NYC Adventures

Hello from New York! To put it simply, yesterday was awesome. Granted, I probably spent way too much time on my feet considering the marathon is tomorrow, but it was worth it for me. Today is all about rest. Other than visiting the 9/11 memorial in the afternoon my plans include sitting on the couch, stretching and (unfortunately) homework. But back to tomorrow…

My day began bright and early with breakfast before heading to the Today Show plaza with my dad for their Halloween festivities. I have loved and watched the Today Show since middle school so it wasn’t hard to get going before 7 a.m. Coincidentally, one of my best friends from Tampa is in NY her family so we met up at the Today Show and watched the costume reveal together. Did anyone watch?! Their costumes were great.

We got a selfie with Hoda Kotb, I got a picture and “good luck” on the marathon from Willie Geist, and a handshake from Matt Lauer. Matt and I have the same birthday (December 30th) so I obnoxiously screamed “Matt, we have the same birthday!” until I got his attention. He wished me a happy early birthday, too! I enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes production of the show, especially for the cooking segments. They passed out free candy bags to visitors as well.

After the Today Show, we said goodbye to my friend and her family and went “hotel hopping.” My dad works for a hotel so we checked out some of the newest hotels in the city. Kept us warm for some time, too!

Then, it was off to KIND! I reached out to my boss and HR at KIND a few months ago and arranged to have a tour of the company headquarters. So. cool. Beyond the tons of bars available, the office was very modern, inviting and colorful. My dad and I helped ourselves at the “bar bar,” which was probably the best part of the tour.

Right from KIND we walked to the race expo. This was the expo of all expos. Not only was there a 30 minute line just to get inside, but I’ve never seen so many people in one place at one time, besides Disney World. The line to pay took 30 minutes too. Of course, it was entirely worth it. I hit up Asics and Brooks for shirts and visited a few others booths as well. My favorite part of the expo was standing next to the huge medals from every borough. They have a separate area away from the chaos of the expo were people can learn more about NYRR races. I felt it was a “must” to take pictures with every borough.

We stopped for a late lunch after the expo and finally made our way back to our hotel. We opted to stay at the hotel for dinner because we were exhausted from our day. But exhausted in the best way possible. Today, so many people I’ve never met wished me luck on the race. I already knew the running community was incredibly supportive, but today blew my mind. 

My nerves have only grown due to talk of 40 mph winds. Truthfully, I’m more nervous for before the race starts when I’ll be outside at the starting area for 3 hours. But the weather is out of my control. Making the most of my experience is in my control. So far, I’m doing that pretty well.

I plan to share my race recap Monday and the delicious meals I’ve eaten here on Wednesday. Talk to you from the other side of the finish line!