HOW I STARTED RUNNING

I won the lottery for the TCS New York City 2018 Marathon. Holy shit. I never win anything.

6am view while running across the Manhattan Bridge—worth waking up for.

I can't believe I'll be running a marathon this year. 26.2 f*cking miles. It's funny how things pan out... I had a conversation with a few friends the morning I found out (btw I received an email about winning the lottery at 11pm and had no idea until the following morning) about how I wouldn't run the marathon even if I had completed 9+1 this year. (Quick backstory—I was on track to completing 9+1 last year but ended up hurting my knee pretty badly last fall that made me sit out on running for the rest of the year.) And funny enough, I'm the only one of my friends who won the lottery this year... and while I can still choose not to run it, I figured if I'm paying $$$ for it, I might as well do it.

I suppose I had secretly wished to have run a marathon before turning 30, but truly never thought I would actually do it. I had a number of reasons why I couldn't and the first one being that "my body wasn't made for it." But it looks like this year is the year that I'll cross it off my bucket list, and build a body to be able to run those 26.2 miles. This is going to be one hell of a project for 2018. 

So how did I start running?

My running journey only really started last year.

Wait, let's back track to spring of 2013 when I thought I'd giving running a try and boy let me tell you, I could not run more than 5 minutes without dry heaving and feel like I was going to pass out—I'm not exaggerating here. I was also a smoker (a pack every two days...) at this time in my life, not that I'm proud of it, but it was an addiction I couldn't seem to quit. (Spoiler, I quit 2/27/15 and just celebrated three years!) —No wonder why I couldn't run. Anyway, this left me discouraged and I gave up after a week or so. I just believed I wasn't made to run. And life went on. 

Fast forward to fall of 2016 when a boy I was dating (for a mere three months lol) decided he "wasn't looking for anything serious". And while in hindsight I'm glad it ended when it did, it hurt at the time. So I decided I was going to take out my anger and frustration by working out. That's when I fell in love with boxing. One thing led to the next and I realized I was craving this high that I was left with after a sweaty workout session. And because I wasn't able to take classes every day (b/c $$$), I decided to giving running another shot. I was a member at a gym so figured I start putting it to use. 

Getting to a point where I could run three consecutive miles was not easy. I started slow, with a goal of running one mile without stopping then two then three. But my progress wasn't exactly linear. There were days when I would run all three miles in one go and feel amazing and then there were days where a mile felt like an eternity. But I didn't let that stop me. I would just listen to my body—if I couldn't run more than a mile that day, I would take up my incline to the highest % and walk until I completed those three miles. This was spring of 2017. 

Last summer my friend had this idea that our group of friends should run a half marathon. At this point, I haven't run more than 3-4 miles, so 13.1 sounded awful. terrifying. impossible. But since the race was in October, I figured if I started training now, I could possibly make it work—so I took on the challenge. 

My 10 weeks of training consisted of 2-3 runs during the week (usually around 3 miles) and a long run on Saturdays. Not going to lie, this sh*t was hard. Waking up at 5am to run a 5k was tough on most days. Thankfully I had friends who kept me accountable and ran with me (thank you, Joseph!!). And weekend runs were even harder. Since I started training in the dead of summer, my Saturday morning runs would start at 6:45AM in Central Park. And since I live on the opposite end of Manhattan, I had to get up extra early, meaning no late Friday nights. Ha who am I kidding—I would go out Friday night, sleep 4 hours, wake up and take a shot of espresso and take the train up to run. Please never do what I did. I was dehydrated, tired, miserable. We started at 5 miles for our first "long run" then gradually moved up to 13 miles. Every week we added 1-2 miles to the week prior. 

Unfortunately, I never got to run the Staten Island Half Marathon. Long story short— I injured my knee badly during the Bronx 10mi run and I had to sit out the rest of the season. This was probably the saddest I've felt in so long. But alas, all the NYRR races come back every year so I'm giving it another shot this year. And truthfully, I couldn't have done any of this without my friends by my side (you know who you are). They kept me accountable to show up to weekend runs and kept me focused and motivated during the toughest, hilliest miles. (Harlem Hills will always kill me).

Now I know a marathon is twice the length of a half marathon (duh) and will probably be the most physically and mentally challenging thing I ever do, but I can't say that I'm not excited to do it. Don't get me wrong, I'm scared sh*tless and will probably b*tch, moan and cry my way through the finish line, but I'm looking forward to seeing what I can accomplish when I set my mind to doing something. 

I've gotten a lot of questions on Instagram about how to train for a marathon, or how to start running long distance for beginners, and TBH I don't know it all, and I don't pretend like I do. I'm still learning how to properly train and rest and fuel my body but here's a few things I learned (the hard way) since last fall. I'm still in disbelief that people are asking me for advice on running. The same girl who almost failed gym in high school :)

My advice on long distance running:

• Weight train, weight, weight train— This is one thing I neglected to do last year and I ended up tearing the cartilage in my knee. I was so focused on clocking in my miles that I wasn't building my legs to be stronger. When your legs are stronger, you're preparing them for distance running.
• Fuel your body— As a huge fan of fasted cardio and someone who's pretty new to running, I didn't know when I should've been fueling my body. Fasted cardio is fine for short distance and when your goal is weight loss, but not ideal for long distance training. I started running with gels, but I'm still learning when to take them... because well, if you wait until you feel like you're going to pass out, it's too late. 
• Hydrate— This is a no brainer, but I really hated running with a water bottle.. so I would run without water until our long runs were over 10k. Then I learned to run with a water bottle... There's nothing worse than feeling thirsty a third of your way into your run. 
• Rest days are so important— Learn to differentiate when your body needs rest vs. when you're feeling lazy. It's so important to stay on track with your running and cross training, but your body needs rest. Your muscles need time to heal and rebuild itself :)
• Stretch + foam roll— Just as rest days are important, stretching + foam rolling is SO important for your aching body. This is something that I'll be focusing on to prevent any and all injuries this time around. 
• Tell the world— Tell your parents, friends, roommates, coworkers, post it on Instagram. Let people know that you're running a race whether that's your first 5k or marathon—it will keep you accountable. Trust me, it works. :)

If you have any advice you can share with me, please do!! This first-timer will need all the tips and help she can get to get through her first marathon. And feel free to follow along on Instagram Stories where I'll be posting more frequently about my marathon training experience.