One of the highlights of my adventures in NYC was the Pasta Party. Now this pasta party was pretty expensive (35 each) but I wanted to do one official marathon activity so this was what I chose. It was at the Marathon Pavillion which was exactly a 10 block walk from my friends apartment. 
Originally we were planning to go at  5:30 but our tickets were stamped 6:45 so we didn't want to get turned away. We walked right up and presented our ticket and they let us in with no issues. 
They had a great menu: bread, salad, lasagna, pasta and of course apples. They had about 4 lines opened and you basically walked up and got food.

As I wanted gluten free, I had to ask a few people where to go and they sent me to a tent where they gave me a tray of gluten free pasta. It was MASSIVE! I only ate half of it and was stuffed! As you can see from the picture above, everything was put in to go boxes and was biodegradable. 

The biggest issue was seating. Since it was not just runners but also their families, the place was packed as people were just relaxing. They kept sending us in there until I made it upstream and asked for help at the door. Well they said the overflow was in Tavern on the Green! YES we want to eat there!! I was so excited for the opportunity so we are outside and then toured the inside. To exit, they sent us in circles (there were no signs) but we found our way out. We walked up the final .2 miles and to buy some macarons and some angry orchards and then back to Josh's where we relaxed and watched some tv before I finally fell asleep around 11 (I couldn't sleep!). I couldn't believe I was about to run the NYC MARATHON! 

Overall, I enjoyed myself and glad we did the dinner. My food was delicious and Ralph really enjoyed his. I probably wouldn't do it again as it was 70 bucks for both of us to eat when we could have made food at my friends place for probably 10 bucks total but I'm glad I got the experience. 

Anyone ever participate in the official pre-carbload meal before the race? 

Finally going to start recapping all of the adventures I have just been apart of! Let's start with the NYCM Expo! 

So we took a red eye on Thursday and got to NYC around 8am on Friday. We made our way into the city during rush hour and went to my friend Josh's to drop off our bags. We weren't tired so off we went! We stopped at Dunkin Donuts and got some coffee and a small breakfast and headed to Central Park. We got to see one of the kids dashes walking towards the Marathon store. Not going to lie, walking into the park and see everything set up, was super overwhelming for me. I basically felt like I could not breathe and at the same time wanted to cry. I  run all the time and rarely get nervous anymore-this whole thing had my stomach in knots. Ralph could tell I was a bit overwhelmed walking towards the finish line so he tried to calm me down. I basically just walked slow and visualized how I would be feeling on Sunday. So incredible! 

The kids dash we saw was adorable and even better, all of the Elites were there! We went to the marathon store where I bought my headband and Finisher jacket and ralph got a pair of gloves (not going to lie, now looking back, I wish I would have gotten the gloves) and then in the back was Kathrin Switzer! Having already been overwhelmed with everything and then to see her, crazy! I am so glad we came here to buy things because the Expo was a zoo!

We headed back to drop off our stuff that we bought and made our way over to Herald Square. Ralph had never seen the old escalators before so we went to see those and then started the walk to the Expo. We knew we were heading the right way as runners were coming back with their shirts and purchases! 

The walk was about 15 minutes, which was longer than I would have liked but we finally made it! 
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This was hands down the biggest Expo I had ever been to. I was also overwhelmed walking into the building with so many people and things and everything. We picked up our pasta in the park party tickets and somehow were assigned 6:45, which bummed me out a bit. I was hoping to head there early so we could get back and relax. Turns out, you could go whatever time but I guess they do not want to tell everyone that! 

I picked up my bib and I was told by a volunteer after telling her I was about to run my 5th marathon, "well, you never have truly run one until you run NYC". Interesting but I think my body would disagree after 3 LA Marathons, a marathon as the end of dopey and in the middle of Dopey Rebel and a PR 3 weeks before after getting in a car accident heading to the race. I got my race shirt where they were definitely not size right. I ended up going up to a Medium and I am still concerned it may shrink. The volunteers were telling everyone to size up. 

