So the whole presidential visit thing wasn't that big a deal after all. The NYPD let me stay on the dirt path that passed by the helicopter landing zone for three circuits without saying a word. On the last loop there was an assemblage of about 50 officers, all somewhat menacingly resting their right hands on their guns, but besides that it was pretty much business as usual. They also had kind of a cool portable air traffic control tower on a cherry-picker-like truck that I'd never seen before, but I didn't get to see it put into use.
My mother and I are now both officially visa'ed up for our trip on Friday, so it's a huge relief to have that worry taken care of. Of course now that I've only got a couple days of work left until I leave, I'm motivated to do absolutely nothing! Today I've read the latest New York Magazine, printed up a walking tour of Miami, researched the history of Castro's regime and now of course I'm blogging. In my defense, I do have a bunch of phone calls out for producers with research questions, but there's no doubt I already have one foot out the door. Part of the problem is that I'm also really achy and tired from trying to cram in most of my mileage for the week before I leave. Three days into the week and I've already logged 41 miles! I know that's just begging for an injury, but at least I'll have more than a week of shorter runs to allow myself some recovery.