Preppy Runner – Theodora Blanchfield

This has been an awesome week.

Tuesday, I went to the beach.

Thursday, I went on a hot air balloon ride and helicopter ride.

So how did I end this baller week? Sailing and a half marathon, obviously. (And I may cap it off with another beach visit tomorrow, just to round things out.)

A few months ago, Ashley and Bo and I had all bought sailing Groupons. I bought one hoping I’d meet cute preppy boys; they bought one just because they like sailing. I made them promise to be my wing-people. And then the sailing class was only four of us: the three of us and one random girl. Cute boy-hunting fail.

I love that stuff like this exists in Manhattan. It feels like a getaway without having to even leave the city. (And this school just so happens to be next to a bar. Win.)

I’d seen on Caitlin’s that sailing lessons in NYC were really drinking school on a boat, so I was excited for that, too, but these were legit lessons. I got to steer the boat (and I kept it upright and from hitting other boats, so I consider this a success) and we got to pull on cords that kept the sails doing whatever they do that made us sail.

Bo actually knew what he was doing and could probably fill in all those technical sailing words above that I don’t know.

The cool thing about this sailing school is that it’s a community school–which means that it’s a non-profit that takes kids from low-income families and teaches them how to sail to keep them out of trouble. They also do adult sailing lessons (like ours, obviously), but all proceeds go back to helping the community. They even teach math and science through sailing, which sounds pretty cool. I know I would have liked math and science a lot better if I was showed some practical application like this.

We grabbed beers at the Frying Pan after docking, and I headed home to make it an early night so I could wake up for the Queens Half this morning. It was a last-minute decision I made this week when I realized:

• I could get a bib for the race.
• My friend/neighbor Shannon was driving.
• I had to run 13 miles today anyway.

I was trying to figure out what to eat when I found a little container of my mom’s sauce and meatballs in the fridge. Perfect pre-race fuel, right?

Wrong. I love you and your sauce, Mom, but I don’t know if it was too acidic or the meat was too much for me, but my stomach was not very happy this morning. Thankfully, it calmed down once I started running.

And thankfully, my coach told me to just take it slow and not race the run but just run as a long run. Fine by me. A catered long run with water, misters and Gatorade? Fabulous.

Shannon picked me up at 5:30 and we were there by a little after 6. The race was scheduled to start at 7, but we definitely didn’t cross the start until after 7:15. And it was already hot and sunny.

It was held in the same park as the sprint tri, so some of the course was pretty familiar to me.

We ran past Citi Field, Arthur Ashe Stadium and all of the World’s Fair stuff. I started the race off with Ashley, Rebecca and Melissa. Rebecca and I are probably the closest in pace, so we ended up running together for the entire race, which was sort of a godsend. I’m really excited for the actual marathon, but I’m still having a hard time getting into the training, and I wasn’t racing this race, just running, so I was happy to have someone to chat with for 13.1 miles.

We kept an average of 10:08 miles, according to my Garmin, and I’m honestly not sure if I could have gone faster if I had wanted. The course included a lot of running on the outskirts of the park, so I wasn’t crazy about the course and I ran this nearly 15 minutes slower than my PR, but whatevs. I ran 13 miles, my 7th half-marathon of life and my 5th half-marathon this year.

So then I celebrated with Shannon and her husband at brunch (including bottomless mimosas…best way to hydrate?) at HK. And then got in the most epic nap ever, which is saying a lot for this girl who usually has trouble napping.

What’d you do this weekend? And are you a napper or do you have trouble falling asleep during the day, too? (Champagne might help.)