Next to Italy, I believe New York may be my next favorite destination get away! I can’t simply put into words how lovely the Finger Lakes area is so I may just share some pictures instead.
After all, a picture says a 1000 words
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Our trip began in the little of Hammondsport, New York..(after picking up our car at the airport and driving over 4 hours to get there
).
For those of you who follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or my blog, you may recall I missed some runs this training session due to a sore on my foot. To this day, I am not exactly sure what it was, but I do know what it wasn’t. Long story short, I treated it as a planters wart and therefore made things worse by putting a “hole” in my foot. Needless to say, it was frustrating
.
With lots of patience, cross training, and perseverance, I did make it to the start line (even though at times I had my doubts and considered dropping down to the half marathon). Both Coach MK Brooks from the Train Like Mother Club, Ellie, and even my husband believed otherwise.
They were all right. Physically I recovered and my foot did get better, but mentally, I obviously had my doubts since missing that much training on top of some personal stuff going on, I didn’t feel as strong race day as I anticipated. Plus the weather was not in my favor. It was a cold and rainy day.
To make matters worse, for the first time EVER, I had a wardrobe malfunction. For some STRANGE reason, my fuel belt loosened up and I wrestled with it for the first 5 miles or so. I wasted so much energy trying to tighten it while running! I even stopped running once but my hands were so COLD I gave up. So I pitched it about mile 8ish. I tried to not let it bother me but whatever.
The good news is, I not only made it to the start line, but I did cross the finish line too. I lined up for a massage after I made my way through the finish shoot, but the longer I stood there the colder I got!
Soon I was escorted into the tent for some extra TLC. Other runners could see I was in trouble and therefore got me some help… I remember stopping to help runners who tripped on the cobblestones when I ran the Rome Marathon. It’s what runners do
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Turns out I finished 22nd out of 64 runners in my age group. Not bad and I know I shouldn’t be disappointed since I wasn’t even sure I would make it to the start line…but sometimes runners are harder on themselves than they should be, including your’s truly!
After a short rest and a HOT shower I felt good enough to tour a winery and enjoy plenty of yummy food for dinner.
The funny thing is, Last time I ran Wineglass was the year they moved the time qualifications to qualify for Boston by 5 minutes. I ran a 4:02 that year and needed a 4:05 up until the week before the race…….so I missed a BQ by 2 minutes since the new time for my age group was 4:00. This year I needed a 4:10, which to be honest I wasn’t sure it was possible due to all my training I missed but in the back of my mind I thought…maybe?
However, once again the week before Wineglass, Boston changed the qualifications again by 5 minutes so now I needed a 4:05. I thought to myself….maybe I’ll miss it again by 2 minutes…….NOPE.
It just wasn’t my day. And that’s OK. I did finish and am proud to be one of those runners still running in my late 50’s
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What’s next….not quite sure but maybe an International Marathon in Scotland next fall and a few shorter races up until than. Stay tuned!
Now lets talk about the the main reason for our trip to New York! After my run, we drove back to the airport, dropped out car, took a Lift to the Bronx to spend time with my cousins who are living there working as Missionaries with World Venture.
Not only did we get to spend a few days with my cousins, we saw my niece too! She’s loving NYC and plans on staying after college and all ready has a job offer. I guess we’ll be going back to New York and maybe some year I’ll get lucky and run The New York City Marathon. I’ve applied the last few years but it’s like winning the lottery…at least it feels like it.
I loved everything about New York.
We walked a lot….and ate along the way!
We found some great healthy restaurants.
We did all the tourist stuff and it was AMAZING!
For those of you who have been to NYC, sorry to bore you with my pics…but at least you now know you need to visit the Finger Lakes area. Hammondsport is a sweet town and I promise you’ll enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of this town if you’re looking to escape New York City!
And do check out the near by town….Corning
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