I was planning and hoping to go with Mike and Maria. Unfortunatly they decided to make it a mini-vacation. Makes sense really. Can't fault them for it. If I could have done the same, perhaps I would have. So time to rent a car and it was already Wednesday and I still didn't book a place to stay. OK - time to take care of buisiness.
I tried the first BnB on the website and of course it was completly booked. Didn't really expect to be lucky like that. Tried the next one and got in. Yay...A room with a King size bed and a single bed as well. Spoke to the Innkeeper and booked it. Cool. Set up the car rental. Cool. Ducks all lined up.
Everyone in the house had the whole week off. I took Friday off to be with them. Then I had Lee take me to the car rental place and from there I was off to see the wizard.
The car pickup was for 5pm and I was hoping to arrive (per mapquest) at 8pm. As is, I only left the car place at 5:30. GPS said arrival at 8:45. I already warned the innkeepers to my late arrival so they were cool about it.
After briefly looking at mapquest I saw there were 2 options: The Belt Parkway to the Varazzano Bridge and the George Washington Bridge. I also received a warning that the GWB was all messed up. With all this info in mind, I was determined that the GPS would lead me to the Belt. Unfortunatly, she disagreed and we had an argument with her constantly trying to correct my path. I won that argument and she finally gave up. Not related but unfortunatly, also fought with traffic the whole way until I was finally on the Belt Parkway.
As a side note, I used voice to text to send a message to Elizabeth and in that text I said "Oi Oi Oi" which Siri understood to mean "Are you on your Menstural Period?". I thought it was funny and sent it and then called her to tell her what happened.
Finally on the Belt and traffic cleared to an extent. Much better driving. Drive was pretty uneventful till the time to get of the highway. Just at that point my mother called. I was talking to her as I was getting off the highway. I went from a well lit road traveling 60 or something and suddenly I am doing 30 on a completly dark road. That's ok. Follow the map on the GPS. Make a left per her instructions and boom almost crashed into a fence blocking the road. Wonderful. Finish the conversation and let her figure things out. I'm pretty sure it wasn't my booboo yet it was scary. Back on track. I get to the B&B and goto the parking lot to park. Hm...All spots are filled. What the Hell?!? Wait... There's actually a spot. Cool. I leave my things and go in to check in. It's 8:45 and I'm hoping that it won't cause an issue. Doesn't. Delores and Hubby are real nice. The room is huge, comparativly speaking to everywhere I have stayed at. There's a king size bed and a twin as well. Basically the room is for 3 people. Bathroom is nice size too. Cool.
I take care of things and go to sleep by 10. Bed nice and comfy.
Wake up and eat breakfast and go downstairs to get hot water for green tea. I meet Lisch which is short for Elicia Wise, a beginner runner who came with her boyfriend from NJ. We talk and eventualy I go back upstairs to get ready and pack up. I, pack up everything in car and prepare to depart. I, originally, thought about leaving the car at the BnB and walking over since it's only 1/2 a mile. Then I decided to drive. Talking to Lisch, I went back to the walking idea. As is, as I was ready to go, she and her boyfriend were ready as well so we walked together.
I was getting a little apprehensive about packet pickup tho. Maybe just maybe it's a looong 1/2 mile? I texted Ken who last minute decided to do this race. He was registering day off and so I asked him if he can pick up for me. Cool. Less to worry.
Got there and took stuff from him. Met up with Mike and Maria. I then checked in my stuff and went to the portapotty. Again I missed the MM picture but on the other hand, I used the portapotty. Pretty good trade if you know what I mean.
Went to search for Mike and Maria and they are on a long line to 3 portapotties which is nuts. I told them about my line and that there are 20+ and so they and other people left the line. And now my line is big. I feel terrible but it is chip time so not biggest issue. Also, line was moving faster. Suddenly we realize that they are in line for the only indoor plumbing while my line is NO line and so we quickly went there. Awesome.
