Preparation H

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Kevin Hodge
Poor Sparky Prod

At the athlete village. It seems a lot more crowded than last year. Not sure why. I’m starting earlier but only by 20 minutes.

On shuttle bus. Verazzano in the distance.

The bus just braked very abruptly. People standing hanging on for dear life. A blonde lady ends up in my lap.

About to dock in stat island.

“Wipe off your cheek
Roll down your window and speak
Words can’t break glass
What if we never come back?”

“Moving Target” – Chris Trapper

I’m not certain, but I believe the song is actually about being in a confrontational situation with someone close to you. Say what you mean now because we may never be here again.

My friend Dominic went in for surgery and died several days later due to complications. He didn’t know he might not come back home. At least I don’t think he did. The only hint that he might have known was that a couple days before he was due to go in, he emailed me (we emailed each other quite a bit) and asked me to call him. I did and we talked and I didn’t think much of it.

I know these are the breaks. I know this is how life works. But I also know that 12 years later it’s still bullshit that he’s gone. As it was last year, my run tomorrow is dedicated to the memory and soul of Dominic Melita.

Robert Loggia

I came across a thread on a running forum. The title was “what you wish you knew when you did your 1st marathon.” I love this response and was fortunate enough to have read it before I ran my first last year:

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RE: What you wish you knew when you did your 1st marathon

I guess the best advice I got was at the start line of the Dublin City Marathon, my first one.
I was standing next to an older gent and I was nervous as hell. I asked how many marathons he had done this Marathon.
He replied, “24″
Really, “You just missed one.”
“Yes the first one.”
“Wow” I was amazed.
He asked, “How many for you?”
Nervously I replied, “This is my first.”
He said these words, “I wish I was you.”

I tell every person that is doing their first one that story. Savor the run as much as you can, because there is that moment at 20 miles or 22 where you are in new territory where your body has not been.

It is cool.
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Yes it is.

So two more easy runs and then the longest of the long. My bib # is 39357. I’m starting in Wave 2 which will go at 10:00. Unfortunately, I’m in the green start which means that I’m on the lower level of the Verrazano. The forecast calls for R Kelly-type showers.

Athlete Alert

Just in case you’d like to track me sucking wind in almost real time, Athlete Alert is live (although it’s unbelievably slow right now). You can enter an email address and “splits will be reported at every 5K mark along the course as well as the half-marathon mark (13.1 miles/21.1K), and the finish. This service is free and is a great way to keep track of the pace and location of your favorite runners. To sign up you will simply need the names of the runners you wish to track and, of course, the e-mail address to which the splits should be delivered.”

You can also receive these alerts as text messages to your cell phone. To do this, you would use your 10 digit phone number followed by the domain name that corresponds to your cell phone provider. Use this as your guide:

AT&T / Cingular: 10 digits@txt.att.net or 10 digits@cingularME.com
T-Mobile: 10 digits@tmomail.net
Verizon: 10 digits@vtext.com
Sprint: 10 digits@messaging.sprintpcs.com

I will be live-blogging from Fort Wadsworth, so check here early and often on Sunday morn.

update: 9 days to NY. The leg feels good. It’s my neck that hurts these days. It just started yesterday. Shooting pain that happens every now and then. It radiates from the base of my neck up into my temples and behind my eyes. It’s not consistent, some times on the left, some times on the right. I’m hoping I just slept on it wrong. Anyway… . Rereading this, there’s a lot of detail about getting to the race and not much about the race itself. I think that’s because I was so traumatized.

I ended up pulling a 89 on that Anatomy/Physiology exam, btw.

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Saturday – The iliotibial band in my left leg has been bothering me for quite a while now, so the full marathon is out of the question. I email the race director on Thursday, explain my injury and ask that I be bumped down to the half marathon. Get an email back on Friday morning saying that everything is a go.

brooklyn battery tunnel	Leave Brooklyn Saturday morning at about 10. Packet pickup is open until 7:00, so I should be there in plenty of time.
west side highway	Cruising up the west side. My index finger is blurry.
the moutaineer	The Mountaineer, a great outdoor sporting/equipment store in Keene Valley, NY, the location of Stabbin’ Cabin ‘06. Don’t stop; There is a prison.
	Getting higher and more secluded. Every once in a while a town will pop up. You’ll slow down, maybe stop at a streetlight or two and just like that you’re back in the woods.
stop	It’s been lightly raining on and off since Albany. Now it’s starting to clear a little and I start to see some sun. Get out of the car to stretch my legs.

Get to Lake Placid Village. Park the car down the road a little ways and head for package pickup. It’s in the hotel, but it’s in the corner of the basement. Following signs through narrow hallways, I finally find it. I was kind of hoping to buy some Gu, but this is packet pickup only. Nothing for sale except an ugly t-shirt. But hey, free pencils and knock-off Chapstick.

