I left the house at about 6:30 pm and headed out to LAX to catch an evening flight out to NYC. There was a ton of traffic along the way. I arrived at the LAX Economy Lot at just before 8 pm. After parking the car in an EV stall, I hopped on the shuttle for a ride over to terminal 4.
LAX Economy Lot
Terminal 4
American Admirals Club Flagship Lounge
While waiting to board the plane, I chatted with a guy named Chester from Lubec, Maine. I told him about how I had run the Bay of Fundy Marathon back in 2016 and owed a guy named Roger a beer because I had assured him that Hillary Clinton would beat Trump or else I would return and buy him a beer.
Since I really didn't care where I sit on the plane, I booked a basic economy ticket and was assigned a center seat when I checked into my flight. Unfortunately, I was in a row right next to the lavatory which got a ton of action. The light from the lavatory made it almost impossible to sleep. There was also a crying toddler. Before trying to sleep, I watched Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Per the usual with this franchise, it was action packed. However, it was just more of the same old schtick between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
Saturday 9/21
The plane landed at about 6 am at Philadelphia Airport, terminal B. I walked over to terminal C to get the usual travel coffee at Starbucks. I went with my usual, grande blonde vanilla latte. I walked over to the food court area between terminal B and C to drink my coffee.
Grande blonde vanilla latte
PHL B/C connector
After I was done with my drink, I walked back to terminal B to wait for connecting flight. Right on schedule, I found a nearby restroom to take care of my morning BM. It was just a short flight over to LaGuardia Airport on one of those smaller regional jets. The plane landed shortly after 9:30 am. I made my way out to the curb to wait for the M60 bus. I took that over to the Astoria Blvd/Steinway St stop and walked over to the Rivercrest to catch the Spurs v. Brentford match. It was the official home of the Queens Spurs Supporters Club.
LGA terminal B curbside
M60 bus
During the walk over, I received notifications from my FotMob app that Mbeumo had scored very early on to give Brentford the lead. Then Solanke scored his first goal for the Spurs to equalize at the 8th minute. When I arrived, I found a seat at the bar. I scanned their QR code to see their menu. I tried to order off of their brunch menu, however the bartender informed me that brunch didn't start until 11 am. They had a separate limit menu for early Spurs matches. Since I wanted to order their Eggs Benedict Florentine, I opted to wait. That was fine since there was still another half of football. Thankfully, the Spurs played as they should and won 3-1.
Spurs v. Brentford
Eggs Benedict Florentine
After I settled the bill and used their restroom down a flight of stairs, I started heading over to the Ditmars Blvd station to catch the subway. I took the next available N train. Due to track maintenance, it only ran down to the Queensboro Plaza. From there, I hopped on the 7 train and took that over to Times Square 42 St. Lastly, I took the 1 train up to Columbus Circle.
From there, I walked down to the NYRR Runcenter to pick up my race packet for tomorrow's race. Per the usual routine, I scanned in my QR code and was assigned a race bib. Based on my best pace, they affixed a corral sticker on my bib. I then walked to the merchandise store in the back to pick up my race shirt.
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
I then walked back up to Columbus Circle to take the subway down to the Oculus at the World Trade Center. This would be my first time taking the PATH train over to New Jersey. I learned that PATH stood for Port Authority Trans-Hudson. All this time that I had been coming to NYC, I never knew that acronym. The one way fare was $2.75. It was pretty straightforward as the Newark-Penn Station was the last stop. After dodging a bunch of homeless people at that station, it was a few blocks over to my hotel for the weekend. I had cashed in my Wyndham Reward points for my stay at the TRYP by Wyndham Newark.
This was by far one of the cheaper options as the rates in Manhattan had skyrocketed for this weekend. I checked in and was assigned to room #710. This hotel looked to be very modern and sleek. I found my room to be spacious and clean with everything in good working condition.
View from my room
After getting settled into my room and relaxing for a bit, I went out to get something to eat for an early dinner. Since it was participating in the AAdvantage Dining program, I decided to eat at the Go! Go! Curry! over on Williams St. On the way there, I took Mulberry St and turned right on Lafayette St. That street turned into Williams St after crossing Broad St. That route had me walking along the perimeter of the Prudential Center. Based on the people that were in line, it looked like there was a punk event that evening. It was a punk rock rap duo called the Suicide Boys. Since I was there just before 5 pm, the restaurant was empty. I had the whole place to myself. At the counter, I ordered my usual, a home run with chicken and added fukujinzuke. Unfortunately, it was similar to their location in Boston. The food was just not as good as their other locations in Manhattan.
