Here is a map of the Marathon, 1/2 Marathon, 10K and 5K courses.
April 30th, Wednesday: I'm sick. Can't swallow. My throat is raw and I am coughing. A lot more than usual. My long swim tonight will be a short swim and I start tapering.
Leaving the YMCA last night, I realized I have a flat tire. CRAP! Since it was to dark to mess with, I drove home slowly and started emptying out the trunk. I woke up earlier and changed the tire this morning. What a pleasure to do before a shower on a 40+ degree morning. Not to mention, I had a hard time opening those damn lug nuts(sp?).
May 1st, Thursday: Last night swim SUCKED! I could barely swim. Couldn't breathe and all my joints were in pain. My jaw was hurting (sinuses) and my arms and legs were dead. Still, I know Sunday will be alright.
May 2nd, Friday: I was supposed to go last night to B.J as soon as I got home to deal with the tire and hopefully to get Jeremy's new glasses. Of course, the LIRR had trouble and I ended up taking the E to the F to the Bus. A 38 minute ride turned into a 1:40 minute nightmare. Instead of resting my sick body, I had to deal with this crap. Going to the Expo as soon as I get home.
May 3rd, Saturday: Went to the expo last night. The kids were happy getting all the free Booty and all. Saw Peter (wheelchair athlete) again and wished him luck. This year he actually has competition. There would be 3 other p.c athletes as well. He just came from the Korea Marathon.
Lee did the 5K this morning. You can read about it here . The weather did not help me feel better. As of right now, they are expecting HEAVY thunderstorms on Sunday for the Marathon. Great...I was sneezing like crazy all saturday. I bought a hat at the Expo and am not looking to wearing it. We also got new sneakers for Lee and more Glide for me. Apparently tho, we left the glide at the Expo which really sucks!
Started the day kinda weird. I was supposed to get up at 4 to start getting ready but I was really afraid of over sleeping. I ended up waking up at 3 and I was not sure what was going on. I had to convince myself that I did not oversleep and was about to go back to sleep until I remembered that I have a tendency to then turn the alarm clock off. So, I turned on the small light and checked to make sure that I did not. I did not. Cool. Started going back to sleep when I became convinced that actually it was 4 am. Again had re-think this and again checked the alarm clock and eventually went back to sleep. BTW, I woke up at 4 and immediatly got out of bed. Phew, what a relief that was.
At 4:30, I was eating my breakfast when the rain started. It was coming down hard! I ended up talking to the rain and saying to it to "get it all out now and then blow out east you bastard...!" Well, apparently it listened. We had 50+ degrees and climbing. Little chilly but no rain. Good running weather. I wasn't sure if I should have taken my gloves or not. On and off I was hot and cold but overall it was good weather.
The race started before we knew it. I actually missed the 1 mile marker. Some puddles to skirt around and 1 huge roadkill to jump over near museum row but all in all it was ok. You can tell we suddenly joined up with the 10Kers because suddenly it got real crowded.
Normally, the entrance to the Wantagh is the pivotal point of the race. You know you are almost 1/2 done and that the 2nd half is the worst. You're at mile 10 and you are running with 2 or 3 thousand people and then it's just you and 2 or 3 other guys around you. This year it was a little different. There was a maintenance truck near the entrance with 3 guys in front. These guys were not the leanest guys but regular beefy guys. The music was playing, very loudly, "Shake, shake, shake seniorita...." and the guys were sorta dancing. The middle guy who was heavier then the rest was actually shaking/swaying his hips from side to side. It was hillarious. I wish I could have taped it. Made the upcoming seperation that much better.
At 1 point, this guy was handing out gels and I wanted one and I had already passed him. I yelled out, "throw it". He did and as I was running, I reached out and in perfect form caught it and continued running. Man that felt good. He was cheering me on. Reflecting on it now and the fact that I could have fallen or twisted an ankle or some such I realize that it was probably not the smartest thing I have ever done.
The seperation still sucked. Nothing to do about it I guess. I reached the W5 and saw the turn around. Nothing seemed as sweet. At this point, I have not seen my family at all and I was jonesing for a familiar face. The towel I was carrying was drenched and I was almost out of gels. At 17, my knee gave a recognition pain. This was the place that destroyed me last year. I just talked to it and told it to relax and that everything was all OK. Continued running.
At this point, I saw this woman (twice), someones Mom, who was cheering every runner with inspirational messages. You're great, you're doing awesome, amazing form...etc. More on this later.
Usually people cheer you on and you say "thanks". This guy was about to cheer me on when he sneezed. I said "bless you" and he replied "thank you" without even thinking. It was kinda comical the role reversal that we both laughed.
At mile 20, I saw my crew. They apparently missed me by a minute or so before and started worrying because I was late for this meeting. I was about 15-20 minutes late. Got a new towel and more Gel and continued on. Before long I was off the Wantagh with a 5K to go. As I got off the highway, I ran with these 2 young girls, for about a mile discussing the origins of the Marathon.
Finally in the park. Less than a mile to go. I catch up to these 2 spanish speaking dudes. The leader is clearly trying to pull the second guy along. The second guy is dying. I try to get pulled too tho I am hurting as well. I have taken some walking breaks but I am hurting now. Through out this whole Marathon, I was wondering where is Gerry. Last year he caught me and ran away from me.
A guy with long shorts suddenly appears behind one of these guys and tho he is far away, I cannot shake the feeling like it's Gerry. I am dying to walk but I don't know who this guy is.
As I am running, I keep looking back to that guy when suddenly I get CJR'ed or more properly CGR'ed. CJR just sounds better. CGR is Crazy Gerry Racing. It starts with being chased by some guy as he cackles from a far, "OH YOU SEE ME NOW?!?". I am NOT gonna walk this time. I don't care if he wins on time but I will cross the finish line (physically) first!
I accelerate to this mad dash of a run combined with limping fast. I am in major pain now but it's over.
New medal(nice re-design) and a new wind breaker. Remember that glide I left at the Expo? I got chafed badly between my legs. My knee is hurting a little. I now know where my hip flexers are. My ankle is sore and so are my quads.
Good thing time heals all.