Getting to the start: Basically, I was herded like a cattle for about an hour. I was assigned an 8am ferry to Staten Island. To avoid a mad rush, the race tries to stagger you to the start line. The problem is that a lot of people don't really follow their assignment. (And the race people don't really check.) So, while I was there on time, there were people with 5 and 6am ferry times taking the 8am. This meant that it was very crowded while waiting for the ferry. As I was leaving the hotel, a gentleman named Tom got in the elevator. I was planning on walking the 10 minutes to the ferry terminal, but he was running the race and taking a cab. He let me hop in the cab without splitting the fare. I ended up talking with him the entire time to the start. He was from Denver and had just had a 12 week old daughter. He had her picture pinned on the inside of the bib.
From the ferry, you are immediately herded onto a bus for the 10 minute ride to Fort Wadsworth. Again, met several nice people along the way. (Including many first time marathoners. I can't imagine this race being your first). After getting off the bus you are then herded up to the holding corrals.
Several people said to make sure to eat something before starting. (The time it takes to get there means extra time goes by than normal). I somehow lost the granola bar I had put in my pocket but they were giving out bagels. Grabbed one and some water. By the time I ate and hit the port-a-john. It was already time to get lined up for the start.
The Start: Now, this is apparently only the 2nd year that they have used the staggered starts. I was assigned to wave #2, meaning I was scheduled to start at 10am, instead of 9:40 or 10:20. Now, the one thing the NYRR didn't do well was communicate to us where we had to be and by when. I saw a sign signaling I should have already been in my start corral. I happen to be standing next to someone who had volunteered the previous year while we were waiting who told me not to be concerned, we would get to the start. In the meantime, I saw others freaking out and trying to jump the fence.
The Race: The race starts on the Verazaano-NarrowsBridge.Basically it goes from Staten Island over to Brooklyn. It is also pretty much uphill for the first two miles. I was lucky and got into a group that starts on the top of the bridge. The views are fantastic and there is no change that I would get peed on (which I did see people doing). While it is the largest marathon in the world, even on the bridge, I didn’t think it was overly crowded, probably because for the first 8 miles you run a route based on your color. This kept the crowds to a minimum. (Which is good b/c I have a funky running motion and my arms tend to swing wide. I had no issues during the race)
I have to say that New Yorkers are a great crowd. They are also very nationalistic in their cheering. Nearly ½ of the runners in the race are not from the US. Many also wear singlets representing their country. As a result, a lot of the crowd would cheer for the country, e.g., “viva Mexico!” I was wearing my TNT jersey, which meant I had people cheering my name. I loved that New Yorkers pronounced my name correctly, instead of in Columbus, where I often got “Misty.”
Brooklyn definitely won the award for best borough. The residents were out in mass. The course also narrows slightly so you definitely feel the energy of the crowd. They were predominantly through miles 8-10, about when I needed to get into my rhythm. They definitely helped.
I also have to give NYRR props for the set up. Besides all pre-race activities being very well organized, they had water stops and toilets at every mile after mile 3. The toilets came in handy for me at mile 5 (which surprised me), but it was comforting to know that I knew exactly when to expect the next stop.
The thing that really surprised me about the course was how uphill it felt. I don’t think there was a flat part of the course that lasted longer than a mile. On top of that, with each uphill, I felt that a corresponding downhill did not exist. A few of the hills that are worth noting. One was the QueensboroBridge. This comes between miles 15-16. It doesn’t look that taxing initially but it runs uphill for over a mile. Plus, it’s at that point in the course where the wall might soon be approaching. The other uphill of note is the one leading into Central Park. This comes at around mile 23, when you REALLY want to be done. Yoshie stationed herself at two points in the course, one around mile 16 after the Queensboro and the other at this point in Central Park. I was looking for her when I arrived at the park and totally missed seeing her. Her comment to me afterwards was that I looked like I was concentrating very hard to get up the hill.
