Preparation H

Sept. 11 – It’s three weeks until the Wineglass Marathon. Today is my 20 miler. Planning to head over the Brooklyn Bridge and up the west side of Manhattan. Brought the blurry-cam along this time.

Wake at 4:30. For the last four weeks in a row, try as I might, I’m unable to get out of the house before 6:00. Mostly due to intestinal-scheduling issues. Lots of waiting around with nothing to show. I had been reading The Atlantic while waiting. Switch to US Weekly and things start rolling immediately. I don’t know what the science behind this is, but I’m going to start hoarding old Reader’s Digest issues from my folks’ house.

Out the door at @6:10. Just realized before I left that the light staining on the front of my white tech shirt is from Body Glide! It isn’t supposed to stain! Maybe I’ll have to try the round band aid trick.

Past Costco and down 36th street, over to 3rd avenue.

Park Slope, hipster, tiara-wearin’ monkey.

Hmm. This pic came out very light. Anyway, I love running down Baltic because the trees overhead make the road really dark.

Manhattan Bridge in the background. Also, some of my readers should take note of the message. You know who you are.

On my way up, I notice there is zero traffic outbound which is unusual. To my left I see a tow truck heading Manhattan bound in the Brooklyn bound lanes. Get to the center of the span and head down and people are out of their cars looking around. A taxi driver grabs my attention and asks if I know what’s going on. Turns out it was an accident.

Cruise ship near the statue. Carnival or Norwegian. Lar wants to go. I’m always reading about people getting scurvy on those cruises, so count me out.

Jersey across the river.

On the way to the west side, I pass a lot of police. Around City Hall, there are police stationed at every corner.

Norwegian Cruise ship in the distance.

In the median of the West Side Highway, there are two women holding American flags and a guy holding a sign. I get a little closer and see that it reads “Hero Highway.” I hadn’t put it all together (the police, the traffic, the flags) until right now. I had completely forgotten it’s the 11th. Not only that, there are dueling protests scheduled for after the memorial ceremonies.

I’m not certain what this was.

This looks like wheat to me, but whaddo I know? I just know that it’s cool and I like running my hands through it as I run by.

One World Trade Center (formerly the Freedom Tower) in the distance. It’s been a hole in the ground for too long. As of September 10th, they’re up to 38 stories.

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All in all, a really good run. 8:48 pace which is pretty good for me. No major issues. Best of all, no skittish feeling near the later miles. Overall, training has been harder this time around. Not sure whether I’m just a year older or what. Early on, I read something about power coming from the spine instead of the legs, and I’ve become very aware of my hips and quads. I feel like I’m using my hips for power, and that I’m not pushing off with my legs as much as I should. When I’m aware of it and I try to use my legs for more push, I get tired quickly and I shift back into ‘hip-power’ mode.

Anyway, it’s taper time. New shoes on the way. Found a cheap pair of Triumph 6′s online. (I have to keep scrounging to find them because they’ve been discontinued for a while.)