 those two blond gals with long pony-tails running in front of me. Their hair is just jumping all over. And they run funnily easy and light. One is even telling something to her friend and then…she turn back for looking…back again…and back again…and finally she slows down and stop by a guy on my right for chatting a bit. Not polite to listen to other conversations, but cannot help it. They are apparently both from the same village or community in Australia (?). And when the chat is finished, she hurries back and easy to her friend. Jumping light and easy forward J Another gel taken at km12. With a little water this time J Focusing on a large building ahead of us. Was it this one that we had to look for in Boston indicating that we were soon finishing? Really? Please, make it being the same building. Getting closer and closer, does not help…especially not when passing by it and then…just continuing the run… Next clue to the end? Please? Someone? Km15 the left knee is screaming a little. Not enough for being concerned or stop. But enough to raise a little defcon light in the brain. After this, the strategy is changed slightly. Caught up by a gal who seems to have a good stride and pace, I decide to hang on with her. This was the tactic during WMAC-marathon: first 5K of the loop to be run alone, second 5K of the loop to find someone to hang with to catch up some pace. Now I have done 1,5 loop and it is high-time to find someone to run with me until km20 🙂 Trying to get water at almost every mile-water station, but miss one at mile11. The gal I run with turns to me and hold her mug “you want water?”. So extremely kind! “No thanks” I hear myself answering. And she throw the mug. Stupid move from me. Should have definitely grab this mug! A few turns right and left. Going very smooth. Nothing special. I kept myself close to the blue line again and to the gal. She is good to follow. My brain is just set on cruise control and the legs follow her steps. Either on the right or on the left. Taking Gatorade at mile 12. I read the names of the streets, but the only ones I recall from the route is “1st avenue” and “5th avenue”…and those ones I know are at the end… But the reading is occupying the mind. Sub90 for halfway is not longer in reach. And then we pass mile 13…already? But where is the halfway…Over there? On the way UP to this stupid little bridge-without-name? Who did that? Nobody mentioned that the halfway point was on the way up! Can see runners walking UP to the time mat. Not a chance I am doing this. I.am.going.to.run.this.d*amn.bridge. Clock on it shows 1:31:xx. OK then. 1min or so late compared to 3:00-race. Well, hold on…I should actually have passed here around 1:30:22 according to my red/white mile wristband. Exactly one minute late. Not the end of the world. If only there was not this stupid slope up this stupid-bridge-without-a-name…
The second half
Because everything until this point has been a warmup. Now the race start. Half a marathon to go J Talking to the gal, telling “One half done, one half to go”. Got a smile tainted with ache back. Let’s continue. Down the bridge (a bit hard bridge, which I stupidly took on the top of the toes. Just to see how it felt…yeaahhhh if that work during training, that could be also fun during race..right?). Quick check on my red/white band to see whether I should take a gel at mile 14…and yes…I should…the only problem is that I have only ONE gel left in the back pocket of my hotpants and not two as my armband planning indicate… What happened?!?! Oooooh I apparently mixed mile and km and took the second gel at km12 instead of mile 12. And of course no Gatorade inbetween to compensate. Let’s be crazy 😛 Gel it is at mile 14 then. Back pocket empty. Hoping that my Metrocard and the 20$ bill are still there… Now I feel light and free….smiling and enjoying. Talking a few words from time to time with my running-buddy. But mostly quiet. What’s next?… Oooooh thank you, man! Queensboro bridge ahead. Cannot see it, BUT a very kind man indicates at the water station of mile 15 (?) “this is the last one before Queensboro bridge, ramp up now, don’t slow down, few more turns and you are there”. Thankful, but at the same time not. This is my second challenge of the race (well, probably the third one as I have added the stupid-little-bridge-without-name of halfway on my black list…). OK, let’s keep calm. Easy peasy. Cannot be THAT tough. Tuuuuuuurning left and here we go. Nice Chicago feeling again. Apart from the fact that here the wind is blowing crazily from the side. What is the tactic again for such wind? With the gal running with me, we kind-of try to protect each other, but it ain’t working so well. I feel I am dropping in pace. I look at the clock at mid-bridge or so. No idea how fast (or more likely slow) I am. Focusing on the wind. My running buddy is stronger than me here and increase the pace (or she just maintain it, while I am dropping mine…). Swedish guy passing by. Again. Have seen him a couple of time since the start. I pass him, he passes us, I pass him again…aso. OK, this time he passes us. This bridge is killing me. Literally. Boring. Want it to stop. Should have checked before how long it was. Probably 15km long…it seems like it! Focus focus focus. D*mn cross wind. Stop this right now. IT.AIN’T.FUNNY! On the other side, every runner seem to struggle here as well. At least I am not alone in this. Not much of a comfort thought, but for this moment the mind is satisfied. Kind of. And then the noise starts. Can see that we catch up and this is the downhill and the –finally!- end of this bridge. I catch up with some runners that passed me on the uphill of the bridge (not THAT much of uphill, but of “I-cannot-really-see-that-it-is-going-up” kind of elevation… those killer ones…either you hate them, either…well, you just hate them!). My running buddy is now 30-40m ahead and turns before me. Mile 16 and turn left. Almost falling on a runner stopping abruptly due to apparently a very painful cramp. Little noise indeed and this is so cool to hear there “Less than half-way left”, “go Sweden go”. Even give some smile there. One more turn left…and.this.is.it…FIRST AVENUE… Yooooohoooo! First street name I can remember! Crazy crowd all around. A bit boring that the avenue is SO large that the spectators are pretty far from us (I mean…”from the blue line”). Have caught up with my running friend. Getting some greetings from a few Swedes (which I assume are here for Staffan as they have a sign with his name…). Cooool! Mega cool! Really. It just feels like it is almost finish. I count the streets in my head. 63rd st. 64th st. 65th st…. OK…how many were they ultimately? 1,000? I cannot even see the END of this bloody avenue! It is going straight until we probably fall on this end of the Earth (if it was flat). Wow! I need sugar!!! OK, start to calculate that in Central park we have approximately 4km left. And now we have reached…huuuuummmmm 26km, meaning the “upp to 1st Avenue + Bronx + down 5th Avenue” would be… Hummmmm 12km!!! NOTHING! Let’s make it 6K to the Bronx and 6K back, shall we? Telling my running friend that we are 12km from Central Park as we are taking a detour via the Bronx 😛 She smiles 🙂 Leeeeet’s do this. She is just great, following the blue line, where every runner (or most of them) is keeping the left side of 1st Avenue, we look like two lost chicks running in the middle of nowhere…the blue line is.just.for.us! Ok…now the 1st Avenue should be finished. There really cannot be 1,000 street to the end… the Bronx should be seen, right? How? Where? Have been thinking almost all the 1st Avenue about it being downhill…where? Where was is actually starting going downhill. Someone have been mistakenly telling that and everybody believed it. I WANT a downhill. A real one. Km 29 is past… this is the end…I can feel it…Remembering having run there in 2012 with Tricky and Patrik when we were denied the start of NY marathon due to the storm. I hear the music singing just for me ….”Want you to make me feel…Like I’m the only girl in the w