New York City!

Last week, I went to NYC to run the marathon with my dad. While the day started off really bad (5 hours in the freezing cold and wind), once we actually started running, we had a great time! Six hours and 10 minutes later, we crossed the finish line in Central Park. The most surprising part was that the spectators/cheerers were SO encouraging. I mean, ridiculously so! Also, my mom and good friend, Jenn, were such troopers, cheering us on at mile 7, 16 and 24. A breakdown of the race: Staten Island was cold, Brooklyn was the friendliest (and longest) part, Harlem was really energetic, the Bronx was seriously sketchy, and Manhattan was fantastic since it was the finish! Here are a few photos from the day. 

Before we ran the marathon, we spent three days exploring the city of New York. My favorite moment of the trip was meeting Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise (yes, seriously!). I was bummed out last year because Katie had run the NYC marathon in 2007 and my dad and I had gotten in but deferred until this year. Katie is my TV idol (huge Dawson's Creek fan from back in the day). Little did I know that one year later, I would actually be eating in the same restaurant in Soho! So when Tom and Katie were leaving the restaurant, they stopped at each table to pose for photos. I grabbed Katie and asked her for a photo (who cares about tom?). I was too star-struck to actually say anything to her, but i'll always have the photo! As crazy as Tom is, he was actually very nice to take the time to talk to practically everyone in the restaurant. Suri was not there.