I found this race as I was looking for Marathons. There were some pros and some cons and I better document them here.
Cons:
Pros:
So, I signed up and told my running peeps. It would be pretty cool if it's more than just me going. Still, I never assume. Actually, I always assume that it will only be me...
One nice Tuesday evening, I ran outside with Adele and Heidi and I told them about the race. Heidi seemed interested. The way it was set the full and half's start at 8 while the 10K starts at 10 and the 5K at 11 so someone could theoretically do a mixture of races depending on what they can or need to do. For example, you can do the 10K and 5K or the 13.1 and either both 10K and 5K or just one of them and this is for BOTH days!
Well, Jeff and Heidi decided to do the 13.1 and eventually later Adele decided on the 10K. For Jeff, this made a lot of sense. He's doing the L.I Marathon and here is a 13.1 and of course depending on his time, he could do another race.
Hammad also decided to do this race. He did the Tesla 50K in October (without proper training) and that was more walking than running. Still, it was a mental thing and he deserves all the kudos. Here, tho, he was better trained and could really do something.
He asked me which day to sign up for and I was conflicted. I told him that in terms of recovery and going to work, Saturday is better. On the other hand, if work is crazy on Friday then Sunday would be a better choice. Also, albeit selfishlessly (which I admitted), I would rather he do Sunday. This way, I don't have to go alone on Sunday when I am most tired. He agreed to go with Sunday. Nice.
Leading up to this, I told my crew that we need to go to MD row. Tough tough extension to a tough course. Total miles will be 16. Up until then, the longest was 14 miles. So, we met up on a Sunday. It was Jim, Jeff, Hammad and me. Adele, Heidi and Lee did their own thing. Jim's knee was a little sore so he said he might make it the usual route and not join us. Game time decision. I warned Hammad that even tho we never drop a man, today he will be dropped. No, I wasn't being a bad guy. No, I wasn't making a statement. There was a point in this. Doing this Marathon and it's a very "small" marathon, he needed to be ready for the possibility that he would get dropped right away after a 1/2 mile. It's always a possibility but with only 30 Halfers and 30 Fullers, the possibility was high. Hell, there was a chance that would happen to me too being a B2B. Still, I "know" I could handle it. He needed to know what's coming. Better mentally prepared than not.
Still, I did tell him that when I finish, I will call him to find out where he is. I will then run back to meet him and help him finish. Jeff and Hammad will have 16 miles while I will have "bonus" miles as well. That's ok. Gotta do what I gotta do for my buddy.
So, we started together and I told him that after the first down, near Fairway, he should get ready to be dropped. We stayed with him a little more than that, but on the first hill afterwards we left him. I kept looking back and feeling bad about it but ultimatly it was for his best so had to do the whole tough love thing.
We ran well and when we got to Brickwell, Jim told us he's out. His knee was still bugging and he didn't feel prepared for Doctors Row. I get it. I don't blame it. Still, as he was about to leave, he said "there's Hammad for you". I was sure he was kidding. I mean we haven't seen Hammad in a long time but I turned anyway and there's Hammad. What?!? Cool... We started MD row. Northern Blvd to Community Drive. Hills, hills and more hills. Just when you hit the last huge downhill and you think you can breathe, you turn right around and climb that nasty hill you just ran down. Jeff got all excited and named it the concrete waves. It did look like waves. We started together but immediatly dropped Hammad. Jeff and I ran to Lakeville where we got stuck at the light. It's a big intersection and you gotta be careful. We turn around and who's chugging up the hill? Hammad! So, we waited at the light together, congratulating Hammad. Finally we crossed. Still a little more up before the last huge downhill. Dropped Hammad again but as we were going down the hill, we knew what to expect and there he went. Hammad flew down right by us. That's ok. This nasty hill curves so when you get to the bottom, after you turn around, you see a "small" very steep uphill but it's deceptive. As you climb and go around the bend, you realize how long this monster is and how steep it is. We, again, dropped Hammad and started up. This bus comes flying down and we are running against traffic and it seemed like the bus was about to flip over the side or at least have it's left side come off the ground. It's such a tight curve and this guy was flying. Really dangerous. Joked about it but it could have gotten ugly.
