Day Nine - 0 to 6 in Nine Days
I know, I know, it's been a while since my last update. It was a long weekend. Wrote a song about it, like to hear it here it go.
Left work on Friday around 1:30. My dry cleaning wasn't ready when I tried to pick it up in the AM and since I basically have no big boy clothes I had to go and buy a shirt for the wedding that night. I bought two - one cost $150.00 and the other cost $50.00. Guess which one I'm returning? After shopping I headed down to Penn Station where I met up with my girlfriend and hopped on (in, actually) the train to Secaucus Junction. Met our friend there and he chauffered us up to...the town where the wedding was. Why I can never remember details like this is beyond me. It was a very nice town though. We checked into our hotel room and got ourselves ready for the wedding. Down in the lobby we met up with the rest of our friends and all drove over to the church together. The ceremony was nice and went off without a hitch except for the groom saying "I take you, as my husband" to the bride. Oh how we laughed. After church we hopped back into the cars and made our way back to the hotel for happy hour.
I'd just like to take a moment here to commend and thank the bride and groom for holding the reception in the same building where our beds were located. I don't think a finer idea has ever been had and I think it should be a rule with all weddings.
Happy hour was fantastic if only for the Swedish meatballs. But there was so much more. Soon enough however we moved into the main hall (with the rest of the 300 or so guests - this was quite the shin dig) and the party got started for reals. Magic Moments was providing the entertainment complete with a video tribute to the couple of honor, light up roses for the first dance and some other fantastic lighting effects throughout the evening. I'd like to say that the theme from The Natural was an especially nice touch just before the bride and groom were introduced.
Then we basically drank a lot and danced. Fortunately, I know my limits (super lightweight) and decided about an hour before the festivities ended to switch from Jack and Diet Coke to Diet Coke straight up and then right to water. Even the half a beer I muscled down at the hotel bar after the reception couldn't bring me back from the land of the sober at that point, which I was mighty thankful for on Saturday morning when I woke up surprisingly clear headed.
Oh, I forgot to mention. My girlfriend and I were sitting out front of the hotel at one point (her getting some fresh air, me, stinking it up with a cigar) and a shuttle bus full of guests at a different wedding pulls up. Suddenly I am surrounded by women screaming in surprise and delight. Apprently a friend of my girlfriend's from her hometown was at another wedding taking place in this very hotel on the same night and just happened to see us sitting on the bench as they got off of their bus. She was there with her husband (we actually attended their wedding upstate last year) and her parents. It was quite the scene. Small world, people. Small world.
On Saturday we went to brunch which was fantastic. Thanks to whoever invented that French Toast casserole thingy. That was scrumptious. After that we all checked out and headed back to NYC. Some friends from out of town who hadn't rocked enough ass at the wedding were staying at my girlfriend's place so about 10 of us wound up back there around noon waiting for the Yankees/Sox game (the absolute best part of this story is that the out of town friends were from Boston). So we watched the game and I realized that with each passing run the Yankees put up on the Sox that my plan of making up the group run I had missed that morning was basically the idea of a crazy person.
After the game everyone decided to go out to our local watering hole and continue the festivities there. Except for my girlfriend and I because we were basically half unconscious at this point. She was fighting a nasty cold all weekend and I'm basically very lame. Everyone wound up back at the apartment that night for a pizza party. We went to bed before Chico and Sarah from Italy showed up just to ensure that no one would forget that we are indeed the most uncool couple of the bunch.
Sunday morning, after saying goodbye to the Bostonians, I made my way back up to Harlem and went for a run (and you thought I wasn't going to talk about training for a whole entry). I've always heard that the main loop around all of Central Park is 6 miles, but outside of actually researching this piece of information I have absolutely no way to confirm that. So for now we'll call it 6 miles and I'll put an asterisk there until I can verify it (i.e. - someone who knows me can tell me whether or not this is the case). Knowing that the Team folks ran somewhere between 5 and 6 miles on Friday I decided to run the loop. I had never done so before and figured it would be pretty difficult. In fact, the longest I have ever run before is six miles (although I'm taking someone else's word on this as I never measured the distance). So as I started I kept reminding myself to keep my competitive nature in check and just worry about finishing and not all of the people that were bound to pass me.
After running the loop I can tell you this - if it's not 6 miles it should be. Or more. Because it feels like what I imagine running 6 miles should feel like.
And I can't even imagine what 26.2 must feel like.