Two minutes before the race... We get into position and we start. I got short pants on with a long sleeve shirt and my MM singlet on top. Light gloves also. It's a little chilly. I looked at the elevation map and it "seems" to suggest a hill from 3-4 and from 21-23. In reality, this was a rolling course.
My mindset at the beginning:
Actually that sums up most of the race... It was roling so you were pretty much either going up or down (there were some flats). We had terrible headwinds for about the first 17-18 miles. Plenty of road apples which actually was pretty cool. The views on the other hand were amazing. So were the smells. No - I am not kidding. I like that fresh open field with horse/cow manure smell. And there were Amish spectators sitting there and cheering us on. Every so often a runner would go screaming off the course to them and high five them all. Cool tho not for me. I'm not wasting energy doing that. It was interesting to see the Amish runners tho. In fact some of the pace group leaders were amish and they ran beautifully.
I'm on/off with Mike until he disappears for a portapotty again! I did see 2 boys and 2 girls doing the half. One girl was 11 years old. I know since someone asked. The others were also very young looking.
Still running and who do I see also standing on line for a portapotty if not Ken. What is going on today? Barely into the first few miles and both of them already?!? I continue on.
Up another small hill and I blink unsure if my eyes deceived me. I "think" someone just did a cartwheel. I make amove to catch the cartwheeler. Boom - there she goes again and then she proceeds to yell at another runner next to her. Hm... OK, maybe yell at is a misnomer. She yelled in a positive voice at him saying something like "Superman better not be beaten by me". It was a jab delivered with a smile. Why Superman? He was wearing blue shorts and red socks. The red socks had a Superman insignia on them and had blue capes. He took it in stride. I asked her if she was the one who did the cartwheel and she said Yes so of course I asked her why. She told me that whenever there are people around, she does it to get attention. Cool... And since I poined out some kids on the sideline she did another one. I then noticed that she also sped up afterwards. Of course I asked why and her reply was that since during the cartwheel her feet were off the groundfor a few seconds, they kinda got some rest and they felt good. Hm... Few seconds?!? Really? Still, she did go faster and looked good doing it so who cares.
In any case, said good bye and left her. Running and said hello to a Woman wearing a purple shirt. I thought she was a TNTer. Eventually, I ran into her again but that's for later. Eventually Ken joined me and we ran together. Cool. Discussed TGNY. Turns out that Rob, Jackie Chio's Fiance and now husband, the guy who chased after her from aid station to aid station with the dog let Ken sleep in his car. Actually, the long version is is that after Ken dropped me he continued on. He felt good. Eventually, he didn't. Crashed. He got to the 75 or 80 aid station and wanted to quit. Rob gave him a 5 hour energy drink and let him sit for a few minutes in his car. He completly crashed. Stick a fork in him, he was done. He told me that he made a big mistake by leaving me. Hind sight... Oh well. I can't really fault him tho. As much as I'd rather he didn't, I never wished him ill either. I completly understood his decision and never faulted him for it. He should have stayed with me but how does one know what the right decision is? It's ok...
Scenery: I saw a miniature horse in his yard galloping around like crazy. Awesome. Some people yelled out "Showoff". It's cool tho.
Anyway, we get to a great big downhill. At the end of the downhill, the Halfers turn back. Ken was determined to catch hid brother at this point so he left me. I did catch him tho and ran with him and his brother and the remnants of the 4:10 group. I didn't belong there but figured what the hell... The pace leader, Amish kid, looked like he was just running slow but he wasn't. Worse part was the headwind the whole damn time...
How strong was the wind that I keep talking about you ask? We were going down a hill when a truck came up the hill against us. As runners, you are supposed to run facing traffic but there was plenty of space so that was ok. Well, right as we were near the truck, a great big gust of wind came from the side and I found myself shoved into the truck's path. I screamed and jumped back. S-C-A-R-Y!!!
Up hills we went and the wind in our face. At mile ten, I decided I had enough and let them go. Never saw them again. I was playing leapfrog with this girl named aubri but didn't think too much of that. I did start talking to another girl and we ran together for about 2-3 miles. That was cool. She was talking about going harder soon and I was ok with that but suddenly I realized that I dropped her. What? The hills continued...So did the wind.