Jeff was feeling good (awesome dude!) and he soon dropped me. Good for him! He and I ran well, salivating of course at the smell from Peter Luger's.
Hammad? No where to be seen. Coming back is definitly harder.
I looked at the GPS and we were going to have about 14.5 and we needed 16, so the decision was to go through upper Alley to bring up the total. I called Hammad to let him know and that I will still run with him to have him finish but he told me that he's already on Winchester. What?!? Either he's running well or cutting the course. I hope it's the former as the latter is a waste.
Jeff and I finished and I knew there was no point in calling Hammad if he was that close. Truthfully, he finished between 10-15 minutes behind us. He had just gotten a new GPS watch and I glanced at it. I hadda know...Sorry. He did it!!! His GPS said 16. WOW!!! Hammad still to this day finds ways to amaze me.
I read and reread the instructions for the race and am confused. Originally, when I signed up for this race, I wasn't sure if anyone else was going so I signed up for the shuttle. It's a point 2 point race, so I figured park at finish and take the shuttle to the start. It's only $ 7. There was no signup for Sunday shuttle so at least I signed up for the Saturday shuttle. Now, close to race day, I had a better feel for things. Saturday with Adele and Heidi doing the 10K (Heidi wuused out of the half), I figured they could drop Jeff and me at the half/full start and then drive to the finish line which is their start/finish. You see, the 5K and 10K started at the common finish line and their race was an out and back. Jeff and I had the Point 2 point. Still, I didn't think the race instructions were 100 percent clear as to where to park and also I needed to switch my shuttle to Sunday, so I contacted the RD. Mark was great and asked me when is a good time to talk on the phone. Nice! Love that!!!
Spoke to Mark and dealt with switching shuttle to Sunday and confirmed where is start, where is finish and logistics. I gave Jeff Mark's number so he can call him and officially switch Heidi to the 10K and we were set.
The last sunday before the race, we pushed a little on the run and perhaps I also went a little too aggressive on the abs stuff that Jeremy and I do but whatever the cause, I felt a little pain in my hip flexor. Very reminiscient of the pain I got after the 60K. The swim on Monday didn't fix it so even tho we had nice temps that Tuesday, perfect for an easy run with Adele outside, I chose to nix that run and the swim on Wednesday. Weird for me but on the other hand I stocked up on lots of sleep. Translation: I went to sleep at 10pm and got 7 hours a night which is almost 2 nights sleep for every night.
Friday night, usual dinner and real early bed time since wake up was for 2am. Th alarm came by awful quick but I was good and I quickly jumped out of bed. Adele and company were supposed to arrive at 5:30 so I actually had an extra 30 minutes to mess with.
I initially thought Jeff was going to drive which from Adele I hear would get us there real quick but they decided that Adele would drive which is fine too ;).
So, up at 2am for breakfast and getting ready. Temperatures were going to be 40 degrees going to 45. Not bad. Brought cloths as an option and off we went.
We made real good time and the drive was uneventful. Uneventful until I noticed Adele's eyes closing. That was scary but then we got off the highway and I thought that would wake her up but she then made a left instead of a right, noticed it and try to correct and ended up driving over the median. Scary time. Later another little boboo. Still, gotta give her credit. She was using her phone as a GPS instead of her GPS and she was tired but she ended up getting us there safely and back. Long drive too. Thank you...(again)
About a mile before the resort, we climbed (by car) one of the longest hills that I have ever seen. Luckily, we didn't have to run it. We parked at the resort and I can't remember if we hit the bathrooms first or checked in first but we did both. The internal plumbing was awesome but the check-in was a disaster.
We get to the tables and the people there tell us to look for our names on the sheets. The names were in alphabetical order but the sheets weren't organized at all. Took me some time to find myself (no pun intended) but I did and I got my bag and shirt. Adele pointe at the box with socks so I took a pair. Later I realized that my bag already had socks but it was a good thing, I took another pair because of the Sunday silliness but more on that later in the report.
