So, things all set up. Dori, the RD, was very helpful in finding a place. The sugarbush inn was about 10 minutes away from the race start/finish/pickup and seemed really nice. It's usually more of a family place and usually rents for multiple day but I only needed one and they gave a discount too.
So, Saturday, my guys left toward the YMCA and I waited for a cab to JetBlue at JFK. Got there with no problem, went through security almost leaving my phone and wallet behind and straight to the gate. Bought a tuna wrap and some pineapple and sat on the floor eating. Finished eating only to hear that there is a gate switch. Nice! Got up and went to the new gate that still displayed a different flight. Eventually, they straightened the sign out but now it said that it was running late. Argh...
We boarded late but it seems like the pilot was in a rush and he announced that it would only take 45 minutes to get there (the flight is scheduled to take an hour and 20 minutes) and things all good. We took off almost immediatly and had a good flight. Landed at Burlington International Airport and went to the car rental. My turn and the nice lady tells me that I have the economy car but she has some good deals on Ford Mustang Convertibles. I laughed and said "NO WAY!". I don't need that kind of car. Glad I took the GPS with me this time. At Beach 2 Battleship, I rented one for 10 bucks and hated it. It was a Tom-Tom and I not only think it sucks in terms of user friendly, I also could not mount it nad had to hold it up. Yuck. My GPS was amazing and all good except that I brought the address of the Sugarbush Inn instead of the pickup. Called Jim from the road and he confirmed the name but couldn't find the address before we got disconnected. It was a very hilly ride and part of the time, I was without cell coverage.
By the way, my ears popped a total of 6 times during the drive, 3 of them within 10 minutes. Oi.
Checked in at the hotel, didn't even go to my room and straight to pickup. Someone behind me at check-in told me his wife in the car has the address and fromt here to the GPS. Got there and picked up. Pick up was trivial - really nothing there. Got Milk (dinner), Yogurt (breakfast) and some pineapple for desert.
Back to the room. No fridge in the room but attendant told me I can have an icebucket with ice. Done that before. Cool. Up to my room, room # 324 which is very auspicious since Jessie's Birthday is March 24th, and I realize it's hot!
Ok, no biggie. Find the a.c controls, adjust it and nothing. Wait a few seconds and nothing. Play with it more and... Nothing. I go downstairs. The Inn does NOT have any air conditioners whatsoever. What?!? Can I borrow a fan at least? Yup. OK...Will make do. Got the windows open (hate it) and the fan on and it's hot. I settle down and eat and I start cooling off a little or maybe just acclimating.
I realize the only wat to deal is to go to sleep. Just gotta shutdown. Use the heat to make it happen and to just deal. Call home. Both kids are unavailable to talk. One in shower and the other in bathroom so I say my goodnights to Lee and I try to deal. No blackout shades and still light out and hot. Cover the windows as best I can, position the fan favorably too. Set the alarm clock and the phone clock but I got worried since the phone was charging off the laptop which was plugged into the same outlet as the fan. What happens if the fan shorts things out?!? Called downstairs and asked for a wake up call. Fall asleep and Jeremy starts texting. I ignore and go back to sleep. Turns out he only texted twice but I got 5 texts. Hm...Turns out that around midnight to about 1:15-1:30 there was a nasty thunderstorm and LC was scared. He was digging into the carpet trying to reach Chine and trembling and shaking and panting and Lee was up trying to comfort him. Poor thing.
Wake up call came before I knew it and I turned off the other alarms. Started getting ready and I was worried about my stomach. Not enough was coming out but I hoped to deal with it.
Well, it's almost 5 and I decide to get my stuff into the car. Loaded the car and it's beautiful outside. Little chilly but beautiful. Went back to my room and then I realized how hot it still was in my room. Oi.
