| Maps and Such | ||
|---|---|---|
| Turn by Turn Instructions | Map | Elevation Map |
During the Pistol Double Barrel Race, Michelle menioned that she's doing Rhode Island in April and I got all excited until I realized that she's doing the Marathon the week before me. Mine was the first Sunday in May while hers was the last Sunday in April. Oh well. On the other hand, one day while guarding at the pool, I met someone. As you may know, I talk to people. I would like to blame it on the job (lifeguarding is B-O-R-I-N-G...) but in reality, it's me. I talk to people. I don't remember how it started but I started talking to Jean-Richards Chery or Jean for short. He's trying to get better in swimming and I gave him some pointers. We started talking about other things too and it turns out that he and his wife run too. COOL!
I would see him on and off. Guy always, and I mean always, has a smile on his face. Gotta love this guy. We traded future races and he's doing Rhode Island. What?!? When? Oh boy... Winner winner chicken dinner. He and his wife are doing the same race as I am. At least one friendly known face. Cool.
Turns out, that his kids were staying and that he and his wife would leave Saturday and make the expo/packet pickup. I had no intention of making that. I wanted to work on Saturday and then eat dinner with the family and then go so when I registered, I paid the extra $ 5.00 so that I can do same day pickup. That is annoying but cheaper than the $ 20.00 some other races charge. Whatever...
I finally also looked into hotels. He decided to stay at the Hilton which is a 8 minute walk to the start. They provide late checkout so he was looking toward a hot shower after the race before heading home. I wasn't going to pay $ 250+ so I booked a clean and cheap thing for $ 60.00 which was 4.8 miles away from race site. Cool. By the way, Jean tells me that since they are Hilton members, they didn't pay that either. Still, I'm not so 4.8 miles away was just fine.
Now we need to go back a little in time to properly talk about Saturday May 5th. On March 12, 2018, Elizabeth and I made the decision to euthanize our dog LC. It was a very hard decision but the correct one. It hit the family like a bag of bricks. We all grieved. As I said, we knew it was the right decision but it did NOT make it any easier. We weren't sure if we would get another dog. On the one hand, they add so much to your life. On the other hand, you are married to a clock (feeding, walking etc) and to other limitations but as I said earlier, they add so much. We started looking for dogs. Elizabeth and Jessie went to different shelters. I went a few times as well. It wasn't easy for me at all. I just want to take ALL the dogs home. I finally told Elizabeth that I can't do it anymore. They should find something and I'll come. They found something and Jeremy and I went. Jeremy didn't really want to even go in and he seemed very closed off to me. I think he may have taken LC's loss the hardest. It seemed to me that he completly closed himself off and refused to open his heart again to something that he will have to bury one day. I was very worried about him.
Those dogs didn't pan out and one day Elizabeth found a dog and I went. It was just the 2 of us and it was touchy. The dog was very guarded and I wasn't sure it was the best fit. On May 5th, Northshore had their huge Pet Adoptathon. Elizabeth and Jessie went. I worked that noon guarding and teaching. As I was about to leave the house, I got a call from Elizabeth. Here's how it went down:
LEE: I found a very cute dog. ME: That's surprising. I thought Northshore only had ugly dogs. LEE: Yeah yeah. Anyway, she's very cute. ME: How old? LEE: 10 months old. ME: I thought we weren't gonna do puppy. We are not equipped. LEE: Yes but she's very cute. ME: That's surprising. I thought puppies in general are very ugly. LEE: Yeah yeah. ME: Is she housebroken? LEE: No. ME: I thought we weren't gonna house train a dog. We are not equipped. LEE: Yes but she's very very cute. ME: That's surprising. I thought puppies that are not housebroken in general are very ugly. LEE: Yeah yeah. What should I do? ME: You're there and I'm not. Do whatever you think and I will support you.
We got a dog...
Still, that night I had to leave and so I left after dinner. I was worried how things will go at night but the timing could not be controlled. The drive was uneventful and I got there and the room was clean which is all I wanted. I talked to the family and Missy was cute as hell.
I went to sleep and before I knew it, it was wake up time. It always works out that way. I got ready, packed up and left. I got to my last traffic light, waiting for the light to turn green so I can turn right and look for the hotel parking lot. Who do I see crossing the street in his size 15 shoes? Ed Peters. Dude gets around... Too bad he can't hear. I scream out his name and nothing. Oh well. I park, go into the hotel and take care of pickup as well as an indoor plumbing issue. I then go back to the car to drop stuff off and then head to the starting line. Who is still standing there where I saw him last? Ed Peters. Nice.
We compare notes and walk a little. I like to walk a little before races to burn some of those nerves. Finally, it's time to pay the piper. Race starts. We seperate.
What have I gotten myself into? What have I gotten myself into again? As usual, I'm worried and stressed. Can I do it? I know I can do it but can I really do it? Stupid thoughts. I run. I don't know the course. I don't know anyone besides Ed (behind me) and Jean who I have no idea is where. Oh well. I run. That's all I can do. I suddenly spy a runner. Hm... Black guy with a black singlet with the letters "Q" and "S" on it. Hm... Can it be? Yes - He's part of the Queens Silver Striders, a group that broke out of the original Renegades and yes he knows Len Richards and Arthur (Dreds) and Dana and Francious and yes, I know Coach Maria. Oh boy... We run and talk. A maniac joined us and we ran together for a while too. Anyway, the QS guy was Esan Connell.
There were at times, times I wanted to slow down or take a judicious walk but he was having none of that. He was NOT stopping. I had to keep up. I did. At one point, we got to a guy blasting Rocky music in front of his house on a loop and that was cool. Later, we heard it again since the course loops at times. We talked to Nicky (I think...) from Newwark who was going to start NYU. Lost touch with her.
