Day 141: Boo! (Well, *I'm* scared!)

Weatherwatch for Nov. 2 (from weather.com):

Partly cloudy, high of 53° (38° at 5 am, wind chill 33°; 40° at 8 am, wind chill 35°), chance precip. 10%, wind ENE 6 mph, humidity 60%, UV index 3

(overnight low Nov. 1: 37°, chance precip. 10%)

Weather.gov for Nov. 2: Sunny, high 53°, wind NE 6–8 mph (overnight low Nov. 1: 39°)

Halloween -- the last day of rest (if that's what this is!) before the marathon. I woke up very early, part of the sleep-shifting. Bit of a sore throat! -- could be picking up a cold, or maybe it's just the cold, dry air of Long Island. Argh! Ate/drank: water, orange juice, mint tea with honey, a Stella d'Oro breakfast treat, two packets of apple-cinnamon oatmeal.

Plus, quality bathroom time, all morning. Ahhh.

I did some work, and eventually the sun came up. The bagel store didn't have any cinnamon-raisins on my way to the train station -- a bad omen? -- and when I got up to the platform at 9:12, the delayed 9:07 peak train was there, meaning that I had to fork over another $2.75 to get to the city (I had planned on taking the off-peak 9:15). But whatever.

I strolled over to the Javits Center: the race expo. What a production. I can only imagine what it's like at full tilt -- Carson had repeatedly warned me that I would have to stand in long, snaking, Disneyland-like lines. I zipped in, picked up my bib and goodie bag and T-shirt, scanned my chip, bought a couple of knickknacks at the official marathon store, picked up a couple of useless items of swag from the exhibitors, and was outta there in about an hour. Piece of cake!

Actually, no cake, but more water, plus an egg bagel (instead of a cinnamon-raising) and my customary tea with milk and sugar (should have made it honey!), plus two peanut-butter-and-honey-and-cinnamon sandwiches on wheat bread, plus a banana. The bagel store did have cinnamon-raisin bagels when I got back to Long Island, and I also picked up some throat drops, as well as a $3 leave-behind shirt from TJ Maxx. Hey, when you're freaking out, you start buying things. On Carson's advice, I eschewed all free samples at the expo (Gu being dispensed like lotion from big tubs -- blech) except for a shot of pomegranate juice, which made me smack my lips. For the second time in this blog post, this time with gusto: Ahhh!

Now, I'm going to rest, do some more work, and hide from the kiddies who will probably show up shortly, seeking candy. Dinner might be in about two hours or so, and tomorrow I'll wake up even earlier, for my last pre-marathon run (a short one), and last day of prep.

Still reading? Don't worry, the nail-biting conclusion will come soon enough...!

Before I forget! To keep up with me during the race, click here, and you'll get e-mail updates of my time -- you can search me by name (I'm the only Plosky, to no surprise). This feature is especially handy if you have a BlackBerry or iPhone or something and need real-time info because you plan to see me in the flesh -- in which case, let me know where you'll be, and I'll let you know what I'm wearing, so we can best spot each other!

Bonus: it's now 6:15 PM, and I'm bloated from pasta. The neighborhood kids are trick-or-treating. Best costume ever: a little girl came to the door dressed as a picnic table. Her head stuck up through the middle of the round table, through a paper plate. "Trick or treat!" she said, earnestly. I waited for her to proffer a plastic pumpkin, or even a bag, into which I could deposit the 'fun'-size Baby Ruth... but nothing happened. After a moment I realized her arms weren't long enough to extend out from under the table. "OK," I said, in what I hoped was an agreeable voice, and placed the Ruth on the table. "Thanks," she said, carefully balancing the Ruth as she turned to walk down the porch steps. "Careful!" cried a middle-aged woman from the sidewalk. Only on Halloween, kids, only on Halloween.

And another bonus (this one's a penalty, actually): I now have a little bit of a sniff in addition to the sore throat. Strong like bull for weeks, and now...  Well, here's hoping that a good night's sleep will put me aright.