Now onto the Expo! The Asics store was awesome but the line was insane! it snaked around the entire store and ended up outside in another long line. It was about 5x the size of the line I stood in while I ran Dopey. crazy! and I am so glad we went to the Marathon store that morning! 

We walked the rest of the expo. Anyone and everyone was there, which was awesome! I ended up buying some more Nuun and a super cute NYC themed water bottle that came with my purchase and also a new pair of the GoMeb Speed3 NYC special edition Skechers. It is the shoe Meb ran in! I let the guy know that we were both running the LAM and super excited for Skeechers to be the title sponsor now and he gave us a discount code to use to buy shoes! I know I will want to be the special edition LA shoes so I may use them to buy a pair of GoRide3 I have been eyeing for awhile. 

I also stopped by Rundisney to check out the awesome Wine and Dine and Avengers medals i would be earning. While looking at the medals, I learned that someone had stolen the marathon medal the day before! People are crazy! That is why at wine and dine the medals were back in a corner and why at Avengers they were behind a case. it really sucks that you can't touch them and really see them now because of some idiot that stole one! 

One thing I really enjoyed was that every major shoe company was there and everyone had special edition shoes, which means everyone could find something. Once we got past the merchandise and shoes, it was the same as any other expo. 

After that, we took an uber back uptown and grabbed lunch at Indikitch was awesome. We then went to take a nap before our adventure that night. 

Overall, the expo was really amazing and I definitely loved how big it was. I did not buy much but I do love my shoes and I have been using Nuun constantly. 

Are you usually a big fan of Expos? 

Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!). It is Open Topic week! 

As I post this,I am sitting in the airport about to head to NYC and I am excited. Excited but also nervous. Here are the 5 things I am most looking forward to:

1. Running the NYCM-the reason I am going! So excited to participate in my first World Major! I will definitely be buying a finisher jacket once I am done. 
2. Seeing my friends-I am staying with friends that I have not seen in a few years so since I will be laying pretty low, I will be able to catch up with them 
3. 9/11 Museum and Freedom Tower-I have been to the Memorial and it's definitely very touching but I can't wait to see the Museum and go to the top of the Freedom Tower. I will be doing this on Monday morning. 
4. Shake shack-I have been studying the menu and can't wait for my burgers, sweet potato fries and shake after the race! 
5. Cold weather! It has been so hot here, I can't wait to wear some long sleeves and a coat! 

What are your favorite things to do in NYC? 

I am in New York City to run the NYCMarathon and then heading down to Orlando for a short Universal trip and then onto Walt Disney World for Food and Wine festival, the start of Christmas, and running the Wine and Dine 5k (corral A!) and Wine and Dine Half (corral D!). 
Follow along on Social Media with my Adventure: Facebook , Twitter, Instagram, Periscope (Juliana@4 Well Rules)

I can't believe that it is almost here! This has been a dream of mine for so long as I am beyond excited for it to be happening! I am about to run my 4th marathon of the year (WHO AM I?!??), 5th overall and 21st race of the year and it will be my first World Major! 


This has been the goal race for the year and I am ready to rock it. Right now it looks like it will be 50s and sunny which is perfect running weather. I have packed my throwaway clothes and I'm ready for this!! 


So here are my goals:
A: sub-5 hour 
I have been chasing this for awhile. In the 90 degree heat, I ran a 5:18 so I know that sub-5 is in there. I will be doing everything in my power to get there
B: sub 5:15
Who knows what will happen and how I react to the course. 
C: sub 5:18:53
A new PR at a world major would make me so happy! 
D: finish with a smile
Things could get crazy or I could hit a wall. I want to finish and finish happy. 
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Honestly I am expecting great things from this race. I am going for a PR but also need to keep in mind that I have a lot of races coming up in November (wine and dine 5k and half, avengers 10k and avengers half, black light run 5k and turkey trot 5k and 10k and then my goal 10k on 12/5). I am hoping that by being active after the marathon, it will keep my legs loose. I am hoping the cool weather will help me towards that goal. 

What are your goals for your next race? Any tips for running NYCM?