OK, I’m going to break a cardinal rule here and spoil the ending: I got in to the 2017 New York City Marathon. But I did want to post some of my thoughts leading up to the drawing, most of which I actually wrote before I found out the results. (Specifically, the first 3 paragraphs were written before I found out.)
The New York City Marathon lottery has been on my mind for several weeks now. My current thoughts are very different than the last two years, though. I mean, now I’ve got two marathons under my belt, so I shouldn’t be surprised that my perspective has changed a little bit. Like I mentioned in my post about my 2017 Goals, marathons and marathon training are really freaking hard, require a lot of sacrifices, and at this point in my life, I think the New York City Marathon is the only marathon worth doing.
The surprising thing is that part of me started to think that I might actually be better off if I didn’t get in. If I got in, my 2017 calendar would pretty much be set in stone. After Tobacco Road on March 19, I’d do base building until July, then marathon training with a warm-up 5K in there somewhere (very likely the Greek Festival 5K again), NYC in November. But if I didn’t get in, that would open up a whole bunch of possibilities. Not just races, but possibly even other fitness activities like bicycling and yoga.
I could have removed my name from the NYC lottery if I felt really strongly about it, but I never really reached that point. New York City (both the race and the city itself) is still really special, and it’s still worth the sacrifices. It’s worth the lack of schedule flexibility, which I suppose is another sacrifice.
But yeah, I definitely had some second thoughts as the day of the lottery approached, and truly wondered if not getting in would be the better outcome. I think I mentally prepared for that possibility, and honestly, in my gut I felt like I wouldn’t be getting in.
Today I got the news that I was in. And just like that, all of the second thoughts disappeared. I was just so happy to have the opportunity to go back to this incredible race in the city where I was born. I know it won’t be easy. I’ve done it before, I know what it takes. But I’m excited that I’ve got another chance at this race, another chance to make it an even more incredible experience than last year.
Also, I’ve got my eye on you, 59th Street Bleeping Bridge. I know you’re coming. I’ll be ready this time.