day 1: with all the research i put into this, i somehow didn't account for the brooklyn half marathon

Hey all! It's Elena. I'm stopped for the night and I had a shower and FINALLY! put my feet up. Wow, today was hard! Definitely fun, definitely interesting, and definitely hard. It was one of my longest mileage days right off the bat, which was no joke! I felt really, really good for the first 12 miles and after that, things slowly got slower...but: here are some amazing thoughts from a great day.

• I was supposed to start right by the Brooklyn bridge, but I SOMEHOW MISSED that the Brooklyn half marathon was TODAY and the cops had already blocked off my starting point! I ended up starting from a different part of the Brooklyn bridge park, which I think added a little mileage to my day. Shout out to my dad for getting me to the starting point despite snoozing through his alarm.
• Walking through Brooklyn felt like no time at all! I was shocked by how quickly I moved into Queens which (coincidentally) felt like an ETERNITY. I didn't realized Queens was so big until I was literally walking across the entirety of Flushing. I will say - the route that I ended up taking was super beautiful - lots of parks and pedestrian overpasses and water! 
• I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO EXCITED TO SEE THE NASSAU COUNTY SIGN!!!! It could not have come at a better time. I was getting a bit tired and hungry, so I was thinking maybe I would take a little break and THEN I SAW THE SIGN! I SAW THE SIGN! so i pushed on for a bit more.
• This turned out to be a mistake haha! The area of Queens that I was in had A LOT of shops closed on Sunday. I kept pushing on to look for lunch and sort of ran out of options. But LUCKILY i found an open diner!!!! If there's one thing you can count on, it's an OPEN LI DINER.
• My first interview took place in Port Washington, which is really a very beautiful town. I walked right on the water past the Band Shell (where I coincidentally did a production of As You Like It back in 2016)! There were also a lot of bench and walls and places to sit for a few minutes.....which I VERY MUCH TOOK ADVANTAGE OF. For some reason, the last two miles before my stop felt like the most difficult....is that how runner and athletes feel? Am I a runner/athlete now?
• The interview was GREAT! NO SPOILERS! Tune into the documentary later this summer!
• Which brings us back to now! I've got some pizza and ginger ale and I am ENJOYING being horizontal. Who knows what the morning will bring in terms of lingering soreness, but for now I'm going to relax and get some rest. I'm providing (slightly) more regular updates on my Instagram story, so be sure to check it out! And keep an eye on my channel for my "usually scheduled" content, including today's video! https://youtu.be/XGWmxYcOkAg