Nothing to do now but wait. Doo doo dodoo. Tap tap tap. This makes for excellent blogging, I'm sure.
Here are some of my waiting activities:
I check the forecast for Sunday - a daily ritual for the past week. 60s with a chance of rain. Go away, rain! But still, pretty good.
I bought a new dri-fit t-shirt to wear. It's actually a little on the tight side. I'm planning to wash it and sleep in it at least one night. Someone told me that helps prevent chafing on marathon day.
I'm planning to go to the Expo at the Javits Center tomorrow morning to pick up my number.
Mom is coming to town on Saturday afternoon and staying with us. I tidy up a bit.
I think about what I'm going to wear. Blue is my color. I've got a baby blue tee, navy blue shorts. Even my shoes are white and blue. Hat. Sunglasses. I think I need to wear my fuel belt to have a place for gels, etc., but it has caused some pretty serious chafing on my other long runs.
I read my daily tip on the marathon website. Today's is about having flexible goals. That's OK with me. Since I have never done this distance before, I really only have a rough idea of when I'll finish. Somewhere between 4.5 and 6 hours. Now that's flexible!
I bought letters to spell my name on my shirt so people with cheer my name. I am such a dork.
I take my vitamins. Multi plus "Triflex" (glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM. I've been pretty vigilant lately. Knees don't fail me now!
I think about my schedule for race day. Althought the race starts at 10:00, I need to get up so freaking early, because the start is in Staten Island and the marathoners all need to get there before the roads are shut. So, tentatively:
5:00 am. Wake up. Eat breakfast involving whole wheat toast and almond butter. Drink coffee. Go to the bathroom. Very important on race day. Enough said.
5:30 am. Leave house. Take a taxi to Manhattan bus stop. Marathon buses leave continuously between 5:00 and 7:00 am. I'm sure there will be huge lines, so I hope to leave on the early side. I should take no more 15 minutes to get there.
6:32 am. Sunrise expected. I guess I'll watch the sunrise on the bus. The bus takes us to a park called Fort Wadsworth in Saten Island.
7-7:30 am. If all goes as planned, I should be in Staten Island by now. They'll have food and music and free massages and bathrooms, but basically we'll just be standing around for hours.
Since I think I'll get cold out here, I'll wear a warmup jacket and pants over my running shirt and shorts. These will probably be "disposable" - they have bins for this stuff which gets donated to charity. If I take them off fairly early, I may be able to check in my bag to be picked up at the family reunion area.
8:00 am. Athletes with disabilities start.
9:00 am. Wheelchair and handcycle athletes start.
9:40 am. People like me start moving on to the Verrazzano bridge. Will it be windy up there? Will we have a spectacular view of the city? Will we be crammed in like sardines? I'm in the "orange" start. I think this is known as the "slowpoke" section. Husband will probably be awake by now.
10:10 am. And we're off!
Cross the Verrazano Bridge to Brooklyn! Up 4th Ave in Brooklyn. Bay Ridge. Sunset Park. Greenwood Cemetery. Bed-Stuy. Williamsburg. Greenpoint. Neighborhoods with a lot of personality.
Across the Pulaski Bridge. Long Island City, Queens. Warehouses. Still pretty industrial, I think.
Across the Queensboro to Manhattan! The Upper East Side. Harlem.
Across the Willis Avenue Bridge to the Bronx! Not much to see here, so . . .
. . . Turn around and take the Madison Avenue Bridge to Manhattan! Yankee Stadium. Down Fifth Avenue along Museum Mile. Central Park. Leave the Park and head west on 59th Street. Tons of people and TV cameras here. Turn back into the park at Colombus Circle and to the finish! Woo-hoo!
I have lived in NYC for 14 years now, and I know the course well. I think I have travelled most of it at one time or another - walking, shopping, in a taxi. But this is definitely an awesome tour. I'm really pyched again!
OK, back to work.
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