Tokyo Marathon 01: Failure to Pee in a Bottle

In order to recount the events of February 17th, 2008 to you, I've decided to post this blog in segments. How many segments is yet to be decided. However, as with most numbered lists, this list begins with 01.

**Failure to Pee in a Bottle**

The final stages of my marathon preparation actually began a couple of days before Sunday. That would be Friday, for those of you counting along. Friday night, I had a nice meal with Nobue, Steven, and my beloved Amy at a quirky restaurant nearby. This place was decked out in the fashion of such fine establishments as the Cracker Barrel, the Timber Mine, or the Quilted Bear. It certainly had an old-time feel to the place, complete with a rusted old jalopy frame in the parking lot, and an authentic traffic sign adorning the lobby. I felt like I had just walked into a saloon, looking for either some grub, gas, or a gunfight with the local sheriff.

The scene just got weirder from there. In stark contrast to the decor, they were playing smooth jazz over the speakers. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised over this. I mean, Japan seems to automatically associate smooth jazz with quality food. I've eaten Indian curry with smooth jazz in the background. And now that I think about it, that was some pretty damn good curry. But anyway, there was smooth jazz. In a weird, faux-western style restaurant.

The menu? Italian food, of course! I flipped through the menu, pleased to see a variety of palatable Western dishes. Ah yes. Pasta, salad, lasagna, and...and...let's see here, hmm, I must be mistaken. I'm missing the pizza. Does your menu have pizza? No? This place doesn't have pizza? It's an Italian restaurant...with no pizza? Foiled again, confound you, quirky Japanese faux-Western Italian chefs! Damn. But I had the lasagna anyway, and it was great.

Plenty of sleep Friday night to keep my body clock steady (they say that it's actually the sleep two nights before race day that's important).

Saturday was great; we chilled out. Stopped by the train station/mall, I got a hair cut for my big day (gotta look pretty for those marathon photos). And in the afternoon, I started my carbo-loading a bit early. I followed the same plan I had followed for my 20-mile training run three weeks prior. That is:

Spaghetti

Popcorn (a full bag, oh it was soooo good)

7 slices of ham

1 Cream Puff

Water

Water

Water

I went to bed in my running clothes, sans shoes. I wish I could have a better reason for this. You know, something scientific that proves that running gear should be slept in to enhance their performance the next day. But no, I was just excited. Not too excited to keep myself up, though. I slept fine, which is unusual for me before a big race. Most of the time, I'm either staying up worrying about if my alarm is set for the right time. I used to have dreams before all of my races, where I'd wake up late and miss the event for which I'd been in training for months...

Up bright and early, I got all my stuff together (extra clothes, bib number and timing chip, course map, two bananas, some ham, and gummi worms for the finish line). Amy and I took the 5:55am bus from Yoshimi to Konosu, then the 6:16am train to Shinjuku, where the race would begin at 9:10.

The math nerds reading this have already figured this out. But I awoke around 5am, and was to run at 9:10. That's 4-plus hours in between waking up and actually running. I would need more food than two bananas and ham, if I were to run 26.2 miles (42.195 km) in one go. So, after meeting up with some friends at Shinjuku, we headed to McDonalds!

I actually didn't eat much at Mickey D's, just a couple of pancakes. I was afraid any more would lead to a digestive dilemma somewhere along the marathon route.

After our trip to the golden arches, it was time for me to say goodbye to my cheering squad. Actually, a couple of my friends could only meet up at the starting line. They would be following along, tracking my progress on the Tokyo Marathon's runner update website. My friend Emma showed me a kick-ass shirtshe had made. It's too bad I wouldn't be seeing her along the course. Oh well, I really appreciated the gesture. I had a lot of people rooting for me in this challenge. I knew I had a long, hard road ahead of me, but I was determined to finish. And with that determination, I would head to the starting line, cramming into Corral E.

But first, nature called. With long lines at all the nearby lavatories, I wanted to try out a suggestion I had read from a Runner's World magazine. This stunt required an opaque poncho and an empty water bottle, both of which I had in my possession. So, I donned the poncho and tried to...use the water bottle. But unfortunately, the water bottle's rim-diameter was too narrow, and my attempt was thwarted. I wasn't even going to try and aim, not under that poncho. It would've been like playing those carnival water-pistol racing games, but blind-folded.

So, with a full bladder, I headed to the start of the 2008 Tokyo Marathon. Luckily, I spotted a lone porta-pottie on the way (with no line!), and I seized the opportunity. It was gonna be a good race.