HAVEN'T HAD CABLE SINCE THE MOVE SIX MONTHS AGO. NOW I HAVE THAT DIGITAL BOX THAT I GOT FREE WITH THE GOVERNMENT VOUCHER. I'M HOOKED ON THE FREE USN CHANNEL (NBC) THAT PLAYS OLD KONA SPECIALS FROM YEARS PAST!!!
THEN OF COURSE FOR THE HOURS I SPEND ON THE TRAINER...
a little video made by yours truly has been featured this morning at LA Observed, described as "LA's most popular blog"
what can i say. it's hard out here for a pimp.
and on a super creepy note, read the post a few up from my video mention titled "Woman lost in towed car died after crash" uh, no thanks. i think i'd rather be eaten by a shark in a triathlon....
ok, back to regularly scheduled programming. off to the gym to do my weights, but only lower body and one arm. i'll tell you what's up with the other arm after THE MRI. it's not pretty, people....
ok, so we're not in Boston, we're in sunny Santa Monica, California, and it's not so cold that this could happen to a man. still though, we stripped down to our bathing suits, braving the throws of fake snowballs from bratty little kids, and ran through the streets (and one mall food court) all to the shock and awe of last minute christmas shoppers. and not just because we're exhibitionists (aren't all triathletes exhibitionists?), but because we care. we care about the kids. and we want them to stay outta trouble by participating in the sport of triathlon. fellow la tri clubber and multi kona age group winner, Cherie Gruenfeld, directs an awesome organization called Exceeding Expectations that has fostered some amazing young triathletes who are showing up and placing well at all level races. in turn, they set a great example for their peers and are excelling in school. you can't argue with that.
AND YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THIS.......
OR THIS...
OR THIS...
but don't get the wrong idea about us. we're still serious about fitness. at every red light, we stopped for push ups and jumping jacks. i shoulda thought twice about that pint i chugged right before we started.....
and looky looky. i've figured out how to post the flickr slideshow right to the blog:
good times. good times indeed.
oh, and i made a video: (don't forget to turn the cassette player off up top)
the view from Diamond Head Rd., mile 25 of the marathon
just got back from Honolulu on the redeye yesterday. man, those islands are just mystical. i've been there every december for the marathon for the last 7 years, and it never ceases to rejuvenate my spirit to end my year with a trip to Hawaii.
the rain didn't turn out to be as bad as the forecast had predicted. the worst of it came and went the first afternoon i arrived as i took my runners up Diamond Head for their last run before race day. i tried my best to keep up with my training schedule, but this was the only rental road bike i found. um, yeah, no.....
no thanks, i think i'll pass...
so i stuck to the weight room and pretty much laid low until race day. we had a pep rally the afternoon before the race where we gave the runners last minute tips to prepare for the next day. the forecast called for showers, so they'd need to cover up with a poncho or trash bag and do their best to keep their feet dry to prevent blisters!!! but it'd still be warm. they'd need to hydrate properly, drinking when they were thirsty but taking special precaution not to drink too much and risk hyponatremia.
me and a few of my runners looking ready to run!!
it poured on race morning!! i was so worried for my guys out there!! it rained on them straight until the start of the race and then dissipated to a about 78 degrees with pretty nice cloud coverage and some intermittent showers the rest of the day. the damage was done though. most had wet feet which lead to some pretty horrendous blisters. at one point even i got caught 2 miles away from my backpack and poncho and had to run for cover under a tree as the rain came pouring down. i covered about a half mary myself just running back and forth between miles 16-20 offering support to my runners. some just needed a familiar face and some encouraging words. some needed ice rub downs, others desperately needed salt, and one even got the second half of my turkey sandwich lunch and a snickers bar. he just ran outta fuel and steam and was in pretty bad trouble, but he was determined to finish, so i was happy to give up my lunch for him. all in all, my runners kicked ass out there, and most of them became marathoners for the first time all while raising a ton of money for people in los angeles living with HIV/AIDS. some even want to go on and try a tri, so i'm super proud of them all!!!
after the marathon i had a chance to rent a car with Graham, Faeron, and Megan and get out of Honolulu, which is pretty much an armpit. we headed for the North Shore to see the true beauty of the island and hopefully catch the first day of the Pipeline Masters competition, but the surf report said the contest was still postponed due to low surf.
us tourists will never learn...
Faeron, Graham and Megan try their first Portuguese malasada!!
after a quick stop in Haleiwa for local delicacies such as the Portuguese import, the malasada, and some shave ice, we stopped in at the Surf N Sea shop to drool over some boards and overheard some locals saying that the contest made a late announcement that it WAS GOING OFF!!! so we dashed back to the car and made our way to Pipeline.
double tube with two riders going out the front and back door!!
we just missed Kelly Slater's heat!!! and i have to say in the 7 years i've watched the contest, this was some of the smallest, saddest surf i've ever seen, and it was still HUGE!!! instead of catching and shooting out of tubes, which is what this leg of the Triple Crown is all about, the judges were looking for more tricks as in the Foster's Expression Session. got to watch aussie, Michael Lowe, in his last pro contest along with other favorites over the years, Taj Burrow, Bruce Irons, Neco Padaratz, and hothead Sunny Garcia who, once again, started a brawl after getting snaked on a drop in while in 2nd place in the final minutes of his heat.
then a nice trip around the windward side before heading to the airport to catch my redeye flight home. and low and behold, look who else was on my flight!!!
so i'm about to take off for Honolulu tomorrow morning. check out the weather forecast:
yep, it's gonna rain up until the day i leave.