By my calculations (checking the clock on my microwave when I left and when I came back in, minus estimated time to walk to the park, stretch after the run, then walk home) it took me about an hour to complete the 6* miles. That's 10 minutes a mile kids. Still a minute over the pace I want to set in the actual marathon in January. I know it's early in the training, but I can't imagine how it's going to happen.
The rest of Sunday had it's ups and downs. A bunch of us headed out to Jersey City to see our friends' new apartment. The place is very cool - a renovated warehouse with a very raw and industrial feel. High ceilings, big windows, the works. Had a nice time out there and the night was looking great until on the way home I realized I had left my keys in Jersey City. Yeah. So we hopped out of our friend's car forgoing the ride up to Harlem, got back on the Path, headed BACK to JC, retrieved the keys and then took the Path BACK to Manhattan. A short hour and half after realizing my mistake we were home safe and sound in Harlem.
Idiot.
Today is a day off from training according to the Team schedule, but I had planned to make up the 4 miles I missed yesterday when I was making the 6* I missed the day before. Unfortunately I'm going to have to miss a day however, as I am headed for a train to Connecticut as a good friend of mine lost his father over the weekend and the services are tonight and tomorrow. I've known Matt and his family for as long as I can remember and his dad was always so welcoming and generous to all of us. There were times in high school where all of our parents must have felt like they had half a dozen sons with the amount of time we spent just hanging out at eachother's homes. After high school Matt was in a serious car accident and his father kept us all connected despite the miles we had travelled with his daily, then weekly email updates as Matt recovered. Mr. C. was a good man and I know that he was a VERY good father and he'll definitely be missed. I'll always remember seeing Matt and his parents at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and knowing that no matter how long it had been since I saw them last that they'd have a smile and a hug for me.
It's been a tumultuous week or so and I'm feeling a bit frayed, but then I just keep thinking about the friend I have who lost his son and now the one who just lost his father and I realize how good I have things. But whenever things want to get a whole lot more boring and uneventful, I'm ready.
Thanks for reading. More later...
DAY 9
TODAY's MILEAGE: 6*
TOTAL MILEAGE: 22.5*
Left work on Friday around 1:30. My dry cleaning wasn't ready when I tried to pick it up in the AM and since I basically have no big boy clothes I had to go and buy a shirt for the wedding that night. I bought two - one cost $150.00 and the other cost $50.00. Guess which one I'm returning? After shopping I headed down to Penn Station where I met up with my girlfriend and hopped on (in, actually) the train to Secaucus Junction. Met our friend there and he chauffered us up to...the town where the wedding was. Why I can never remember details like this is beyond me. It was a very nice town though. We checked into our hotel room and got ourselves ready for the wedding. Down in the lobby we met up with the rest of our friends and all drove over to the church together. The ceremony was nice and went off without a hitch except for the groom saying "I take you, as my husband" to the bride. Oh how we laughed. After church we hopped back into the cars and made our way back to the hotel for happy hour.
I'd just like to take a moment here to commend and thank the bride and groom for holding the reception in the same building where our beds were located. I don't think a finer idea has ever been had and I think it should be a rule with all weddings.
Happy hour was fantastic if only for the Swedish meatballs. But there was so much more. Soon enough however we moved into the main hall (with the rest of the 300 or so guests - this was quite the shin dig) and the party got started for reals. Magic Moments was providing the entertainment complete with a video tribute to the couple of honor, light up roses for the first dance and some other fantastic lighting effects throughout the evening. I'd like to say that the theme from The Natural was an especially nice touch just before the bride and groom were introduced.
Then we basically drank a lot and danced. Fortunately, I know my limits (super lightweight) and decided about an hour before the festivities ended to switch from Jack and Diet Coke to Diet Coke straight up and then right to water. Even the half a beer I muscled down at the hotel bar after the reception couldn't bring me back from the land of the sober at that point, which I was mighty thankful for on Saturday morning when I woke up surprisingly clear headed.
Oh, I forgot to mention. My girlfriend and I were sitting out front of the hotel at one point (her getting some fresh air, me, stinking it up with a cigar) and a shuttle bus full of guests at a different wedding pulls up. Suddenly I am surrounded by women screaming in surprise and delight. Apprently a friend of my girlfriend's from her hometown was at another wedding taking place in this very hotel on the same night and just happened to see us sitting on the bench as they got off of their bus. She was there with her husband (we actually attended their wedding upstate last year) and her parents. It was quite the scene. Small world, people. Small world.