At the start, I saw a huge group of runners wearing orange shirts that have the words "DREAM FAR" on them. Hm... Well, at one point, they came up on us and I asked. A teacher told me that Dream Fart, and then he realized out loud he said Dream Fart, is a High School program that trains HSers for the Marathon. It's full of students (Freshmen - Seniors) and teachers/mentors and they train together every week. Nice! I joked with them asking if this is their version of detention. One of the kids told me that sometimes they actually make them start running at 6:30am on the weekends. I thought that was funny but didn't say so. I know... Not everyone has my schedule.
I stayed with the group and Esan for a while. Eventually, I left Esan and stayed with the Dream Far group. They are a great group and you can read more about them at their website. They left me at 1 point and then they broke up into different groups and I ran past some of them and caught the leaders which were: Amy jo Blotner (Mentor), Ashley Wheeler Ott (Mentor) and Esther (A very young looking Senior). For convenience, Amy was Amy, Ashley, I decided was Ponytail and they kept calling Esther by Evelyn so that was good for me too. I was with Esan for about 14 miles and about 13 miles with the Dream Far group. One mile Esan intersected with them so that's why the math gives you 27 miles. If you understood that, good. Otherwise don't worry about it.
Small pet peeve here: Volunteers - We love you and you are our lifelines BUT please know what you are serving. NUUN is NOT Gatorade. I drank some "Gatorade" and it was disgusting. We all thought so. Later at a different aid station someone told us that it was NUUN. Made sense. We thought they mixed it badly. It was terrible. YUCK!
The course - I should mention that I love water courses and this course was beautiful. Lakes, ponds and rivers... Beautiful.
In any case, I don't remember when exactly but I started looking for some soda (Coke/Pepsi) big time. A few people offered me Gatorade but I refused tho at point I accepted. It was the red color which I do not like in general but this tasted so damn good. At around mile 22, we got to an aid station and (of course) I asked about a coke. A volunteer asked if I want regular or diet and I immediatly ran over to her. Regular of course was my response and let me tell you that I was the happiest runner out there that day. We did eventually hit that short but very steep hill at around 23. Yeah... It sucked. Doable but sucked. Who do I see? Jean struggling up it.
Jean/Wife's story: So since they were an 8 minute walk from the start, they promptly arrived 10 minutes late to the start. Hm... Didn't warm up. Immediatly ran. That didn't help either one of them.
I stayed with my (new) crew. They knew the course obviously. They joked that they need to stop at Dunkin Donuts and get some empty cups because they always finish with a cup in their hand. They volunteered me but I did not accept the assignment.
We got closer to the finish. They tried to explain it to me. This turn and this turn and 2 bridges and you cannot see the finish line until it's too late. Oi. Normally, I would push it right around now BUT I was told that that wasn't going to happen. I was told that we would finish together, the four of us crossing the finish line holding hands. OK... Not my thing but why not..
Got over the bridges and the turns and who do I see? Coach Maria... Running back. NICE! She did the 1/2 Marathon and was looking for people. We ran on and the last turn came up and there's the finish line and my hand was grabbed by Amy which I gotta say was cool.
We finished. Anti-climactic as they all had people there and I didn't. Gave hug and said my goodbyes. Walked to try to find food. I didn't want to leave without food as I was driving alone.
On the way to the food, I saw a guy holding a box of donuts. He brought to his female runner. I think she was his daughter. Me being me, I of course, immediatly went over to them to ask if those donuts were for everyone. The dad started responding something to the tune of "sure if you paid for them" but the daughter spoke up and said "SURE! Take one.". I told them I was just joking but she pushed and my resistance weakened and I asked if she was sure and then it happened. I took one. I kept thinking of Michelle's picture on Facebook. She did Rhode Island a week or 2 back and took a picture of her eating a donut from a place that is supposedly the best place in the world. I must say, the donut was freaking awesome. Good thing too since the race organizers had just run out of pizza and the wait was going to be 10 minutes. Sucks. I didn't wait. I gave my beer ticket to someone which made his day and headed to the car. I did run into the donut family again and thanked them. The donut truly was stupendous. They tried to give me another donut but I refused. I'm an idiot.
Went to the car and changed clothes in the parking lot. I got chafed. I knew it. The only thing to do is to change clothes and hopefully prevent it getting worse. Started driving home. Drive wasn't too bad. Did what I needed to do. Stopped to get food/gas and basically just to get out of the car. Got home and into the shower.
I got chafed. Familiar thing I know. It was much worse than I thought. Much worse. I can't say that shower felt great. Called Elizabeth upstairs to the bathroom so she can put aquaphor on it as soon as I was clean. That hurt too but it's the first step in recovery and a VERY neccessary step.
I swam the next day. I waited for the swim team (kids) to completly leave the pool area before I took my shirt off. Bad enough there were 5 lifeguards there besides the usual swimmers. I looked bad. I knew it. Their reaction was great too. A few weeks later, we had lifeguard in-service and I was still all scarred up. Oh and teaching my adult class was great too as I could see what the adults were looking at. Guys... My eyes are up here! Yeah, sure.
Because I stayed with my crew and didn't sprint, Jean beat me by about a minute or so. It's cool. His wife apparently showed up at the YMCA that first Monday as well and apparently she limped in looking pretty bad. Marc told me he saw her and she looked bad. Still, awesome that they came in for recovery.
Anyway, got Rhode Island. Loved the views. Didn't BQ but didn't expect to. Got chafed and had an amazing donut. The end.
