Aftermath

So its been a long time since I put an update here. In fact, the morning of the race...

How did it all go down? For those who don't know: 3 hours 57 minutes! I made it in the goal time of under four hours! Not too shabby, although,man there are lots of fast people in the world. We also had a nice handful of donations towards the end.

Story of the race:

Well, I woke up at an ungodly hour and managed to post a little something on the blog. My alarm went off at 5am. The night before was pretty tense. My ipod stopped working a few minutes before bed. Then my parents made it clear they couldn't make it to the finish line. Tensions ran high. I got a little cranky. There was a tag on my number that you need to peel off and place on your clothes bag. The tag has your information on it, so you can retrieve your stuff after the race. I swear TO GOD there was a most ridiculous comedy sketch of me trying desperately to get that thing off intact. Despite a good 10 minutes of effort and shifting from corner to corner, trying to minimize rips and keep the tag in one piece. HA. Seriously by the end, it was in 5 pieces and all crumpled on my floor. I was SO PISSED. In fact, just rethinking the experience is making me frustrated. I dont think anyone has tried so hard and accomplished so little...

At around 10ish, my ipod starting working, I apologized to my parents, and was in the bed ready to sleep. Nerves did not overtake me and I passed out with little issue. I DID wake up very anxious at 245am. I read some and just tried to relax and managed to fall back asleep around 340am and woke up to my alarm at 5. So that made about 6 hours of sleep. Not bad, not bad. Certainly a full night.

With some bagels, I hit the road at 530 to get John. We meet up with Pete and Mike (?), Matt actually I think, at 6 and catch the metro to the starting line. On the metro are almost exclusively runners. And the density picks up and picks up. By the time we get off, hundreds around us. It's 7am and we have a good hour to get all our stuff ready for the race. Couple pees in bushes, I have some energy chews, get my warm clothes off (including my spiffy MCM fleece) and start the stretching. It is mad cold out and still pitch black after 7. We slowly work our towards our expected pace around 740 and just hang out enjoying the preshow. They have Graham Fenton from the Jersey Boys show I saw a couple days before sing the anthem. At 750 they launch the cannons in these big bursts of smoke to signal the wheelchair racers. About 5 minutes before, my ipod stops working again. Man, I got more tension and excitement outta whether that thing would work than anything else. Next thing I know we are pushing forward. Some more speeches and suddenly we are off!

Sorta. Really its 2 more minutes before we work our way up to the starting line. The anticipation made it seem a lot longer. My ipod starts up again WHEW! And I cross the sensor to start the race.

The first few miles were really packed. Keep in mind 20,000 people all on one path trying to settle into their individual paces. John and I run next to each other but it isnt long before Pete and Matt leave us behind. But we rock a pretty nice steady pace. My ipod says 8min miles, and just a little slower for the uphill. The uphill wasn't too bad and really it's just nice running along the tree lined roads of Virginia on our way to cross the Key bridge into georgtown.

Feeling pretty energized, we cross the bridge with the sun rising in the distance. At the end of the bridge is my sister and SUPER CUTE ELIO! A nice jolt of energy that really made the first section good. Then we ran along the Potomac as the sun continued to rise through the trees. It was insanely beautiful and a nice place to take another pee break(yes tmi for yall).

We loop back around and run along some suburban streets and up some hills a bit, but really just enjoying the morning. At this point its approaching somewhere along the first hour or so and I am still feeling great. We pass the Reservoir and the reflections of the sun are just so dramatic. Loop back around and pass SUPERCUTE ELIO again!

We keep going and just chug along lots of things I can't remember or mix up with other miles. But we are working our way to the monuments and where my family is waiting. The energy is still really high for me and I try to make sure not to overrun, because I literally just felt golden.

I remember running underneath the bridges of Georgetown to see Ceci one more time and make my way towards the monuments.