Looked at the rest of the stuff in the bag and I pulled out a chocolate condom. Well, actually it was a coffee packet in the shape of a condom plastic case. Adele and Heidi looked at me like I was nuts but Jeff thought the same except that it was coffee flavored. Well, I guess he was closer to the mark than me but still...
In classic crazy garbage me, I pulled out a brand new pair of sneakers out of the box about 30 minutes before Adele picked me up. Whenever I try to slowly break in new sneakers, my feet hurt. This way, my feet don't hurt. Love the new shoe smell...
Jeff and I proceeded to get ready, left the rest of our stuff in Adele's car and we all headed to the start line. Before we knew it, I guess he said "go" because we all started. There was a small strip that you had to cross and a lot of people missed it and turned back. I made sure Jeff crossed it. Later, I was talking to someone during the race and they said it wasn't even connected to anything. I don't know if it was or wasn't but we crossed it and that's what's important.
The course was beautiful. There is a lot to say about this race, both good and bad, but one thing for sure...The course was beautiful. The first 12 miles were pretty much a downhill course and we made good time. Some cars did come through and we all switched from side to side. The road itself wasn't great. Lots of potholes.
The course was billed as a "fast" course and a "net downhill" course which for me are synonyms for pain. You pay later for the speed bonus and I knew I would.
Course highlight: We're running and suddenly we see skiers going down a mountain on our right, snowboarders as well and of course people riding the lift back up.
I remember one hill for sure tho there might have been 2. The one definite hill was you make a right to go under a RailRoad trellis and an immediate left away from the big bad hill into a hill. The hill wasn't terrible or anything but it was a hill worth mentioning. I knew I'd remember it not so fondly the next day.
I wasn't sure what Jeff would do. He could have left me and ran by himself but he was content in sticking it with me. He could have run hard, demolished his PR and suffered greatly but instead he chose to hold it back and stay with me. Probably knowing the outcome, it was the right "calculated" decision but who knows. Still, the first 12 miles went by so fast. We were there chatting and it was awesome. I knew the fun would end tho...
I had a great time running with Jeff but one thing was strange. I felt very nausious almost immediatly and I wonder if it has to do with the fact that breakfast was so long ago. Luckily for me tho, I brought with me pretzels filled with peanut butter and here and there popped one in. Heavenly...
Well, all good things must unfortunatly come to an end. At mile 12, we made a right turn. Little further down, he got to his turn around and we left. It was an awesome run so far. Ok...Just gotta deal with an out and back section.
I am not imagining this. I am not being melodramatic. About a minute after we split up, it got cold. And windy. And miserable. Up until this time, I had light gloves on that I alternated wearing them and running without them. I immediatly put them back on. There was terrible headwind and it got real cold. I knew I just had to dig in and deal with it so I did.
I heard that there was a bad hill to the turn around. Seemed rolling to me and the wind did not help.
Adele called me up to tell me that Jeff finished in time to run the 10K with them (NICE!) and that the half-marathon people are complaining that the course was short. I'm suprised but figured that since the full is a Boston Qualifier it will at least be accurate.
At this point, I suddenly see overall male runner coming back at me. He was smoking...Guy ran fast. About 2 minutes after him, marathonjunkie.com Chuck Engle comes flying. Unlike the first runner who was "in the zone" this guy seemed nice yelling "maniac" at me. Awesome. About 5-10 minutes after him, the field trickeled in.
I made friends with Jim or as I nicknamed him "Just Jim". Guy was an ultra guy who qualified a long time for Marathon Maniacs just never did anything about it. In 2010, he ran 14 Marathons and 19 Ultra-Marathons. Wow. We worked together a little and picked up another guy. A guy wearing a Philly shirt. Eventually I had to let both of them go. Later, I saw that Just Jim left Philly guy and I decided to try to catch Philly guy.
Memorable thing: Saw a guy running with a pink tutu. Nice.
