home again

It's been a long week. Left on Sunday for a whirlwind European tour which meant jet lag, a flight every day, big meals, etc. Got some new stamps on my passport, which always makes me feel very "jet set". Was also fighting a cold the whole time and ingested an entire box of decongestants in four days. Anyway, I dutifully brought my running clothes and hoped to run at least 2x, but it never happened.

Got home Friday afternoon. Sweetheart Husband picked me up at the airport. Rain, rain; apparently it hadn't stopped raining since Saturday. I don't like to run in the rain, but decided I should get out and do something - time before the marathon is running out, you know. Ran 2 miles in a pretty heavy downpour on Friday. People look at you like you're crazy. Fell asleep around 8 PM.

Saturday was to be my last long run before the marathon - 20 miles. Since I have literally been doing next to nothing lately, I mapped out a course of 18 miles, including a good bit of the Manhattan section of the marathon.

It was awesome. The rain stopped, the sun came out, and it was a crisp 65 degrees. Went uptown to the 59th Street bridge - the point where in 20 DAYS the marathoners will come into Manhattan from Queens at Mile 16. I've heard this is one of the most exciting parts of the race. The last part of Queens is an industrial area with few spectators, the bridge is covered and eerily quiet, and there is a huge crowd when you come down off the bridge into Manhattan. The rush you get here will keep you going for a few miles. I tried to imagine this as I kept following the course up 1st Avenue.

Instead of heading all the way up into the Bronx (not exactly scenic), I cut left on 96th Street and into Central Park at 90th Street - Mile 24 of the race, another exciting part because then I'll know I'm almost there. Also one of the hilliest parts of the race - the hills aren't huge, but I know I'll be feeling them on marathon day. Instead of heading South, I did the upper loop of the Park up to 110th Street - was afraid I'd be tempted to head home if I got back down to 59th Street. There is no traffic allowed in the Park on weekends and there were tons of bikers and runners out. It had the Fall smell of leaves. Nice.

On the way back down the West Side, I headed into the center of the park just to explore a little - even living in NY, I really don't know the Park that well. Body starting to ache a bit at this point as well, and thought a softer path might be easier on the joints. Inadvertently found myself on the Bridle Path (Pardon me, Mr. Ed), and then ran smack dab into the Reservoir. Everyone runs around the Reservoir. Except me, until now.

Well, it was lovely. A flat, packed surface and there is something so nice about looking at water when you run. I looked online, and it turns out that each loop is 1.55 miles. I should have done a few more loops, because I felt great on the path, but realized I was pooped as soon as I got off. I did 2 loops, found a water fountain, and headed South.

Was planning to do 1.5 loops around the whole Park, but once I started heading South, my body started sending me urgent messages. Once I reach my "limit", everything starts to hurt - knees, hips, calves, bottoms of my feet. Anyway, I ran/walked the rest of the way home, and it turns out I only went about 15 miles. OK.

So that's it. My last long run before the big day. I am definitely "long-run-deficient" in my training. I've done one 18 miler, and only a smattering of runs over 10 miles. That's not just recently -- that's in my whole life! My hydration/nutrition on this run was weak - I didn't have my fuel belt, so I stopped for a gatorade after an hour, then had a gel another 45 minutes later. A few water fountain sips. I still feel dehydrated today, but not nearly as sore as I was after my first 15 mile or 18 mile run.

Looking forward to marathon day!