Still a Runner
A Blog by Mary Lou HarrisArchive for NYC Marathon
Eating our Way to the 5-Boro Bike Tour
Bike New York’s TD 5-Boro Bike Tour is once again upon us, Sunday, May 4. I won’t be there this year, but am wishing good weather, a good ride and good eats to my friends who will be. Maybe I’ll consider 2015. And, maybe I can convince fellow travelers to do a repeat of some of the wonderful food stops we enjoyed last year.
A 40-mile bike ride and a 4 a.m. volunteer stint required adequate nutrition, and what better place to find some good eats than New York City.
Our culinary tour included:
Mile End Deli: This Brooklyn eatery, walking distance from The Flea, has a walk-up carry-out window and a sit-down dining area that accommodates 20- 25 people max. Most of our group ordered smoked meat sandwiches, making comparisons with the smoked meat at Montreal’s delis. I ordered a hot dog along with a a side order of slaw and frites, which were flavorful and plentiful.
La Silhouette An evening meal took us to a Manhattan restaurant familiar to friends Phyllis and Mike from her days of living in New York. I have since heard this restaurant closed in late 2013 and no word on it reopening. Pity, because it had a wonderful ambience, a varied menu with beautifully prepared entrees, particularly seafood dishes, and service that was flawless.
Joe G’s Following a long and chilly day for our five cyclists,
three of our crew opted for comfort food and a cozy restaurant. We chose this below-street level restaurant near our hotel. At Joe G’s you will find dark wood, white tablecloths, pleasant staff and a selection of Italian dishes perfect for four tired senior athlete travelers.
If you give any of of our dining choices a try, please let me know if you agree. For me, I can’t wait to return to New York for the sights, the food and the athletic events. 
And maybe next time, I will step out of the volunteer t-shirt and onto two wheels.
Before I return to NYC for the 5-Boro Bike Tour, I will be making my way through the five boros at the 2014 New York City Marathon. I’m looking for some additional dining choices and will be building my list early. I’ve already received recommendations for Brooklyn’s Grimaldi’s pizza. Any other suggestions out there?
2014 Roughed-out Race Schedule
With a new year and new hopes, some familiar and some new races are in the mix. After a 2013 that started strong only to fall flat with a non-running injury, I look forward to a fresh start. Here is my enthusiastically penciled in list of potential races, big and small, old and new.
Runners warming up before the Georgetown 10-Miler start
Georgetown 10-Miler – March 8 & 9 – I was signed up last year for this 10-miler held by the DC Running Club, but that darn skiing injury got in the way. Instead, I volunteered at the start/finish. This race sold out last year and has expanded to offer the 10-Miler as a two-day event.
Mile 2 of the Capital 10-Miler
Capital 10-Miler – a run for the Arts – March 30th in Harrisburg PA. I will be directing rather than running this one, but I am having fun watching friends put together teams. We offer a flat course along the river, over bridges and out of traffic. Participating arts organizations offer discounts and tickets to registrants and award winners. I’m happy to see my fellow running and food blogger at See Jain Run is coming in for the race.
Boston Marathon – Again, injury made me a no-show in 2013. There is so much to be said about this race, I won’t try to tackle it here. With the injury, I wasn’t trained for a fresh qualifying marathon in 2013, but thankfully my time and the date of the Hamptons Marathon in 2012 tided me over.
HARRC After Dark Riverfront course
HARRC After Dark – Harrisburg PA 7K race at 7 p.m. The Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) has sanctioned this race as the Pennsylvania State Championship 7K for 2014. This is a wonderful evening race along the Susquehanna Riverfront. Early enough to enjoy post-race festivities, grab a shower and go out for dinner.
New York City Marathon – Sunday, November 2nd. I didn’t intentionally schedule two huge big city races in the same year, but circumstances sometimes dictate. I was registered with a qualifying time in 2012 when NY cancelled. NY offered a choice of registration for 2013 or 2014. It’s fortunate I chose 2014 since 2013 was a no-go for marathon training.
Across the Bay 10K – Chesapeake Bay Bridge Run – I’m considering this, even though its a week after New York. The Bay Bridge is beautiful and the event’s director is none other than Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivary. The race is almost sold out. Time to decide.
What else? To meet my goal of running 66 miles on Route 66 in the 66th year, I must soon find the time and the right races or runs. I have another 41 miles to go to reach my goal and the clock is ticking.
State Senior Games of 2014 I may or may not go to Minneapolis for the National Senior Games is 2015, but I plan to run a couple of qualifying races at the State Senior Games this year. If you are over 50, you’re qualified to participate in the State Games. Road races are one small component of the many athletic competitions they offer. Try it just for fun. If your state’s schedule doesn’t work for you, check out a neighboring state. In 2011, I qualified for the 2013 National Senior Games 5K at the Pennsylania State Games and qualified for the 10K at the Delaware event.
That’s my roughed-out race plan for the year. Will I see any of my readers at these races? What’s your plan?
New York City Marathon – A Change in Perspective
The dilemma of the last few weeks described in my earlier post on marathon taper versus garden cleanup, hauling around bags of mulch, using my stores of energy reserved for the ING NYC Marathon, all that became moot.
NYC Marathon (Photo credit: wanadobee)
My concerns, at least regarding tapering, ended when I cancelled my race registration, later followed by a cancellation of the marathon itself. What a minor worry when we look at the lives and neighborhoods along this country’s shoreline that are struggling. They will be fighting their way back for months, perhaps years, to come.
During the week prior to the NYC Marathon, I took a peak at the latest Salty Running post. For those not familiar, Salty Running is a high energy blog written by a collaborative group of spicy women runners who are serious athletes, serious about their training, honest about the ups and downs and at the ready to help other women with training.
I chimed in with my perspective at that moment on the wisdom of holding the NYC Marathon. I later learned I was selected as “commenter of the week.” Celebrity at last!
I’m including links to their post Comment of the Week – Salty Running followed by my response to their question What to Do When Your Goal Marathon in Canceled.
The Salty Running posts and feature on my comment gave this fledgling blogger a not-to-be-missed opportunity to promote my local running community and races (notice the links peppered throughout their posts). 
We may love to get away to big name races and a change of running scenery, but it’s our local running community that keeps company on the roads and trails, switches roles in directing and volunteering for one another’s races and causes, and does its part in community service just because that is what we do.
All of which says we don’t know what life has waiting for us around the corner. It may be an opportunity large or small, it may be life-altering devastation, or it may be just another day seeing the sun come up.
Required Equipment for post-run Adopt-a-Highway: Safety Vests, Work Gloves, Trash Bags, Doughnuts
We may be smugly following our carefully laid plans, or standing by helplessly watching as our plans are laid low. We could be running a large, glamourous, international marathon or we could be picking up trash along the highway.
Life: flexibility required.