Mark told me that I could bring any food or liquid or really any nutrition and they would put it out on the course for me. I felt silly about it and brought it but didn't do anything about it. STUPID ME!
Still, at about mile 17ish, I saw 2 cars parked on the side of the road. Two guys were there and some kids were peaking out. Typical of me, I stopped and aske if they have any soda. They said no and I thanked them anyway and continued on my way. Soon I got to the mile 18 water stop and I grabbed a quick drink. Continuing up the last hill (rolling guys, not one hill!!!), I ran into Philly dude and I told him that I'm trying to catch him. He said he'll wait for me - nice!
Up the hill to the turn around which was a red cone and back down. Past the 19 mile mark and again stopped at that water station for a quick drink. The volunteer said to me "It's all down river from here on". Funny dude...He has no idea how much I wanted to jump in that water. You see we had a water body (Erie canal?) next to us the whole out and back and the current was smoking.
I continuued past that to the area with the 2 cars and don't you know it but one of the guys was smiling at me and holding a can of Pepsi at me. OH MY GOD!!! People can be so damn nice, it's incredible. I immediatly shouted to the other guy that he better hold me off because I am about to kiss the other guy. OK - I didnot kiss the other guy but they had a laugh and I drank from the necter of the Gods. Took it with me and felt so good. Later, as I am running, a car pulls up next to me and it's my savior and he wants to know if he should take the can away to throw it out. Unbelievable. I told him "no thanks and that he does not need to touch my DNA and that I will throw it out at the next aid station coming up".
Continuing on and there is a woman following me. We sort of leap frog each other until we realize it's better to work together. I wanted to run a mile and then break. She couldn't. It was run some/walk some and I decided my day would be better with her and that's what we did. Joan, a 52 year old Grandmother, and I started working together in earnest as the wind (my luck) turned again to be in our faces. I knew it would happen. Always happens. My luck. No tailwind for us. Very depressing but it is what it is.
On and off we ran and walked and of course talked. Close to mile 25, as we climbed another (small) hill, we came across 2 runners who were walking at this point. One of them was ecstatic. His previous PR was 4:45 and at this point he knew that even if he walked the rest he would PR. He would later finish with a 4:30ish think. Dude was having a great day.
We finally came to the last water station where Jeff and I made our last right turn (mile 12) and we went through it passing mile 26. At this point, a guy comes waltzing past us and I couldn't take it. I apologized to Joan who said "GO!" which was all I needed. I turned on the gas and chased. Up ahead, the guy ahead of me got to his last right turn and had about 25 yards to the finish. He turned and I was silently but speedily stalking him. I almost had him when he decided to turn and look back. The panic in his eyes. He took off hard and I pushed whatever I had left into one final push and passed him across the finish line. It felt great and was all in good fun. He and I hugged and all was good in the world.
Took a moment to figure out the situation. We were promised food as in BBQ. Didn't happen. Mark had snacks. You stuck your dirty hand into a bottle and got pretzels or chips or animal crackers. Not happy...but got happier as Jeff handed me one of my sodas. I did get my finishers medal and it was as promised awesome.
Told my guys about the guy who gave me a soda on the course and Joan comes through the finish line. She introduced me to her husband and who was it? Yup...The guy who gave me a soda is Joan's husband! Haha...Unbelievable. He was signed up for the 100 at NJ ultra the next week. Nice.
Few minutes later, PR guy comes in and he's happy as expected. A PR day for him.
Catch up with my NY people and here's the situation. Jeff PR'ed that day and also got 3rd for age. Nice! He ran with Heidi the 10K and felt good the whole way. Heidi ran well until she saw a girl that "looked like her age group" also known as "the enemy". She gave chase and promptly dropped Jeff. Nice! Adele ran well. She always says that she will come in dead last but was never able to do such a feat. With such a small field she managed the almost impossible and came in dead last for the 10K. Nice! Accomplishments all around.
