1st ave has grown some hills

and today was the final dress rehearsal for the big day!! the "last 10 miler" with the Flyers (and some very cool non-Flyer pals too-JS, PM and DN :) ) Unlike 2 years ago when we had it the week before the marathon, I was preferring to run it 2 weeks before, as it was advised that running it the week before is not the best way to get a best performance on the big day. And apparently quite a few agreed with me-so Flyers assistant Coach J was nice enough to organize the "lite" version of the Last 10 Miler-meaning no baggage car, no water stop-or as I called it, "the badass version" :) (Seriously-I did an 18-miler through 3 boroughs without needing a baggage car and a water stop!)

So anyway, this morning getting up thankfully wasn't too painful after not getting home til 1 am last nite after a post-Chicago Marathon celebration party (and I was good-cut myself off at 2 glasses of wine!! That's it til after the marathon!) Did decide to cab it to 59th and 1st, as public transportation to that corner was not kind to the UWS'ers. I met everyone under the 59th Street Bridge, ready to go...

And off we went. Even though I intended to take it easy, our first mile was a little fast-probably due to the 8-8:30 types pulling us along, so we just had to let those guys go. Much better!! Was fun re-living 1st avenue from 2 years ago...though there was something that I forgot. I must have been high on something during the marathon-cuz dear god, I did not remember 1st Ave being that hilly (and that included the Willis Ave Bridge!!)

I think some of us forgot how to maneuver the Bronx, thank god Coach J was there after we stepped down from the Willis Ave Bridge to re-iterate the directions. Once we had that, it was easy to get from there to the Madison Ave Bridge (yay for Yankee Stadium view)...then 5th...then just a countdown to the park...then the last 2.2 miles of the route!! And me and a coupla others felt good enough to pick it up to 8:30ish for the last mile. As we entered the park, I was trying to "coach" my Flyer friend DM a little bit..."come on, you're chasing down 4 hours!! you've got it-just get up that hill!" :) And finally, we saw Coach J, acting as the "finish line" :-p We waited for the last 2 runners to get in, then went home (I think everyone just wanted to get out of the cold-it was perfect running weather, but not perfect weather to be standing around in wet clothes!)

So, averaged 9-flat pace for this run and felt pretty good-my legs didnt really like all the stopping and starting, but then again that will not be happening on marathon day :-) But was sooo glad to have had this refresher course, otherwise 1st Avenue may have taken me by surprise on race day-just in case whatever got slipped into my Gatorade 2 years ago doesnt get slipped in there again :-p

2 weeks!! I can't believe it...of course that means the 15-day forecast is up...predicting rain for now :( but I'm not putting too much confidence in that, I know how often it will change...

And in non-marathon/running news, Shake Shack has finally opened on the UWS!! This could be dangerous...must...resist....til after the marathon...