2018 New York City Marathon

I put off writing a blog post about my New York City Marathon experience for a few days wanting to enjoy the post-race bliss instead of instantly trying to put it into words. It was as if somehow writing about it meant it was truly over. Admitting that those 16 weeks and everything that led up to those 3+ hours of running had abruptly ended—this huge climax after months of preparation that comes crashing back to reality.

Then I thought about a line that I think I read from Lauren Fleshman, or maybe a quote she posted, to embrace and enjoy the journey because that is where we spend most of our time. That is so true, and recovery and reflection are part of that journey, a very important part. So here the journey continues with my attempt at verbalizing and summarizing my experience.

My New York City Marathon Goals

In my last post I stated my goals for the NYC marathon. In summary:

1) Run a 3:15. Not necessarily a 3:15 flat but be able to say I am a 3:15 marathoner, a 3:15:XX would suffice. But the icing on the cake would be something very close to a 3:15, or a 7:26 average pace.

2) NOT be disappointed in myself if I didn’t reach that goal.

3) Enjoy New York City and embrace the experience.

4) Eat all the food and enjoy spending time with my husband and one of our closest friends.

Well, let’s see how that went! I could go on about my carb loading, spending too much money at the expo, enjoying the view from James’ Hudson River-side apartment, a lovely shakeout run, bomb Italian food in Hell’s Kitchen, and a tiny hotel room with paper thin walls, but let’s get to race day!

Race Morning

I was surprisingly calm and confident from the moment I woke up. I am not one to get super nervous before races, but usually a little anxious. This morning, I was tranquil. It helped that the forecast was perfect and marathon Sunday was sandwiched between two days of wind and rain. It also helped that on the 70 minute bus ride I expected to be lonely and boring I made a new friend who helped pass the time (Thanks Frank!!).

I arrived at the start village around 7:30 a.m. with 1 hour and 20 minutes until my corral opened. I sat on the open zone grass, absorbed the sunshine and watched the buzz around me. At one point I walked to the Green area to get water and saw the wheelchair racers and amputees going by heading to the start line. We lined up along the road and cheered for them—that got my heart beating a little faster.

By the time I meandered back to where I left my bag it was about time to enter my corral. I opted for the post-race poncho so I didn’t have to worry about bag check and was cozy in my Fruit of the Loom throw-away sweats. We had access to plenty of port-o-johns (finally!!). I was able to stay warm right up until our walk to the bridge and everyone was friendly. Positive atmosphere all around!

A Minor Point of Contention

My husband and friend James insisted I carry my phone so we could easily get in contact after the race. I have never carried my iPhone during a race. My SPIbelt wasn’t happening because I didn’t want to deal with it riding up and just defiantly refused to alter my wardrobe to have my phone. I was wearing my Oiselle Toolbelt Roga shorts so that was all I needed to hold my gels, but the shorts got droopy with phone. That left me with carrying it in my bra (which proved to fail during the first few steps) or my hand (the final solution as you can see in photos). So I switched from left to right every few miles depending on the water stations and only spilled Gatorade on it once.

The Start

My plan going in was to focus on effort on the bridges and otherwise stick to a consistent 7:26 pace with dreams of a negative second half split if it worked out. I would alternate water and Gatorade starting at mile 6 but water with gels, and take my gels at approximately miles 7, 13, 18, and 22. And then finally enjoy the hell out of the crowd!

The National Anthem was beautiful and everyone cheered as we heard the elite men’s names called. Peter Ciaccia gave us the signal in his final NYC marathon as race director. When the gun went off at 9:50 a.m. the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the wind was light, and I was in such a serene place. That was immediately erased by rather intense wind on the Verrazano bridge and my GPS watch telling me I was running a 15:30 pace because I was on the lower level of the bridge and the signal was blocked. With the wind and crowd I didn’t have a great sense of pace so I followed the 3:10 pace group for the first two miles. I was quite happy to get the heck off that bridge and clocked my first 5k in 22:51, a smidge faster than I should have.