I was annoyed about the whole no BBQ so even tho I brought clothes to change, I opted not to. Luckily, I brought snacks (popcorners) and all I ate the whole drive home was another can of soda and lots of popcorners and a water. I should have put my calf sleeves on but didn't. I knew I would pay for it later...
Drive was uneventful except for the fact that we wasted time because the GPS refused to get a signal. Also, Adele realized we did a big fat circle because of a little booboo. Fixed that and flew home. No real traffic thank God.
Showered, got food ready again and all was well. My mom was there and that was nice.
Elizabeth did see that once again I drank a can of soda. Well, 3 actually but she saw one. She wasn't happy. She told me that she's not really happy about it and that if I want to continue doing Marathons thenI shouldn't drink soda. Didn't argue with her but then again I didn't agree. I understand what she's saying. It is true that I shouldn't drink it but there are some positives to it and I only drink it in Marathons or greater or Ironmans.
Overall health: Didn't feel awesome. I knew I needed to eat badly and to drink. My calves were tight because of the down hill course and also because of the downhill course, I managed to bang 2 toes on my left foot and those poor toesies were very sensitive.
I was hoping to go to sleep very early that night but it just didn't work out. Went to sleep early for me but only got about 3.5 hours of sleep.
I don't remember who it was that I talked with. I think it was Adele but we were driving home and I said something like "I have a Marathon coming up in 3 weeks" and they replied "you have a Marathon tomorrow...!!!". Oops...Didn't even think about that.
Again the alarm went off way too quickly. Still, jumped out of bed and went downstairs. Since Adele dropped us off at the start, we were able to leave at 5:30. Since here Hammad and I were gona park at the finish and take the shuttle, we had to leave at 5am. He texted me that he was awake (nice) and we left. I brought my GPS as well which was good because of something that happened later.
It was cold. Whereas the day before was 40 that ended up at 45, the temperatures now were 20 and going to climb to 25. It eventually climbed to 30 but it was cold!
During the ride, Hammad was so worried about cramping and being dehydrated that he drank so much that he had tp pull over and pee. That set the tone for later. Also, we didn't realize it but he must have dropped his gloves at this point. Later that sucked...
I was tired. Didn't sleep enough for me and taking into account the day before and I was tired. My eyes were closing. I told Hammad I gotta close my eyes for2 minutes. Ended up napping for about 10 minutes. Wasn't like me and I really felt bad about it but I figured if I "have to" nap then better it be in the morning ride instead of the trek home when he will really be tired. Wasn't happy about it but it just was neccessary.
Made decent time and soon enough the GPS reported that we were at our destination except that it did NOT look like the finish at all. It was close. I recognized things but wasn't sure where to go. Problem was that his GPS only takes coordinates and he got approximate coordinates. So glad that I had my GPS. We were less than a 1/2 mile away and the GPS helped. Soon enough we were parked in the parking lot of the Fire Department and then boarded the shuttle (yellow bus). Felt good in there as I think it had heated seats.
People saw my MM singlet and asked if I was there Saturday and I said yes. Started talking to people and all is good with the world. Soon enough, this guy comes on the bus and he looked familiar and I asked if he was the dude who came in 2nd place and he said yes. It was MarathonJunkie.com, Chuck Engle, again and he said that he will be about 5 minutes slower than the previous day. He was right. He came in 2nd again (this time being beat by someone else) and his time was 5 minutes slower than Saturday.
So, I chose not to stay overnight in PA so I can be with the family as much as possible. This of course came at a cost of enduring 2.5 hours twice in a day for 2 days. In English, I was in a car about 5 hours each day or 10 hours for that weekend. It sucked but I think the gain was worth it. Funny thing is is that Lee said on Friday night during dinner "Why didn't you just sleep there?"... Oh well. Still, one guy on the shuttle told us that he slept over so he would not have to drive the 45 minutes each way (sheesh) and that the room they put him in was right under the bar or party room or something and finally at 2am he couldn't take it anymore and yelled at the front desk. The conversation went something like "I have a Marathon in a few hours damn it...". They finally stopped the party and he slept only to wake up to no electricity and no heat. They had a power outage. Later we saw the remnants of a tree that came down, took power lines and rested across the road blocking the course. When I say remnants, I mean remnants. They must have worked the night because their power came back at 7am. Sorry for him but I was glad I did what I consider in my head "the right thing".
