So we now begin the training for Pam's Big Marathon Adventure part 2. 20 Years later and there probably is a smidge more prep work involved. 20 years ago the only thing that I was running was probably my mouth or maybe the tap on the keg but it certainly was not the marathon. It was an amazing feat for a 17 yr old(don't do the math she'll kill me), who was not a distance runner and in fact was a sprinter, to jump right in and complete 26.2 miles without ever having run more than 3 miles consecutively. That brings us to today. Saturday she ran an easy 3 miles on the treadmill while Maggie swam at the YMCA. Sunday was a 2.5 mile loop in Andover and Monday was a comfortable pace for 5.25 miles on the treadmill, while enjoying Bristol Palin and DWTS. The mood for the training was a little hurried and perhaps a little annoyed especially for sunday as someone was gone for 12+ hours at the Patriots game (the traffic can be BRUTAL) and the training run had to be crammed in. There was also some light weightlifting done on Sunday as Pam rearranged the furniture in the house. This is a semi regular occurence in our house and it sometimes feels as though I'm smack dab in the middle of the Davis Farmland Mega maze. I find myself wandering around, confused and desperately searching for the exits. However, change is good provided I can get my bearings.
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Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
NYC Marathon in the Books
Started out the morning badly as I flubbed the turn the clocks back agenda. My "Go to" alarm clock I manually turned back before bed but then figured out after that it was one that automatically switched. So I went back 2 hrs. Got through that and caught my cab which takes you to the ferry. A nice harrowing ride through the city at 4:45am at about 100mph does wonders to perk your endorphins. Hop on the 5:45 ferry to staten island where you then catch a bus to the waiting area just outside the starting area. This race more than Boston had such an international feel to it. I felt like I was the one from a different country. We get to our corrals and begin the wait until we can move off to the starting area. In the starting area and I gots to piss so I bolt out to wizz in the woods. Come back from that and I see Ethan, the dude who won Survivor, along with 2 of the Bachelor/Bachelorette contestants. I, of course, proceed to chat them up. Move along in the starting area and I am now standing next to Al Roker and Meredith Viera, Shockingly, I decide not to say anything to them. Roker, sensing my stalker ability, was ranting about fans and being bothered. Noticing I was somewhere in the celebrity zone I sought out others but could not find anymore. Race went off and everything was fine, passed the tennis pro who bet Andy Roddick $10K he could finish in under 4:30 and even surived an unplanned 5 min mens room break at the 7 mile portapotty. if you take out the 5mins or so spent in the can and I was right on for an 8:40 pace at or around the halfway point.Got to around mile 15-16 and my sciatica starting going captn bezerko. This was right after I found myself running with and eventually passing Bobby Flay. 
Anti Social dude had his ipod on but to his credit he had no professional runners acting as pacers for him. Flay ended up passing me. Pain went down the whole left side of my body from the back down past my calf and it was as though my whole leg was on pins and needles. This pretty much but a huge damper on the 2nd half. Beginning to think my old, giant ass is not cut out for 26.2 miles. I was struggling to press on at this point and just kept repeating the mantra of "8 miles left, 8 miles is a walk in the park. and so on." Saw Pam and Maggie in Central Park around the 25 mile mark and finsihed in a tad under 4:09. First half 1:57 (included a 5 min potty stop) 2nd half 2:12. Got my medal put on me by Miss New York and proceeded to Walk 4 miles out of the park back to Pam and Maggie, not before I almost walked directly into Alec Baldwin, decked in full sweat-xedo mode and looking rather disheveled. Was it crowded? yes but I don't think that it bothered me too much. Was it more challenging than Boston? yes if you take it as a whole. Boston has more challenging spots (heartbreak, right before 128 in wellesley) but NY had alot alot of little ups and downs and it had miles of no people no cheering (all the bridges). Was I happy? Yes. It's certainly aggravating to think you can run faster and be on target to and to come up short but I could have bagged it and quit and I didnt and I am happy with that. It's a good notch on the belt.
Anti Social dude had his ipod on but to his credit he had no professional runners acting as pacers for him. Flay ended up passing me. Pain went down the whole left side of my body from the back down past my calf and it was as though my whole leg was on pins and needles. This pretty much but a huge damper on the 2nd half. Beginning to think my old, giant ass is not cut out for 26.2 miles. I was struggling to press on at this point and just kept repeating the mantra of "8 miles left, 8 miles is a walk in the park. and so on." Saw Pam and Maggie in Central Park around the 25 mile mark and finsihed in a tad under 4:09. First half 1:57 (included a 5 min potty stop) 2nd half 2:12. Got my medal put on me by Miss New York and proceeded to Walk 4 miles out of the park back to Pam and Maggie, not before I almost walked directly into Alec Baldwin, decked in full sweat-xedo mode and looking rather disheveled. Was it crowded? yes but I don't think that it bothered me too much. Was it more challenging than Boston? yes if you take it as a whole. Boston has more challenging spots (heartbreak, right before 128 in wellesley) but NY had alot alot of little ups and downs and it had miles of no people no cheering (all the bridges). Was I happy? Yes. It's certainly aggravating to think you can run faster and be on target to and to come up short but I could have bagged it and quit and I didnt and I am happy with that. It's a good notch on the belt.
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