Woke up today, excited, pumped, and rearing to go. Running the 9am leg, I was soooo excited when I saw the route and knew it. Starting in Queens and ending in Brooklyn, it would go by some memorable NYU cross country landmarks…Fort Greene, locale for hill workouts during cross country season, and Prospect Park, our favorite place to do mile repeats. Even more excited was the fact that my most awesome friend Shannon had agreed to come out and bike alongside me, my dad and some family friends were coming to the exchange point, and some distant cousins might also be showing up…wow talk about fans! =)

The run itself was…meh. My legs were very tired and heavy, the route slightly ugly and boring (straight on Myrtle Ave forever), but the end was real nice…finishing at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to the park. Unfortunately, due to the Haitian Parade going on at the same time, which apparently is the largest parade in the country, traffic was terrible and my dad and crew unable to make it down in time. Relieved to be done with what quite possibly was my last run of the whole trip, I stayed behind as my team went on, heading over to Shannon’s place, only about a block away, to shower, change, and relax. I can’t begin to explain the feeling of just hanging out there…amazing. Everything about the run nearing the end began to feel real. Sitting in a familiar place, doing normal people things, wow…life was almost back to normal.

We spent the rest of the day running errands for the party the next night, the final shebang! I went shopping and got some dresses, shoes, and accessories, and we hit up a salon for the appropriate pedicure/manicure/beautifying routine. Finally, I returned to the hotel to meet back up with the run…and that’s when chaos began to ensue. Team Silver had been originally booked in a hotel outside the city in Long Island, but since the traffic the next day was not going to be conducive to driving into the city during rush hour, we decided to request a hotel change to inside the city, where apparently the entire rest of the run, crew, and people were staying. The only problem was lack of available rooms, so being flexible, we agreed to sleep on floors, share beds, and do whatever it takes. As with most things on this run, the seemingly easy tasks always turn out to be the most dramatic and troublesome. It took a while, some lost patience on everyone’s parts, but finally we were all checked in and with a spot to sleep. I was stationed with Laura and Dot, and we all had an actually great time.

We went out to celebrate the completion. Dot, Laura, Emmanuel, me, and Dot’s friend Kimmy, all hit up Dos Caminos for dinner and drinks. It was fun, and afterwards two NYU friends of mine, Keely and Jamie also met up with us. I stayed behind with my friends as they returned to the hotel, caught up with them, and then came back with them to the hotel bar for some quick drinks. Not wanting to have too much fun or do anything too crazy, saving up for the next night, the final party, I went to bed fairly early…ready for the FINAL and BIG day…the FINISH! Woohoo!!!!!!!