NYC Marathon, Part III: Post-Race Fun

Sunday, November 5

The trucks that held our personal effects bags could not have been parked farther away. Mine was Truck #40 in a long line of trucks. Ugh. There was no denying now that I had just run a marathon. Long way to walk when one is SORE and TIRED.

It was great to see Marcus waiting for me at the "Family Reunion" area when I finally made my way back out of the park. Why did everything have to be so far away?!

We ended up taking the subway back as cabs were impossible to flag down at that hour, and just as I sat down, my cell phone rang. It was Dragonfly calling, checking up on me. Barely had time to exchange a few words before the subway tunnel cut off our connection. But how nice to hear from a familiar voice!

(Full story: Seems that the Coolrunning Montreal gang were worried about me. A certain Grommit chap started a nasty rumour about me, "this is a bummer/source for concern, looks like miss sally dnf'd in the last 2kms" ... Grrr ... I have never DNFed ... He later apologized, "she would crawl on her hands & knees through miles of broken glass & $hit rather than DNF"...... i'm sorry for not doubting the www rather than doubt the irongoddess....." HA HA! Thanks for the chuckle!)

Relaxed and ate a bit back at the hotel but no time for a nap! Had tickets to the theatre. Spamalot is a MUST SEE.



Then supper at Carmine's, a friendly Italian eatery reknown for it's gigantic family portions. We couldn't get through even half of what we ordered, even with my being in deficit from the race. I figured I must have burnt off at least 3000 calories. I had eaten four and a half gels during the race, which is about 500 calories. I'm surprised I wasn't able to eat more. We certainly had enough food, which could have fed a family of four with two adolescents. Yum, yum.

Afterwards, we went for a little stroll in Times Square ...

What a fabulous day! New York is an amazing city and I couldn't believe I had just run my 11th marathon. Double whammy of a bonus! I still remember years back when a colleague of mine found out I was training for my 3rd marathon, he said to me, "Bonnie, I thought you were only supposed to do one!"

Monday, November 6

Woke up sore but that was too be expected. I knew I would be hurting as I started feeling a little rough in Carmine's last night climbing up and down the stairs to the bathroom. Going down stairs backwards has gotten to be par for the course when it comes to marathon-running.

How does one get rid of lactic acid build-up in the quads? Walk it off!

First stop: Central Park

Sure looked different without thousands of people milling about in it. Sure is a beautiful park. I would have loved to have run on some of the smaller trails instead of the main road during the race, but I guess logistics would have never allowed it. We saw many runners and cyclists and lots of people wearing medals. I had thought about wearing mine, as per post-marathon fashion, but Marcus said, "Naah." That is always a conundrum ... some people know what the medal is for, others wonder, "Why is this strange person wearing a medal around his neck?"

It was obvious that some of the people I saw running in the park had participated in the marathon the day before and all I kept thinking was, "Why are they running!?" I personally need time off after a marathon to recuperate. Or maybe I just like being lazy.

We checked out the Finish Area that was being disassembled. I borrowed another runner's medal for the great photo op with Marcus by the Finish Line. Then we checked out the statue of Fred Lebow, the founder of the NYC marathon. Strolled over to the lake, took some more pics and shared running and Ironman stories with a nice German man presently living in San Diego who had also run the marathon.

I think Marcus has been bitten by the marathon bug.

Second stop: Grand Central Station

Got a quick tour of Grand Central Station by my dance friend DF who kindly met up with us during his lunch break. He revealed some way-cool interesting secrets about the station to us including ... wait, if I told you, it wouldn't be a secret!

Our Mexican lunch was fun and tasty. It's always nice to catch up with a friend even if it's just for a way-too short measly hour. Hug, hug ... Hope to see you again soon DF!!

Third stop: Quick tour of Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, and Little Italy

We took the subway - this is Christopher Station.

A little lost after exiting, a kind elderly gentleman pointed us in the right direction to some interesting things on Bleeker St. We took a break and checked out Café Angelique. Ahh, I got to sit down again. A friendly young waitress with pretty blue eyes served us some amazing coffee. We relaxed and soaked in the "happening atmosphere".

Then a quick detour through a little park before heading off to explore Soho, which was not what I expected. Lots of cool stores to shop in if one has the time and $$, which I have neither, but interesting nonetheless. Though I prefer the quaintness of Greenwich Village, we did get to meander through a super interesting Chinese articles store in which I would have loved to have had time to Christmas shop.

It's fascinating how quickly the face and soul of New York changes within a couple of blocks. We hit Canal Street and Chinatown. The hustle and bustle of NYC got even more hustle and bustle with all the open-air stores. It felt right out of a movie!

Little Italy whizzed by. No time to stop anywhere, just a quick look-around. No sign of a cab. We ended up back in Greenwich Village and jumped in the subway again. We had a flight to catch ... back to Montreal, back to reality! Thanks Marcus for your much appreciated race support and also for sharing this wonderful weekend with me!