SHIT.
oh and imagine my overwhelming joy when i encountered this informative sign at the gym the other night:
OH. HELL. NO.
SHIT. DOUBLE SHIT. SHIT.
now i know what they're thinkin' over there at the good ol' YMCA. they're thinkin' December would be a great time to close the pool for maintenance because it's a slow time, it's cold, and no one will miss the pool. so just where in the hell am i supposed to swim???
oh and this was the best discovery just as i returned from the NYC marathon:
now this, ladies and gents, is what we call A DOUBLE SCOOP SHIT SUNDAE TOPPED WITH HOT SHIT SAUCE AND SHIT CREAM (NO CHERRY ON TOP)
when i read this, my heart sank. this was to be my only shot at a warm up half IM before IM Brasil. that's it. there's no other half IMs this early in the year!!! last year i signed up in December with no problem. guess it goes to show how popular our little sport of triathlon is becoming. so i frantically went online to research whether there were any other possibilities. oh joy!!! i can go to Australia, Saipan, or Irving Texas!!! NOT OPTIONS. neither is Wildflower. just too much of a production with camping not to mention The Kahuna swears it's tougher than an Ironman. then i found this little race on may 3rd just 3 weeks before IM Brasil. a little too close to "the A race" for my taste, but coach said it'd work and i'd probably still do a 4 hour ride the day after . and I ALMOST SIGNED UP, but wanted to survey other peeps who'd done it. then, the night before Thanksgiving i got an email. it was a newsletter email from a race director who's race i did once and have now apparently landed on their mailing list for life. i usually trash them right away without even opening them, but as The Tri Gods are looking over me, i opened it to discover that the Rage in the Sage race out at Lake Mead, NV is NOW ADDING A HALF IM DISTANCE RACE TO THE ROSTER FOR '08!!!! and it's April 19th, just two weeks after Oceanside 70.3. registration opened Thanksgiving day at 12:00am, so i stayed awake to be sure i didn't get shit out (i mean shut out) yet once again:
cheaper than Oceanside 70.3, closer drive than Napa, and i have family i can stay with. guess it all works out the way it's supposed to.....
and that, ladies and gents, is a happy ending to an otherwise shitty story. it's still gonna rain in Honolulu, and i've got to figure out where to swim until the end of the year, but i now have a warm up race to look forward to....
Dr., yes Dr., Lawrence Fong gettin' freaked on the dance floor
last friday brought the most anticipated event of the year, second only to Kona, the LA Tri Club Year End Party, aka "The YEP," aka "The Tri Prom." whatd'ya get when you shed your sweaty lycra, put on your party dress, some makeup and replace your race flats with some dancin' shoes??? well, you get some pretty crazy shit. it's a pretty fancy affair they throw in a banquet hall, complete with a sit down dinner, and DRINKS GALORE. there's an awards presentation with categories such as, best male/female long/short course, newbie of the year, the spirit award, best single sport performance, best non-traditional tri performance, tri nightmare, and member of the year. my friend Renata D'Angelo won member of the year for all her awesome efforts in planning our social events, and fellow IM Brasil participant, Oliver Martin won best male long course for his 10:15:46 finish at Kona. and i might add that he had two flats and still pulled off an incredible time!!!
after the awards ceremony came the YEP Film Festival. the club put out a call for entries to submit a 2 minute film expressing what triathlon and the club means to them, so i submitted this and I WON THE GRAND PRIZE: 2 ROUNDTRIP TICKETS TO ANYWHERE JET BLUE FLIES !!!
note: first, you may wanna pause the music player at the top of this page:
then came the dance party (but the dj kinda sucked). i had no idea my fellow tri clubbers were so dammed funky!!! good good times sharing war stories, scars, and comparing next years race plans. then we took the party back to Gerardo Barrios' house for more drinks, quesadillas (cuz ya know we're always hungry) and massages!!! i had to keep pretty tame as i had to get up at 5:30 the next morning to coach, but it was a ton of fun to see everyone else have a ton of fun. now, for most, it's the off season, but for some fools like me, we're just gettin' started!!!
for full slideshow click here:
sunday brought a mellow 3 hr/30 min. brick. i road around the Rose Bowl and the surrounding Arroyo Seco, then up to Descanso Gardens and then back down past the Jet Propulsion Labratory. as i was headed back down into The Bowl from the east side, i passed my dream house. hadn't been down this way for months, so imagine my surprise when i discovered that IT'S FOR SALE!!!!
anyone got about 4 million bucks to spare??
tryin' to keep up with this week's training schedule as best i can with work and all. then friday i leave to go support my runners at the Honolulu Marathon!!!i can't believe it's been over 6 months and now they're about to be marathoners!!!! gonna get some open water swimming in and some hill repeat runs up Diamond Head, but no cycling. and for one day, i'll head to the North Shore to watch the Pipeline Masters competition. woooo hoooooooo!!!!
