A Change of Plans and a New Marathon

One of the first things I did last night (after cancelling all of my reservations) was look up all of the races in the DC area that fall between now and Thanksgiving. I wasn't sure that I still wanted a marathon but kept my options open. Running a half sounded more reasonable, yet part of me didn't want to "waste my training" on just a half. Oh gosh, how that must sound to someone who doesn't run..... Anyway...

A marathon takes so much out of me and I wanted it to be special. I can't remember if I said this on here, but NYC was going to be my last marathon for a while. A long while. Like, long, long, long. And I wanted to go out with a bang. But if we truly get guaranteed entry into the 2013 race, then I have at least another year of marathon-training/focus ahead of me. You bet I want to experience that race! 

In my search I found that the Richmond marathon is next weekend, but that it falls on the same day as our team's State Meet. That one was out. Then I spotted this one: The 9 1/2 Annual Potomac River Run. Only open to 350 people and an out and back on trails. 

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Let me tell you, initially I was like - oh. no. way. Me and trail running don't work out. I can barely run on regular sidewalks. And 350 people? That seems really small. 

But I couldn't stop thinking about it all day. And I couldn't help but think back to last year's Leaf Peeper's and how much I love their out-and-back course. 

Then the race director of the Potomac race posted on the NYRR Facebook page, offering a discount to NYC Refugees. I'm a sucker for bargains and I like to believe in signs. So I registered.

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Speaking of signs, the cancellation of NY is actually a good thing for me.  I've been exhausted and with a headache all week. Beyond exhausted. And my legs? They were also tired. They didn't have that "OK I am so ready to run a marathon" feeling that I normally have during a taper. And then there was my right quad, which was still giving me issues from last week. So this is a sign: it wasn't my time. I need to accept this and move on. Look ahead, rest a little right now, and get ready for November 18th.

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Finally, I wanted to leave with a link to a blog post that I read on runtothefinish.com. I loved her video, and I loved how she perfectly summed up why we run.

I've been going on the NYRR FB page a lot today and it is so great to see that runners already in NYC are going to help in the recovery effort tomorrow. Some are meeting at the marathon start time to help out Staten Island. Awesome! It is also cool to see people running their own marathons around Central Park in an effort to collect donations and still accomplish what they had set out to do. 

Since I'm not up there to help out in the recovery effort, I made sure to donate to the Red Cross today. If you haven't donated yet, you can do so here: http://rdcrss.org/UrYGjw