Dear Reader
In the 1978 made-for-TV movie, See How She Runs, the great Joanne Woodward plays Betty Quinn — a 40-year-old divorced mother of two who decides to start running, much to the horror of her colleagues, her children and her ill father. When she tells her ex-husband she’s going to run the Boston Marathon he looks at her incredulously. “But, Betty,” he says, “you’ve never been a good athlete!”
“I’m still not a good athlete, “ she replies, before reassuring him she’ll be just fine if she does the training: “They say if you can run half a marathon you can do the whole thing on race day.”
Well, that will be me, this weekend. Running a half before the full London Marathon in April. This Sunday, before you’ve even had your morning cuppa — before you’ve even opened your eyes, probably — I will have taken a little jaunt around New York City. From Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, over the Manhattan Bridge, along the FDR and through Times Square to Central Park, I will run my first half marathon race since becoming a mom. Granted, I’ve been training for London, so 13.1 miles should be manageable. But it’s not the race itself I’m most concerned about.
It’s the before the race part. I’m not a morning person, and even more so now, as part of the #NewMomRunClub. I’m need to be up and out of the house by 5:30am. That’s the time Zoe-Rose usually wakes up, and I nurse her. And usually, after then, my husband (the hero that he is) takes her for the early-morning shift, while I try to catch a few more zzz’s. My race start time is 7:20am, but I am due to check in by 6:10am. How on earth will I manage to be up and out of the apartment at this most sacred of hours? Stay tuned to find out…
In the meantime, here is an episode of The Rundown that celebrates this adopted home city of mine, with highlights from previous editions. Running in New York is never boring!
As for our hero, Betty (Woodward won an Emmy for the role), she goes on to prove that even “little old ladies” — at 40!! — can do the things they put their minds to. So here’s to putting my mind to making it out the door on time!
Stay well,
Your neighbour
Nadia