180: EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED.... AND EVERYTHING HURTS!!!
looking at the countdown clock is startin' to make me nervous and excited all at the same time!!! it's now officially 180 days, 6 months until Ironnman Brasil. DAMMIT!!!! i recall Bold mentioning that nothing really serious happens until your at 112 (one day for every mile on the bike), so i'm feelin' pretty good about the extra 68 days i'm depositing into the Bank of Ironman.
waking up today, i'm HELLA SORE!!! the swim, bike and run part haven't even been very hard or long yet. so far i've just gone for time. the weight training is kicking my ass for sure, though, and this week i kick it up another 5% of my 1rep max. and i say BRING IT ON!!! it's that good kinda hurt, the hurt that tells you you're gonna come out the other side of this ready to take on anything coach might throw at me. like the climbing that's coming. of all 3 disciplines, it's definitely the cycling that i sucked at and hated the most when i began doing triathlon. for most it's the swim, but i grew up in the water and at the beach, so i love big, choppy surf. it's my only advantage over you cyclists. in my first sprint tri, i came outta the water in 11th place, and then EVERYONE AND THEIR GRANDMA PASSED ME ON THE BIKE. it really pissed me off and made me never wanna ride again, but now i gotta say i'm loving that bike, and i now love climbing. i love it so much that i want this bike to climb with instead of my tri bike. it's like surfing. you gotta have a quiver of boards for all breaks and conditions. so now i want a new road bike. let's see what santa brings in my stocking this year. hee hee.....
last week i also got a great surprise from Iron Mom Jenny who i've just recently met through this great world of tri bloggers. first, a big congrats to her for completing IM Florida earlier this month AND for defending her athena title!!! when i'd read in one of her posts that she'd done IM Brasil, i wrote to her and asked if she had any advice or could impart any of her knowledge to me. well not only did she do that, she sent me her photo album from her trip!!! oh man, it looks so beautiful!!! I WANNA BE THERE NOW!!!! so just the extra little boost i needed to help me visualize where i'm gonna race. thanks Jenny!! and if anyone else knows anyone who's done Brasil, please let me know!!!
on another great note, my fellow tri club member and recent Kona finisher, Oliver Martin, emailed to let me know he's throwing his hat in for Brasil as well!! YAY!!! now i'm not going alone!!!
yes yes, it 's a good day. day 180 and off to the pool........
Thanksgiving day didn't start out too great. i was all set to head to Griffith Park for two different meet ups and activities, but i got a late start:
fog on the highway
10 seconds later
yes, it's true. people in L.A. cannot drive under any adverse weather conditions. there's just one speed here: FAST AND IN A HURRY (while on the cell phone). so when it's foggy or it rains, people do not know how to adjust for such conditions, and our already congested highways get all backed up because idiots cannot slow the hell down and then ram into each other. i got stuck in this foggy parking lot for about 15 minutes which made me late to my bike ride with fellow iron maidens, Cindy (IM Germany) and Juliet (IM Arizona #1). i was actually planning to get there early and get some drills in before i met them, but instead i made it just in time as they were prepping to head out...
iron maiden Cindy
iron maiden Juliet
... just then Cindy realized that she lost the nut and spring to her skewer, so she had to head home to find another one. bummer. Juliet and i went on and warmed up with drills, and by the time Cindy met up with us again, it was time for me to say goodbye to them and head over to another spot in the park. i was meeting up with my friend Francis, his wife Lalee and their new baby, Ligaya along with the annual Thanksgiving Hobble Gobble Crew. we meet every thanksgiving morning for an easy run around the golf course. this year a few of us ran while the others walked and then ran back to walk in with them. it's all about friends and family and makin' room for the bird!!
(from l. to r.) Matthew, Mario, Elena, Mike, Lalee, Francis, baby Ligaya, me (sportin' my Brasil colors), Floyd, Voni, and Cesar
as the morning's activities made a nice deposit in the Bank of Burned Calories, it was now time for the big event. we call it Orphan's Thanksgiving, a tradition started years ago by my best friend, Gail, who's from Chicago and attended by me and my old roomate , Chuck, and whoever else wants to join in. all peeps who don't have family in L.A. are invited to eat Gail's famous meal, and some of us who do have family in L.A. still opt to eat there anyway. hey, family is relative, and these guys are my homies. all together, i think there were 12 orphans/guests this year. the best part of the night was that THERE WAS NOT ONE MENTION OF TRIATHLON OR IRONMAN!!! ok, maybe just one or two, but nobody made the usual big deal about it. i didn't find myself once reciting the usual "it's a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike, and a marathon" explanation. really,i'm beginning to think that i'm somewhat of a bore. when people ask me what i've been up to lately, it's always the same answer: "oh you know, just swimming, biking, and running...." it's kinda refreshing to be around peeps who don't swim, bike, or run and talk about other stuff for a change.....
for full slideshow click here:
saturday, i headed out to coach my runners' 2nd to last run, an 8 miler, before we head to Honolulu for their marathon. as i was putting out the mile markers, i got this view:
6:30am
just when we thought we were clear of the wildfires, they start back up in Malibu again. at last count, roughly 50 homes had been destroyed. crazy. i thought i might have to cancel the run as the last time the fires whipped up, the air quality was too bad to run in, but as you see, the smoke was being carried out towards the ocean. here's what it looked like as i sent the 2nd group of runners out:
8:30am
that's the Santa Monica pier in the foreground and the Malibu fires about 8 miles away. it was eerie how everyone was carrying on as usual, running, biking, and surfing while this stood as our background. later, after my runners had finished around 11:am, i had to get a 3 hour ride in. i was hesitant to stay near the beach as the fires had been burning for several hours now and the wind could shift, but sure enough, everyone was still out and about, so i headed out towards the Ballona Creek bike path...
the end...
