Restarting

I took quite a break since the marathon, mainly running on treadmills and hitting yoga pretty regularly.  I left for Los Angeles on the 20th and am officially counting the 21st as the start of training again.  I have such a motivation issue in 7 degree weather.  I am so ready to run in75 degrees.  This morning I ran with my coach, Victoria, who I will compare to that crusty dude that coached Rocky Balboa, but much better looking.  She was a hard coach, making me do laps to Sunset Blvd. and back.  "You think you're finished?  Go that way to Sunset and turn around and come back."  It was a beautiful run through the hood.

The New York City Marathon

The day of the marathon arrived.  I spent the early part of the previous night trying to find a fitting pair of sunglasses to wear.  I was at the Urban outfitters at 9pm Saturday Night and found a lightweight pair.  Sleep was pretty fitful, I was afraid I would oversleep and miss my train.  I got up and got ready.  Jon walked me to the subway and rode part of the way with me.  Sunday morning at 7 and the only people on the train were racers.  There was a problem with the track, so we transferred to a bus taking us to the Staten Island Ferry

  The ferry was packed but I found a seat on the bottom deck and watched out the window as New York grew smaller.  It was a fairly quiet ride, maybe people were just as nervous, and we finally reached the shore and were herded to another bus taking us to Fort Wadsworth.  My start time was 10:40, and the drop off time for my bag to be taken to the finish line was 9:15.  I looked at my phone and realized I had less than five minutes to get rid of my clothes and whatever else I was leaving with the UPS trucks.  My warm pants and my coat and hoodie stayed behind.  I was in the 30 degree weather in my shorts and a long sleeve tee shirt.  Keith had given me a rain poncho just in case and I held onto that as well.  I spent the next hour hunkered down in what sunshine I could find under the poncho.  Around 10:15 we were herded into our corrals, then led toward the Verrazano Narrows bridge.  Before leaving the corrals, I ditched my long sleeve tee in the donation piles.  Waiting for the gun to start at the base of the bridge was cold and exciting.  A sea of people, all nationalities, all body types some excitedly talking, some crying, some that looked as nervous as I felt.

 Finally, as the shot rang out and a big cheer rose from the crowd, Frank Sinatra crooning "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere..." over the loudspeakers pushed us over the starting line and up the slope to the bridge.
The bridges are the hardest part of the entire race for me.  The wind whipped around the runners and through our clothes on the bridges, the slope going over the bridges is pretty heavy and there aren't any other people on the bridge.  New Yorkers are amazing people, coming out in full force all along the route and cheering.  All along the streets through every neighborhood were young and old, bands playing, choirs singing, everyone cheering.  The toughest part of the course were the water/gatorade stops.  The runners bottlenecked and slowed, the ground was sticky and slippery.  Runners are never too concerned where they spit or throw their water so every mile was an exercise in not slipping and avoiding flying cups or spit or worse.  I felt pretty good most of the race.  I knew I had a long time to go to see my friends and Jon, waiting at mile 19, but that didn't stop Jonnie from calling my cell phone a few times to check my progress.   Yes, I was that guy that stopped to answer his phone. (At least I stopped, i saw people running and talking on their phone!)

 Coming across the bridge to First St and maybe 30 blocks from Jon and friends was quiet, no people but runners on the bridge, and cold.  The wind was all over the place and it was a long long bridge.  The reward was seeing Jon and Kara and James cheering and waiting on the side of the road.

The hardest part for me, I think I realized that the wall was facing me down, was right around mile 20 and I thought it should have been mile 21.  I was counting miles in my head and I was one off.  My legs were feeling heavy and I just wanted to get to the end.  Along the side of the road heading toward the park, I saw Julie and Kim and Loie.  Its nice to see faces you know in the madness of New York.  At long last I entered the park, and I knew the end was near.  My legs were ready to give up, but my lungs were feeling strong.  I passed a man running with an entourage and being filmed from the back of a golf cart in front of him.  I didn't realize til later that he was the Chilean miner.  I saw my good friend Jamie, who took the train from DC to New York.  Ahead I saw the finish line and I remember thinking to run harder across but I'm not sure my body was compliant.  As I crossed the finish line, my cell phone in my pouch rang and it was my mother calling to check on me.  Perfect ending to a long race.

