Philadelphia Marathon

I AM A MARATHONER!

My trip back to NY the night before heading to Philly
was quite an interesting one
Tons of traffic and it took me forever!
My nerves were already out of control
so this made it pretty crazy

I made it home
Crashed in bed
and woke up the next morning
ready to tackle Philly!

We got to the hotel, checked in
then went to check out the local
Firefighters museum, which was neat

Once we met my cousin and her parents/sister
We headed down to the Marathon Expo

It started to set in
I am running 26.2 miles tomorrow!

We woke up
Got ready
Got a cab down to the start line
and stood there for a while
prepping to cross the start line

As we were about to
We were behind the 2 NYC Marathon waves
(People who decided to run Philly,
after the NYC one was cancelled)
And they played "NY, NY"
Which got my nerves going.
As finally got to the start line,
we got to high five the mayor of Philly!

Mile two, we ran past our parents
right at our hotel
They saw us a few times more and the last time
being at mile 13
where I wanted to die
It started to set in
that this is only the half way mark
Especially since there are
half marathoners in this race also
Who were about to finish
But this was basically
just the beginning for me
I screamed to my parents when I saw them
And just kept thinking
You have GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME
What did I get myself into?
But I AM DOING THIS!
So we continued running
Made it another 2 miles non-stop and then decided from there
To run to each mile marker
then walk a minute or so

Mile 18... we came across some beer

I heard about it
Didn't think I'd take it
But fuck it!  It was only about 2 oz
So we enjoyed some Yuengling with huge smiles on our faces
and off we went
Mile 20
Still felt good
I was waiting to hit the wall
Mile 21... hurting
but not bad
Mile 22.
WELL HELLO
Fuck you legs, keep going
It was around this time that my cousin and I split up
I was hurting more than her and slower
and she just needed to finish
I told her to go
I was really hurting
Mile 23 I wanted to sit down and cry
But kept on moving
And finally at mile 25 there were lots of spectators
I was feeling good
Adrenaline was starting to kick in
Mile 25.5... the crowds are going crazy
All I can think is
"It's almost over"
and..
Where the hell is my family?!?
Finally...
I see mile 26 marker
Then.. I hear my name
I'm being screamed for
My godparents, my Dad & then
and I see my mother
inside the gates, on the race course
She looks at me
and goes
"let's do this"
I start crying
shaking
emotions just let loose
I fucking did it.
I am a marathoner
I finished 26.2
AND
IN UNDER 5:30!

Can not wait until my next one
...but it will be a while from now :)

Fire at my apartment!

This is a Halloween I will never forget.
Not because of costumes or candy
But because I had a fire at my house!
Myself, Bailey, my roommates and housemates are all OK
The fire was on the back porch and pretty much stayed there
We have water damage and some smoke but nothing too major
Couldn't stay there for two night..was lucky to have some great friends to stay with
I've obviously always been thankful for fire fighters
being the daughter of one
but now I am especially thankful

Just a little run......

On the 14th of October
I was all scheduled
to do a 20 mile run
My longest run yet
It scared the crap out of me
I was going to go ten miles out
then ten miles back
It was the only way I'd actually do it all
But that also left me
miles away from my house
so if I got hurt
felt hurt
felt tired
I'd have a long way to get home

Mile 12
I was starting to want to give up
I had a few bucks on me
and I saw a T
that i desperately wanted to get on
But since I had done 16 miles prior
I told myself I had to get to that, at least
I got to mile 13, was feeling good again
Mile 14.
Fuck
NO!
I felt like I wanted to die
I got myself to go another ten minutes
and ran 15 miles total
then I had to stop for a walk
I walked/ran the next 5 miles

I don't know how I am going to do 6 more miles on top of this

One month to go.....


(on a positive note, I felt great the next day!)

