WHAT I DID ON MY NEW YORK VACATIONPART 1: GETTING THERE

well sports fans, it's been over a week since i ran the New York Marathon, and i haven't given a race report yet. still, i don't even know where to start. what a whirlwind trip full of emotions. i'm still kind of processing it all. i swear, i tried and tried to make it short, but there's really nothing i can cut out. i need to tell the whole story. whether you wanna read it all is another matter, but i'm gonna break it onto 3 parts over this whole week. christ, you'd think i did a friggin' ironman or something!!!!

coach Joe Vigil giving me marathon advice!!!

as mentioned in my previous post, i nearly didn't make it to New York in time for halloween due to a canceled flight (thanks again United!!), but something serendipitous occurred when i didn't make that original plane. on my rescheduled flight from Denver to La Guardia, i happened to notice a man wearing the New York Marathon jacket. i asked him "you running sunday?" to which he replied, "no, i'm a coach." i took my seat and wouldn't see him again until we were both waiting at the back of the plane for the restroom. turns out he was none other than Joe Vigil, head coach for Team Running USA which includes the likes of olympic bronze medal winner, Deena Kastor, olympic silver medal winner, Meb Keflezighi, Ryan Hall, Abdi Abdirahman, Brendan Leslie, Kyle Baker and Ryan Shay. all the men mentioned would be competing in the Olympic trials in Central Park the day before the marathon. we talked about his extensive system of scientific testing and altitude training that he uses with his runners. when i asked him if he had any advice for an age grouper like me who would be running the marathon on sunday, he was so kind and inspiring. he simply said "dear, don't worry about your pace right out of the gate. first, let your body react to the day. wait and hold back a little and don't worry that you're going at a slower pace. save something for later, and you'll really be surprised at what you can do. and i'll be out there!! we'll all be out there cheering you on!!!" i told him how i was a coach as well, but not nearly at the level he works at. we talked about the joys of helping people realize their full potential, and i asked him if he would come speak to my coaching colleagues the next time he was in los angeles. when we got to baggage claim, i asked if i could take his picture for my blog, so i'd have proof that i met the legendary coach Joe Vigil!!! i told him i'd be there watching on saturday, and i was excited to see him in action at the trials, and we said goodbye....

Sushi Boy can't decide.... subway or cab??

......and then on to halloween. i stayed with my dear old college buddy, Wellington, whose wedding i had been back for in may. Well is famous for his legendary costumes that he makes out of foam rubber. one year he was the Stanley Cup. other years he's been a roll of film, a guy in bed, but this year i think he topped himself with the sushi costume!! we had a blast walking around the city while people got all excited about "the sushi guy." we waited for the parade, but it took too long and we were starving and wanting to meet up with his wife, Gretchen, for dinner, so we bailed, but the streets were plenty filled with all kinds of costumes to enjoy!!!! we walked around forever as i snapped away at my favorite freaks on the street. i just love new york for halloween!!!




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the next day i got up early and went out for a quick 20 minute run and then headed over to the expo to pick up my race packet. i hadn't really paid attention to anything that came in the mail prior to leaving for my trip. it's been a busy few weeks with work and travel, and since this would be my 3rd time running the race, i figured i knew how it all worked already. so when i finally opened the envelope two nights before leaving for NYC, i was a little shocked to discover i had been assigned an orange "f" number. apparently the race was designating a special wave start to go right after the elites and the fast men, the orange women's wave consisting of the fastest 9000 female runners. i have no idea how i got one of these numbers!!! i guess when i applied, they asked my fastest finish time in the last year. since it had been over a year since i ran a full marathon, i submitted my time for my fastest half marathon, somewhere right around 2 hours, but i sure as hell couldn't keep that pace up for a full marathon!!! i started to have anxiety that all these women would be passing me by come the race start. at packet pick up, they had the booths separated into wave colors, and i quickly started to size up the orange wave females. let's just say ALL THESE BITCHES LOOKED FAST, WAY FASTER THAN ME!!! i soon started to second guess myself. what the hell was i doing here? i'm not even a real marathoner anymore. i've been dickin' around with triathlon and hadn't focused on my running enough for this race. but why did i care?? so what if these women were faster than me. none of us were gonna win, and i had my own goal to come and conquer. after packet pick up, i walked around and took in all the booths, all the free schwag and even the official race gear. i finally bit the bullet and bought a slick asics race jacket. i'd wanted one in previous years but could never justify throwing down the bucks for one, but this year was my third time at this race, and i'd saved up to treat myself!!! as i continued strolling through the booths checking out all the stuff i didn't need, i heard an announcement over the loudspeaker, "stop by the Powerbar booth to enter the pace sweepstakes and be paced to the marathon finish line by Ironman champion triathletes, Peter Reid and Tim DeBoom. no way!!! how rad!! (yeah, i said rad again) so i made a b-line for the Powerbar booth and started to fill out the sweepstakes entry form. turns out that the winner got to run along with DeBoom for the first half and then get handed off to Reid for the second half. i couldn't fill out the slip fast enough when i finally read the fine print at the bottom: must be able to maintain a 7-9 minute pace. DAMN!!! but of course. that made perfect sense. why in the hell would Peter Reid and Tim DeBoom want to pace along a slow ass excuse for a runner like me? maybe there were faster "f" runners they could pace. instant bad mood now. get me outta this friggin' expo NOW!! there was one last thing i needed before race day. since i couldn't pack or carry on my liquid concentrate form of FRS, i had to locate the one and only place that carried it in the whole state of NY...

a club???

does this look like a club to you? the spacey, neon lighting, the Philip Starck style chandeliers, the Flavor Paper wall coverings??? maybe a high end clothing store??? nope, it's A TRIATHLON STORE, SBR Multisport in midtown Manhattan. this place was so posh!!! nothing like our stores here in l.a. there was even an endless pool in the back for swim analysis. but it felt like home to be talking triathlon with anyone who would listen. the guy who rang me up had just done Lake Placid and had a "bad day" with a 12:20 finish. wow, sucks to be him!!!

not your run o' the mill tri store