The village is spotless. Baskets of red flowers hang from the lampposts up and down Main Street. The sun is starting to set over the Olympic Hockey Arena and Speedskating Oval. It’s gonna be a great evening. I really want to walk around and unwind for a while, but I’m a little over two weeks into Old School with an exam on Tuesday. I just don’t have the time. Besides, it’s hard to enjoy any of this without Lara here. I head back to the car and drive to the motel. I buy my bread, peanut butter, jelly, bananas, a couple bottles of water and a package of tea.

I’m staying at the Best Western Mountain Inn in Saranac Lake, which is 10 miles west of Lake Placid. I’m going to drive in tomorrow and park the car near the Olympic Center a few blocks away from the Oval. If that parking lot is full, I’ll head south to the Horseshow Grounds and take the shuttle bus to the start.

Not much stuff in the goody bag, but the tech shirt is way cool. Definitely worth an 8 hour drive.

With the parking plan settled, I spend the rest of the evening studying the anatomy of your face and neck.

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Sunday – 5:00 am – Wake. Blah blah water blah blah peanut butter bread blah blah banana etc… .

I’m looking at the Lake Placid map and have emailed it and the directions to the parking lots to my phone. Load up the car, program the gps and I’m off. It’s a straight shot down route 86, exactly 10 miles.

Let me say that again, it’s 10 miles. I drove it last night in less than 20 minutes.

This is my first race with no support crew. (My ‘crew’ has always been Lara.) I’m on my own and that ain’t good. Why? ‘Cause I’ve gotten myself completely lost and I’m driving around the back roads of Lake Placid. At least I was, but Lake Placid isn’t that big and now I’m on the road out of town, passing the ski jumps. Jesus. I take another couple of turns to make another pass. I couldn’t find the nearer parking lot, so I’m going to have to head for the Horseshow Grounds. And now they’ve blocked off Main Street.

By the time I find the Horseshow Grounds and park the car, it’s 20 minutes to the start. I see a shuttlebus across the road so I start jogging toward it. The driver sees me, shuts the doors and pulls away. Seriously. How could he not have seen me?

There are a few other people who show up at the shuttlebus stop just before I make it there. Now it’s nearly 15 minutes to the start and no shuttlebus. I’m tempted to ask if anyone knows if there will even be another bus, but I decide to put on the strap and stretch the ITB while I wait. Another bus shows up and we get on. A little more than 10 minutes to start. We’re not that far from the start, but it’s gonna be a few minutes before we get there. I pin on my bib (I’m number 1091). Incessantly checking the watch. 8 minutes… 5 minutes. The bus stops and we get out with 2 minutes until start. We’re behind the speedskating oval and it’s deserted because everyone is out front on Main Street. Another guy and I start running toward the music, the cheering crowd and an announcer (I’ll call him MC Dick) that’s trying his best to get the crowd amped up.

I’m on the infield of the oval and I ask a woman standing behind a concession table and ask if I can throw my bag of stuff underneath her table. She says no problem, I can pick it up after the run. MC gives the ‘30 seconds to start’ warning, and the crowd is cheering louder now. And I head for the portapotty.

The gun fires and I’m still in here. The announcer is giving a play by play of the runners as they pass the start. I throw the door open and jump out. I open a pack of Jelly Belly Sport Beans and start eating them as I jog to the start. Right now I’m just trying to calm down. Throughout this whole rushing around, I haven’t hydrated well at all. I’m nearing the start as I finish my bag of beans. I throw the empty on the ground, clap my hands and cross the start… and whatdaya know? It appears that I am officially the last person to cross the start. How do I know? Dick announces it to the crowd:

(fast-forward to 2:00 to hear Dick’s shoutout)

This is a tough course, but it’s a great day to run in such a beautiful place. I’d decided beforehand that I’m not going to try to beat any time goal, I’m just going to take it easy so that I don’t do any more damage to my leg. I was skeptical when the guy at the running store sold me on it, but this $12 elastic band actually works! No pain in the leg. A little discomfort at times but nothing major.

I don’t remember a whole lot from the race itself, but here are a few highlights:

-Outside the village, there aren’t any spectators. If you need a crowd to get you pumped up, this isn’t your race.
-Mirror Lake is awesome. Not counting the hills, the course is beautiful. I know I’ve said that a few times, but it just is.
-A very flamboyant guy on a bike passes me three or four times yelling at everyone and ringing a cowbell.
-I spend a couple of miles running next to Gregg Allman, I kid you not. I was gonna snap a pic of him after the race, but then I remember I *hate* everything having to do with the Allman Brothers.
-The hill at the very end of the race, just before the entrance to the Oval is just cruel. Lots of people walking.
-At the Oval, they have two chip mats. One at the finish line, the other is nearer the final turn. You hit the first and it reads your name and hometown and sends it to a laptop in front of the announcer. (Not MC Dick, a pleasant-sounding guy.) When you near the finish they announce your name and hometown over the PA system. As inspiring and moving as that is, it doesn’t mean much because Lara isn’t here to share it with.
-This is the best looking tech shirt I own.