Corn Maze Man

Yes...MAN
He's 33
I'm 24
Yikes
....oh well

He asks me to go out Friday night
I recently made a rule
of no first dates on a Friday or Saturday night
But since I already met him
hung out with him
and all...
I figured it'd be OK and a fun night

He tells me he will pick me up at 6:45.
Nothing else
I ask what we are doing
He says, "you'll see"

This makes me really excited
He is trying to make this a great first date
And it seemed like it wasn't just dinner

But I had to know
What do wear
Do I eat
Etc..
So I asked
He kept it simple but said
to eat something small
And casual/nice clothes will do :)
So I put on a nice top
A pair of jeans
and my cute black pumps
I thought I was looking pretty darn cute

He was running a few minutes late
and of course, I got the whole
OMG, Is he bailing on me?
Feeling
But nope, he just hit some traffic
He came to my door, opened his car door for me
(such a gentleman, I alsmost don't know how I feel about it!)
and we headed downtown
When we parked I realized where we were
Shows, plays..
Hm..where is he taking me?
We end up going to the comedy club

Now, we had a conversation a few days prior
About how I have never been to a comedy show

He is paying attention!!!  Wow...

What an awesome time
A few drinks and lots of laughs

After that we went to a nearby place
for some food
I wasn't starving so I got quesadillas
And he made fun of me that I "wasn't eating"
So I proceeded to steal his pickle and fries :)
I am NOT one of those girls!
I eat healthy
but I also like to splurge :)

We then left that place in search
for somewhere for one more drink
That led us into the middle of half naked girls
who were wasted
and screaming on the streets
Oh......Boston

I asked him if he wanted to head back
to my neighborhood
So we went to a local pub
and closed that down,
being kicked out at 2:10am!
..I can't remember the last time I did that
Or if I ever did on a DATE!

A typical October weekend

Saturday night
a meetup.com
event
on the north shore
at Connors Farm

Corn maze, hayride, bonfire and haunted corn maze

Wait.. haunted?

I planned this event for my group

But I guess I missed that part!!!!

FUCK

Once we got there
we went on a boring, 15 minute hayride

Then to the "flashlight maze"
It was still light out
and there were broken down cornstalks
so we kind of cheated
and made it out in 20 minutes
..it would have been better in the dark
But everyone wanted to get to the haunted corn maze line

By the time we got on line, anxiety started kicking in
The group of 15 had to split up into 3 groups of 5
I claimed a few of the MEN in our group!
I told them they had to protect me
They had no idea I was being serious!

We walk up to the gate
and they are handing out glow necklaces
OH...so the scary people can see us
GREAT! Awesome... fuckers!
There's a sign
"If you have asthma or a heart condition, do not enter"
Well... basically, both cuz with anxiety, my heart races
hmmmmmmm
HERE I GO!
..Times like these I wish I believed in God
or SOMETHING
So when I sat there going "please god" "oh my god"
and all that, someone would be listening or helping!!!

HALF HOUR
later
I exit...
RUNNING
out of the maze
after hanging onto my friends arm
and jumping on the guys a time or two
oh and a few high pitched screams
(they finally realized I was serious when I said I was scared)
after being followed by a guy with an ax
a girl who looked like the lady from The Ring
and so much more
Yea, I was DONE
Don't know if I'll ever do that again!!

.....back to the beginning of the corn maze
We have a group of 14
This guy comes over
"Are you with meetup?"
"Well.. we are but we are a different group"
I tell him
He asks if he can join us
Cuz he was with another group
and older people
"Of course", I tell him
A part of me was thinking
'you're cute!'
but I didn't think much more than that
of it
.......until the next day


Sunday around noon
Our meetup group had plans
to go to Harvard Square
for Oktoberfest

It is just me, one guy and one girl
Then I noticed mystery corn-maze man
(who joined the group that morning)
RSVP'd yes and commented asking
for someone's number
so he could find us
Again... didn't really think anything of it
But I was telling the other two
about him
and how funny he was
and found myself
telling a lot about him
even though I met him only
about 15 hours prior

So he shows up
with his roommate
A group of girlfriends
and a bunch of others
are now there
and we have a great group
with lots of drinks flowing
Well.. somewhere in between
the 6 or 7 drinks
that I had on the streets
of Harvard Square
Squished in some beer tent thing
His roommate pulls me aside and says
"You know he's into you, right?"