Home run with chicken added fukujinzuke
After I was done with my meal, I started heading back to my hotel. I decided to head back taking Broad St since I wanted to buy some drinks at the 7-Eleven along the way. The short walk on Broad St showed me that it was a rather rough and not-so-nice area. Heading inside the store confirmed such as they had certain drinks locked up. After I grabbed a Powerade and a bottle of water, I went to the counter to pay. I found the cashier to be in a tug-of-war with a lady over a hotdog. He was trying to take it back as she did not have the money to pay for it. To diffuse the situation, I told that cashier that I would pay for it. The cost for that hotdog was a little over $2. Then as I stood at the corner next to a Burger King waiting for the light to turn green, I heard a guy ask me to feed a veteran. Dude, I wish I was rich enough to feed everyone!
Back at my room. It was the usual night-before-the-race routine. I laid out my flat runner and then took a shower before calling it a night. I supposed that I always slept better with some ambient noise. However, the TV would auto-shutoff after a certain amount of time.
Flat runner
Sunday 9/22
Even though the race would not start until 8 am, I had to get ready and leave the hotel shortly after 4 am to start my trek over to the start line in the Bronx. From the Newark Penn Station, I caught a PATH train over to the World Trade Center. As I got off of the train, I was wondering why there were people jogging or power-walking. Apparently, they were all headed to the Fulton St station to catch the 4 train as well. As I got up to the top of the stairs to the platform, I saw the doors close and the train take off. I wasn't worried as I always made it a habit to build a buffer into my travel plans. While waiting, an unsavory person lit up a joint. Yeah, I moved away as I didn't need to be breathing in that shit before a race. The next train arrived late and it was pretty packed. Fortunately, I was able to get a seat, but only because no one wanted to sit near someone that was sleeping and taking up 4 seats. I arrived at the 161 St-Yankee Stadium station at about a quarter after 7 am. From there, I walked over to the Grand Concourse and used one of the portapotties. I then checked out the start line before heading back and situating myself at the front of corral F.
Heinrich Heine Fountain inside Joyce Kilmer Park
Start line on the Grand Concourse
Starting corral
I started the race pretty conservatively with us heading north along the Grand Concourse. For the first few miles, it would be rollers. I ended up zigzagging through slower runners while following a couple of female Chinese runners. They would eventually leave me behind. The 4th mile took us to a left turn onto Mosholu Pkwy for a quick out and back. The 5th mile was a nice gradual downhill, taking us to another turnaround just after Marion Ave. The first 5 miles ended up being a progression run.
First 5 miles: 41:35 (8:19)
The 6th mile was a gradual uphill, so that slowed down my pace a little. I cruised through mile 7 and just took the rollers in stride. I was starting to labor during mile 8 which resulted in a slower 9th mile. I was fine with that as this wasn't a goal race. I just wanted to run a solid race. I was able to speed up a bit in the final mile as it was flat with a downhill finish after a right turn onto 161 St.
Second 5 miles: 42:05 (8:25)
Finish: 1:23:40 (8:22)
Click here for my Garmin data.
I ran that a bit faster than I thought I would. Coming into this race, I was thinking that I would run comfortably hard and average around 8:30 min per mile. For my first proper race in the Bronx, that was a rather surprisingly enjoyable experience. I don't count that short little section during the NYC Marathon as a race in the Bronx. This faster overall pace should get me into a better corral for my next NYRR race.
Finished!
After I received my finisher medal and a bottle of water, I continued done the finisher chute where I picked up a post race bag of snacks and drinks. It was the usual red apple, bag of mini pretzels, and a bottle of Gatorade.
Finisher medal
Post race snacks and drinks
I then made it over to the Joseph Yancey Track & Field which was right next to Yankee Stadium and started heading over to the subway station to catch the 4 train. It was pretty cool to catch a view of the finish line and Yankee Stadium from the elevated platform. The platform was quite crowded. Once the train arrived, I was not able to get a seat until we were going through midtown Manhattan.
Yankee Stadium from the Joseph Yancey Track & Field
Finish line
161 St-Yankee Stadium station
View of the finish line from the station
View of Yankee Stadium from the station
Once the train had reached the World Trade Center, instead of exiting into the Oculus, I mistakenly took the stairs where I exited onto the street. That turned out to be nice as I got to check out the Wildlife Wonders sculptures that were located just outside. After snapping some pics, I went back in to catch a PATH train over to Jersey.