Although the pic shows that I’m over two hours, my finish time was 1:59:11 which I’m completely happy with.

Sunday, October 11 is the Mohawk-Hudson River Half Marathon. I have a 20 miler scheduled for that weekend. My plan is to run the half and then run around the Corning Preserve to get the extra miles in. The plan is to head to Chris and Teresa’s house on Sat night.

Saturday. We’re going to go apple picking at Bellinger’s Orchard in Fultonville, not too far from my folk’s house.

“So how does this work? We pick the apples?” says Lar. She’s never been apple picking.

“Yes,” I say.

“Off the tree?” she asks.

“Yes. Hence the word ‘picking,’” I say snootily ’cause that’s just how I roll when prepping for apple picking.

“Okay just a second.” She disappears upstairs, and is back again in a couple minutes. Remember that. It’ll be important later.

It is a truly awesome day. Chilly and deep blue sky. Not too much mud. I haven’t been apple picking since I was a kid. My folks would take me and my neighbor and they’d turn us loose. We’d climb as high as we could to get at the coveted apples at the top of the trees, the ones the adults couldn’t get because they wouldn’t risk a broken leg. One of us would climb, one would be on the ground catching the apples that the other threw down.

Yes, good times. What a nice feeling of tranquility and contentment. You know what’s missing?

Firearms.

Oh wait… they’re actually not missing, because Lara brought hers. That’s right, folks. My wife brought a gun to the apple orchard. You know, ‘just in case.’ (She’s packing in that brown handbag. She has the same bag in black, too. I guess that would be for formal events like communions or baptisms.)

Sunday. Up at 6:00. We’re about a 20 minute drive from the start, and it’s not till 8:30. Drink 1 bottle water. Eat two pieces of italian bread with peanut butter and one very fresh macintosh apple. Chris wakes up, and says hi. He’s surprisingly talkative for a guy that got to bed three hours ago.

We decided last night we’d leave at 7:45. You’d think I have this stuff down to a science now, but I’m running around like an idiot. Forgot to trim the toenails, forgot to put in the contacts, where’s my bib etc… . We leave @ 7:55.

Lar and Teresa drop me off at the portopotties. I meet them at the start with only @ 5 minutes to spare. This is the coldest race-start I’ve ever had. I think NYC was @ 43 or 44 degrees. It’s 40 here. The humidity is high and it doesn’t feel that bad at all.

Damn! I’m fast when I’m freezing my ass off. Here are some of the highlights:

Early on, we cross a stream via a covered bridge. The sound of hundreds of footsteps on wooden planks starts out jumbled. Halfway through the footsteps become almost synchronized, as if one giant runner is crossing the bridge.

Along the route through the trees, I run under a blanket of bright yellow and gold leaves high up. It’s overcast now, but if the sun was shining it would be an even more impressive sight.

At 6 miles I get sprayed when a guy in front of me opens a can of energy drink (or maybe it was a Red Bull or something). I was trying to pass him on his left and he just happened to hold it to his left and pulled the tab as I passed him. He apologizes to me as I pass and I tell him it’s no problem. A mile or so down the road he catches up with me and apologizes again. I tell him it’s really okay, my fault (it really isn’t).

The water stations are 2 miles apart. Not a big deal, but the following is. 8.5 miles in and I’m feeling pretty good. I decide to skip this water station and grab some at 10.5. 10.5 comes and there’s no one manning the water station. There’s one bottle of water, a stack of cups and one box of vanilla bean Gu sitting on a table. Great. The lesson? For these smaller races, maybe hit at each station no matter what. Even if it’s for just a sip.

I made it to 12.5 and snagged some water to wash the Gu down. First water since 6.5. Good thing it wasn’t hot out.

Finish the half in 1:51:31, grab a bottle of water from Lar and set out to get my last 7 miles in. I run further south but run out of room. Turn around and backtrack along the marathon route.

I’m pretty happy with the half finish time. Got a little spacey @ mile 19. That eye-darting thing that happened to me last year in NY happened again. I’m thinking it may have been because I was a little lax on the Gatorade/Gu intake. What’s more important is that my pace didn’t change all that much over the 20 miles. I’m really happy about that. The goal here is an under 4 hour finish at NY. I think I’m within range. That feels good.

And in case you were wondering, yes, Lara did bring her gun to the race ’cause hey… “you never know.”

Lar and I are upstate for the Hudson River Half Marathon. Going to stay at Chris and Teresa’s house tonight so that we’re nearer to the start. T and I are running. Chris and Lara are drinking beers and heckling. Should be fun. The end of the course is the Corning Preserve. I’m supposed to do 20 miles tomorrow, so my plan is to run around the preserve to get in the extra 7 miles. I’m going to try my best to liveblog pre-race tomorrow. Honest. Really.