Last run

Horrible migraines yesterday, but hopefully now that whole head mess is behind me.

Last run this morning, a sloooow jog into the park and back, just long enough to warm my legs and get feel fluid. I had to remind myself to stop grinning so that the tensing of facial muscles wouldn't restart the migraines. I was smiling at anyone in running shoes, some of whom must have shared my excitement, others of whom just saw a smiling idiot this morning.

I hope to feel as happy next time I see this banner.

What a difference a decade makes

At 16, my biggest question in life was will this ever get better?

Will I ever be able to quickly get out of bed, into the shower, squeeze the shampoo bottle, get my arms through stiff coat sleeves, pry open the fridge door, grab a gallon of milk with one hand and walk down the front steps without feeling overwhelmed by pain, stiffness and exhaustion? Will I know for sure that when I sit down for class, I'll be able to get up with no one the wiser?

I'm incredibly lucky that I have had excellent medical care and responded dramatically to existing medication. Team Life Without Lupus is fundraising for life-changing medical care for those who cannot afford it, and for research into treatments and cures for the disease, which continues to affect all of us (even those who can keep their legs going for 26.2 miles).

The $2,418.92 we've raised so far, part of the $100,000 raised by Team Life Without Lupus, will fund these medical care and cutting edge research programs of the S.L.E. Lupus Foundation.

One last call- if you were planning to donate but haven't done it yet, now is the time. https://www.firstgiving.com/katemagaram

And for those of you who are planning to come out and see the Marathon (I'd love to see you!), here's a map and information on athlete tracking:

Runner Tracker

Interactive Course Map

Thank you all for your generous support (financial and emotional) and encouragement, and for humoring me through all the marathon talk and lame bedtimes. I'm not sure how to say a big enough thank you to the people who have been supporting me for years, cutting me slack and much needed breaks, and supporting my decisions in taking calculated risks to live life as I want to live it despite lupus. My 16 year old self would not have believed I could be here in a decade.

Newark

Booked a hotel in Newark now for Saturday night. The ride should be half an hour shorter than from my apartment, and this way we eliminate a few more unknowns between me and the start (such as a Holland Tunnel problem, of which I have seen many).

For those of you planning to travel anywhere ever, you might want to think twice about booking something at a Crown Plaza hotel if, say, you'd like to show up to an available room. The steam has only stopped shooting from my ears because it's in my best interest to calm down a few dozen notches. Karma, karma, karma...

My calm self has been looking out my office window, thinking how far away the Verrazano Bridge looks to be from here, then reassuring myself that it's really not that far compared to downtown. Then I realized that I'm looking at one of the bridges to Brooklyn and the bridge to Staten Island is waaaay down from there. Yikes. Too far, too far..... I keep thinking that I shouldn't have cheated on my distance runs because now I'm not prepared enough. Of course, I ran until my GPS watch said 20.0 mi, so intellectually I'm pretty sure I followed the program. This is pretty much how all the conversations are going in my head. And in my apartment. Thanks for listening, dude.

Hell hath no fury...

... like a woman who, while checking for the third time, just found out her pre-marathon twice-confirmed hotel reservation is suddenly worthless because the hotel is CLOSED.

Pro tip: stay out of my zip code today.

A break from me-related minutiae

Chilean miner running!

Halloween candy is carbs, right?

Right? Right? Simple carbohydrates, sugar, salt... stress relief.

Dedicated enough a marathoner-to-be that I've got a big bowl of goodness on my nightstand to go home to.

Working Girl

To work today, I wore a black dress, herringbone grey blazer, and my New Balance running shoes. Switched to appropriate flats upon arrival, but still felt like as stylish as an 80s Melanie Griffith for twenty blocks.

The name of the game at this point is staying comfortable, avoiding all injuries, and keeping stress below atmospheric levels.

I've had the same type of dreams as before the SAT, LSAT and the Bar. Someone who has to drive me to the start is not listening to me and taking ridiculous detours as time ticks away and I just know I'm going to miss the start. I realize that I'm wearing one correct running shoe and one random old one. I forget my map and get lost on the course. I'm lost on Staten Island and can't find the start-- or I'm late and have to run a long distance to even get to the start. I'm starving and have brought no food. I eat peanut butter and there's nothing to drink at the water stations. My alarm doesn't go off and the hotel wake up call doesn't wake me. Someone takes too long to get dressed and can't drive me to the start. The reserved rental car has been stolen.

I suppose the good news is that there is no standardized test on Sunday. Guess I don't have to worry about last night's dream of forgetting sharpened pencils to fill in the bubbles.