On Saturday we went to brunch which was fantastic. Thanks to whoever invented that French Toast casserole thingy. That was scrumptious. After that we all checked out and headed back to NYC. Some friends from out of town who hadn't rocked enough ass at the wedding were staying at my girlfriend's place so about 10 of us wound up back there around noon waiting for the Yankees/Sox game (the absolute best part of this story is that the out of town friends were from Boston). So we watched the game and I realized that with each passing run the Yankees put up on the Sox that my plan of making up the group run I had missed that morning was basically the idea of a crazy person.
After the game everyone decided to go out to our local watering hole and continue the festivities there. Except for my girlfriend and I because we were basically half unconscious at this point. She was fighting a nasty cold all weekend and I'm basically very lame. Everyone wound up back at the apartment that night for a pizza party. We went to bed before Chico and Sarah from Italy showed up just to ensure that no one would forget that we are indeed the most uncool couple of the bunch.
Sunday morning, after saying goodbye to the Bostonians, I made my way back up to Harlem and went for a run (and you thought I wasn't going to talk about training for a whole entry). I've always heard that the main loop around all of Central Park is 6 miles, but outside of actually researching this piece of information I have absolutely no way to confirm that. So for now we'll call it 6 miles and I'll put an asterisk there until I can verify it (i.e. - someone who knows me can tell me whether or not this is the case). Knowing that the Team folks ran somewhere between 5 and 6 miles on Friday I decided to run the loop. I had never done so before and figured it would be pretty difficult. In fact, the longest I have ever run before is six miles (although I'm taking someone else's word on this as I never measured the distance). So as I started I kept reminding myself to keep my competitive nature in check and just worry about finishing and not all of the people that were bound to pass me.
After running the loop I can tell you this - if it's not 6 miles it should be. Or more. Because it feels like what I imagine running 6 miles should feel like.
And I can't even imagine what 26.2 must feel like.
By my calculations (checking the clock on my microwave when I left and when I came back in, minus estimated time to walk to the park, stretch after the run, then walk home) it took me about an hour to complete the 6* miles. That's 10 minutes a mile kids. Still a minute over the pace I want to set in the actual marathon in January. I know it's early in the training, but I can't imagine how it's going to happen.
The rest of Sunday had it's ups and downs. A bunch of us headed out to Jersey City to see our friends' new apartment. The place is very cool - a renovated warehouse with a very raw and industrial feel. High ceilings, big windows, the works. Had a nice time out there and the night was looking great until on the way home I realized I had left my keys in Jersey City. Yeah. So we hopped out of our friend's car forgoing the ride up to Harlem, got back on the Path, headed BACK to JC, retrieved the keys and then took the Path BACK to Manhattan. A short hour and half after realizing my mistake we were home safe and sound in Harlem.
Idiot.
Today is a day off from training according to the Team schedule, but I had planned to make up the 4 miles I missed yesterday when I was making the 6* I missed the day before. Unfortunately I'm going to have to miss a day however, as I am headed for a train to Connecticut as a good friend of mine lost his father over the weekend and the services are tonight and tomorrow. I've known Matt and his family for as long as I can remember and his dad was always so welcoming and generous to all of us. There were times in high school where all of our parents must have felt like they had half a dozen sons with the amount of time we spent just hanging out at eachother's homes. After high school Matt was in a serious car accident and his father kept us all connected despite the miles we had travelled with his daily, then weekly email updates as Matt recovered. Mr. C. was a good man and I know that he was a VERY good father and he'll definitely be missed. I'll always remember seeing Matt and his parents at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and knowing that no matter how long it had been since I saw them last that they'd have a smile and a hug for me.
It's been a tumultuous week or so and I'm feeling a bit frayed, but then I just keep thinking about the friend I have who lost his son and now the one who just lost his father and I realize how good I have things. But whenever things want to get a whole lot more boring and uneventful, I'm ready.
Thanks for reading. More later...
DAY 9
TODAY's MILEAGE: 6*
TOTAL MILEAGE: 22.5*
posted by Demps at 7:57 AM
1 Comments:
because:
a) i am a geek
b) i am obsessed with all things marathon-related
c) i feel bad about rubbing the fundraising in your face
i have painfully put the central park loop into the gmaps pedometer and you have run not only 6 miles, but 6.0218 miles!
well, that is if you took the outside of the west drive loop around 72nd street. only you know that bill.
my heart goes out to your friend and his family - i'll be thinking of you.
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