My GPS gave me some trouble the entire race as it would tell me my pace was dead on my goal range but then the elapsed time would show I was going a little too fast. I chose to focus on the elapsed time because GPS watches can notoriously struggle in big cities with tall buildings, but damn if trying to do mental math with a 7:26 pace isn’t extremely difficult when you’re running a marathon.

Rolling through miles 3-12

It is also difficult exercise restraint when the crowd is so amazing and your adrenaline is pumping. Brooklyn had so much energy! I remember miles 7-9 being insane, I think there were a few live bands and one was playing “Vem dançar Kuduro.” I sang along and soaked it all up.

Then suddenly, it dissipated. I knew this was coming from reading A Race Like no Other by Liz Robbins. She explains the Hasidic Jewish neighborhood of Bedford doesn’t exactly embrace the marathon—and Sunday is a weekday so the race is disruptive. It makes for a lonelier two miles with a few patches of people and the support from the water stop, but also very interesting to see curious but silent children walking along with their parents who managed to appear aloof despite this massive event.

Then, suddenly I entered Williamsburg and things got crazy again! I think that extreme transition made Williamsburg one of my favorite areas of the course—I also knew Jeremy and James would be waiting for me on the left side of the road right before mile 12 so as I got closer I got more and more excited.  I was feeling great when I saw them and we were close enough for smiles and high fives!

The Half Marathon

Between my bad math and GPS watch I came through the half marathon at 1:36:41, about 50 seconds faster than where I should have been. I realized I probably screwed up my goal for a negative split but at least I didn’t need one. The half marathon mark also came while we were on the bridge from Brooklyn to Queens, where I first started to notice some discomfort in my quads. But wow the view from the bridge was beautiful. I’m glad I took the time to look around while slurping down my second gel.

The Bridge from Hell (aka Queensboro)

We entered the bridge around mile 15, and expected because of what I’d read, it was quiet. There are no crowds so all you hear is the sound of feet hitting pavement and labored breathing. Again, we were on the lower level so my GPS watch went awry and I was left to guess how fast I going up the bridge. Once I noticed a crest in the bridge I got excited, but that was short lived.

Going down the bridge was harder than going up. Concrete is less forgiving than asphalt and I could feel my quads just screaming to get back to flat ground. We hit 16 miles coming off the bridge and for the first time, I understood what people mean when they say their quads are “wrecked.” Then I thought ‘shit I have 10 miles to go, I am going to have to work hard for this.’

I read someone romantically describe that bridge as “quiet and peaceful” then leading into “the growing roar of the crowd.” I found it shitty and agonizing and didn’t even notice the crowd until I was back among it. However, turning onto First Avenue in Manhattan does bring a monstrous, loud, supportive mass of people and it was pretty bad ass. It was that crowd that propelled me the next few miles.

Miles 16 – 21

During miles 16-18 I realized Manhattan had more rolling hilliness than I expected and it was just waves of my quads screaming followed by moments of relief. From the half to the 25K and 30K I was still dead on my pace, hitting the 7:26 or so I had been aiming for in the first half. I saw Jeremy and James again—as planned left side of the course at mile 18—and this time my smile was a little less bright as I told Jeremy “My quads are destroyed, pray for me!”

At the same time I took stock of how I was feeling and realized my quads were the ONLY thing bothering me. Otherwise I physically felt great and that realization helped me continue to push without fear. I slowed down a tad over the next 5k heading through the Bronx, but maintained my level of effort.

A really odd thing happened after I took my gel at mile 18. I developed a scratch in my throat that was driving me crazy! Coughing, swallowing, drinking water, nothing helped! It was really weird and distracted me and may have contributed to a little bit of the slow down. My distraction was interrupted by another favorite moment on the course—a man standing on the bridge going from the Bronx to Harlem with a sign that read “This is the LAST DAMN BRIDGE!” and I had to give him a high five for that one!

