Preppy Runner – Theodora Blanchfield

My heart is racing from adrenaline right now, and my heart is full.

This week has been absolutely surreal in all the best ways.

[I may write longer posts about some of these events next week, but I wanted to get a quick update up while some of this was fresh in my mind.]

Yesterday, I picked up this little piece of paper that I paid a lot for and will wear on my shirt for hours and hours tomorrow to prove that, yes, I am crazy enough to run 26.2 miles through all five boroughs of New York City. It also contains a strip of magic on the back that will help you track me. I wandered the expo with Ashley and handed over my credit card more than a few times to get some gear that will help me think I can run faster or that I can wear for years to come to prove that, yes, I ran the New York City Marathon.

I ran home (not literally) for a quick conference call and then turned around to head out to happy hour with some of my favorite Tumblr ladies. A bunch of them are going to be watching from Bay Ridge, and they all wished me luck before I headed out for the next event.

I really hope my form looks better than this while running.

Event numero dos:

THE RUNNER’S WORLD NYC MARATHON PARTY!

Yeah, the runner’s bible had a party to celebrate one of the most popular marathons.

I thought I had died and gone to runner’s heaven.

Do you recognize that guy? That is BART FREAKIN’ YASSO. [For non-runners, he’s the Chief Running Officer of Runner’s World and creator of the infamous Yasso 800s that are supposed marathon time predictors. He’s also awesome.] Jess and I geeked out…oh, just a little bit.

I asked for marathon advice, and he said to just start out slow and pick it up in the second half. I also asked him to predict my time based on my half PR and my training pace, and he predicted 4:20. I think I can do it!

Hey running buddy Sue! Side note: going to a cocktail party two nights before a marathon? Very different. I nursed one glass of wine and wore flats. Um, what? Still fun!

The girl on the left is Meghan, who is the voice behind @runnersworld. She also has a Tumblr, and I sent her a totally geeked-out message a few months ago when someone reblogged her and I realized that someone I “knew” on Tumblr worked at Runner’s World. She’s followed my Tumblr for awhile and recognized me and we had a completely geeked out meeting. I embraced every bit of my dorkiness last night.

AND THIS MORNING I RAN WITH RYAN HALL. He’s part of Nissan’s Innovation for Endurance campaign, and the Nissan people invited me to run with him and then have brunch after.

[Thanks to Jess for the pic.]

Of course, I asked him for marathon advice, too.

He said that since I’d be tired by the end anyway, I should just start out fast.

Ryan Hall, I am not you. I cannot run a half-marathon in an under an hour. I will be starting out relatively conservatively and picking it up in the second half, thank you very much. But thank you for your kind advice and running slowly with us.

Meeting all these interesting people was amazing, but the DailyMile brunch this afternoon at Josie’s was a nice way to start to wind down with some familiar faces: Ben, Rebecca and Ashley. Thanks to Erica for organizing it. And for untangling my necklace.

And now I will attempt to slow down this adrenaline and prepare to run for hours and hours and hours…