Sunday was the October Tampa Bay Lady Bloggers meet-up. I always really look forward to meet ups with these girls. It’s such a fun group. Plus, no one gets upset with each other for taking an obnoxious amount of photos or talking about blogging. Which is always nice

This month Caroline put together a meet-up at the new PDQ in St. Pete.

Left to Right: Caroline from My Facinating Life, Jackie from Pardon Our Sawdust, and Kat from Sneakers & Fingerpaints

We all ordered lunch (which PDQ took care of) and talked about all things blogging and upcoming races. I ordered the Grilled Chicken Salad with no chicken again. I really love this Blueberry Ginger dressing.

After lunch, Jeff, the Marketing/PR Director and Dan, the Operating Partner, took us on a tour of the back of the house.

First was the “Hospitality Room” where the orders are taken. This is PDQ’s more personalized, face-to-face approach to a drive thru. No speaker boxes yelling at you.

They also showed us the cooler (not freezer) with all of the fresh food. All the sauces and dressings are made daily, which is awesome to me. They don’t hand you a pre-packed salad dressing with your fresh tossed salad.

Last they let us “punch potatoes”. Their fries are fresh-cut daily and they cut some ridiculous amount of potatoes every day.

Thank you PDQ. This was my second time visiting the restaurant in just over a week. I’m happy to support a new local favorite!

(Left to right: Me, Beka from Rebecca Roams, Kat from Sneakers & Fingerpaints, Jackie from Pardon Our Sawdust, Caroline from My Facinating Life, and Debbie from Discovering Debbie)

So, at some point during the last few days it finally hit me. I’m running the New York City Marathon next weekend.

I’m insanely excited for the race and find myself envisioning the start line. I’m excited to run another marathon and especially excited to run a marathon I’ve dreamed of for years.

Photo Credit: NYCMarathon.org

I do however, wish I had just a little more time. I knew it was going to come up quick after Augusta 70.3, I just didn’t realize exactly how quick.

There were 4 weekends between the two races. I felt like a superhero after pulling off a 15-miler the weekend after my first 70.3. I ran 18 the weekend after that. My body was still very much recovering during both of these runs. They weren’t fast or pretty, but I got the miles in. After that I decided that it was probably time to taper from the shortest marathon training cycle in history. I ran 10 miles on Saturday and will probably do the same this weekend.

Needless to say, I’m feeling a little under prepared for this one. People keep saying that my endurance from triathlon training and the adrenaline will carry me through New York. While I really want to believe them I know it’s more than likely going to suck. I’ll probably reach that suck-zone somewhere around mile 18. Where my knees start to ache and my mind starts to wander. I’ll look at my Garmin every 2 minutes as if it were going to tell me that it had been lying for the last 18 miles and I am really almost done.

I’m okay with that, I’ve been there before.

All I can do is keep a positive attitude. I do this because I love it. I’ve never questioned that. I never get out on a marathon course and say “I’ll never do this again”. I’m grateful for every step that my body allows me to take of that 26.2 mile course. My passion runs deeper than the pain and that’s what I know will carry me through the suck-zone.

So, for the New York City Marathon my goal is simple, enjoy every step. Every step is a dream come true.