I have been so freaking bad at running, lately. I haven’t done any running in almost a month. True, Piper has been sick, and I have been sick. But, even when I didn’t have an excuse, I have been extremely bad at keeping with a routine, for this entire winter. Hopefully that will all change, now. Monday, I registered Reagan and myself for this year’s New York City Marathon, in November. We gained automatic entry through the 9+1 program. I have to admit, that the motivation meter was going up a little, just being on the NYRR site, putting in my info.

In addition to running the NYC Marathon, this year. we have also started a club. When I say “we,” I should say Becca. She did almost all of the work. It should be really good for getting in some group runs. Nothing like a little healthy competition, for a pick-me-up. BTW, if you want to be in the club, and are not already on the email list, hit me up. Since we were able to Recruit Carl, I’m pretty sure that we will have the club points championship pretty much in the bag. But, if you would like to be a part of Carl’s entourage, we are currently still recruiting. As of Monday, our name is now officially showing up on the “affiliations” drop down, on the NYRR registration screen. At least it is, if you are registering for the Marathon .

This may sound totally dumb, but, after having so much fun shooting last year’s race, I’m kind of bummed that I can do it again this year. I’m a nerd, I know.

Go NYRC!

Reagan and I have been working all year long to gain guaranteed entry to next year’s New York City Marathon. We have been doing the NYRR 9+1 program. We have had all of our races (plus a few extra) finished for quite some time now. But when we got online to sign up to volunteer, everything was booked except for the last two races of the year. Good thing that we didn’t procrastinate any longer than we did.

Reagan and I woke up at 5:30 on Saturday, so that we could be in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, by 7:30. It was a gorgeous day. The temperature was in the low 20’s but it didn’t feel that cold, because we were bathing in sunlight. The photo above is of Reagan dancing to Madonna’s “Holiday,” which was playing through the PA. So, it is official now. We will be running in Nov. 2010. We also had that chance to talk to another volunteer, who was near us, who has run NYC and Chicago for like the last 15 years straight. He said that they are spread almost perfectly apart. We have wanted to run Chi town for a while now. We are debating possibly doing both of them next year.

In Piper news, the date that she is scheduled to move back to NJ, has now been pushed from Tuesday to Thursday. We took advantage and had a super long and fun visit with her today. She is a clapping and smiling fool, these days. It is really fun to goof around with her and watch her smile and make little squeaks, like she is trying to laugh.

Reagan told me that on Friday, she was clapping Piper’s hands together, and when she stopped Piper kept clapping by herself. I couldn’t wait to see it for myself. To my amazement, I had her bouncing on my knee, clapping her hands, and she totally kept going, when I took my hands away. I was busting up laughing. One of the cutest things I have seen. It is especially cute the way she turns around and looks at me for approval afterward. We took some video today, that I’m hoping to get posted at some point. Anyway, I have rambled too long. Below, is a shot of Piper being so patient while Reagan works on her hair.

Here for a few more shots.

Oh man. I opened my email yesterday and this is what I saw. I’m starting to get really excited for this race, and fall marathon season generally. I will be running this one with my friend Carl (who does not yet have a blog, but is diligently thinking about it). Reagan will be doing the half. I can’t believe that it is less than a month away. We have the Queens half-marathon this weekend, then the next race will be the Hartford Marathon.

I’m getting super excited for the NYC Marathon too. It is such an exciting and motivational event, anyway. But it will be especially cool, this year since we have some friends who will be running it. As if football and the leaves changing weren’t enough reasons to get excited about the fall. I love running.

The New York Road Runner’s club announced the results of the NYC Marathon today. But Reagan and I were actually both able to login last night and discover that we had not made it in this year. She asked me if I was bummed. I said no. But now that I think about it, I really am kind of bummed. We have kind of been holding off, to see, before committing to any fall races for this year. I think that for now, I will just plan on running the Hartford marathon again, for my fall race. I think that we are also going to do the Philly distance run again, since we liked it so much last year. In the mean time, above are some photos of my dehydrated corpse finishing the BK half marathon.

