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Monday October 31st, Halloween. First day in New York City!! After a long flight yesterday, well treated by Virgin Australia and with exit row seats all the way, and a long bus ride in the dark to our apartment in the west village, we woke and headed out. We had enjoyed a dinner at a little Spanish restaurant a block or so from our apartment last night and stopped at a little deli with the biggest selection of imported beers we had ever seen! They also had mainly health foods, so I bought some muesli bars and milk (Charlie bought beer) before heading home for the night.
The apartment is a 1 bedroom tiny place with a saggy bed and a kitchen the size of my non walk in pantry cupboard at home. No bench space, just a stove, fridge and sink. The owner doesn't even have any full size plates, just little saucer sized ones. The place is headed via the water pipes so you can't control how hot it is, and it is pretty hot!!
But the street we are on, Perry St, is one of the picture perfect west village streets. Tree lined (plane trees and ginko, mainly), old brick houses of 3-6 stories. Little boutiques, small restaurants and local services, some high end places like Michael Kors, famous places like the magnolia bakery, and just cute ones like the place we had dinner.
So, our morning walk. Down Bleeker, towards Greenwich village. Stopping at shops anyone the way. Starbucks have free wifi and toilets. Tip for visitors. We spent a bit of time going into phone shops trying to organize a sim card for our phones so we can use data here. AT&T were no help, which was surprising. We got to T mobile, and we told we could get a 1 month contract for $50 with unlimited talk, text and data. Sounded good. Except Australian iPhones are locked by definition. There was a bookshop a few doors down that could unlock a phone for $50. Except that if the phone is running iOS5 - the update was done only last week and has killed my Stanza PDF program as well- it can't be unlocked. So, our smart phones are useless to us here, especially when I took my phone off airplane mode and it immediately downloaded email and a message warning me that it well let me know every time I have used $300 worth of data at $20 per MB. Yikes!! We did buy a local phone running android, which is proving difficult to use. Facebook is blocked as having restricted content, and we can't get onto the website to change the settings.
Lunch at the antique garage on mercer st. Dinner a selection of cheeses and deli goods from Murray's cheeses on Bleeker.
Village Halloween parade along 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village. 4 or 5000 people parading - anyone can join in so long as you are in costume. There was a large group doing 'Thriller' all dressed as zombies closely followed by a group doing the 'Glee' version. 'vocal People' did a warm up performance for the tv cameras only 40 m or so from where we were, so we could hear what they were doing and see their backs. The kids will be pleased we saw them!!
Tuesday - after a really poor night sleep in our very hot apartment (sleeping with no covers and needing to put a fan on - really hot), I got up at 6 to run. But it was really dark. So I did some hand washing of my clothes, waiting for the sky to lighten. At 6.45 I headed out, running west along our street to west st, along the Hudson river. The path was fairly busy with runners, a few walkers and cyclists. I ran south along the riverside park, getting my first glimpse of lady liberty with her glowing beacon in the pre dawn light.
We then had an 8.15 pick up to drive north an hour or so to an outlet mall called Woodbury common. There was a fair bit of snow on the ground, on the garden beds and a lot on the rooves. Because it is so early in the season, the trees have not yet lost their leaves, so there were trees losing branches and even falling over in the poor weather last weekend. Since then, it has been lovely - crisp, clear and sunny.
We had an early dinner at a local pub, Bayards Ale House, then home for another sleepless night - so tired, so busy during the day, yet so little sleep after 1 am.
Wednesday - walking, walking, walking. We did over 30 km today by foot - shhh, don't tell my coach......
We caught the subway from Christopher st to Battery Park, walked around battery park, then to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Along Wall St - it is all blocked off outside the stock exchange and apparently has been since 9/11. Then to the 9/11 memorial site. The setting is very beautiful, with amazing water features where the two buildings stood. There was not enough information around about what was happening at the site, but that doesn't really matter. There is a lot of building work going on both there and all over the city.
We then walked to the South St Seaport for a look at Brooklyn Bridge, through chinatown where we had lunch in Columbus Square, into Little Italy, the lower east side, nolita, soho and Greenwich village and home again. A quick change, then up to the chaos that is Times Square (we prefer the village and the lower east side) for 'Spiderman the musical'. It was very well done in terms of set design - probably the thing I enjoy most about theatre. I could take or leave the singing, especially although they were good singers, but the sets and how they conveyed the sense of space and action was very good. The harnesses for the flying were also very impressive. Very tired watching this show, however, so very glad to get on the train back home and to bed.
Thursday - my last training run. 5 km along the Hudson river park, shorter and sweet.
