Qualifying for NYC marathon

I had plans to qualify for NYC at Revels Rockies half marathon on July 19th. I endured some tough training and showed up to Bandimere Speedway to get on a bus to the start line. I stood there with thousands of people. The buses never showed up and I was depressed for about a week. Prairie dog ½ and GTIS both gave me discounts to enter their races so I decided to run both of them. I needed a 1:34. I got news that I was accepted into Girls on the Run of the Rockies race team on July 7th. I started training rigorously. Prairie dog was a super hilly course and I finished in 1:37:48 and got 3rd overall on July 25th. GTIS was on August 8th and was a great downhill course but I came just shy of my goal time in 1:34:53. I did Evergreen triathlon on July 26th and swam in the coldest water. 59 degrees! I could not feel my feet on the entire bike ride, which really slowed me down. I finally felt better on the run around evergreen lake. I finished in 1:42:23. Girls on the Run promoted Back to Broncos 7k so I decided to run it on September 16th. I finished in 30:11, which I came home crying because I did not place. I then received a letter and award in the mail for 1st AG because another girl cut the course. I then decided to run Equinox ½ marathon on September 20th. It was an ideal course and my last chance to qualify for NYC. My whole family came to watch and I finished in 1:33:11 for 2nd AG. I couldn't believe it!

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I was a little ambivalent on whether I wanted to go ahead and accept my invitation to run the NYC marathon. I came close to cancelling many times because our family was going to take such a huge financial hit with the cost of this trip. I also really wanted to bring the kids and we just couldn't take them out of school for that long or afford their airfare. I got an email from New York Road Runners about a site called airbnb.com that does background checks and payments for people who want to rent out a room in NYC. I ended up finding a nice couple that had a room for me for the NYC marathon and only charged me $65 a night. I booked it and got really excited. Not only will this be a much cheaper trip, but I get to fully immerse myself in the NYC culture.

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