2 hours into the ride, i reached the end of the path and could feel the burn in my sinuses. just as i feared, the winds had shifted, and for the last hour heading back, i rode straight into a headwind of smokey air. yuck. still today, the fires have only been 40 percent contained. here's hoping they get it under control without any loss of life or anymore property.
and in the end, i'm thankful that i came away WEIGHING LESS THAN I DID BEFORE THANKSGIVING DINNER!!! really though, lots to be thankful for: friends both old and new, family, my two dogs, my health, two great jobs that i love (photographer and coach), a roof over my head that isn't going up in flames, etc. i've not really gotten into my past and what this Ironman journey is all about to me (more to come on that in the future), but i will say for now that marathon and triathlon have quite literally saved my life. i honestly don't know where i'd be today without having discovered my potential for a life of fitness. i don't even want to imagine.....
since i've been back from NYC, things have been pretty mellow. last week was the first week of my official Ironman base training. it came and went without much fanfare except that i thought i pulled something in my back my first day back to weights while trying to figure out my new 1 rep max at several different exercises. talked to coach about it, and we agreed i'd hold off on the weights, take a day off and then resume with swimming. i wouldn't even attempt to run until the weekend, and by then my back should be fine. went for a mellow ride saturday after i coached. back felt ok mostly in aero position, and i came home and iced immediately. that night i went to a friend's going away party, had two glasses of wine over the course of the evening, and was home by..... well...2am?? all i needed to do was get a 75 minute run in on sunday, so i decided i'd sleep in and go for my run sunday evening to really let my back rest up. in the middle of the night, i started to feel a pain in my left leg and hip, again like i'd lifted too heavy a weight or something, but i hadn't lifted in days!!! slept in until the housekeeper showed up around 10am, and when i took the first step outta bed, THE PAIN WAS AGONIZING!!! i was limping so bad, it felt like i had a serious leg length discrepancy. all day, i could not get comfortable, not even laying on the couch, and still my back was a mess. there goes that sunday evening run. i started to get depressed that i'd missed so much of my first week of base and could not for the life of me figure out how the hell i did this to my hip and leg. hopefully, i'd feel ok enough by monday to go for my drill swim, low impact ya know.....
monday i woke up with no pain in my leg...POOF!!! WTF??? how could i be limping like i was and then just be fine the next day?? i'm not complainin' though. so i got my drill swim in with still some pain in my lower back, but by now the pain is pretty acute and on my right side, right about where my..... yep..... dammit..... fuck... shit... fuckshit....KIDNEYS ARE. i've had this pain once or twice before but not in years, and i've never sought a doctor for it. for one, unless my tonsils are drippin' with puss (sorry for the gross out), I HATE TAKING ANTIBIOTICS. i'm not going to my quack of a doctor, who already doesn't like that i have low resting heart rate from all this swim-bike-run stuff (note to self: must find new doctor), just for her to prescribe me some strong antibiotics that may get rid of the infection but kill all the good stuff goin' on in there too. nope, not gonna do it. cranberry juice and acidophilus should clear it right up. and by today, the pain has lessened considerably, so i went to my shoot early this morning and then came home to rest some more before i'd attempt a run on the treadmill at the gym tonight. i even decided that if the impact felt too much for the back, i'd switch to the elliptical doo hicky. packed up the bag: socks...check, shorts...check, bra...check, singlet...check, ipod...check, shoes...check.....and i was off.
so imagine my absolute horror when i dumped out my bag and found this:
the mismatched shoes
i have several pairs of these Asics DS Trainers, so many so that i write the dates on them to keep track and then phase the old ones out. so in my rush to get to the gym, i grabbed two shoes that were sitting in a pile.....
the one on the right, dated 9/07, is from the most recent pair that i ran the NYC Marathon in (see the chip still attached), and the one on the left, dated 5/07, has at least a half marathon, some 5ks, an olympic distance and half ironman tri in them. and has NO SHOE LACE because i'm cheap and swap out my Yankz from pair to pair.
SHIT.FUCK.SHIT.FUCK.SHIT.FUCK.FUCK.FUUUUUUUUCK!!!
but then i looked down at my other shoes i had on. thank god i hadn't picked my slip-ons to wear today.....
...and my old school Vans save the day!!
and imagine the look on the woman's face next to me in the locker room when she saw me taking several pictures of my shoes!!! got my 30 minute run in, but man did my two feet feel REALLY DIFFERENT.....
CATASTROPHE DIVERTED.....CARRY ON!!!
btw, the pics above were taken with my new digi point-and-shoot camera. i can't tell you how friggin' happy i am. my old one died months ago, and i've been reduced to the camera phone for on-the-go shots. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT KILLED ME TO POST CRAPPY PICS HERE?? i really wanted to get something new with a good lens on it and video capabilities for training rides and what not. saturday, a few of my runners that i coached presented me with a really thoughtful gift of a gift certificate to our big camera store here in L.A. so i'm back in bidness!!! stay tuned for more exciting pics and video as i train through the winter...... as soon as this kidney thang clears up.....UUGH!!