We got to the start and whereas people immediatly stood in line for packet pickup, I dragged Hammad to the indoor plumbing. Priorities...
Packet pickup was being handled by a woman who was a little harried and that's all I will say about her even tho more could be said. There was also a guy there and he was better. Apparently Mark said that if you run both days to bring the bib again. I didn't know/hear that so I didn't and he quickly assigned me a new number. I was a little annoyed that I wasn't getting another shirt. I did pay for 2 marathons and I said something and the dude brought me a green shirt. Awesome. I now have a gray and a green shirt and since they are both awesome, I was happy. No socks tho so I was glad I "picked" up another pair the day before. Actually no one got socks on Sunday. Weird...
The vibe today was definitly different than the previous day. Less people and colder temps and it was just different. Saw tutu guy. Told him the weather forecast for today. He couldn't believe me but when others told him that I was right, he said that a wardrobe makeover needs to happen and ran to his car. Later I saw him on the course and there was no tutu.
So, this time I decided to give the sodas to Mark to put out on the course. Yesterday, I did see a bottle of some white liquid out there and decided that I can and should do it too. I was afraid tho that other runners would steal them so I wrapped them in white paper, taped it up and wrote my bib number on it and where I want to see them. I carried it to the start and put them in his truck with my bag and hoped for the best. I hoped that during the out and back they would show up.
Another nice thing about this race is that he offered an early start to anyone who wanted it. Even better, it wasn't a specific early time. You can start anytime you want as long as you let him know. It was 8:20 and some people took that early start. I considered it. I figured finish as soon as possible and the fact that I would be slow(er) and this way hopefully at the end I would see other people but finally decided to start with the main group. Hopefully, it would get warmer.
So, I guess I should talk about the weather again. I already mentioned the temperatures but I didn't mention the clothes. For Saturday, I wore compression shorts, tights and long pants and my toe socks and warm socks. On the top, I wore sleevies, a long sleeve shirt, light gloves and my APS hat. My APS hat was a source of amusement to my buddies as it is frayed but it is a special hat... CJR gave it to me so can't get a new one. Today, I wore the same clothes (I washed them) but added my windbreaker, muffler, warm hat and my thick gloves with hand warmers. Better to be warm than freezeing. I did NOT regret anything I wore Sunday at all. Actually, as usual, my hands were initially cold and hurt.
Started with Hammad but right away he started out very slow so I left him. I ran with a new friend, Kenny. Kenny is a MM and this was his first B2B. He has done 50 milers before but never a B2B. He was very worried. He also stayed over and told me he was doing bike pedaling in bed to hopefully have them recover. He really wasn't sure if he would be able to run at all.
We ran easy and talked and it was nice. He told me he is number 4 on the waitlist to do the Grand NY Exposition 100. Awesome.
I kept my eye out for Hammad. I knew what he was capable and what he could do and what he usually does so I just kept him in view and kept checking on him. In the beginning he stayed behind us. Then at some of the downhills, he ran right by us and eventually walked. He also stopped to drink a lot of water and Gatorade. More on that later.
Our pace was definitly easy. At one point, Ken pulled out a snickers bar and offered me a piece. Donald always talks about how a sneakers bar is a great power bar so I said ok. It was frozen and we almost broke our teeth about it but at least for me, I was able to put my piece in my mouth and suck on it until I could bite. Let me tell you that it was GREAT!!! Haven't had a chocolate bar since the year 2,000 and wow...
At mile 12, we made the right turn and the wind hit us right away. Just like yesterday except much much colder.