..Now this is after he was a part of a conversation
where I was talking about pros and cons of on-line dating
reasons why my 5 year relationship didnt work
and other stuff I wouldn't speak of around a guy I thought I'd date

We end up going to my neighborhood
For some more drinks
And we properly exchanged information after lots of flirting

Well... let's see where this takes us.

2nd half marathon

Mid-September
I made the trek to my parents house
in NY
I was running a half marathon
in my home-town
It started at my high school
I started it with 3 others girls
At about mile 4
I fell a little bit behind them
but then caught up around mile 7
A half mile later I fell back from 2 of them
I was feeling good
at a pace almost a minute faster
than the half marathon last month!
At mile 11 there is a run out & back loop
And I passed the 2 girls in front of me
on my way out there
That along with seeing my family & friends
just prior
and knowing
I was about 20 minutes from finishing
helped get me going
Mile 12.5 to the end were rough
I was just about to hit "the wall"
There was a grassy patch along the road
And a part of me just wanted to
stop
go to it
sit down
and CRY
Just then
A guy came up from behind me
And I hear him say
"Come on, beat me"
I just laughed & said
"YEA...right!!"
His response was
"No seriously..
you are going to beat me"
Ok.. let's go
We had about 1/4 mile stretch to go
We passed one guy and then
I picked it up a little bit
I hear guy next to me
"you go girl"
and just then
I saw my cousin who
already finished
"Go Chelsea, go Chelsea!"
Well..here goes nothing
I ran faster than I have ever ran before
Well.. not really
It turns out I was running a 9 minute pace
But at the 13th mile
I felt like I was sprinting a 5 minute pace!
I cross the finish line
Turn around
and give the guy
a huge high five
Finished 8 minutes PR!

My "nice and nephew"
their Mom
My grandma
My Mom
My sisters
and other family friends
were all there at the finish
I felt great and was proud of myself

Went to my cousins for some
Sunday Football party time

My body felt like I was 90 years old

The drive back to Boston sucked
due to feeling stiff and sore
But I felt pretty good the next day!

Next up:
Bay State Half Marathon in October

September Trip to NY

My last trip
back to my hometown
until Thanksgiving
until the day after my Marathon

But this was a fun packed weekend

home late Friday night
up at 6am Saturday
for an 18 mile run with my cousin
well.. 16
we made it 16 and ended
and begged my sister to pick us up
She was hurting more than I was
but it was a great run
We made friends with
59 year old Lynne
She ran up behind us
and heard us talking about
our upcoming marathon
She asked if she could run with us
of course we loved the company
She told us about her
3 times in the NYC marathon
and how she loves running
but is more of a half marathoner
(I think that'll be me!)
She then tells us how she is a 10 year
breast cancer
survivor
That voice inside my head
at that point
..about mile 9..
told me to MOVE
STOP BITCHING
and just GO!
If she is 59
and survived breast cancer
Oh.. and continued running
after her running partner
passed out and died
while they were running together
Then I can make it through
a 3 hour run!

She left us as she was at mile 14
and we were at mile 13

We made it 3 more
but then went home
and ice bathed

After that
Dad
sister
and I
went to the local greek fest
only for some gyro's
well..and beer!

Then we went home
and got ready
for my other sisters event
at her college
The Culinary Institute of America
her last project before graduation

It was a $90 event
with food and alcohol all included

It was delicious
Duck
Fish
Oysters
So many neat beers
Had a blast

My cousin and I
went to a local bar
We were going to meet 2 friends
and then my sisters and their boyfriends
but everyone was running late
or not coming
and we were tired
So after one drink
We asked mama to pick us up ;)
I love being "home" and having Mom be my cabbie!

The next morning
Mom made me my favorite breakfast
French toast and bacon

Then we met up with our friends
my "niece and nephew"
for brunch
I just had fries and gravy
since we already ate
But I really was there to see the kiddos!
Growing up so fast
Rachael is so smart and James is ALL over the place
Sitting up on his own
And Mama F said he is army crawling!!