WHAT I DID ON MY NEW YORK VACATION PART THREE: FINALLY!!! THE MARATHON....
ok, so from my mom i inherited my infamous "death stare" and from my dad, the inability to tell a quick story. it used to drive me crazy as a kid on road trips or at family dinners. we'd roll our eyes and tell him, "get to the point already!!" to which he would reply "listen, when i'm done, you're gonna have the whole story. there won't be any questions" but of course we always had questions, most often "what the hell took you so long??" so again, you've been warned. THIS POST IS LONG.THIS POST IS TWO WEEKS LATE. you can read it or not. i don't care. it's my blog for me to look back on when i finally become an ironman. does anybody actually read this thing anyway?? and there really shouldn't be any questions once i'm done. and then we'll get right back to regularly scheduled short posts about crotch itch and cool gear and of course the retarded love life....
map courtesy of nycmarathon.com
i had my traditional pre-race sushi dinner with three of my close buddies, Wellington, my host and dear friend from my college days at NYU, Doug, my best friend from high school, and Ron who made it through Art Center with me. my plan was to try to be as lite as possible. this time, i wouldn't be carrying a camera or cell phone or any combination thereof (i seriously used to carry that crap). in training, i replaced my water bottle belt with a hand-held water bottle strap that has one small pocket for an i.d and keys and some money, that's it. i had hidden all my food in the bushes for all my long runs which posed a problem for race day. how the hell was i going to get my food?? that's were the boys come in.... and the meeting would convene. i handed them all baggies with Clifbloks, potato chips, and powdered gatorade that i'd want at different points on the course. the baggies included a copy of my proposed pace chart so they'd know when to expect me as well as spectator signs for them to hold so i'd be able to find them. Doug lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, so he would see me first at mile 10.5 in Williamsburg where his brothers live. he was to wait on the left hand side of the street at Bedford and N. 4th. Ron's in Sunnyside, Queens, so i'd see him later at mile 15. He was to wait on the right hand side of the street just before i entered the infamous Queensboro Bridge. lastly, Wellington would be my Manhattanite waiting at mile 19, now back on the left side of the street just past the water station. he'd then hop over to mile 23 in case i was in trouble. they looked at me like i was insane. then Doug asked something like, "you gettin' paid for this???" as he politely excused himself to suck on a cancer stick outside the restaurant. i swear, i have the best friends ever!!!! it's always been really difficult for me to ask for help from my friends. i have no idea why, because i know that they would be there for me in a second, but it's still hard for me to ask. they may not be into this whole marathon and triathlon thing, but my friends will TOTALLY HAVE MY BACK when the shit goes down. this was going to have everything to do with whether i was to have a good run or not.
cool pace wristband
great, now i'm cross-eyed....
before i left L.A., i typed out a pace chart and put it in this really cool dryfit wristband that i got as a freebie from Nike at the Honolulu Marathon expo last year. i have never been so obsessive about my pace, but i knew that if i was going to have any shot at running a p.r., i was gonna have to be on top of my pace as the New York marathon is not a flat, fast or p.r. type of course. my general plan was to run/walk a 6:1 ratio for the first 16 miles until i came off the Queensboro Bridge. then i'd assess my legs and my pace and probably adjust to straight running with short walk breaks through the water stops. anyone reading this who says your'e not a marathoner if you walk can SUCK IT. i was trained by Jeff Galloway himself, elite runner and proponent of the run/walk method, and that's just how i roll. 26.2 miles is 26.2 miles however you get there, and you're probably the same wanker who says only an ironman is considered a triathlon. considering the elevation chart and my memories of the two previous times i'd run this mother, i typed my chart up in microsoft excel using a formula that would add all cumulative miles as i entered them until the total time at the bottom was what i wanted. i would start out with an 11 minute mile to warm up and get up and over the Verazano-Narrows Bridge. there'd be some flat miles in Queens where i could pick it up to 9:45 and 9:30. i'd give myself an extra 2 minutes to get over the Queensboro Bridge as it is a mile long uphill. then i remembered how i felt the last time as i came UP 5th Ave. for miles 22 and 23. i asked myself for the first time ever, "why do you keep doing these friggin' marathons?" yep, better give myself 3 extra minutes per mile through that little pocket of hell. ok, guess i better run that first mile in 10:30 now. and just in case, i typed up a whole extra column that would give me a slowest possible pace of around 5 hours. i'm really hoping that my days of anything longer than a 5 hour mary are behind me, but you never know. and so it went as i entered and re entered the per mile times until it came out to 4:36. yeah, i'd be so happy with 4:36. 4:36 it is. then i resized the thing down so it would fit in the little plastic pocket around my abnormally small wrists. shit, i'd be lucky no to go blind trying to read the damned thing. and finally, i decided if by mile 10 when i got to Doug, if i wasn't on pace, i'd just throw him the bracelet. fuck it, i was gonna have fun no matter what!!!!
my view from Wellington's apartment on 14th st.
got up at 5am on race morning even though the gun doesn't go off until 10am. the daylight savings change the night before helped with an extra hour of sleep since i still couldn't get off of L.A. time. so technically, it was 3am for me. ate my oatmeal breakfast and was out the door to the subway. while waiting on the platform, you could feel everyone's nerves, the stares from others as they checked out your shoes, your bag contents or your runner number. then there was the one lady who was so afraid she wasn't on the right train that she got up and checked the wall map a hundred times but was too intimidated to ask anyone else where to go. and she was right!!!! just as our next stop shoulda been Whitehall/Ferry, the conductor announced that this train was going to the Brooklyn Bridge. whoops!! we all scurried to get off, and as i passed the next car, i could see some runners who were still seated. i crammed my foot in the door as it was closing and yelled "this train isn't going to the ferry!!" everyone ran for the door as i held it open. unfortunately, not every car got the warning, and as we stood on the platform waiting for the next N train, we watched as the next few cars carried unsuspecting marathoners to the Brooklyn Bridge rather than the Staten Island Ferry. Damn, sure hope they made it on time.....