Wildlife Wonders
PATH World Trade Center Station
I got back to my room in time to catch the City v. Arsenal match. With an early goal by Haaland in the 9th minute, I thought City was going to run away with this match. However, Calafiori scored a lucky goal shortly after Rodri was subbed off due to an injury. It looked like he was just crossing it into the box and Ederson saw it too late. He's such a terrible goalkeeper for the amount of money that they have at their disposal. First of all, there was a blunder by the ref. The quick free kick taken by Arsenal was far away from the correct spot. Arsenal scored a second goal off of a corner from Saka to Gabriel. The Gunners definitely came to play this time around. However as the first half was coming to a close, another knucklehead move this time by Trossard resulted in his second yellow card and a sending off. There was some confusion with that second yellow. At first the commentators and pundits thought it was the challenge by Trossard, but it would instead be for him kicking the ball away after the whistle had been blown. The 2nd half was pretty much just City trying to crack the Arsenal bus parked in front of their goal. Stones was at the right place at the right time for the equalizer at the 98th minute, scoring off of a blocked shot from Kovačić. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. I'm starting to dislike Haaland as he has been quite a hothead.
Made it back to catch the City v. Arsenal match
Ended in a 2-2 draw
Normally on Sundays, I would watch the History Channel's 'That Built' Documentaries. However, this weekend, they were showing the American Godfathers: The Five Families. I loved the first 2 Godfather movies, but to learn about what actually took place was even more fascinating. I took a break to get an early dinner from a nearby restaurant that served soul food called, The Good Eats Experience. I placed my order online at 3:45 pm where it gave me a pick-up time of 4:15 pm. I timed it so that I would get there right at that time. The employees kind of gave me a look as if I didn't look like someone that would be eating their kind of food. Once I told them that I had placed an online order, they confirmed my name and gave me my food. It was really well packaged. There was no possibility of spillage as the container was stapled shut. My order was for their wings combo. They had different flavors for the wings. I went with their lemon pepper. For my sides, I got the corn on the cob and yellow rice. Man, it might not have been the healthiest thing to eat, but dang, that was good food!
Wings (lemon pepper) combo with corn on the cob and yellow rice
Monday 9/23
I didn't have to check out of my room so early for this trip since I had an early evening flight home flying out of LGA Airport. Since I'm a morning person, I still woke up pretty early. I showered, watched some morning news, and finished packing. I checked out at about 9:30 am to time it so that I would get to the Chick-fil-A in Manhattan at about lunch time. Once I arrived, I placed my order on the mobile app for a Grilled Club with Colby Jack Cheese and a large Sunjoy. I finally cashed in my birthday sandwich reward before it expired.
Grilled Club with Colby Jack Cheese and large Sunjoy
After I finished my lunch, I walked over to the nearby NYRR Runcenter to relax a bit and use their restroom. I was actually wanting to see if they were doing complimentary medal engraving for NYRR members. Unfortunately, they were not. As I was getting ready to leave, I noticed that their restrooms were closed for maintenance. Instead of finding some other activity to pass the time, I decided to just start heading over to the airport. I walked over to the 57 St station to catch the F train for a ride over to the Jackson Hts-Roosevelt Av station. There I would wait for the Q70 bus for a ride to LGA Airport.
After arriving at terminal B, I used a restroom before getting in line for TSA security screening. Once I got through, I decided to get 2 bottles of Aquafina water for $5 at the Queens Corner store instead of spending $8+ dollars for coffee at Starbucks.
2 for $5
After the short flight over to PHL Airport, I went searching for a place to eat. I ended up walking all the way over to the end of terminal E to eat at Burger King. On one of the ordering screens, I ordered a Double Whopper with cheese. First, I had to get my code on the mobile app to log into my account to earn some reward crowns. Once my order was ready, I found a nearby vacant table to eat my burger before returning back to my gate to wait for my flight.
Burger King at the end of terminal E
Double Whopper with cheese
The PA system for our gate was terrible. Nobody could understand the announcements that were being made. I could only hear a few words here and there. I thought it was a mechanical issue with the airplane or that they were missing a member of the flight crew. In the end, we found out that it was an issue with the jet bridge. Our plane had already arrived to the airport, but due to a mechanical issue, they were unable to connect the jet bridge to the plane to allow the passengers to deplane. They were stuck on the tarmac for about an hour. Once they were let off and the next crew could ready the plane, we were then allowed to board the plane.
During the boarding process, I was starting to feel some GI distress. Not too long after the plane went up into the air, I knew something was not right. Thankfully, I had an aisle seat and there was a vacant lavatory in the rear of the plane. Not sure what it was that I ate, but it was not waiting to come out! After taking care of that, everything was fine. I started watching the WWE Monday Night Raw for most of the flight back to LAX.
WWE: Bad Blood
WWE Raw: Intercontinental Championship match
The plane landed at LAX at about 11:45 pm. With the flight delay, I had to hurry up and get back to my car as I had booked my reservation for me to exit right before midnight. Even though I was a few minutes past midnight, I didn't have any problem exiting the parking structure.
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