Getting to finish in Central Park was a really neat experience. The crowds are great and can really help through those last miles. After finishing, I was almost immediately handed a mylar blanket, my medal, and a goody bag with Gatorade, water, a bagel, apple, and energy bar. I initially had to resist the urge to vomit when I had finished. Also because of my funky running motion, my pecs were very tight. My left arm had actually gone numb b/c my pecs had tightened to the point that they had cut off circulation.
It took nearly 30 minutes to get from the finish to the finishers area, where I had to meet Yoshie after which I promptly went the wrong direction. So, I called her and told her to meet me. She eventually came with dry clothes and my subway ticket. On a side note, if you showed your bib or medal at the subway after the race, they just let you on.
After the race and overall impressions: I would highly recommend doing the race. It is truly a unique experience. Be prepared to wait around a lot, particularly to get to the start. Now that I have done it though, I am happy to say that it's over.
I returned to Columbus the next day, still tired and sore. The day after that, I went to get a fully body massage. I tried the LMT from the Columbus Running Company and I have to say that she was fantastic. She totally understands a runner's body. She is also very reasonable ($75 for 75 minutes). I recovered just enough to have to leave again. I am writing from Vancouver as I am now here presenting at a conference and will be here until Sunday. As my mom said, I'm becoming a flight attendant.
Hope you all find this helpful. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have about the race.
With that being said, I have to say that the course was definitely tough. I felt that the majority of the course was uphill (without a corresponding downhill to boot.) For all of my running friends, I found that talking to others who have run the race was the most helpful, so hopefully this recap is helpful. If you are considering running this race in the future, I highly recommend doing it. It is definitely worth the experience.
Training: My training was going swimmingly well until I started getting a cold Sunday/Monday. Therefore, I spent most of the week sleeping, drinking fluids and taking lots of vitamins. With limited running that week, I was pretty nervous going into the race. In retrospect, I would have trained with a lot more hills, particularly going up.
Travel and the general NYC experience: I arrived on Friday afternoon into LaGuardia. Turns out the public transportation options are much more complicated when arriving to LaGuardia versus the other NYC airports. I was traveling out to Long Island to stay with my friend Kristin. To do this, I had to take a bus, two subways, and the train. I also arrived during the height of rush hour, which just made for a very stressful 2.5 hours out to Long Island.
Kristin was a great host for the night. I got a shower and a chance to destress. She even let me use her bed (with her on the couch) knowing that I would be running a marathon in 48 hours. The next day, she and I headed off to the city. Yoshie arrived from California the next day. She had taken a red eye and unfortunately missed her connection in Atlanta so she ended up arriving two hours later than originally planned. I checked into our hotel. (Thank goodness for Priceline. We stayed at the Millenium Hilton for $225/night. It was a 10 min walk to the Ferry and right next to several subways lines.) On a side note, some of those lines were closed this weekend, which made travel more difficult than it should have been. In the future though, I highly recommend Google Transit if you need to navigate public transportation in any major city.
Besides the Expo, we did manage to go to MoMA. Definitely worth checking out but it did mean that I did WAY more walking than I should have on the day prior to the race. I also ate at several delicious resturaunts. Beyond that, I didn't do much sightseeing. Our hotel literally overlooked the World Trade Center. (The construction work lasts into the wee hours of the night). So, I guess I can count that. I also saw the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry.
Overall: If you run this race, use Priceline to get your hotel. The city is so accessible by public transport you really don't need to be anywhere particular in the city. Make sure to arrive a day or two before the race and leave extra time for siteseeing. Also, I heard a lady when I finished say that she had a 6pm flight that night. Give yourself at least 24 hours before traveling again. Your quads will thank you!
So, it has been a while since my last post. Since then, I have been busy working, collecting data and trying to keep up with training. I recently completed the Columbus 1/2 marathon. I was also able to coach Lynn through her first full marathon by running the last two miles with her. It was tons of fun and it was nice not to have the stress of trying to run hard but enjoy a great race (as evidence by the pic).
(Sorry, I never got to finish this post, but I figured the pic was worth sharing anyway!)
