If you read my "Heartbroken" post, you probably know that although I ran a time-qualifying race for the TCS New York City Marathon, when I went to register, the spots for runners who had a non-NYRR qualifying time were ALL GONE... I'll be honest, I was (as the title of the previous post referenced) heartbroken. I never imagined not getting in. Ever since crossing the finish line at the REVEL Big Bear Half Marathon and running a 1:32:50 I started planning my NYC trip in my mind... And then this happened... And I was left shocked, disappointed, sad and stuck having to decide what to do next.
The first thing I did was allow myself to feel the feelings for 24 hours. I wanted to give myself the space to feel the disappointment for having put in the work and not being able to capitalize on it. I wanted to have the option to be a little bitter at my job since that was why I wasn't on the computer right at 9am PST when registration opened (I was working at a local elementary's jog-a-thon). I decided I'd give myself a day to wallow and then I'd have to let those feelings go.
I figured I had two (main) options. First, I could enter the lottery for a FOURTH time and see if the lady luck would be on my side. Second, I could forget about the race (at least for 2020) and look into doing something else (at the time I was throwing around the idea of maybe running a 100K or something non-official like the Zion Traverse).
Well, when the hubby was trying to console me, he mentioned something that he probably thought was just a nice thing to say, but I sort of grabbed the idea and ran with it... literally! He said, "If you don't get in with the lottery, we should just plan a trip there anyway and you can do your own marathon." And, that, folks, was what I would call a lightbulb moment!
So, now I have my two options. First, I am going to enter the lottery. If I don't get in, then I am going to run my own NYC marathon. I haven't worked out the logistics yet (since I don't want to "waste" my time if I end up getting in via the lottery), but the hubby and I will fly to New York (on a different weekend than the official race) and I will run 26.2 miles. I am thinking of maybe adding a virtual aspect of my adventure if folks want to join (or possibly even an IRL meet-up so people can run/ bike/ scoot along with me) and maybe a charity aspect in case folks don't want to run but want to donate to a cause. Again, I haven't worked out the deets, but I am pretty excited about the possibilities. It doesn't matter what cards I'm dealt, I'm gonna make the most of them... and RUN NYC (one way or another)! Who's coming with me?!
No comments:
Post a Comment