So you're probably wondering about the NYC Marathon.
I flew to NY on Friday, October 30th. Stayed with my beloved Dasha and Sonora in their spectacular Upper West Side pad. We went to see ROCK OF AGES (thanks to Jillian Armenante and Constantine Maroulis). Met up with my buddy, Yvonne for cheesecake.
Woke up the next morning to do an "easy" run with Lance at Niketown. And ONE BLOCK from Niketown, got stopped by a commercial shoot. Lance and the runners took off.
(You can't tell in this picture, but that's Lance getting into a cab after the run.)
Picked up my present from Livestrong. Walked back through Central Park. Saw the finish line. Met up with Dave Holmes at the expo to collect our packets. Walked around Chelsea. (There's a three hour story about trying to find Gu... but whatever.)
Saw my friend Greg Endries and his new place in Chelsea. Saw the amazing photos he shot of my friend, Michelle Clunie.
Made it back to the upper west side. We went down to the Village, where we met up with my dearest Laura Berrios and her husband, Sean. Great fun at a party.
Went home. Got a great night sleep.
Woke up. Got dressed. Went to the train station, where apparently subways don't come as often on the weekends. A HALF HOUR LATER the train came and took me to the ferry. I walked in, hopped on the ferry and off to Staten Island I went.
It was extremely emotional all morning. I cried on and off for the better part of three hours before the race. It was exactly a year to the day that I had discovered the lump and now I was running a marathon. And I was going to finish it by any means necessary.
And it was DAMN COLD. I was blue - like Rebecca Romijn in X-Men, blue. Like a giant Smurf, blue.
And we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And somehow I wound up next to Sal Masekela from E! Daily 10 for two hours. I would go to the port-o-potty, and somehow his camera crew was right there. For the first three miles, I couldn't shake him.
But finally we started. And I couldn't stop tears for the first two miles. I was so happy to be here and doing the marathon. And before I knew it, I had clocked 3 miles. I kept my pace.
Next thing it was 8 miles down. And my right foot started to ache.
Then 9 miles... and I thought... you know, something's not right with my knee.
Then came 10. And that was it. My left knee and my right foot turned against me. With 16.2 miles to go, I knew I wouldn't finish it. I could walk it, but I would seriously injure myself. I knew that I had to fly back to LA the next day and the flight would kill me and I knew that IF I did attempt to finish it, I wouldn't be able to walk for a week.
So I quit. It was the hardest thing I did all year, but my body just would not allow me to finish.
In the medical tent, (where you had to check out, or be expelled from any future ING Marathons), the medic said my IT band had snapped and he was surprised I was still walking. He wrapped it (which is awesome, having a leg you can't bend... going up and down stairs in subways all day long...) and I was on my way.
After showering and resting, we cabbed it Cafeteria in Chelsea, where my body decided it wanted a bacon cheddar burger, fries and macaroni and cheese. Combined later with a red velvet cupcake (or two), my body would decide later it did NOT want all of that. And blessed be, that was 3,500 calories I didn't have to work off
The next morning, Laura invited me to the set of 30 ROCK, where I saw my old friend from high school days, Jack McBrayer (who plays "Kenneth") and his co-star for the day... an up and coming young talent named Al Gore. I met Tina, who was so kind and sweet. And I met Cheyenne Jackson.
Eventually I made it back to finally see the Bethesda Fountain, after many failed attempts over the years, then did the subway, to the train, to the airbus, to the airport to the bus, to the terminal to the gate.
I was wide awake on the plane. Landed. And then went straight to the hotel and worked for 8 hours.
All I did this week was work, sleep, and pass out. There was some eating at times. On Friday, I gorged on a large bacon pizza from Pizza Hut and discovered my body processed that amount of food much easier after vomiting all day from chemo.
I got a text message from Pauley after the marathon "the sermon was about you today!" Which had me nervous. But I finally heard it this week (on-line here.. the sermon on 11/1) and I'm so honored and flattered.
Again, I can't thank everyone enough who sponsored me and Team Livestrong. I gave it my all. I did the best I could do. My body just didn't want to go any further. And finishing the additional 16.2 miles wouldn't have really changed the journey.
I discovered today that the documentary I worked on last year apparently premiered tonight in San Francisco. I would be lying if I said I was pissed that a) I was not invited and b) I didn't get credit for it. I did my job. I fulfilled my duties. But for whatever reason, the producer/ director decided to withdraw my name and credit. Whatever. Onwards. Upwards. Karma is a bitch.
I'm really looking forward to this next chapter in my life. I'm not sure what it is just yet. But I'm looking forward to finishing my script (the producers read the first act and love it).
I'm looking forward to new adventures. I made a conscious decision earlier this year to rid my life of drama and complicated people. Amazingly, those people fell from life like water, dripping off a sleek raincoat.
Maybe it will be casting in Atlanta. Maybe it will be casting in Los Angeles. Maybe it will be something all together new.
But for this week, I'm all about the rest. The naps. And the quiet.
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