Okay, so this past holiday weekend I attended two picnics in one day. So during the course of the day, I ate more than I normally do and foods that I do not normally eat, e.g., homemade ice cream, cake, hamburgers, various breads, etc. Overall, my diet yesterday was pretty starchy. The food was all delicious but I had attempted to go back out and run today, and boy my GI tract did NOT like me at all. I was tired from having to work during the day so I went out intending to maybe run 8-10 miles but instead barely got 5 in.
So, the lesson for the day when marathon training, maintain your regular diet! Carb loading does not mean that you need to eat lots of carbs within a 24 hour period. More realistically, it needs to be done over several days. For now, I consider myself having learned the lesson the hard way...
So, yes, it has three weeks since I made the decision to train for NYC. So far, things have been going well. I have had one run of 15 miles. The "short" runs are up to 7 miles. I have been very fortunate that the weather has been gorgeous and not too hot. It makes running those miles a whole lot easier. What has been more difficult though is losing my core group of running friends. Martin has moved to Canada and I just can't seem to find a time that works for me and Susan. This time last year, the three of us were training for the Nike Women's Marathon together, laughing and running along the way. If there is one thing to be said about runners, we develop a comrade along the way that is indescribable. It is rather unfortunate that I was the only one of us to get into NYC. It would have been a wonderful opportunity to run this race with them.
This month are the dreaded long runs of 20 miles. Short runs will gradually move up to 8 miles. My body has held up very well to this point, although I do feel that my legs are getting tired from time to time. I'm trying to be better about cross training (something I have to be motivated to do). Lee has been helpful in encouraging me to do biceps curls and triceps extensions so I have been gradually incorporating them into my run. I'd like to think that my arms are shaping up but I guess that is to be decided.
The one thing that I have noticed is that I am getting a lot more hungry. If ever there is a reason to eat whenever and whatever I want, I think marathon training certainly qualifies as a reason! Needless to say, I have been baking more and letting myself eat the fruits of my labor.
Well, that does it for my updates for now. Stay tuned for more details!
Okay, so today I booked my plane ticket for NYC to run the NYC Marathon on November 1st. Yes, another marathon. I had contemplated running it for a while. I had won an entry a while ago and couldn't decide whether or not to do it, mostly b/c my friends Martin and Susan didn't get an entry. I could have deferred to next year but if I did, I would have lost the $171 (plus $11 to enter the lottery) that I have already paid and would have had to pay another $170+ next year to enter. It also helped that found a round trip, nonstop ticket for $149;-)
However, this was not the deciding factor. I would have forgone the cost if I didn't feel I could prepare. In the past two months, though, I have averaged between 25-35 miles per week of running and running 6 days per week. (This is without a race to prepare for.) When I looked ahead to hard core training (using my beloved TNT training schedule), I realized that I would continue averaging around that distance per week, only running fewer days per week. So, in my very Type A way, I realized that I would still be running the same amount of time per week, just be on the road less often. Plus, I realize that I would be kicking myself in the butt for an entire year if I didn't do it. I have read that after Boston, this is the marathon to do in your life. I figured this is my chance and who knows what life will bring me in the next year; carpe diem!
Now, this will be my third marathon. My goals this time mostly have to do with training. I truly just want the experience of running this race; I don't have a time goal. I also have lots of things going on this fall. (Mostly collecting data for my dissertation.) So my goal is to also learn to make training managable. Most of you that know me know that I have the potential to become obsessive about training. Therefore, learning to train for a marathon while making it a daily, seamless (and stress free) part of my day will be a challenge, but one that I am excited to take on.
This time, I am not fundraising, but since I get lots of questions about my running and things in my life, I figured I would still keep everyone posted via this blog. (I do plan on still respresenting Team in Training with my shiny purple singlet come race day.) So stay tuned. It should be a fun ride.
I started this blog as a way to share with others the trials and tribulations of marathon training. While running has done great things for me personally, I also believe that we can channel this inner desire to improve yourself into helping others, which is why I have also raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Ronald McDonald House.
