Officially Freaking Out

I am officially freaking out. On Thursday I started to really understand that I will be running THE ING NYC Marathon in only a few days. Then I started feeling sick to my stomach. I get a lot of anxiety about picking up the damn race packet, so I went to the Expo after work Thursday afternoon. It was a nightmare. So many people. So many people not speaking English. It was noisy and overwhelming, but getting that actual race bag was a quick and pleasant experience.

Welcome... to Purgatory.

I've been panicking over what to wear for the race, but I finally decided on a pair of Champion C9 for Target shorts, a Champion top, and sleeves. I needed to buy sleeves so I picked up a pair of Zensah sleeves at the Expo. I'm actually wearing them right now.

The Zensah display at the Expo.

Friday night the 34 year-old and I met for drinks at Dylan Murphy's (where we met) and then he cooked me a pasta dinner. It was delicious. 

The 34 year-old.

Fairway chicken is awesome and reasonably priced.

We had spinach penne with sauteed chicken, mushrooms, zucchini, squash, asparagus, and mushrooms in olive oil. I ate the leftovers (all 9 servings of it) today as well. After dinner I got rip roaring drunk off of a Cavit big gulp and showed off my putting skills. The 34 year-old has a Ping putter and I find the sound to be magical.

In the cup!

I like to spend the day before important races drinking beer and eating buffalo wings. We returned to Dylan Murphy's but I was only allowed to have one beer. Note to self, do not allow your bartender friends to become emotionally invested in your running success. The 34 year-old got to spend some quality time with his Saturday girlfriends and I got to eat sixteen wings, so it was a win-win for everyone.

We're an attractive looking couple. I know.

T and I met up to head over to the Marathon Pasta Dinner over by Tavern on the Green. It was extremely tasty. I love mac and cheese and the salad dressing was awesome. There was even beer!

Dinner ticket.

My Coors Light can told me it wasn't cold so I didn't bother to drink more than a sip.

The great volunteers serving up the complex carbohydrate meal.

After we ate, T and I went to see the finish line and listen to this awful band play its last song. It was pretty cool seeing where it will all end tomorrow. I am going to be keeping this mental image with me as a I beg for mercy around mile 18.

European runners smoking. I like how they think.

These nice guys took our picture in front of the finish line. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to wear my Frye boots again and my foot was hurting. Why am I so insistent about wearing things that hurt before races?

I like T's scarf. If anyone wants to buy me a present...

Obviously the M31 bus neglected to pick me up (again) so I walked from 66th Street up to my apartment. These guys across the street were having a pull-up contest. One day I will be able to do that.

I need to get to bed, but I am going to watch Bones before I do. The 34 year-old and I watched it last night but I blacked out so it's as if it were still new. Funny side story: I woke up at 5 AM on the couch this morning and I go into the bedroom and ask the 34 year-old why I am sleeping on the couch. He told me I refused to get off the couch last night. I breathed an audible sound of relief because I thought I was in some kind of trouble. Oops.