Boston Marathon Pre-race report

April 22, 2010

herb race report, racing, running , , , 10 Comments

This is my pre-race report because all of it takes place before the race. My race report will be my next post.

If you saw my last post (dns?), you already know I considered not even going to the start. Against my better judgement, and to the encouragement of my wife who said I should just jog it in, I wound up getting to the start and taking a 4 minute PR from Boston. The race itself is mostly a blur right now. Hopefully the details will come to me as I get to writing the actual race report. Meanwhile, this is what’s predominately in my head at the moment.

If you read my blog on any regular basis, you might already be aware that I’ve been put on antibiotics 3 times this year for strep throat. January, February, and April two weeks before Boston. The crazy thing is, I don’t ever get sick otherwise. I don’t remember the last time I had a cold, flu, or any type of virus. I’ll be making an appointment with a real doctor soon to discuss this, because I’m certain, as I write this, I do have strep throat for a fourth time. However, I managed to get my hands on an antibiotic until I get home from Boston.

I arrived in Boston on Sunday, which is about a three hour and fifteen minute drive from my home. Coincidentally, it’s also close to the amount of time I spent running in the New York marathon which got me qualified to do Boston. The day going up, I kept feeling something in my throat, and the possibility of relapsing kept lingering in my mind, but I would quickly dismiss it because I just got OFF the antibiotic about 9 days prior.

After checking in and getting settled at the hotel, the wife and I walked over to the convention which is less than a mile away. It was good to see Boston, and there was a real sense of atmosphere there. I’ve been to Boston quite a bit 10 years ago and always liked the city and people. But, it was clear things were really hopping in anticipation of the marathon, or red sox game, or both. The streets were quite packed with people and there was just a good mood in the air. There are not enough good things I can say about this town.

My plan was to pick up my bib, see a few things that might catch my interest, and head back to the hotel to take it easy. I figured I might buy a jacket; which I wound up buying two. I decided one I would actually wear, and one I just wanted to own. Lame perhaps, but it’s my money to waste the way I see fit. Somehow, we wound up spending hours there, and I’m not even sure how. My wife, who wouldn’t run even if a gun was pointed at her, went off on her own and found quite a bit to keep her occupied. Later, she found me and was excited about a $35 wrist band being sold that had a magical effect of helping her maintain balance. She described a balance test the guy did and how the bracelet really helped her. She then asked if we could check it out together. I was immediately leery, but agreed to check it out, and even agreed we should purchase her one if it worked as advertised.

The guy did the simple test on me with my hands held out standing on one foot. Pushing down and at a 45 degree angle out on the arm held over the foot which was raised, he was able to easily knocked me over. It would knock anyone over unless you could magically defy the laws of physics and shift your center of gravity. But lo and behold, he placed a magic bracelet on my shoulder. It doesn’t even have to be on one’s wrist apparently, that’s how magical it is. Now, we repeat the same test. This time I could easily maintain my balance as he pushed straight down on my arm. I guess the magic bracelet prevented him from pushing at the same 45 degree angle out. In fact, I found it even easier to maintain my balance as he pressed straight down on my arm, and not because it gave me the effect of holding onto something, but because of the “frequencies” sent out by the magic bracelet.

The whole experience smelled like something out of a carnival scam and I was really disappointed to see such an element at a marathon expo. I turned to my wife, who reads me like a book. She gave me a confused look in return not understanding why I wasn’t convinced; afterall, she saw the same results. I try very hard not to be a confrontational guy in life, so I simply said nothing to any of them. Picked up our stuff, grabbed my wife, and showed her in private the same results by doing the magic test on her sans the bracelet.

As time went on, there was one distraction after another, and I noticed, I was starting to feel exhausted and my glands were getting swollen and my throat was hurting, but not in the back as usual, rather in the front. Discussed it with my wife and determined it might be allergies. Allergies can also cause swollen glands and a sore throat. The fact my nose was not stuffed bothered me because the lack of that symptom usually indicates strep, and you would expect that symptom to be present with allergies or a cold. Nonetheless, we decided we should be heading back since I needed to start resting for the race tomorrow. Then, on the way out, I noticed they were showing a film describing the Boston marathon course. I felt obligated to watch, so I stayed a little longer. I watched the camera going at an accelerated rate down the roads we were about to run the next day. Instead of getting a sense of excitement, and imagining myself running, which I usually do whenever I see an open field, or a nice inviting path, I began to feel ill and wanted to crawl into a bed. Not a good sign. I’m thinking with the way my throat feels, there’s no way I can do this. We promptly headed home, and I was quite worried.

