ING NYC Marathon lottery results are in

My dream of running the 2012 ING NYC marathon has been officially crushed.

painful

I understand it's a long shot to get in thru the lottery but for some reason I really, really believed it was gonna happen.

I went in to celebrate the opening day today in Central Park.

It was a beautiful day and I was surrounded by 300 other running nerds / NYC marathon hopefuls:

pick me! Or not :'(

At least I got a cool swag bag and a cute tee-shirt:

116 - not a winner

Better luck next year…

No I'm not. Took this picture full of hope

I went to the gym and pounded a speedy 3 miles to get out the post-no-good marathon news depression. It helped.

Last year was the last year you can get denied 3 years in a row and gain automatic entry. This was my first year - so I have no future net. 

Did you get in?

What's your dream race?

Have you ever been crushed by not getting into a dream race?

XO

Jen

You know you're a running nerd when...

Score! New gels made with Chia - long run here I come!

It happens slowly. Somewhere between picking up the sport as a hobby and now, a change occurs and BAM. You wake up a running nerd. I'm finally gonna stop fighting it and proudly wave my nerd flag high…

You know you're a running nerd when:

• You go to the mall for a cute new outfit for a party, get sidetracked and leave with a few tech tees, a pair of running pants and a new water bottle instead.
• You can't wait for your next long run to try a new type of energy gel.
• You pay particular attention to new songs to figure out if they'd be good running songs or not.
• You know at which point your new running song should play (great cool down tune!)
• You follow people on Twitter simply because the word run, runner, marathon or other running-related term is in their user name.
• Your heart does a little leap when the new Runner's World arrives in the mail.
• You are totally psyched over your race day expo even though you've seen most of the products at every other expo you've ever been to! (You're extra nerdy if the people at the booths know you by name!)
• You watch marathon coverage on television. (You're extra nerdy if you're like me and watch live streaming coverage on your computer!)
• Your Christmas wish list includes any or all of the following: running sneakers, compression socks, Garmin, hydration system, race entry, and other running crap.
• You know what "Goofy" means.
• You find yourself looking forward to analyzing your race, splits, hydration, nutrition and pace post-race to figure out what went so right or what went so horribly wrong.
• You can debate running outside vs. running on a treadmill or around a track all day long.
• When you see other runners running and you're driving, you feel both a kinship and a little envy that you're not running too!
• Not only do you know what negative split means, but when it happens, you have an uncontrollable urge to tell another runner about your run.
• You hop your ass into New York city on a Wednesday morning by yourself to celebrate the ING New York City Marathon Opening Day just to be near the buzz of it all - even though you have no idea if you'll ever get in or run it (well, I'll get in and run it someday - I know I will)!

YEP. Running nerd. That's me. I'm so excited about this.

What makes you a running nerd?

XO
Jen