Then a walk through Chelsea, the meat packing district and along the Highline to get to 34 th st and the expo. Bib pickup and gear collection. I also paid my $600 deposit for the Antarctica marathon in 2014!! I bought some more running gear, then we caught the free bus put on by a sports store on broadway that were also putting on a free lunch of hotdogs, pizza and bagels (guess which I had - it was the bagel). After all that free stuff, I then did spend money in their store.
We spent the evening walking across to the East Village, looking for a good place to eat. There are thousands, but the ones that catch the eye the most are the full ones! We realized we were only a few blocks from Spitzers, do decided to go there again for a meal. The food was great, Charlie got to sample another 3 of the 40 craft beers they have on tap, while I had some more local tap water. All good. We walked back along Avenue A to see a bit of 'Alphabet City', then back along 10th st towards home. We stopped at 'Chikalicious' dessert bar - for $16 prix fixe, you get an amuse - apple soup with pear sorbet- then a dessert of your choice (warm chocolate tart, very tiny) and a selection of 3 petite fours - toasated coconut marshmallow, almond cake and a cointreau chocolate truffle. All very tiny and cute.
The legs are a bit tired, however, so tomorrow we are moving to the Upper West Side to our hotel, and we will keeping the exploring more local for a couple of days - museums, mainly, I think.
When we got home from dinner, we switched on the TV to see the final scenes of 'when Harry Met Sally'! It was definitely our neighborhood. We will have to watch it again to see what we can spot. We also have Internet for the first time now - there was wifi all along here, locked, and it wasn't until yesterday I could email the owner of the apartment to ask if we could use it. Grrrr. But we have it now for a few hours more.
Friday - packing, a subway trip uptown, a walk through Central Park to the finish line and a visit to MoMA. The subway was pretty painless with all our gear at 9.30 am, and the walk there was only 6 blocks or so. When we arrived uptown (on the same train), we were only a few steps from our hotel, thank goodness. There was a SWAT team outside, but the staff at the hotel thought they were just there to use the bathroom here. Actually, all police and security people here have been really approachable and friendly. They'd rather talk about the weekend or themselves than be serious and security like!!
Our hotel, the Lucerne, is on the corner of Amsterdam Ave and W79th St - lots of eateries here, just behind the Museum of Natural History and lots of very nice looking buildings. A very rich neighborhood. We were here too early for our room, of course, but needed to get to a store as a jacket I had bought still had its security tag on. So. We walked through Central Park, past Strawberry Fields and many many work crews munching branches and trees. The storm last Saturday caused amazing amounts of destruction. When we left the park at 5th Ave, there was a small square that had lost all of it's 10 or so trees, including one around a meter in circumference that was broken off at only a meter or so from the ground. It's a cold and windy day today, and the wind was whipping along 5th Ave as we walked past the Apple Store and all the flagship stores along here. There were several Trump buildings - the master of self promotion and creating the self as a brand.
The MoMA was very busy, but we saw some Warhol, Lichtenstein, Pollack, Monet, Picasso, Matisse etc, fonts, interiors and had a pretty good unch in the Italian cafe on site. I had a bowl of pasta, and felt so bloated!! We then caught the subway home. There we sa guy doing a fantastic, spine tingling version of Hallelujah on the platform - I always love that song. Back to the hotel, collect some milk for my breakfast and check in for an afternoon nap.
We have wifi here - yay, so you all get to see how we are going at almost all hours. We are a funny sight, really. A laptop, two iPads, two iPhones and a local smartphone running android (that has been so hard to use). So it is nice to be able to use these. Charlie kindly went to the local Irish pub after his gym session to give me a chance for a rest. I called the kids at home, and spoke to my mum for the first time in 3 months as she has been in Europe since early August and didn't get home until after I was on my way here.
We went to an amazing Japanese restaurant on the next block for dinner. Momoya had a very familiar logo like it belonged to a famous restaurateur, but I can't find out who it might be. It does have 2 Michelin stars, however. For a $28 prix fixe, we had the most amazing 3 course meal. Tuna avocado salad for me, yellowfin ceviche for him, followed by sushi and rolls for mains. Charlie struggled to finish his after his free pizza at the pub!! As the couple next to us we're finishing their meal, they started talking to us. She was a professional ballet dancer and is now a jewelry maker or seller, and he is a film editor. They are now well into their 70's, live in West Chester (but she works in the city, in the diamond district next to Times Square) and so enjoyed chatting to us that they invited us to dinner next week. We swapped numbers, so we will see what comes of it. It was lovely to speak to them, however, and would be nice to be shown some of New York by people who have lived here all their lives.