you may have heard people joke about the New York marathon that there are two events, getting to the race and then actually running the race. to add insult to injury, there was construction happening on the one and only bridge into Staten Island, so everyone was advised to take the ferry. in previous years, i've always taken this route, but with just a few other racers to avoid the crowds taking shuttle buses and cabs across the bridge. this year was a huge cluster fuck of 38,000 people all scrambling to get on the ferry and get over to the island. somehow i was able to find fellow tri club members, Summer and Brian, to make the ferry ride over with. this being there first New York Marathon, they were a little dazed by the whole production and happy to find someone who knew how it all worked. i had warned them that given all the time it takes to actually start the race, the breakfast they ate before they left their hotel wouldn't be enough to fuel them for the run. i brought an extra Uncrustable and a bottle of FRS which fueled me perfectly, and managed to get a good poo in at the relatively clean ferry bathrooms. sorry to gross you out here, but i have a superstition about pooing before a race. if i don't get a quality poo in on race morning, i might as well go back to bed. but i've got it down to a science now:
pre-race sushi dinner + morning breakfast of organic oatmeal + chocolate soy milk (CANNOT DO DAIRY!!) + a bottle of FRS 30 minutes before the gun goes off
=
A GOOD RACE MORNING POO
once we got to Fort Wadsworth where the start was, we had about an hour 'til the race. usually plenty of time to find a place to lay down and warm up 'til the very last second before you have to drop off your personal belongings bag to the UPS trucks. again, with all the shuttle changes and whatnot, it all felt screwy. Summer's wave start was in a totally different direction than mine or Brian's. she stopped to go to the bathroom and Brian waited for her, but i could tell it was beginning to get crowded at the bag drop off, so we parted ways to accomplish our various tasks thinking we'd all meet up at a certain tent again. the whole staging of the start was different from what i ever remembered, and everyone got pinned in this fenced off area trying to drop off there bags and then exit back out the same way they came in. really lame planning on the race director's part. it didn't help that people panicked and started pushing and shoving. i kinda lose my shit in these situations, not by going along with the flow of panic, but by going off on the super negative people around me who can't do anything but complain incessantly about everything. but i didn't go off, didn't even flash anyone my death stare. i simply got inside my head, trying to tune the whining out, and meditated on the image of me PASSING ALL THEIR TIRED-FROM-COMPLAINING ASSES ALL OVER THAT COURSE!!!!
by the time i made it out of the cluster fuck of whiners, there was no time to waste. i went back to our agreed meet up spot but figured that Summer and Brian figured the same thing i did: "love ya, mean it. gotta run...." and so off i went to try to catch up with the orange wave women's start. got in just in time as we were ushered onto the bridge and heading towards the start line. the National Anthem was pretty lackluster, and then there was a moment of silence for Ryan Shay. there were lots of Notre Dame logos and "RS" written on people's arms, and one woman was handing out black armbands two wear in remembrance. i would be thinking of him a lot today for sure. just then the cannon went off, and the elites were heading out from the opposite lanes of the bridge. THERE IS NOTHING MORE EXCITING THAN THIS MOMENT!! ok, so i haven't experienced the start of an ironman yet, but so far this is it. you can feel the bridge vibrating from the weight of all the runners as everyone surges forward to the timing mats. Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" is playing and EVERYONE is singing along and doing radio city rockette kicks. holy crap, i'm about to run my 3rd New York Marathon, AND AWAY WE GO!!
STATEN ISLAND
while the race boasts that the course goes through all 5 boroughs, you start in Staten Island and then immediately leave. there's a reason for this, and even my dearest friend, Def Stef, a Stagnant Island native transplanted to L.A., will tell you there's nothing to see here. after all, it's where they bring all of NYC's trash. no, wait, one redeeming contribution to hip hop came from Staten Island. WU TANG CLAN AIN'T NUTTIN' TO FUCK WIT. nuff said...... i've heard people talk about their experience of this race with frustration that there are just so many runners that it never thins out. you're always jocking for position and trying to negotiate your way through thousands of runners. i always felt jealous of this description, jealous that i was such a slow runner that it DID actually thin out in the back. in fact, by the time i hit 5th Ave. last time, it felt as though we were the walking wounded coming home from battle. this time was different though as i crossed the timing mat just 4 minutes after the cannon. the crowd was electric as we looked to the view of Manhattan to the northwest. people from all over the world, Canada, BRASIL, Mexico, England, Venezuela, Italia, Deutschland, Kenya, Belgique, Ireland, Morocco, and the list went on....oh and lest we forget VIVE LA FRANCE (more on that later). the cotumes, oh the costumes. Sponge Bob Squarepants, Elvis, Statue of Liberty, the Star Wars Crew, and The Hot Dog Heads (WTF??) i felt good and just tried to maintain an easy pace to warm up. 6 minutes in, my watch beeped for my first walk break, and i struggled to move out of the way of everyone. hey, at least if i'm gonna take walk breaks, i'm not gonna be the wanker who just comes to a halt right in the middle of 38,000+ runners (and more on that later). i'm feeling good, the weather is perfect at about 50 degrees, and IT IS ON!!! mile 1 and i'm already a minute faster than pace, but i feel like i'm going SUPER EASY!!! along the bridge, so far i'm just taking in the excitement of my fellow runners around me, but coming off that bridge into Brooklyn, it's just magical!!
