Track and Field Blogs - Magdalena Lewy-Boulet

7 days to go. I leave for NY City in a couple of days to race the ING NYC Marathon on November 1st. The excitement and challenge I will face in one week is gradually sneaking up. I will be racing through he streets of New York's five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. I am looking forward to testing myself up and down the 5 bridges, and ultimately finishing at Tavern on the Green in Central Park. How can you not get excited?

My mileage has been lessening each day, my workouts are shorter and my legs are starting to feel lively once again. Most of all, I am having more energy throughout the day and that’s where I find myself reflecting on all the training I have put in to prepare myself for this one race. It is the two summer altitude trips, the long runs, and the hard workouts that give me the confidence that I have a very good chance to run what I am capable of running. On top of it all it looks like the weather will cooperate for all racing the marathon.

Last week I went to speak at the Mariner Cross Country High School Invitational where I shared my journey as a professional runner. I was thrilled to answer the fun question they had for me, but a couple stuck in my mind for days now – how and when did I know that training for the marathon was the right thing to do for me? Or – how do I balance training, family and having fun? Those where some great questions and have been on my mind lately reminding me that living the life of a professional runner is a piece of a good fortune for me. I train hard every morning and night because I love the feeling of accomplishing something great. Training for the marathon requires patience and persistence. I found running late into my life and did not have the much-needed infrastructure immediately after college to pursue professional running so I came very close to moving on. I am so glad that I didn’t quit when times were rough because I would have never tasted the sweet reward of accomplishing something great. I since have been given a fantastic opportunity to work with 3 really cool companies - Saucony, GU Sports and Nathan Sports - who share my vision and support my efforts to be the best athlete I can be. I am very grateful for discovering the running community - running taught me to be tough in life.

If I can make it there I can make it anywhere.

Off to NYC!

Magda