We stopped by the 24 hr chemist over the road on the way home. Charlie was well impressed. We bought a 6 pack of water for me to see if it is the local water upsetting my guts, a Becks beer for him, a toothbrush and a bottle of coke for $15. We have been amazed at how cheap so many things are here. The taxis are cheap, the food is excellent value, drinks are cheap, public transport is cheap, but I suppose housing is pricey. Then again, our driver on Tuesday lives in Brooklyn in a 3 bedroom house with a pool with a wife who is a school teacher in the public system and who was earning $90k after 10 yrs, and the house is worth $450k. They are complaining a lot about how expensive it is to live now, but it just makes me wonder how good they had it for a long time? There is obviously a lot of very very high end things to buy, but that is the luxury end of the market rather than the norm.
Saturday, 4 am - can't sleep, brain turning in circles. I am actually pretty worried at the moment. I have had tricky guts for 2 days now, and although it settled a bit with some lomotil after a day, it has started up again. I don't feel crook, but I am losing a lot of fluid. I can't find any gastrolyte or equivalent at the chemist, although there is plenty more lomotil if I need it. I guess I can always drink Gatorade and eat bananas all day. But I am worried about cramping, running out of legs, hitting that wall that I have never seen, despite pushing it a few times to see if I can find where it is (so I can keep away from it - you can't avoid hitting it if you don't know where it is). I may send Charlie over to the expo (you know, 45 blocks away) to get some of the electrolyte replacement stuff from there if it doesn't settle soon, or I don't find something locally. He'll be so excited at that idea!
4pm. About to head out to the Travelling Fit meet and greet a couple of blocks away, then on to an early dinner with the Jodi Lee Foundation crew. It has been weird bring so isolated and just doing our own thing. We went to the museum of Natural History for a couple of hours this morning. We both fell asleep during the universe movie narrated by Whoopi Goldberg but enjoyed he museum. Dinosaur bones, dioramas, and that big blue whale - I have been in many planes that are smaller.
My guts are still not good, now onto day 3. Loperamide not really stopping it, so have started on the antibiotics - better late than not at all? Gatorade and white rice for lunch, an afternoon lying down mainly watching 'When Harry Met Sally', and crossing fingers that I will be ok. I am worried about my tummy. I haven't had 3 days of crook guts in years and years, so I have no idea how to handle it properly, especially when I need to run tomorrow. I normally have a protein shake for breakfast, made with milk. Do I still do that? Given my guts? Dunno. See how I fare tonight.
9.30pm. Bedtime soon. Clothes are laid out. Getting my head sorted out. The tummy is ok with the lomotil and antibiotics so far. My aim is to enjoy tomorrow. No one cares if I run 3.45 or 4.45 tomorrow, ultimately. So go out there, and enjoy it. And try to sleep tonight.
We met Matt who is running 7 marathons on 7 continents in 18 months or so. Tomorrow is his birthday and marathon number 2 for him, with Athens next weekend! I'll watch his progress with interest.
Sleep tight now
Sunday - 5.15 am. Toes taped. Teeth clean. Old clothes on to donate at the start. Protein shake in belly. Guts been ok for 18 hrs now. Slept ok (awake since 3 - about standard for this week). Bag packed. Tissues and camera in little running pouch. Bib on. I think I have everything.....
Wow, how do I write up yesterday?
I sat on the bus behind Andrew and Sue from 'Partner Running' a couple from Melbourne who have done heaps of marathons (65), including 8 in 8 weeks in 8 countries. The tip from them was don't go hard up the hills, important to keep the lactate down. And don't start running harder til 35 km in. The drive across the Queensboro bridge into Queens, down through Brooklyn in the dawn light was stunning. Looking across to manhattan with the sun glinting off the buildings. The start villages were huge. A mass of people filing through the entry, then splitting off into our three colors (I was blue). In the village were 500 or so porta loos (kind of a 'short drop' loo, no flush), coffee, bagels, water, Gatorade, powerbars and lots of people huddled under blankets and plastic to keep warm. It had warmed up to 5 degrees by 8 am (I was there by 6.45), and I think got to 15 or so later in the day. Absolutely stunning weather, clear, crisp, still. I spoke to a few people from all over in this start village - such a range of ages, experience. Different routines in terms of tape on feet, liniment, Vaseline in all sorts of places. 68 UPS trucks to take gear for afterwards (warm clothes). I was in starting corral 22 along with around 1000 other people. We were in the corral when the cannon fired for the start of wave 1 and Frank Sinatra's 'New York, New York' (natch) was played over the loud speaker. A big cheers went up, and we could see the runners running over the bridge. Then we started the walk around to the start line. I was fairly close to the front of wave two. I chatted to Dave from Perth who was doing his second marathon. We waited here 20 mins or so, a police lady sang 'America the brave', then the cannon went and the loudspeakers did Frank again, new York, new York. I cried, clutching Dave's arm. This has been such an amazing journey. I couldn't believe the moment had actually come, 10 months in the planning.
