Best Bathroom in New Bedford

I felt pretty good and fresh when I toed the line last Sunday for the New Bedford Half Marathon. I enjoyed a nice road trip with my wife Jess, teammate Greg Hammett, and friend Erik Kress. We had a few moments of anxiety getting our numbers but it went fairly smoothly. I went out pretty fast and my first mile was 4:56. I felt good but knew this was too fast for me. I backed off a little and my two mile split was 10:15. Still a bit fast but I was comfortable. I always go out like this and it takes a few miles to settle in. By mile three I was settled in and started posting between 5:10 and 5:15 which is exactly where I wanted to be. I was constantly taking mental notes on how I felt because I wasn't sure how I would feel considering I just raced 50K a couple of weeks ago. At mile 7 things got very interesting. I was suddenly hit with an urgency that only a runner can appreciate. It came quick like a bolt of lightning. I fell off my pace, lost the lead pack I was hanging with and soon found myself being swallowed whole by the chase pack. I was running out of time and had to make a quick decision. I noticed a public restroom to the right side of the course and thought that it was too good to be true. It was. The damn thing was locked. Next, Kevin Tilton gave me some encouragement and told me to tuck in behind him and the pack and hang on. This only worked for a second and I basically gave up. I pulled of the course and looked at a bystander and asked, "Do you know where the closest public restroom is?" He was kind enough to let me go to his house. We walked a few houses up a side street to his house when he warned me about his dogs. He simply said,"I have a lot of dogs but they don't bite." When he opened the door I have never seen so many four pound pocket pooches in one spot in my entire life. There were at least 10, maybe 12 dogs. The man pointed across the living room to the bathroom door and I proceeded to navigate through the puppy posse and into the bathroom. This is where I was privy to the nicest bathroom in New Bedford. The bathroom had a raised jacuzzi in the corner with three steps semi circle around the profile. The largest throne I have ever seen and for extra freshness a bidet. Needless to say I was in and out pretty quick. And much fresher ;) I thanked the man graciously for "saving my life" and I headed back to the course. I came up on Greg and he seemed to be surprised to see me. I felt like quiting but I have never actually been able to drop out of a race and I figured I came all this way. So I finished as hard as I could, got a pretty good workout, and know how to model my next bathroom. See you at the 12K!