Pace? very different than the day before. Saturday, Jeff PR'ed. I could also have PR'ed on the half if I wanted. We did well. Today, the pace was EASY! We were much slower and it was fine. Somewhere betwen 12 and 13, Hammad started having issues. I could tell. Somewhere after 13, I decided to let Ken leave. I was tired anyway but I also was worried about Hammad. He did what he could. He ran. He ate his sandwich and he drank more and more water and Gatorade. I was trying to have him run a mile and then walk a minute at either each mile marker or aid station. In the beginning, that wasn't hard. As we progressed forward, it got harder and harder. Didn't help that also at this point, his bladder was saying in a loud voice ENOUGH!
So, without too much TMI, let me just say that he had to pee. A lot. At one point, I think he was going every 5-10 minutes. Oi...
We saw some of the faster runners head back. Chuck Engle in 2nd place again. Without a tutu tutu guy and others. Hammad got annoyed even before the 12 mile mark at a 66 year old who passed us. That was his goal and motivation but we never saw him again. Perhaps we did on the way back? I don't know.
Eventually we spied a woman up way ahead. She was overweight and we later found out she did an early start and started at 8. The thing about her is that did it right. She ran when she could and when she couldn't, she resorted to power walking. Not baby little steps. I mean walking hard and fast. We were gaining on her, ever slowly catching up to her, when we both encountered a hill. She power walked it while we trudged and we stopped making headway into her. Perhaps we even lost ground. I explained to Hammad how you truly can't judge a book by it's cover and I have seen things like before, specifically a "heavy" woman who could climb on the bike really well. She wasn't exceptionally fast on the down and flat but the uphill...
Anyway, we did eventually catch her and I told her how awesome she is.
The turn around was close and now all the aid stations were self-serve. Yesterday, a BMW with 4 kids was driving up and down the course, re-stocking things. Actually, Joan and I on Saturday got the last 2 cups at an aid station before it was re-stocked. Today, I didn't see them too much. They were volunteers from the local track club. Anyway, we get to the last one aid station before the turn around and Ken heads our way and he tells us it's near. We climb the final hill and what the hell?!? There's 3 turn arounds....We went to the furthest one. After that things got very annoying as each mile marker was there twice. Mark tried to correct the course or somesuch and there were 2 19's and 2 20's etc. Did not appreciate it.
Still it was nice to see that my sodas made it on to the course. Now, I just had to figure out when to drink them. Hammad's bladder was now on overtime and that's something that he will just have to learn to adjust. Luckily for him, it was a small rural race. Can't pee at the side of the road at big Marathons. Gotta stand in line at the port-a-potties bub...That's ok tho.
We get passed by an older gentleman who has been doing Marathons for 30 years. I think he said he has done 300 or so. Wow...This guy wasn't super fast but he knew his pace. He knew exactly how to control his pace so he could go his fastest and not stop. He freaked hammad out a little but such is life. That guy has mucho experience under his belt and that's hard to mess with.
I gotta mention the temperature and the course again. As I said previously, the course is beautiful and during this horrible out and back, you have a water body next to you. I think it's the erie canal maybe? Anyway it was beautiful and I so wanted to jump in the water but it was cold and remember that headwind going toward the turnaround? The wind that was now supposed to be in our back??? Yeah...Just like yesterday, it turned again. Love it. Headwind for 6.5 miles only to turn and have it in your face again.
By the way, other runners (for example Adele) said the same exact thing about the wind changing direction.
Nothing to do but plod onward. We saw a MM still going out and he looked terrible. I ran over to him asking him if he's ok and he told me that he has a titanium screw in his ankle and it acts up when it's cold. It was cold. He was in a lot of pain. He thought there was only a mile to go to the turn around. I told him the truth...He had between 3 and 4 miles to go. Heart ache...
I was looking for those kids in the beemer. I was going to ask them to check up on him, to bring him food or my last soda but I never saw them again. Oh well. I knew he would finish but he was in a lot of pain and had lots of miles.
At one point there was a hose, seemingly hung by nothing in space, with water coming out of it. I saw it yesterday and I saw it today but today I saw a cup hanging on some shrubs near by as well. I showed it to Hammad who was amazed that I could still see and discover things. Hey, gotta "enjoy" yourself out there.