Running along the wide streets of DC and approaching the monuments. I remember the last time I was there... Inauguration with Brendan and Josephine and all. We work towards Smithsonian and then I see the group! I make a crazy Beeline across the course (hilariously documented by Ellaree) to wave and pose for the family. It is about mile 17 (over the halfway hump) and I am feeling great! But that was before those fateful lst 9 mile... Tobecontinued.

NEXT TIME!

Day of

Yes, it is 5:25am. Yes, I am up. Yes, I walked the dog. Yes, I am eating a bagel. And yes, I am ready to go!

The final hours...

I have been SO paranoid about getting sick. Honestly, its raining, people are sneezing around me. It's driving me nuts, Im like a crazy person. I actually tried to hold my breath for an entire metro stop, so as not to inhale the sneezes of someone near me. I also got poured on walking the last 3 blocks to the metro. So, yeah, I have 13 more hours to hang on to before I don't need to care.

I didn't do any runs yesterday, got some beers with Sujan and Steph. Nice ole time. Went to bed at 1am and managed an 845am wake up this morning. The real test will be this "so called" 10pm bedtime. That just sounds unheard of to me. But I will try.

The plan tomorrow is to wake up at 510am. Get showered, ready and dressed. Head out by 530 and pick John up at 540. We will then take the metro to the starting line and hopefully get there by 7ish for warmups, bag drop off and final what-have-yous.

It looks like the parents are gonna leave around 9am and head out to catch me at some place around my 17th mile. Then, everyone will move to the final spot for the finish. I still don't know the course, but I prefer to be surprised. Obviously, it's gonna be nice (perhaps not rainy) and I figure, better to not know what comes next and enjoy the unfolding drama of the run.

Not much else going on. Carboloading a bit. Lunch was Spaghetti Carbonara, tonight is chinese, pork w plum sauce on brown rice. Maybe some more Spaghetti before bed.

Bagel in the morning.

A bit nervous, but mainly about getting sick. I know its just silly, but the stakes are high enough to make me stress. BUT, next post will be the race wrapup!

See yall on the otherside...

Countdown time!

streaminSo, getting East has been a bit more laid back than anticipated. Few evening events, but the days have been spent at the house sans-car and without access to my own laptop (internet poker, streaming movies). Luckily I brought a few dvds.

TShirt arrived! So I have my official running gear locked and loaded!

Recently been doing the herculean task of shifting my sleep schedule back 10 hours in 5 days. Things are on track. I went to bed at 530am on Monday. Then 530 am(EASTERN TIME) on Tuesday, Wednesday was 3am, and yesterday I managed a fairly impressive 1:15am. All of this done with some calculated alarm clocking. I managed to limit my sleep just enough to get me tired earlier without totally depriving myself. Last night was the first 8 hour sleep in awhile and tonight I hope to be in bed before midnight. Jesus, a marathon can really mess a guys night plans up.

SUJAN AND STEPH! They are coming in today?! How awesome is that?! Sujan was manipulated into signing up for the same marathon, but fell prey to circumstance (and perhaps a bit of motivational issues, or perhaps not) could not train in time. He decided to come down anyway and cheer me on with his superawesome lady.

So now, there are rumors of upwards of a whole handful of supporters around. This is crazy, all my other races were done solo. I have sorta gotten used to getting up early, trekking out in the lonely morning, getting to some unfamiliar race, warming up, running, quietly passing the finish line, and then snagging bags of free energy drinks before driving home as my friends wake up.

This will clearly be a bit different. The details of getting to the race are still a bit sketchy. I think I will be doing a lot of walking at the early hours. Walking to my sisters house to meet up with John, then walking to the metro, then walking to the starting line. That I guess will be my warmup. Not sure how everyone plans on meeting up and spectating, but itll get figured out soon enough.

