Day 3 in NYC

We made it! Took a little more time to get here Friday after delays in Chicago, lots of sitting on runways, an hour Uber ride from the airport to our little flat we are renting for the week in rush hour traffic. We got here and what a surprise..The apt. is on the Upper East Side just East of Central Park. It’s a pretty spacious place as NY apartments go. Right on 77th Street, everything you could possibly need to live on, you can probably find in a one square mile walking distance. The first night we went to a brilliant shopping store where everything fresh or otherwise can be found. Deli’s, fresh and cooked meats and shrimp, veges, fruit plus all the regular grocery stuff. Good thing we only had 2 backpacks or we would have gone crazy shopping there! Out of our delicious discoveries, after a long day of travel we ate dinner at the apartment and were in wonder of what a different world we had stepped into. It’s like we are in a different country. All the life and energy of NYC is palpable and it’s hard not for me to be crazy excited to be here...

Of course, even though we brought only carry ons for our 20 day journey, I have already realized I overpacked and it is warmer in NYC than I thought. Fortunately, there is a Lululemon Store about .5 miles away to get shorts.. 🤔 (more stuff to pack?) In Paris all the warm clothes may be needed but after repacking about 4 times, I realize so far, I could have taken half again out of my suitcase!

Yesterday (Saturday), H and I got up and got going early to go to Central Park where the “Team for Kids” breakfast was being served in a special area. Team for Kids is the charity Hart donated to in order to get into the NYC Marathon after he missed getting into the lottery. They have a special place for Hart to wait for the start in Staten Island this AM, a special area for spectators later today and a nice big warm tent for H to go at the Finish Line upon completion of the marathon today. We got hopelessly lost in Central Park trying to find breakfast yesterday as they were have a 5k pre-race Race in the Park. There were thousands of people and closed areas. We ended up walking (fast for first 3 miles) for 5 miles. Not the day before race day warmup H was supposed to do. In walking shoes. My legs hurt after walking 7 miles total yesterday so hope he didn’t overdo it to affect his race today! The breakfast,which was attended by hundreds of racers and family,  brought much excitement and cheering as different folks were introduced related to the Charity. We felt much better after eating and headed to the Expo by Uber. Another HUGE event, but registration was very organized. I wanted to go into Expo to shop a bit however, it was a big cluster, massively large and overwhelming. After our Central Park Oddessy, we opted to take a cab back to our place. Hart put his race number on his team Shirt, got all ready to go. He looked so good, in shape and race ready! I became only more excited for him..had a bit of jealousy I was not doing the Race for a split second but that was short lived as I remembered all the training he has done in the last several weeks. Ten weeks ago he tore his hamstring in two places and it was doubtful he would be at the Start Line. Damn, my husband heals quickly! He fought his way back, with the help of Michael our coach and through cross training and building up his running strength, alas he is ready! No aches and pains in hammy or knee (which has given him problems) so it’s go time...yay!

So the time changed a few hours ago and I have been up since 2:30 after turning our clocks ⏰ back..Can’t sleep so made the Starbucks coffee I went and scored last night a block away from our place. I am trying to figure out if it’s worth trying to take the subway adventure to go and try and cheer H on at certain parts of the race but not sure if I can do it with the crowds and even if I did, H probably won’t be able to see me. I can maybe see him at mile 19 and mile 24 that is close to the apartment at the end of the race so may opt for that. His race starts at 11:00 so most likely he will end in the dark, since sun sets at 4:40 PM today after the time change.

I’m ready to go!!! Being a support person is fun, I am so looking forward to tracking H in the race on the App, watching it on TV as it is showing nonstop on NBC here all day..I can only imagine him at different parts of the race and wish I was a little fly that could sit on his shoulder all day! Will try and take and post some pics of the race from my vantage point, we will see what the BIG day brings..