so you can ice your knees, and pressed them right into my face until I finally started to feel like a normal person.  I ended up finishing in 4:43 and some change--which I'm pretty happy with, all things considered.  I do wish it had been about 10 degrees cooler, though!

Will didn't have school on Monday, so we stayed over one more day and headed to the Magic Kingdom.  I let Anna wear a Snow White costume that Mama made for Laurie (as a Halloween costume, back when Laurie was around 4 years old).  She looked so sweet, and I really wanted a photo of her with Snow White, so we headed straight for Town Hall to meet the princesses.

After a 30-minute wait, we got to the front of the line and found out Snow White was not in this crowd of princesses.  Oh, well.  Anna hopped right up to Cinderella and started hitching up her skirt.  I wasn't sure what she was doing until I heard her say, "Look, Cinderella, you on my boot!"

This was true, since Anna was wearing her princess boots from Uncle Shawn and Aunt Cindy.  Cinderella seemed honored.

Anna moved on to meet Sleeping Beauty and show off her boots again:

Then, as she was supposed to go greet Rapunzel, Anna looked at me in a panic.  "Mama, 'Punzel not on my boots!!"  This was also true--only Snow White, Belle, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty made it onto the boots.  I told her I thought Rapunzel would be okay with that, being a newer princess and all.

Luckily, 'Punzel did not feel slighted in the least, and even pointed out that her good friend Snow White was across the way, at City Hall, in case Anna wanted to compare dresses.

Then we headed to the new Fantasyland.  It's not completely done--about half of it is open and it was packed with people. We enjoyed the new Little Mermaid ride, and the new Dumbo waiting area was pretty awesome.  

We skipped the one-hour line for the new restaurant, but played in the fountain outside Gaston's tavern:

On the way back out of the park, we stopped at City Hall to see Snow White.  As we got in line, one of the Disney cast members cut off the line just in front of us, explaining that Snow White needed to go bake some pies!  We left graciously, but I wanted to point out to the worker that Anna's dress was almost 25 years old and Snow White should really be excited to take a picture with IT. :-)

Then we headed home for some rest! (After I cleansed the house of all remaining influenza germs, of course.)

The rest of October, all in one post!

 October began with my 35th birthday and a really yummy Whoppers cheesecake:

I was really dreading this birthday, mostly because, burned into my brain, is the lecture in medical school where they told us that the risk for birth defects starts increasing more significantly after 35.  I can remember trading glances with all the girls in my row--I know we were all feeling like we were still going to be stuck in that lecture hall at age 35, and really didn't need any more reminders about our biological clocks!!  Anyway, I sort of had that deadline in my head--despite the fact that I take care of plenty of healthy babies born to mothers over 35--and I'd been struggling with the idea that our family is complete and thought I'd spend the birthday in tears.  But I didn't!! And 35 hasn't been bad so far at all. :-)

****

The following weekend, John and I headed to Gainesville to watch the UF-LSU game:

Heeeeere come the Gators!!

Our offense really struggled during the first half.  But I spied this rainbow and decided to take it as a sign that we might still have a chance (mostly because it was behind the LSU fans so they couldn't see it!)...

...and we won!

****

The next weekend, we went to the fair at Port Orange Family Days:

Anna won a trumpet.  Luckily, it didn't work very well:

And, after much begging, Will and I rode the ferris wheel.  Those fair rides look so rickety, so I was pretty much scared to death during the entire ride, but got so tickled when Anna kept calling it a "steering wheel."

****

The next weekend, we went back to Gainesville for John's ten-year medical school class reunion.

The kids (and Alexiya) enjoyed all the food:

The barbecue was so nice this year, with snow cones, popcorn, face painting, and caricatures.  John and Will posed for a picture:

And Anna got her face painted:

Fierce girl!

John went to the game with his buddies, while the kids and I headed to Blountstown to visit my family. We stopped by Grandmama and Granddaddy's house to give them a preview of Halloween:

Grandmama, Granddaddy, a great white shark, and a little hammerhead:

I love stopping for lunch in Gainesville on our trips to and from B-town.  This time, I took the kids to Maui Teriyaki.  Rachel and I used to walk there often for dinner (especially while we were living in Mallory Hall), but it's been years and years since I had a chicken bowl.  I thought it was time to remedy that.

The old one was knocked down, so we went to the new location on SW 34th St.  Anna was ho-hum on her meal, but Will loved it.  He's pretty decent with the chopsticks, too:

****

For the last weekend in October, I flew up to DC to stay with Missy.  We had some plans:

Yep, we took on the Marine Corps Marathon, the first marathon for both of us.

Before the race:

We were tired at the end, so I forgot to take pictures.  It was a really, really fun race and, despite the Frankenstorm (Hurricane Sandy) bearing down on us, we had pretty decent weather.

The weather turned much fouler overnight, so Missy and I spent most of the rest of my visit holed up in her apartment knitting, which was perfectly fine by me. :-)

****

I arrived home in time for Halloween.  We dressed the kids up and took them to the Fall Festival at their school.

This picture cracks me up--that evening sun was brutal:

They played lots of games and won a few prizes:

And, of course, there were lots of bounce houses.

My flying sharks:

Then we did some trick-or-treating until Anna announced, "I so tired!"

And that wraps up October!