The Weekend of My 18-Miler

The 18-miler that didn’t happen finally did happen yesterday, and it was much better than I think the one I couldn’t get done would have been. But let’s rewind…

I'll meet you any time you want...in our Italian restaurant. (In Franklin Lakes, NJ.)

Friday night I went home so that I could attend a baby shower with my mom yesterday. We went to our neighborhood Italian restaurant, Delpino. (So small they don’t even have a website. That link is to a Chowhound forum!)

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Since I had a long run on my schedule, I carb-loaded again, this time with capellini a la casa–very thin pasta with their marinara sauce, garlic and big juicy pieces of tomato. I had them add some grilled chicken for some protein.

I woke up early yesterday morning to finally get it done.

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I beat the sun out of bed!

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Though I’m not quite a morning person, even I can’t argue that I wasn’t lucky to see this gorgeous little scene at Zabriskie Pond.

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Downtown Wyckoff.

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Boulder Run and the Starbucks we hung out at in high school when we had nothing else to do. (Or we’d just hang out in the parking lot. We thought we were so cool.)

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My run took me through Franklin Lakes, Wyckoff and Mahwah. (I’d previously thought I also touched in Mahwah and Allendale, but when I uploaded my route map, I realized I hadn’t.)

As I came back through Mahwah, I ran through the Medco campus.

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There was another pond on their corporate campus–it was really pretty.

I was really nervous to run for so long (nearly 3 hours!) and so far alone, but I managed to get through it–with no music, to boot. I always seem to have a song stuck in my head, so it really doesn’t bother me to not have actual music on when I’m running. I finished at a 9:54 pace, which means I can absolutely beat my goal of 4:30 for the marathon if I can keep that sort of pace for the whole marathon.

I got home and my mom had a bagel waiting for me (good god, I love her). She also tried to wipe the sweat off my face, but I told her it was for naught, as I’d just keep sweating. Oh, moms…

Baby Shower

Usually I laze around for a few hours after a long run, but yesterday I had to get ready and hop in the car with my mom to head down the shore for a baby shower.

Baby Shower - Baby Book

Baby Ice Cubes for Baby Showers

They had lots of cute touches–babies in ice cubes?

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The cake!

Ultimate baby shower game: how many M&Ms are in the bottle?

A baby bottle filled with M&Ms for a guess-how-many-are-in-here game.

How many M&Ms are in the baby bottle?

(It was 1486, if you’re curious.)

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Pashmina shawls as a favor.

Baby Shower Idea: decorating onesies!

Decorating onesies!! (This was maybe their most adorable idea.)

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And no Italian party is complete without lots of good Italian food. Like an antipasto.

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And chicken francese, penne a la vodka (I think), and eggplant rollatini.

I came back to the city last night with full intentions of going out but after waking up at 5:30, running 18 miles, attending a baby shower and sitting in the car for approximately 2 hours each way there and back and then another 45 minutes back into the city, I was in bed by 10.

Right now I’m watching the 9/11 memorial on TV. I grew up just outside of NYC, I was a freshman at American University in D.C. when 9/11 happened, and I now live in NYC, so I can’t watch this without shedding a few tears. (I don’t think anyone can.) On September 11, 2001, I was a college freshman sleeping through my first class. When I woke up, the world had already changed.

This is my fourth 9/11 in NYC. The first two, I was living downtown and working at 120 Broadway, near Ground Zero. I could faintly hear the ceremony as I walked to work those years, and I never arrived at work those years with dry eyes.

My thoughts today are with all of those who lost someone, especially the first responders who lost their lives trying to bring others to safety, my high school classmates who lost parents and the families of the NYJL volunteers whose lives were claimed that day.

15 comments on “The Weekend of My 18-Miler

  1. Nicole Rodriguez (@Nicole2112)

    Wow!! Congratulations on your 18 miler yesterday. That is one hell of an achievement. I can’t believe you did it without music even. I can’t drive to the end of my driveway without my music playing. Heh. The scenery is beautiful too!

    What a fun shower. I love shower games and all of the creativity that goes into one. So much fun!

    The 9/11 ceremonies are playing on my tv and it’s so moving and – beautiful? A very nice way to remember those that we’ve lost.

    Reply
    1. Theodora

      @cara: No, actually, I don’t listen to music for a few reasons:
      -I have a touch of asthma, so I like to be able to hear my breathing and make sure I’m not breathing too fast.
      -I can space out really quickly while listening to music, so I like to be able to be very aware of my surroundings.
      -So much of every day, I’m plugged in: to my laptop, to my phone, to TV. I like having that time to just notice what’s going on around me.

      That you’re technically not suposed to have music for the marathon is just sort of a silver lining for me 🙂

      Reply
  2. Allison

    It looks like such a cute baby shower- love all the personal touches!

    I will always remember being ushered into the auditorium in middle school. All of the students were sitting down while all of the teachers were standing in front of us, whispering to each other. They didn’t tell us anything and quickly, students’ parents were picking them up. It wasn’t until my dad picked me up from school that I found out that the Trade towers were hit. It wasn’t until after the plane hit the Pentagon that it all felt so real since I live so close to DC and my brother was sick at Children’s Hospital and we would drive by the Pentagon every day to get to the hospital. We will never forget…

    Reply
  3. [SMASH] at Sweat. Style. Swoon.

    Wow, gorgeous photos from your run. Glad to hear you knocked out that 18 miler!

    All these 9/11 posts are really getting to me. I cannot believe it’s been 10 years. Though I was far far away from the tragedy, seeing everything over again, 10 years later, makes it feel as if I was there.

    Reply
  4. Liz

    Congrats on the 18! I just ran 16 by myself, which I never though I could do! I needed the music tho, but I totally get running sans anything, sometimes I like to hear my breathing…

    Reply
  5. Meg G

    I am also impressed with the 18 miles by yourself without music!! For as long as I’ve been running it’s always been so incredibly hard for me to get out there by myself. I’ve luckily had active bfs and now a very active husband to force to go with me (when I didn’t have teammates). I’ve only started running with music over the last year and I regret starting this habit. I rely on it a little too much now especially in races.

    Reply

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