Got my stuff, checked out and drove to race site. Found what I thought was a great spot. Easy to get out off at race end. Walked around and used the port-a-pottie and started seeing race people. I asked if I am parked in an ok place and she said "No. That they are moving people out of there but since I am a Maniac (MM), I could stay there". Nice. I asked her if she knew who Dori was and it turns out it was her. Cool. Perks of being a MM and she was really nice. But then I found out why we shouldn't park there...Once race starts, I won't be able to leave with car even when I finish...No good. Moved my car immediatly.
Walk and walk and walk and eventually met Tomer. Finally...Recognized him by his bib number (#22). Talked and walked and eventually back to port-a-pottie. Feel better now. Took a picture with the Maniacs and the Half-Fanatics and went to the car to put on anti-chafe stuff. Got all the right places except my nipples. Still regretting that oversight as I got chafed there badly again. I really should learn by now.
And the fun starts or should I say "the climbs start". There's a guy power walking up the hill and I never seem to catch him. The hill was that bad. There are some bad downhills too and my stomach ain't feeling great. Still, I run.
At around mile 4, I get to an aid station and there is a port-a-pottie and no line. There's no point in dreading the run. This sucks. Same thing happened in South Caroline.
If you didn't skip the previous paragraph, it wasn't too bad, right? Still, I digress. If you look at the course map, you will see that in general the course goes up, has 3 out and back sections and then down for a stretch. While down there it loops around and then heads back up. I'm chasing people that passed me while I was waiting. Some of the roads are dirt roads but most are street. Eventually, I start running next to and talk to for a while with Tom Lynch. He is a Marathon Maniac who is running in pink fishnet stockings and a tutu. Interesting guy. I think he said that he is a troubleshooter for a certain type of military aircraft. Cool.
Done with the first 2 out and backs on I am running toward the 3rd. I'm running behind 2 women when 1 breaks off and runs into the woods. You don't usually see that. It's usually the guys but when you gotta go, you gotta go. A spectator saw this and was very puzzled by it. You could see she didn't get it so as I passed her, I yelled out that she went to the "port-a-bush". Took a few seconds of thinking before I heard the laugh. She finally got it. Later, I saw those 2 women again and asked if that runner ever came back and the woman said that it was her. I told her no one saw at all which is why of course we are talking about it. She laughed so that was cool. That's a real runner - no embarassment there.
Third out and back and those 2 women stopped for a second because their husbands were there with their little toddlers. It was very cute. There were 2 little girls who ran with their moms for a little bit. Nice. Out and back done and we passed the kids again but this time the moms didn't stop. I didn't get why and neither did the girls who started crying. As I followed the moms, we got to a point 50 feet away from the crying and they tagged 2 other women and stopped. I yelled to them that the girls are crying and they knew. They heard it all the way and were heading back now. Then I realized they were a relay team. Nice. Four women running together (2 and then 2) with full husband/family support.
Eventually, miles 12/13 and I am asking for if anyone has soda. Gotta get my fix. Everyone says no until I get, "I only have a diet coke and it's warm". I stop and say that's ok. They hand it over and I love it. I thank them profusely. I feel great. During my little thing there, a guy and 2 young looking kids pass me and so I run up to them to see what's up. They are young. First kid is 16 and the second is 14 and these guys have grins from ear to ear. Now, I know that some people are gonna scream "Child abuse" and all that but no way. These kids were enjoying themselves. Their father was behind them and I don't know if it was because they were faster or if because he didn't want to push them but all I know is that these guys were having a good time and I made sure to pump them up. Gotta give them credit and I DO! And the kids are LOVING it.
Eventually I pass them. On to the DIP. It's called the Dip and what it really looks like is a valley. You run down this real steep downhill knowing what you have to climb. It's right in front of you and those little dots are runners. Then you climb.
Made it and eventually that loop is there and they have watermellon. Best. Thing. Ever. We loop around and again looking for soda. We all wish for watermellon. I ask the runners around me who is going to go off course for another slice and we all laugh but none of us do. Heading back home. Hills are tough. Back at the Dip. It's not easier at all.
I see signs for gliders and before I know it I see a glider in the air being towed by an airplane. Cool.