Miles 21-23

I loved the energy in Harlem! Between my quads, the scratching in my throat, and knowing the Central Park Hills were coming I needed the crowd support. Miles 21-23 felt pretty good and I had only slowed down to 7:30-7:35 according to my GPS watch. I figured I had “banked” enough time during the first half so that was OK for a few miles. Interestingly, looking back at the splits the marathon tracker shows it says I averaged 7:28-7:30 during that time . ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I saw Jeremy and James one last time at mile 23 and whimpered a little about my quads—not that they could actually hear me. Later, Jeremy told me I looked a little distraught and lazy in my form when I was coming toward him but perked up when I saw them. I was running uphill at mile 23 so I’ll cut myself some slack.

Because at the same time, I was still loving every minute of the experience. My water and fuel plan was working and overall I felt the best I ever have this late in a marathon!

The final 5K

Somewhere along the way, during those hills alongside and in Central Park, from miles 23-25, I started to realize that I had screwed up my math and trusted my GPS watch too much. I went from confident I was going to still hit my goal time, to nervous I was cutting it close. But again—the NYC results still show no less than a 7:30 pace. While the app tracker shows 7:38 and 7:39, and my GPS watch shows a 7:44 mile 24.

When I hit mile 25, I had an “oh shit” moment and realized I would have to BOOK IT to get below 3:16. I didn’t know where I went wrong but I didn’t have time to figure it out, I just had a mile to fix it. So I picked it up and got back to a 7:15-7:20 pace. I also kept telling myself to enjoy the moment! There were so many people, flags from every nation, voices screaming and cheering. I felt like a rock star! When I saw the sign saying 800 meters to go, I calculated I would have to run about a 3 minute 800 to hit my goal. Regular day on the track? Yeah, I could pull that off. At the tail end of a marathon? Well, I sure tried.

The Finish

With 400 meters to go, then 200 meters to go I saw it slipping away. Approaching the grand stands and the finish chute I had a moment where I realized I was about to cross the finish line of the New York City Marathon and PR by over 6 minutes, but I had been fixating on getting below 3:16. I charged forward, raised my arms, and triumphantly crossed the finish line. My watch said 3:16:10. My official finish time was 3:16:04.

When I crossed that finish line I cried. Not because I had missed my time goal, but because I still ran 26.2 miles 6 minutes and 21 seconds faster than I ever had in my life! Because after 3 marathons hovering around 3:22:30 I worked my ass off and broke through. And on the New York City Marathon course, one considered tough and demanding! Because I finally believed in myself and instantly felt hungry for more! The marathon app said I was running a 6:20 pace at the finish—if I dug deep enough for that, I can dig deep enough for those 5 seconds, or 1 minute and 5 seconds!

I had also just run my first solo marathon in 7 years and to be honest, I loved it! I thought about the journey that had included a surprise surgery and recovery that hindered my training, the severe head cold that hit me right after a breakthrough half marathon, how optimistic I had remained and how much I BELIEVED in myself. All of that went through my mind while waddling over to get my medal and my bag of post-race snacks 😉

After the Race

I got my poncho, texted Jeremy (OK having the phone was helpful) and waddled my way to him off 73rd street. When I fell into his arms I cried again. I let the tears of joy flow and thanked them for their support on the course. Family and friends started sending me texts commending me on my pacing and splits. I thought I had done a terrible job but when I looked at the graph I realized I had been pretty consistent overall. I think if I had printed and relied on a pace band and not my math, I would have hit my goal instead of it slipping away over the course of the second half, a few seconds here and a few seconds there. Lesson learned for next time though!

I missed Goal #1 but accomplished Goals 2-3 and now all that remained was to enjoy NYC and eat all the food! We did just that wandering through the less crowded parts of Manhattan and sampling Cafe Habana (elotes and the best Cuban sandwich in New York!), Morgenstern’s, and what I had been waiting to try for years—a Salty Pimp from Big Gay Ice Cream. With a full stomach and a full heart, and an extra 5 miles on my legs from walking, we headed back to the hotel.

That night I lay down and smiled. For the overall incredible experience, the fun night spent with people I love, the effort my legs and my body have given me matching pretty closely to what my mind demanded, and for ultimately being able to say “Screw the five seconds, it was all about the 6 minutes. I’ll get those 5 seconds another time.”

Tracking, Splits, and Results

Link to Results with splits here.