NYC Marathon, the beginning.

This race was the most epic of all epicness!!! Is that even a word…it will be for now..

The moment came, the day we were leaving for New York. I was still packing last minute because I had moved just days before and I couldn’t find anything! But I made sure that my race day gear was all there and in my carry on luggage! I wasn’t risking the airlines losing my luggage with my race day outfit! No way!

I was excited for many reasons, but I knew that later that day I was meeting the rest of my teammates and I couldn’t wait! I had talked to them and worked with them and now I can finally hug them in person! It finally happened! I met Linzie, Katie, Toni, and Ethan and we clicked immediately. I love them all and a friendship developed that would last a life time.

We had a wonderful dinner and we talked the night away. It was really cool to finally getting to know each other in aspects outside of the running world. I love everyone in that picture and I can’t tell you enough how amazing, loving and caring they all are. We all clicked immediately as if we’ve been friends for years!

We had to cut the evening and head to bed because we had a very early shake out run planned the next day. The weather in NYC was perfection. Coming from hot, humid Orlando, this cool, 50 degree weather was welcoming. I greatly enjoyed it! We laced our ASICS and got ready to run with some inspiring elite runners. It was pretty wonderful to get a chance to run with those you’ve been used to cheering for on TV as they chase their own Olympic dreams. I was also excited to run with our coach, if you saw the letter I wrote to him, you know how important he was to me.

I was surprised to keep up with coach Kastor, and his wife Deena Kastor for the beginning of the run. As you know I am by NO means “fast” I run my pace, which is usually in the back or the end. So being right behind Deena was pretty cool. We were running our way through Central Park, which was GORGEOUS! I got lost in all the colors, breeze, and roads…figuratively. I had imagined running through this part for years, and here I was, running with an incredible group of runners.

We came around the corner and ran the last .2 of the marathon up to the finish line. While we couldn’t run through it, but we certainly took that chance to take pics!

After that, Sara Hall came up to me and told me she knew who I was! I was surprised and honored! We actually ran together for a bit and talked about our lives. She is so cool and friendly. I couldn’t believe that me, a runner with Scoliosis, whom was deemed never to run, always dreaming always chasing, was living the most glorious dream ever. Here I was alongside Sara Hall, and Ryan Hall running through Central Park!!!!

After our run, we had a breakfast with everyone where the elites and our coach shared some tips and last minute words of encouragement with everyone. Next up, was a shower, change of clothes and off to the expo to get our race bibs! This place was HUGE! The ASICS booth alone was massive and full of gear and I wanted it all!!!

It was so exciting to be there! As I made my way into the expo, I realized that this was it. The moment was finally here, the moment I’ve dreamed about for so long. We worked our way through, and each one of us has a special moment as we got our bibs. When I went up to get mine, the volunteer handed it to me, I smiled and started to cry. I couldn’t believe my dreams were coming true. This is it. The toughest training I’ve done, all the obstacles, the new findings about my spine, the hurdles, the bumps, everything that tried to stop me from becoming successful. It was an emotional ride to say the least. But here was the moment.

We all pretty much jumped for joy once we had our bibs in hand. This race held a special place for all of us. After the minute we realized that there is no turning back we headed into the ASICS booth and I swear the angels sung as we walked in…I was in heaven!!!!!! We walked around and of course shopped for more ASICS gear because you can never have enough. We went around and enjoyed the vendors and the special TCS NYC marathon stuff and headed back to the hotel. We were due to head back out to go to Runner’s World party, but my back was starting to bothering me and hurt so I rested the night away.

The next day I was excited to head to the world’s largest selfie stick! We all enjoy taking pictures, so why not take an amazing areal shot of yourself in the streets of NYC?!?!? We took so many silly videos pics which some of my fellow ASICS ambassador teammates took. Feel free to check them out at Marathon Goddess, Sharp Endurance, mom’s little running buddy.

We walked the beautiful high line which is an open area with lots of art, greens, and the old railroad track was still visible. It gave us a cool breeze and pretty views…

I will leave you all here as I’ll make the actual race a post on its own…

-the Scoliosis runner