Saturday nite

Tomorrow is the day-  I am feeling a bit nervous, but pretty good.  The weather is going to be cooler than I prefer but no rain and sunshine!  My run time is 10:40 so an hour later than Keith.  I'm in the third wave, so hopefully warmer than earlier.  Today has been interesting-trying to lay low and fight the urge to walk all over NYC.  I've done a good job, only walking to the fashion district to Mood, then for lunch at Chelsea Market and back to the hotel.  Trying to find pasta dinner in this town tonight is going to prove challenging but we're getting ready to go on the hunt.  I hope I can at least sleep tonight.

Nov 2nd- 5 days!!

I leave in two days for NYC, a bit nervous, but mostly excited.   I'm not sure what to expect, but am looking forward to the challenge.  I just hope I make my bus, I hope my bladder and my back hold out, my ankles stay strong, and I finish in a reasonable amount of time.  I worry about the dreaded wall, that I haven't eaten the right thing before the race, or drank enough water.  I worry that I am going to twist my ankle walking across the street the day before, or that I am not going to be able to resist being in New York and spend all day Saturday sight seeing and wear myself out.  I am trying to focus on the positive things about myself that will help me through.  I am positive that I have trained properly and though I am fairly slow, I can run distances.  I am happy with the way my lungs feel during long runs.  I'm absolutely positive that I have put too much into this and am way too stubborn to give up mid-race.  I have gotten somewhat a handle on my neck pains.  I am humbled by such immense support from Jon, and my sister Laura, my running buddies-Keith and Leslie, Lu and the Andreas and my friends.  I think that will keep me going through the "wall" or whatever obstacle.    I feel 100% positive that I have quit smoking for good and am finally going to put a nail in the coffin of that old habit.  I never thought I could do anything like this and, hopefully, I can check this off my list on Sunday.

October 23- 15 miles and two weeks to go!

Great morning run with the girls.  We met at Iroquois park early in the morning and ran down 3rd street to the Y.  The only real issue I had was my small bladder.  Thank God for the Y.  The run was fairly uneventful and straightforward.  I felt good and got it done.

October 16th 24 miles!!!

The weather was cool, but nice at 6:30 am.  I drove to Keiths and met him and Matthew who got out of bed to join us.  We were supposed to do 22.  I had the route planned but switched at the last minute.  We ran together for the first 15 miles, and swung by the house to ditch gloves and sweatshirt and to ding dong ditch Jon.  The sun was out and the weather warming up.  K and I separated shortly after and the boy was gone-within a minute just a speck far in front of me.  I feel sometimes I'm slow as molasses when I reach a certain point. Its funny at that moment in my running, maybe around 18 miles or so, I notice my brain telling my body to pick it up and my legs just refusing.  The good thing, I guess for me the most important thing, is that my lungs feel great.  I can still breathe, not out of breathe at all, and feel like I can run forever if I didn't need my legs.  After nearly twenty years of smoking, I never thought that possible.  I also have picked up some tricks to alleviating pains in my neck-keep my head down, and breathe deeply into those sharp chest pains (thanks Keith) and they are gone.  The gatorade packets in the water help (thanks Leslie) and as much as I hate carrying something, my little water bottle has saved my life (to which I owe thanks to Andrea and I'm still not wearing a belt-ha.)
Around mile 18 entering Cherokee Park from Eastern Pkwy, my leg was cramping and I was holding it off as best I could and needed a water refill.  I decided it would be best to stop at the top of the hill, which I think was smart.  I wouldn't have wanted to stop then start from the bottom.  I made it through to Seneca Park and was not feeling all that great, pains in the legs, but pushed through to the other side towards Keiths house.  I made it to Breckinridge and had to stop to cross heavy traffic.  It took me  a minute to get across the road, but it was enough to make it too hard for me to restart.  I walked the last bit back to warm coffee and breakfast.  Good ending to a hard run.

the fog rolling away from the river

  and away he goes...speedy

sunrise on the watertower

Oct 9 Indiana with the girls

Fifteen miles through beautiful Southern Indiana with the Andreas, Lesley and Lu.

I'm sure this is the actual sign my grandfather saw every morning going into work.  Catfish Dotson!

A beautiful morning for a run,  as I am coming toward the bridge thousands of runners are crossing both directions, all wearing pink for the Susan G. Komen race.