Off to work I go, back to this 8 Mile Road

Did I just quote eminem? Yes I did.  Do I like him? Why no I dont.

Did I run 8 miles this morning? I sure did. I ran 8 miles, and within that, I ran the last 4 miles of the NYC marathon. This by no means means I will RUN NYC in just a few short days. 

I actually felt great. This was the best run I've had since Steamtown.

While I was out on these 4 miles on the course, I remember the first time I saw the NYC Marathon. I had moved to NYC in 1989 for school. I had a standing date with my friend Jen, we went to the Met every Sunday to draw. I lived on west side and would cross the park to get to the east side. That meant, crossing the marathon. Where I crossed was around mile 24. Little did I know that the people out manning that water station would later be my team mates.  FRNY has been manning the 24 mile water station since 1982.

There is a great image of the early days here.

That day, I stood there watching people chug by. Mile 24 things aint pretty. The thing that sticks out in my mind about that day was the 1 legged runner. We're talking almost 20 years ago, long before fake legs were made for running. He was out there gimpin through it and I was totally amazed.

I never though I'd run a marathon. I remember in HS my cranky cross country coach talking about NY and Boston and I stood there going, no way, 5k is about all I can take thank you.

Oh how wrong I was.

IF I run NYC, it will be my 4th time. It will also be my 10th marathon. I know I am lucky living here are far as the marathon goes, I have home court advantage. I dont have to go with the lottery of over 100k people trying to get one of 40k spots. NYRR, for the most part, is good about giving NYers an easier way to run the hometown race.

This wasn't always the case. The first year I ran, 1999, you still had to get an application and it was pretty much first come first served. Everyone went to the 24 hour post office on 34th st to wait til midnight to get their application  postmarked. It was crazy, a total scene. Like tax day for runners. Lucky for me, I got in that year. That might have been the last year they had all that craziness.

I keep saying I will make my decision about running the day before. Well, maybe 2 days before. I keep checking the weather and I want to make sure I feel recovered enough that I'm not suffering for 26.2 miles. I know that's all relative. Until then, I'm running as if.

I really wish I could remember where I got that phrase. I know it was from my hippie time out at Esalen, I just can't remember who said it.

Act as if________

So, I'm acting as if I'm running.

And I'll let you all know if I actually am.