Yesterday, did my sorta final run. I took the dog out and we did a couple miles. Start and stop with Pushkin trying to find places to sniff and excuses not to run. She's a husky? You think shed be excited about a SHORT run. Nope, I dragged her the entire 15 minutes or so. I also sweated up a storm. The air here has managed to replace all the LA smog with water. Humidity. Not bad this time of year, but I was definitely pouring sweat after I stopped. Must make note to drink extra water.

Today I may do a mile. 10 minutes or so. Take Pushkin out. What have you. Also, I gotta go to Brookstone and buy those supernice earbuds for the race. Besides the basic oldschool headphones, these are the only ones that work. And they work, oh so well.

Aight, back to daytime tv. Perhaps throw in a little flick here. Biggest loser is downloading too...

Last longish run...$500!!!

So, today, after 3 days of sitting on my butt, I pulled one last "taper down" run. I figured I needed to do something that would turn my last three weeks into an official "taper" rather than a dead stop. Sure I have been doing a run every 2-3 days, but really that is quite a dramatic decline from even my standard week.

Thus, I hit the beach and did a nice run before hitting the East. Met up with Marina who said she was down for the 10 miles... heh, she lasted almost 3. But sure enough, Evan called me up while I was running (at a pace that easily allowed for phone conversation) and I headed over to his place from the beach and we did a nice run up North along the coast. It was a beautiful little loop with some hidden stairs that take you up and back towards the bluffs. The stairs were a bit fun (like 4 flights pretty straight up) and all in all, hit about 11.4 miles. Felt good, felt like I could definitely keep going without any problem. It was a nice reminder that I can still do this thing. The past week has been bad food, lots of sitting (editing, poker, movies) and just feeling gross - the lack of sleep all week didn't help either. So, good confidence booster.

Hitting the road back to East tomorrow in about 5 hours. Should probably get to bed. I have a couple little short short runs this week. But really, its all about flipping my sleep schedule almost exactly 12 hours and not getting sick.

Also - Donor UPGRADE!

We have some more pledged from a previous donor bringing our tally to an official

$500!!!

Wow. Amazing work guys! Let's see if we can't pentuple that by Sunday (ha!).

How's this for a nice headline

From CNN's front page:

3 Detroit marathon runners die

Posted: 02:44 PM ET

(CNN) — Three runners died Sunday during the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon in Detroit, Michigan, police told CNN.

All three deaths occurred between 9 and 9:20 a.m. ET, Second Deputy Chief John Roach said.

A man in his 60s fell and hit his head, Roach said. The cause of the fall was unknown. The man was transported to Detroit Receiving Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Two other men, aged 36 and 26, also collapsed during the race and were pronounced dead at the hospital, Roach said.

All three collapsed near the end of the race, he said.

The weather at the time was overcast, Roach said, with temperatures in the low 40s.

–CNN's Chuck Johnston contributed to this report.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/18/3-detroit-marathon-runners-die/

Fun times.

UKELILLI ON TOUR!!!

Ukelilli is coming home to start her East Coast Tour! Thursday, October 29th at 8pm, She'll be playing at Madam's Organ, an awesome blues club with tasty soul food in Adam's Morgan. Come and bring folks!

There's a $4 cover. Mention you're there to see Ukelilli! Don't know where Madam's Organ is? Check out this handy google maps link.

Wanna know MORE about Madam's Organ? Click here to go to their website.

Also

*Wednesday, November 4th at 8:30pm She'll be playing at 169 Bar (It was featured in the Flight of the Conchords, need I say more?) Come and bring folks!

$10 to get in. Mention you're there to see Ukelilli! (All proceeds will go directly to her plane ticket to England for the Ukelear Meltdown uke fest!)

Don't know where 169 Bar is? Check out this handy google maps link.

Wanna know MORE about 169 Bar? Click here to go to their website.

If you miss me there OR if you just can't get enough...

*Thursday, Novmber 5th at 8pm She'll be playing at Pianos, in the Upstairs Lounge

Free, and tell them you're there to see Ukelilli! Check out this map to find it, or click here to go to their website.