Well, eventually we got to where we made the right turn at mile 12 and therefore soon after mile 26. That sacred number that means the end is near. Hammad was tired but at this point he wasn't going to walk. I was wondering if he would try to sprint. He didn't. He was that tired. I could have. Wasn't going to tho. I went this far with him, may as well stick with him till the end.
We finished and he was happy. He should be. This is definitly something to be proud of. We both got beer cups and since I mentioned the "special recognition to MM's", Mark gave me an overall trophy. Not sure about my feelings about it but whatever. I just don't know if all the MMers got it or just the squeaky wheels. Same goes with the fact that I got 2 shirts. Whatever...
We got our stuff and went to his van. Changed clothes and put on the calf sleeve. Ate a little but this time when I saw Wendy's I asked Hammad to stop. Had a Spicy Chicken Sandwich and Chicken Nuggets. They were amazing. The one food I crave during Marathons...
Drive home was uneventful except for a little (maybe) screwup.
Hammad decided not to listen to the GPS and go his way. I immediatly noticed the GPS ETA get slower by 20 minutes. Not happy...but later I realized that who knows what we escaped from. Maybe it would have been 20 minutes faster if we would have listened to the GPS. On the other hand maybe it would have been 40 minutes later if we had listened to her. I don't care. We got home safe and sound after running a Marathon. Who cares about anything else?
At home, only Jeremy and LC were there. Lee and Jessie went shopping and were going to bring pizza back home. Jeremy went to the bathroom to read and I went upstairs to shower. Took all my clothes off to go in and right before I started the water, Hammad calls. I forgot my shoes in his car (I switched to my crocs) and he's coming right over.I told him to forget it but he said he's almost there. Oi. Jeremy in bathroom and I'm nudie...What to do...? Thought about having him leave my sneakers outside then I realized he might be in pain so getting in and out of car might be painful. I went outside barefoot and wearing a towel on my waist. No shirt, no shoes, no service, right? Wrong...Just a towel around me and he thought I was nuts. Got my sneakers, didn't drop my towel and all is well. Shower felt awesome.
Overall feeling for the next few days: I had 2 black toenails that were tender. Nothing to do about that. In fact, when I swam on the Wednesday following, it felt like my toenails would rip off. They didn't and I still have them now (04/03/14). They aren't coming off. My calves were super tight. Not painful but very tight. Back 2 Back races are fine todo as the courses are always different. Here it was exactly the same punishment 2 days in a row with a long time in a car to bot. Small car on 1 day didn't help things. It doesn't matter. I'm glad I went. It's a good training for the 100 miler in June.
Hammad: He did awesome. This was his first sortoff. He did the Tesla 50K trail bu there he walked more than he ran. Here he clearly ran more than he walked. The 50K he did in 9.5 hours. This one was in 5:15. Obviously a huge improvment. I'm very proud of him and he should be too.
I was hoping to hook up with Arlene but her schedule was such that it didn't happen. Instead my Monday, instead of it being all RnR, was crazy. Woke up early. Dropped Jessie off, then Jeremy then Elizabeth. Back to Jessie's school to volunteer at the Purim Carnival. From there went to fix a flat and then back to her school for early dismissal. From there took her and her friend to eat pizza at Naiomi's and then home so they could work on their project. While they worked, I walked LC. Then back in the car with them to pick up Elizabeth and then to Flushing Meadow Park to get Jeremy from his Tennis match. Then dropped off Camilla at home and back home. Wow...Tired just from recounting that. Sucks about not having the massage but glad to have spent time with Jessie.
I thought it would be interesting to monitor my weight during this weekend. I weighed myself before I left the house in the am to go to the race and after I got home and officially ate dinner. Whatever I ate or drank on the course or on the way home was reflected in these numbers.
| Saturday | Sunday | Monday | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre | 156.8 | 153.8 | 154.0 |
| Post | 151.2 | 153.0 | N/A |
| Post | 151.2 | 153.0 | N/A |