This part just sucked. The scenery was beautiful but it seemed all hills and all wind. Eventually we did turn and had the wind in our back but the damage was done.
I did come across a woman whose kids were on/off on the road refilling her stores. She left me. Later I caught her. She wasn't happy. It as her first Marathon and she felt great and wanted to continue running as opposed to walking. Problem is is that she has heart issues and her MD OKed her to run as long as heart rate not too high. It was 220. She had to bring it down. She walked. Unhappy but she walked.
I did come across another woman who was doing her first Marathon. She hung out with the 4:45 pacer and 2 friends. I was on/off with them. Eventually they left me. I fought back to bridge to them and caught purple shirt from the beginning. Actually I caught her at the same place that I actually left her in the beginning. Funny how things work out like that. I did catch the 4:45 group eventually and talked to them. The pacer was a Fifty Stater who completed the states once. Awesome.
One of them was hurting...
By the way, the hill from 21-23 really did suck.
Anyway, last aid station and who do I come across? Aubri. We run together and she starts the conversation by asking me "if it's my job to motivate everyone". I like that. So I started to talk to her and motivate her. She was hoping for a better time and was suffering. I did my job...
Eventually, we came across her daughter at the 26 mile mark and she ran with us to the finish. After we finished, I turned to give her a hug and she gave me the strongest hug I have ever felt. Cool - I like that. Her father also came to say thanks to me. Nice.
I went to packet pickup and got my stuff including the shirt. From there to the food table. They had good food but unfortunatly Passover prevented me from getting a bagel or trail mix with granola and other things. I did take 2 eggs folded over. I would have asked for more but I thought it would be rude. Oh well...
Started walking and ran into Mike and his kids. Cool. Talked and continued to the BnB.
I spoke to Ken who apparently finished about 10 minutes before me. He was in his truck. He found me and drove me the rest of the way which was about 3 blocks. He told me he laid back in his truck trying to keep the vomit in. Oi....
Anyway, I got a hot chocolate at the BnB even tho I was not a guest anymore. They really were nice people. From there on my way home.
Flew home. Really had a good drive home. I did start falling asleep on the wheel when Brickwell called. That was good. I also saw on 2 different occassions NJ Troopers race forward from their hiding places to catch someone.
Besides from stopping to get gas and use the bathroom, I really did fly home. All good until the Staten Island Expressway to the Verazanno Bridge. After the bridge, in Brooklyn, things weren't great either. This had me really worried. I had to return the car by a certain time and even with the 29 minutes grace period, things were getting tight. Still, made it on time and Lee and the kids arrived shortly after so quickly offloaded and all was good.
Picked up pizza from Bellerose Famous. Good stuff. Next morning woke up for 11 miles water run. Lee couldn't believe me I did that before. She remembers the rest day(s) after a Marathon. Well, with the 2,015 in 2015 and the streak, I simply can't afford it. Oh well.
Lastly, I just want to explain why I did this specific race. I actually had something else in mind for April. A friend of mine, Martin Bodek, was turning 40 on April 19. It was his dream to run 40 miles on his 40th birthday. He planned and got permission from the big boss to run starting midnight as long as he had at least 1 friend with him. I volunteered. The race I originally planned for was on the 19 so I found this one. What's special about this one tho? If you do this race, either the half or the full AND do a half in September (Bird in Hand Half Marahton which has one of the coolest finishers medals according to Runners World and me - A horse shoe award) then you get a "Road Apple Award". What's a road apple award? I'll tell you assuming you didn't click the link... They take horse poop and purify it, petrify it and other "ify" words to it and then they mount it on a piece of wood. You can also get it without the actual road apple. How freaking original and cool is that?!? Here's another link for the same explanation if that didn't work.
Beyond all that, really beautiful, scenic out in the open Marathon. Definitly recommend...