The semi-dry start wasn’t bad, at all.

Ugghhhh. Going into this race I had a goal of finishing under 3:30. Little did I know it was going to be one of the most miserable races of my life. The first 10 miles were fine. It was kind of drizzling and a pleasant temperature. But then it started to pour. Once my shoes because waterlogged, the newly peeled off blister on my right foot started hurting like a mother. It was affecting my form, and my pace became slower and slower. By the end was was just freezing and hurting. Not my best race. I ended up barely making it under 4 hours by 10 minutes.

On the upside, Reagan ran the half marathon and had a great race. She got a respectable time and had a lot of fun. She was able to finish before the downpour really kicked it. Our friends the Carters came out to watch us finish, which was really cool, especially considering the less than optimal weather. Afterward we had pizza at Grimaldis together. Their two little girls were really good sports about hanging out in the rain for so long. Reagan shared her bib and medal with Adeline. I wonder if they have a stroller division for these races.

May is pretty cool for several reasons. My mom and my brother both have May birthdays. Piper has a birthday. I will be running my first marathon of 2009. Reagan will be running her first half marathon of 2009. Also, May is officially Bike Month in New York City. I’m not sure how many of the events that we will make it to (since we have a road race pretty much every weekend this month), but I’m excited about it anyway.

This weekend, Reagan and I will be running in Long Island. This will be the 4th year in a row that one of us has run this marathon. Reagan first ran it in 2006. Then I ran it in 2007, when Reagan was prego with Piper. I ran it again last year when Reagan was out of town. The LI Marathon is also the first marathon for both Reagan and myself. This will be the first year that we are both running together. Even though she will be doing the half, I’m really excited for us to both be there participating in the action together this year. That is of course assuming the neither of us come down with the swine flu in the interim, hahaha.

I entered Reagan and myself in the lottery today for the NYC Marathon. Either way, we plan on running it next year, through the NYRR program. Wouldn’t that be awesome, though, if we could do it 2 years in a row?

No, we didn’t run the race (this year), but if you read Reagan’s blob, then you probably know that we volunteered this year at the NYC Marathon. We were both chip clippers (the people who cut the timing chip from the runners’ laces at the finish line). This is the last year that people will be able to volunteer for the chip clipper position at the NYC marathon, since they will be using the disposable chips, starting next year. I think it is a great idea. We actually used the disposable chips when we ran the Philly half Marathon earlier this year and they were great. Volunteering was a pretty fun experience. We were kind of far removed from the main action, but we had a great time anyway. I have to admit that watching everyone come through after finishing the race, made me really jealous. I wanted to be one of them. Reagan thinks that we should do the lottery for next year, since it will be the 40th anniversary of the race, and since they are letting 50,000 people run next year. I think that it is a pretty good idea. We are also both planning on finally joining NYC Roadrunners next year, so that if we don’t get in through the lottery, we can run 2010 for sure.

The Hartford Marathon was a blast. The festivities began when our friend Deanna flew last Thursday night. She wanted to come run her first marathon with Reagan. Friday morning we drove up to visit Piper on our way to Hartford. We woke her up from a nap to play with her. She was a bit grouchy, but I think that she was happy to see Deanna again, hahahah. When we arrived in Hartford, we checked into the hotel, picked up our race packets, ate lunch, etc. Then later in the evening we wandered around Hartford a bit. We ran into some of our friends, who were also in town for the race. It was a lot of fun. Saturday morning, we almost froze to death walking to the starting line. It was very brisk. Once we were able to get in the starting grid it was ok though. I think that the collective body heat of everyone packed together helped a bit. Once we got going, of course, the cool weather felt great. The sun was out the whole time, and it was really a pleasant temperature, until the last few miles, when it started to get a bit warm. Reagan and I were both able to improve our finish times from our last marathon. I was a bit disappointed with my time, but I was happy to have made progress. When we arrived back in NYC, Saturday evening, some of our friends from church hosted a dinner party (which was delicious), for all of the people in our group of friends who had run the race. Here is a link to the rest of the pictures from the race.