san diego marathon: friday

so after much insanity at work all week, i finally stumbled into jfk at 7:45am on friday to hop onto my flight. as usual, i was a last-minute packer, but being all experienced at away-runs now, i was less stressed - you can always get whatever you left behind at the expo. i was very sad to see that i had a middle seat, so sleeping was less likely but even sitting in the middle, i was so happy to be sitting, with no one to talk to or e-mail.

jet blue is a great way to fly to california. between the satellite radio, direct tv, my book and magazine, the 5+ hours flew by in no time. i had run into a tnt-pal at the airport so we met up and took a cab to the marriot together. the hotel, as usual, was nice with a lovely big pool and hot tub in the back. we were able to check in early, and i looked down at my room number: 666. huh. after a moment's hesitation, i shrugged and decided it would be fine, since, to my knowledge i wasn't the anti-christ. at that point the sun was still peaking out around the clouds so we decided to hit the expo then head out to the pool.

as soon as i walked into the convention center and looked up my race number i felt some insanity bubbling up. my number is a low one, in the 6's, clearly a marathon number (vs. a 1/2). i filled out my waiver, leaving the expected finishing time blank, and went over to the people handing out the numbers. they're always so nice. i'm thinking that i might volunteer to do this at the nyc marathon...having a smiling interested face there really is great. the woman seemed to be excited to know people had come all the way from nyc, and of course excitement is infectious.

we roamed around the expo. i was on the hunt for power gel and a sleeveless to go under my singlet. the singlets are not the most flattering pieces of clothing in the world if you haven't noticed. i ended up buying not only a sleeveless, but a new sports bra and socks. kind of a "no-no" but i thought "i can break the rules a bit...i'm not worried about the 1/2."

we went back to the hotel hoping for some sun time, but june gloom had set in. we decided we didn't care and changed into our suits to hit the hot tub and pool. it was simply a joy to be outside in the water and decompressing. we chatted and relaxed and soon was back at "running the 1/2 marathon" is the way to go.

when our skin had turned raisin-esque, we called it a day. i spent a little qt by myself and met up with the rookie, who had arrived from cali, and cap who had flown in a bit after me for dinner. we ended up at a spanish place that we should have run away from as soon as we saw that spring rolls were an item on the menu. good company has a way of trumping bad food and service and after a few laughs headed back to the hotel. we went to the bar, and i had a whisky coffee. yes, drinking. i wasn't concerned about dehydration...i figured it was the perfect end to my day of relaxation and rest.