Tom and I are on-again off-again buddies. I see a guy sitting on his porch and having no shame, I ask if he has some soda to which he says Yes. He goes inside his house taking his time and comes back with either diet coke or coke. I opt for the coke. Not only was it flat, it was also Cherry. YUCK!!!!! But I don't want to be a bad guy so I thank him and drink more and run until I could dump it. YUCK!
Eventually, I hook up with Jeff who is a 50-stater. He could be a 4 star maniac too but he and his wife decided to stick with one. He's from Virginia and he told me they drove for 11 hours to get here. WHAT?!? Plane dude...No? Apparently it would have cost them $ 1,500 per person and that's with a stop. Can you imagine? So, they decided to rent a Cadilac SUV and drive down and stay a little and still come out ahead. Wow!!!
We are at mile 23 and we approach a house and a guy yells to me: "Do you want a Pepsi?". I'm in shock. I am so suprised. I asked how they knew and they said to me after giving you that warm diet coke we figured an ice cold pepsi would be much better. Oh my God...My angels. I hugged the guy. Maybe I should have hugged the woman (his mom?) who gave me the diet coke but it was too much. Drained it and felt so much better. Jeff needed more walk breaks but I was feeling awesome. The sugar rushing through me and it was no longer a 5K to go, it was only a 5K to go. Hear the difference? Had to leave him.
Later I found out via Facebook that they thought Tom was me (really?) and they offered him a soda to which he told them that I was coming. Nice! Thanks dude.
Reconnected with this woman, another MM, who will be NY. She got her son tickets to the Yankees and she will do a 5K there that includes stairs. Nice. Talked to her a little and now we are running down a huge hill. That first up after the bridge is now down. Her knees can't take it and I leave her.
By the way, at this point, I have from several people that MM #2 is here today. He ran a marathon the day before and has been sufferening cramps and opted to do the half instead.
On to the bridge and I call the house. I already called to say good morning to Jessie. I had already spoke to Lee and also eventually Jeremy but Jessie was still sleeping. Still, now I wanted to talk to someone and was all alone. So, Lee and I spoke for a little over a mile. It was pretty cool. After the bridge, I was directed to make a left and it was a good thing since I almost made the right. Last climb, still speaking to Lee, looking for the damn turn off and there it was and how cool is that? I crossed the finish line while sprinting and talking to Lee. It was as if she was right there with me.
Last mile and my ears popped.
Got an orange and dying for a soda. I asked but was told they don't have and that I could go to that store and buy. Wonderful. Whatever. Suddenly, a little kid comes over to me. He heard me and brought me a coke for me and my friend. So suddenly, I was rich...2 cokes. Nice.
Got in car and drove toward the Inn. I was already checked out but as a benefit, the Sugarbush tree tennis and racquetball center (pool too) would honor our stay and let us shower. Nice. Showered and it felt great. Luckily they had towels (I asked at the hotel) because I didn't. Drove to the airport and returned the car. Walked to the gate and connected to the internet and spoke to Lee and then started feeling not well. Got some food and it hit the spot.
Flight boarded on time but we we waited a little while before taxiied and took off. Annoying. On the other hand, there was an Air National Guard right there and I saw (I think) a black F-16 and a few others. Nice.
Landed in NYC without a problem and found a taxi. Plan was to take a taxi to the Balsans. They invited us for a BBQ for Ekatarina's birthday. My guys ate well and so did I.
On the other hand, the taxi drive there was Scary. The driver was crazy. He was upset because he doesn't know Queens and Queens is bad and I needed to get him directions. Meanwhile, he took a few reds (real reds not it was kinda yellow red), cut people off and pretty much almost crashed quite a few times. I don't know how the hell we made it alive. I don't care if he used to drive Limos for stars and that he knows NJ and Manhattan and that he is in his 50's and just learned how to text and that he hates the new meters and doesn't like GPS' and the list goes on. Still, alive and that's what counts.