getting to train: kieran walked me there at 5:30 am - drunk man made me drunk just by asking me a question - waited 20 + mins for train - waited for lindsay at staten island ferry term - good free trip for NYC
start line: cold. cold. cold. - dressed by kieran's uncle tommy - old tennis clothes :-) - tried to sleep, but had to pee (and other things) over and over again!) - disrobed and we were off - heard a cannon - and slowly moved along the road
verazano narrows (sp?) bridge - first and biggest hill on course. nice, but lots of clothes everywhere - for about a mile - shed my gloves early
brooklyn was awesome. maybe because it was early, but there were a billion people out. we went up 4th ave foreeeeeeeeeeeeeever! we ran for 5 minutes, walked for 3. fun - or NOT! - lindsay, claudia and i stayed together for about 17 miles - lindsay felt faint around mile 7? - and ditched fuel belt - if you find it in brooklyn, send it to her in ca.
felt good walking fast - someone told us that we were leaving brooklyn, yet we didn't - forever! it was nice, but they lied.
went through williamsburg in brooklyn - a hasidic jewish community. girls just looked at us, yet one group cheered on the side. one girl slapped my hand so hard, it still hurts.
finally got to queens at mile 14? went over some bridge where an elderly russian woman was singing (in russian.) very funny.
got on queensboro bridge. very dark, eerie and lonely. the bridges were very lonely actually - no one on the sides of the road
turned into manhattan (mile 16) and found kieran waiting for me there. i was looking good and I think the expression on his face was amazed - saw lindsay's mom, philip, rocky & lackshman just a few feet down.
got a bit of a surge - although the crowds were thin. the drunk frat boys in the upper 80's really helped us get through them. no beer though :-(
made our way to harlem, where people were still out and cheering. :-) went over willlis bridge (?) into the Bronx. made a left turn and we were done with that borough!
turned back into manhattan down 5th ave. it's funny how you go from harlem where the people are just excited to give their free concerts to the upper east side with furry dogs and furrier coats. i think they were returning from afternoon tea by the time I scooted by.
the park could not come any sooner. pretty. very pretty. it was starting to get dusky - very nice. lindsay's mom met us at mile 23.5 and walked us in. kieran found us around mile 25.5 just appeared from the bushes. mile 26 was loooooooooong! longest one out there for sure!
we turned onto central park south and it's deceiving. don't kick it into high gear here (the 2nd place lady had done that and that is why she was #2!) wait until you turn the corner at columbus circle - which we did. that last 400 meteres (one lap around a track) took forever. but it was done. we held hands and cried (just like they say you will in the TNT video!)
not my hardest, but my most fun. will do it again - and will train! kieran and i took a pedi-cab ride to the pig and the whistle bar on 3rd ave & 55th street, drank guinness, ate small burgers and got a round of applause. some guy asked me how I did and I showed him my medal and told him the truth - I won!still sore on monday night.