We had the right hand side of the bridge, orange had the left hand side and green had the bottom layer. The view across the river was awesome, boats, helicopters. So many people running. I was careful not to run too fast and get carried away by it all, and I did snap a couple of pics. I saw Bud, one of the other girls in the group, but she soon told me to go on ahead as we had different targets.
Brooklyn was so diverse. Poorer in the southern bit, then very noisy, then silent through a Hasidic Jew section of town. Then the hipsters :). Most crowds were soo noisy. My name was so big on my chest, and I had thousands of people calling out 'go Tory' , 'Tory in the tutu' all the way along. There were water stops every mile, loos every mile and medical tents. I needed 2 pitstops, one of which I actually had to wait at which cost me a minute or so. Thousands of smiling volunteers. The streets were lined with people, usually with no baricades, so I could high five kids and grown ups all the way, and wave when my name was called, until it was a bit too tiring to do that.
Up through Queens, then across the Queensboro bridge with the view of midtown and downtown. Then onto first ave with the crowds 10 deep. Running up and up First ave into Harlem and beyond. The crowds calling 'Tor-Ree' in their American accents, then the Hispanics, rolling the 'r' and clipping the 'y'. I can't write down how that sounded, but it just like Gloria on 'Modern Family' and very cool.
The Bronx was where I had another of my moments, 20 miles in, still 10 km to go. I rounded a corner and the loudspeaker was playing U2 'a beautiful day'. This song was played as soon as my niece Abby was born almost 11 years ago, and I was lucky enough to be there with them. I also played it when I was in labour with Luca and I have always found it uplifting. I cried. Almost sobbing. I felt so good and quite overwhelmed that I was here, and still feeling good. Running strong. A bit sore in my knees and ankles, but I decided to ignore that. A bit sore in my SIJ's and in my hips, but I decided to ignore that, too. I had done the 'third 500' (third quarter) and not slowed down especially. The music played on the next block kept thumping and the band called out my name again. Awesome.
Then it was back into manhattan, down fifth ave, with the sun shining in our eyes. I was past the 32 km mark, so it was time to let the legs go a little, let the speed come up a bit, and see how I could go. The crowd kept cheering, calling my name. I kept running, with my pace often faster than 5 min/km. But the road was a long slow uphill, so my splits don't really reflect that sort of speed. I was grateful for the fact that most of my training involved a long slow hill by virtue of where I live and kept telling myself that it was just like I always ran at home (ignoring how much I had whined about that). When I had 3-4 km to go, I laughed at myself, because I had struggled with that mark in both the half marathon and the 12 km city- bay and thought it was my weak point. I was going past so many people who were walking, many people who were shuffling, people who were still running, but not running like me. No one went past me. I was sure I was going to negatively split, but that last mile and a half or so took a long time, and was mainly uphill. The last steep uphill with signs every 100 yards counting down, and there was the finish. And a medal, and quads tighter than they have ever been (I hadn't noticed them until then). Then a space blanket wrapped around my shoulders, and a sticker put on it to keep it closed, then the food bag and we kept walking. For 40 mins or so to get to my truck, the very last truck, 8 blocks north of my exit. I cried along here again, an amazing sense of achievement and conclusion. Not sure I could sign up again, but certain I will. Very much like childbirth. Pushed to your limits, sure you couldn't go any harder, sure you couldn't really do it again, but sure that you will. Then they offered me a bag of twisties, which I ate walking back down central park west which was all closed off to traffic. Other runners walking slowly, stiffly with space blankets around them. Some runners walking stiff and slow but with their warm clothes on. A slow 9 block walk home, to Charlie who had spent all day chasing me around via the subway, tracking my progress on the app, and who I didn't see at all en route but who has the pics to prove he was there :) He had filled the bath with ice and cold water ready for my ice bath and helped me in. True love.
The ice bath was awful, shivering despite the towels wrapped around my shoulders and asking every 2 minutes how long it had been and could I get out yet? Charlie made me a protein shake, gave me water, helped me up so I could have my hot shower and brought me a recovery shake. Not that I was dehydrated, nor needed calories replaced, but I could feel the muscle damage in my legs. I did drink water every mile and had Gatorade most miles.
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Antartica Marathon starts in 