After that we went to my Cousins for
Football Sunday
food
food
food
beer
oh and football ;)

Then I drove home
..end of a busy weekend

Be back in 2 months!

My First Half Marathon!

On Sunday...

8 months after signing up

and 5 months after

my first official training run

I ran and completed

without stopping once

my first half marathon

Time: 2:24

I felt awesome

But

I also felt terrible

It was a great experience 

A fun time

(Rock n Roll Marathon)

and I am so proud of myself

and my two friends who I did it with!

At the end... all I could think
was
How the HELL am I going to do this x2 in 3 months?!?
Eek...let the training continue!!!

There is such thing as a great date???

I hadn't done much with on-line dating
in a few weeks
due to vacations
and past dates that just sucked

One day I was looking around on the site
And saw a cute guy with a lot about him
that really caught my attention

I decided to message him
About 10 minutes later
I got a message from him
Basically introducing himself
..it didn't seem like he saw my message
Then a minute later
He responded saying he hadn't!

So that was weird..

Two days later
we exchanged numbers
I think we talked every single day
until we had our first date 8 days later

He lives a half hour outside the city
which normally turns me away from someone
But I decided to meet him anyway

He's a firefighter and had to work at 11pm that night
So we met at 6 and had until about 10pm

It was a great night
Awesome conversation
Never once felt awkward
I am very attracted to him
And when we kissed and said goodbye
I wanted to do some sort of happy dance in my car
But didn't want to be like
Drew Barrymore in Fifty First Dates
and have him see me :)

The next day we talked all day
The day after
We were planning our next date
Which is 5 days from now.. 7 days after the first one

I am so excited to see him again!

Spontaneous Pub Crawl

Well..
the pub crawl itself wasn't spontaneous
but me attending it
was

(This is also the first mention you are getting of my marathon training..more on that later!)

I was scheduled to run
8 miles
on Saturday
I was also
babysitting 9am to 4pm
that day.

It was a gross, chilly, rainy day
and I
was not
getting up at 6am
on a Saturday
so I figured I would run after babysitting

I got done at 2pm (yay!)
and went home to take
an hour nap

After my nap
I got ready to set out and
Run nine miles

I wanted to stop in
At my coworkers pub crawl
Down in Fenway

So I brought my Id and debit card
With me on my run
Along with my water bottle
And iPhone arm band

Nine miles

Done!
Sweaty..
Gross..
Wet from rain..
And sore..

I stop in to their 4th bar...
They are eating dinner
So I hang out and decide to go to
The next bar

Well
one bar turned into two
and two turned into
me staying out
Until 145am
In my runnin clothes
Gross
But
Havin a blast

Dancing
Singing
And having a great time

It will definitely be a memorable night

First date ever....

OH

MY

GOSH

24 and a half and my 

first

ever

REAL date?!

Know what he looks like

Talked for a few weeks...

but never met

Hello On-line dating...

Ten minute walk to the bar that we are meeting at

The entire time my mind is going crazy

(maybe I should have taken a shot before coming to calm down!)

"Well.. here goes nothin"

I thought as I rounded the corner to the spot where we said we'd meet

(while feeling myself sweating)

Saw him from about 20 feet away and gave a little smile

Mike: "Chelsea?"

Me: "HEY" (why did I just yell hey to him?!)

Mike: "It's so nice to finally meet you"

(as he goes to give me a handshake but then leans in for a hug..awkward)

Walk into the bar..

Don't know which way to go..

Around the corner?

Upstairs bar?

Me: "Should we try upstairs?"

Him: "Sure"

I go first

Then

People in front of me stop

So - Here we are..

On the stairs...

With my skinny jeans on....

My only thought : "He is definitely staring at my ass"

Finally find a seat..

Have a great time!

Good conversation

Few beers

Time to head home...

He gives me a ride back to my apartment.  

Total gentleman..opening doors and even walked me to my door.

Followed by a kiss

Eek, it's been over a year

since I kissed someone for the first time

But it was great

First date of my life... successful.

I would totally be up for a second date with this guy.

Phew!