HELLO BROOKLYN!!!
there's a real sense of borough pride at this race, each one trying to outdo and outcheer the others. going up 4th Ave., your sights are set ahead on the Williamsburg Savings Bank tower, the tallest building in Brooklyn. Passing djs blasting my favorite salsa and merengue songs, i had the best songs and beats stuck in my head for the rest of the day!! The Korean church orchestra all dressed in their sunday best played "God Bless America." everyone wants to show off to the French runners "Vive La France!!! Allez Allez la France!!!" ok, cool, you speak French. i get it. the NYFD all come out with their trucks and the ladders extended across the course with their firehouse flags flying. Then as i got to the bank at mile 8, the crowds became so thick at the Brooklyn Academy of Music that they flowed out into the course and crammed us into narrow chutes. another walk break, and i moved to the left of the road where out of nowhere my friend Miranda appeared with her boyfriend Cameron!!! they couldn't make it to the sushi dinner, and i didn't get the chance to tell her what i'd be wearing or find out where she'd be standing, so they just walked out to the street from there apartment in Fort Greene. with 38,000+ runners, WHAT ARE THE ODDS??"hug, kiss, love ya, mean it, gotta run!!!"
leaving Fort Greene, i head into one of my favorite parts of the course, the rows of brownstones that line the uphill Lafayette Ave. in Clinton Hill. even though they lived in nearby Brooklyn Heights, this spot always reminds me of The Cosby Show, and i imagine that Cliff Huxtable, wearing one of his wacky sweaters and holding little Rudy's hand, is gonna be standing out in front handing me water, but alas, Bill Cosby never appears. i'm ahead of pace by about 3 minutes and flying by people as we head up Lafayette, but i really feel like i'm holding back!!! has it been so long since i've run a marathon that i just don't know what my new pace is?? am i going too fast and gonna pay for it later?? i guess i just have to go for it and listen to my body, but so far my body is sayin' we're just fine!!! moving along on the downhill of Lafayette, the crowds are so friggin' thick. i don't mean the cheering crowds, but the runners!! it's difficult to get around people. i'm doing more lateral side to side pivoting like i'm in a tennis match not a marathon, and everyone keeps cutting me off and forcing me to come to a jutting stop on the downhill. i can't keep this up or i'm gonna be in serious pain. watch your step, monica. no more jutting. you gotta float. you gotta float like a butterfly and sting like a bee!!!
next is the Hassidic neighborhood of South Williamsburg. all the kids come out and giggle while they hand out hard candy as their more serious parents, dressed in traditional Hassidic fur hats and long coats, stand curbside. coming up on mile 10, i'm starting to warm up and decide to peel off my under layer and ear warmers to give to Doug. and there he is with his brothers!!! i grab for the baggie, and shove a handful of potato chips in my mouth as they tell me i look great, i'm keeping a good pace and that the 4:15 pace group passed just ahead of me. yeah, they'll slip away, but i'm still ahead of pace and feeling good. "hug, kiss, love ya, mean it, gotta run!!!!" yeah, i'm feeling great, and I'M DEFINITELY KEEPING THE PACE BRACELET!!! leaving Brooklyn out of Greenpoint and going over the Pulaski Bridge, the kids of the Sikh Community cheer us on to the halfway point at the crest of the bridge, the 2nd of the five we'll cross today. as i head up the quarter mile incline i quickly check in with myself and my hill form. stay upright, baby steps, quick turnover, knees not too high, yeah, i'm good, let's get ready to fly....
QUEENS
Queens is just a short visit, about 3 miles, pretty flat before the Queensboro Bridge, so i need to pick it up here. I'm still ahead of pace, but i'm gonna pick it up because i feel like i can, and we'll just see how i do at mile 22-24. the crowds are ok, but thinning compared to Crooklyn. not much to see here except more HAWT firefighters. just gotta pick it up a bit and do these miles at the faster pace i had planned. i'm still taking the walk breaks when i see a woman holding a huge Brasilian flag and others wearing green and yellow face paint. i turn around and show them my starter's shirt, and they all give me a huge cheer. that's when it dawned on me for the first time the whole day. shit, this is nothing compared to what your about to do next year... THIS IS A WARM UP FOR IRONMAN BABY!!! coming up on the Queensboro Bridge and there's RoRo and Shayla waiting patiently, but they don't see me at all. as i grab for the bag i see that Ron has made his own addition to it...CANDY CORN!!!!YESSS!!!! in the days after halloween, i kept craving candy corn and making everyone stop at every Duane Reade we passed looking for leftover bags of it, but to no avail. "hug, kiss, love ya, mean it, ok take my picture, gotta run!!!"the candy corn was just the boost i needed for what was to come.....
QUEENSBORO BRIDGE
this friggin' bridge gets its own chapter of designation. if you aren't in pain yet, if you're not respecting the distance, the Queensboro Bridge will PUT.A.HURT.ON.YOU. the view of Manhattan is ominous, and suddenly the cheering of the crowds is gone, and you're entering a darkened underbelly as everything becomes eerily quiet. there's a med stop halfway on the bridge, and it's filling up with runners desperate to find something left in their legs. rubbing, stretching, icing, grunting, anything to get going again. "don't look over there," i say to myself, "you're fine. baby steps, quick turnover, you know how to do this." the crowd of runners is still thick but mostly slowing down now. i'm reduced to doing some some sort of speed skating side-to-side move to negotiate around these fools. i've lost more time than i planned for on the bridge, and i know that once i get to the crest, it's time to fly again, and then on to MY FAVORITE PART OF THE ENTIRE DAY.......
