I’m pretty sure I sound as though I am the absolute laziest half marathoner. Last week I talked about taking it easy. This week, same thing.

I took the 3:30am bus to Atlantic City (from New York). This meant I realistically had to leave Far Rockaway no later than 12:30am. (I didn’t want to leave any later than midnight to be safe.)

I needed to give myself 2 hours to get into the city, and then a nice chunk of time to wait at the Greyhound station, since Greyhound is first come, first serve. I’ve been pushed to a later bus before by not getting there early enough. Sometimes time doesn’t really matter. I couldn’t get pushed this time, though, since I was going to a half marathon.

All that being the case, my plan was to try to sleep as much during the day as possible, wake up in the early evening, get ready and go. I’d act as though the night was the morning and that I’d be running a half marathon in my “late afternoon” as far as my body clock was concerned. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly how it worked out.

I went to bed on the morning of the 31st, hoping to sleep late. I woke up tired in the middle of the day, and could not get back to sleep. So much for my brilliant plan. I hung out at the house for a while, unsuccessfully trying to sleep. When that wasn’t working, I vegged for a little, figuring at least rest had to be kind of like sleep.

I got my stuff together for the day ahead of me, and ended up leaving around 8:30pm. I went and killed some time by seeing “Safe House.” (I smell a sequel.)

I made my way to the Greyhound bus station, and waited in line while reading a magazine about triathlons. Finally, thirty minutes or so late, the bus came. Off we all went to Atlantic City.

I took a little nap on the bus. Before you know it, I was at Bally’s Casino right when packet pick-up was starting. I saw runners heading out to get their bibs, which was nice. I didn’t have to try to figure out where anything was. I just followed right behind.

The people at packet pick-up were very kind. We got blue race shirts. (I love when the shirts are anything but white and when they have women’s cut. Check and check. Thanks, April Fools Half Marathon.)

I changed into my race clothes, brushed my teeth, and went to look for coffee. When I got to the café, I didn’t even have enough brain power/focus to remember that I wanted caffeine. I ended up eating some Lucky Charms.

There was some super enjoyable pre-race music in the hotel all morning. The music the Backstreet Boys accompanied my breakfast.

As it got closer to 8am, I headed outside, dropped my stuff at gear check, and went to the starting line. They ended up holding the race for 15 minutes to help runners who were having trouble parking. Apparently, Atlantic City was hopping with multiple events this weekend.

At 8:15, we started. Truly, my only goal was to finish. I had no hopes of running a lot. I just wanted to make it through without lying down for a nap in the middle of the race.

Scenic

My legs are feeling pretty fresh after taking it easy in North Carolina last week, and I wanted to keep them that way in preparation for the big Hollywood Half next week. I lightly jogged most of the first mile, ’til I slowed down to a walk.

There were a couple other races being held that morning in addition to the half – an 11k and a 7k. They both started a little after the half, so it was funny to have the half field get nice and spread out, just to all of a sudden be in a big pack again and experience a lot of people passing me. And then again a 3rd time.

This was such a nice, relaxed race. The first 3 miles were all along the boardwalk.

As I passed the first band, the lead singer was coming out very close to the course. He almost looked as though he was going to start holding the microphone out and getting people to sing with him. Can you imagine – run-by audience participation/karaoke? It sounded fun and silly, but it didn’t happen (as far as I know).

I keep on going along the boardwalk. Will I make it to the end before I fall asleep? Find out tomorrow.

Tagged: 13.1, April Fool's Day, Atlantic City, Atlantic City boardwalk, Half Marathon, Running