MANHATTAN: PART ONE
coming off the bridge at 59th st. is a left hand turn lined with hay bales. it always makes me laugh when i see them, as if we're gonna be going so fast we might crash!!! coming around the turn that eerie silence on the bridge becomes drowned out by the throngs of spectators lining 1st Ave. the road widens for the first time and I.AM.A.FRIGGIN'.ROCKSTAR!!! there is nothing, NOTHING like the sounds along 1st Ave. the crowds are now 10 people deep and it feels as though the entire city has come to a complete halt. i also laugh at all the drunk people, i mean DRUUUUNK!!! bar after bar the boozers spill out from every door. "VIVA LA FRANCE!!! ALLEZ ALLEZ FRANCE!" so the boozers speak French too. ok, i get it. i'm approaching mile 17 now and feeling pretty damned good. the i.t. band is slightly irritated, but nothing too serious. i decide i'm gonna stick with the 6:1 ratio 'til mile 18 and then pick it up as best i can. 1st ave. is a series of rollers. if i pace it right and use the few downhills and some gravity to preserve my legs, i'm golden. i'm now a minute ahead of pace, not bad. i think no matter what happens now, i'm cruising for a p.r. but no time for false confidence. there's still two more bridges....
checking my pace..... and stuffing my face at mile 19
Wellington showed up just when i needed him at mile 19. i could tell from the white deposits on my tights that I NEEDED SALT!!! the potato chips did the trick, and i was off again. "hug, kiss, love ya,mean it, ok take my picture, see you at 23!!!!
DA BRONX
the Williams Ave. Bridge into The Bronx isn't so bad as far as incline, but it's got a strange metal grate pattern. they try to cover it with carpet, but by mile 20, you're sensitive to EVERYTHING, and you can feel that grate as clear as if you were running it barefoot. it's kinda torture, but i'm still a minute ahead of pace, and all is good in the world. my right qaud and adductor are starting to give signs that they might seize at about the point on the course where they did at the New Orleans marathon. and by seize, I MEAN SEIZE. i literally stopped right in the middle of an intersection where a cop was yelling at me to keep it moving cuz i was blocking traffic. no matter how loud my brain was yelling at my leg to move, it wasn't going anywhere. "ok, it's not that bad, you're just freaking out. WALK BREAKS ARE DEFINITELY OVER. MOVE IT, LADY!!"
i've always felt that The Bronx gets no respect at this race. as soon as you run in, you run out, but in that one short mile THE BRONX REPRESENTS!!! people yelling "you're in the bronx, baby!!! the best borough of all!!" it's kinda the same as my general love for the underdog, my love for The Bronx. little kids putting out their arms for high fives, little old ladies in their lawn chairs, reggae bands and da kind, irey smells that go along with that. it was a short visit, but i loved it....oh and more "VIVE LA FRANCE!!! ALLEZ ALLEZ LA FRANCE!!" see, they even know french in Da Bronx....ok, i get it....and now i'm right at pace.
MANHATTAN: PART DEUX
THIS TIME IT'S PERSONAL!!!
coming off the Madison Ave. Bridge back into Manhattan, and i'm pretty sure now that even if i walked, i'm gonna p.r. now i'm in Harlem and i'm hearing some awesome salsa music!!! i wanna dance, so i stop to show off a few moves with this sweet old man and THE CROWD GOES NUTS!!! i hear people talk about not revealing yourself on race day at ironman, but i think i just did, and i'm still on pace, so what the hell. i won't be pulling that in Brasil for sure. coming around Marcus Garvey Park, i feel the history of this neighborhood, the jazz, the poetry, and i'm charged!!! the gospel singers just lift me up and propel me down the road. i'm still on pace, and i've got a little left for the hard part to come.
WHAAAAT?
going down 5th Ave., Central Park appears on the right and the crowds are insane. again, we're getting pushed into narrow chutes where i have to bob and weave around the hot dog heads and the French people. it's now the hellish uphill climb, and the pain is starting to set in. i'm now getting a little negative, a little bitchy, and my first victims are the French. if i hear "Vive La France!!" one more time, or if one more Frenchie cuts me off, someone is going to get worse than the death stare. it's not a threat, but i'm just sayin'....
the uphill along 5th Ave. went better than expected, so much better that i forget to find Wellington at mile 23. poor guy waited too long before he realized we missed each other and wasn't able to make it to the finish line. i'm still on pace, and i suddenly realize that i'm not going to need the extra 3 minutes per mile that i alloted for the home stretch. HOLY CRAP, I'M EVEN GONNA BEAT MY GOAL PACE!!!! just then, i hit east 75th where Ryan Shay had collapsed near the boat house. i got more emotional than i would have expected and started to cry. not to get too schmaltzy here, but i really did feel his spirit, at least the spirit of going for it, always striving to improve, going for a dream and following through with it and the empowerment we get from doing all of this. it is so very real and alive in all of us who do this, and i'm not exaggerating when i say that marathon and triathlon have saved my life. now into the park for some more rollers as the crowd starts yelling "2 more miles!! you can do it!!" again, i just thought,"this is nothing now. you got ironman ahead. BRING IT HOME!!!" coming around the south end of the park and around Columbus Circle, i started to read the signs. first, "1200 meters to go" and then "half mile to go", and i just started to BOOK IT. back into the park for a few hundred yards, AND I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE NOW. "don't forget to look up!! get a good picture of this!!!!"