As I arrived back at the hotel, I popped a tylenol and went to take a nap. I might have slept 90 minutes or so, and felt much better. I wasn’t sure if it was the tylenol or sleep, but I felt somewhat optimistic. We headed out to dinner, and the whole time I’m feeling my swollen glands and testing out how my throat felt whenever I swallowed a part of my meal. Things were better, but not 100%. I was wondering, if it was the tylenol that helped, does it mean its allergies, or a bug? I decided if I felt like this tomorrow, I can run but already decided this was not going to be a race. I reminded myself of what I decided previously. I adjusted my goals and decided, if I can, just fun run it, get my boston medal to cement reaching my goal in the ny marathon where I qualified, then it’ll have to be enough.

Back at the hotel, I actually fell asleep pretty fast around 10:30pm or so. But, then I woke up at 1:30am because of the pain in my throat. The rest of the night was torture. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t sleep because I debated in my head the whole night what I should do about the marathon. Feeling the way I did, which was more than just a sore throat, but now a general feeling of overall crapiness, I couldn’t imagine even doing a long training run. By morning, I was still awake. I had such a huge feeling of desperation at that point, it was then that I wrote the dns post from my blackberry. My wife at this point tells me I have nothing to lose by trying. Just listen to my body and drop out if I have to. I took a tylenol and agreed I can at least try. I turned on the tv and saw the weather forecast was very different from what they predicted days earlier. Mostly sunny with a high of 58 and current temps around 39. Now the dilemma of figuring out what to wear. Since I had no plans to run an intense pace, I wasn’t sure whether or not to ditch the long sleeved tee for a short sleeved one. I then realized if I’m not able to keep warm in a short sleeved shirt running this then it means I shouldn’t be running and it’ll be my que to drop out.

I made my way out of the hotel feeling horrible, asking myself, why am I even doing this? On the train, I started to think I might be feeling better and it seemed the tylenol might be kicking in. Getting to Boston Commons, there was a long ass line to get on the buses. There was plenty of excitement in the air, and I knew, had this been a different day, I would be feeling it too. My biggest concern was how long before an empty bus would come so that I can get on it. I was really starting to freeze my ass off, and shivering. Any other day I could block out the cold and deal even with shivering. But, with the way I felt, I was worried there would be no way I’d be able warm up. I wondered if I got back in bed at this point, if I would continue shivering like this under the covers.

On the bus, things were warmer. I thought about posts I read that gave advice on first timers doing Boston. I thought about the advice to make sure you pee BEFORE getting on the bus. I thought of how the advice was adamant about how the bus driver would not pull over if you asked him too. I remembered this because 5 minutes after we pulled out, we were stuck in traffic and I was beginning to feel the urge of having to go. Can I ever catch a break? :)

I spent the entire ride now focusing on the pain of holding it in rather than the feeling of being ill. I was getting chills and not sure if it’s from having to pee, from being sick, or both. I managed to hold it in until I saw the signs for Hopkinton, and I guess that mental magnet of the proximity of a bathroom increased the urge for me. It was still a few exits away and I stood up because the pain was getting bad. I looked around the bus which was packed and contemplated desperate measures like peeing in my empty gatorade bottle. There would be no way to do it without freaking out the whole bus and getting arrested. I walked up to the driver and said to him, “I have to piss really bad, do you have any suggestions for me?” He looked at me and said, “what do you want me to do? pull over?”. I said, “Could you please?” With that, he pulled off to the side of the road. I almost pissed right there on the spot, it was so bad. I turned around and saw everyone was very confused so I said, “sorry people, I’ll be quick”, figuring they would realize what I meant in a second. I ran out, and did my thing. I tried to be quick, but it felt like minutes to get done. It just kept coming out. I would have needed two gatorade bottles at least had I gone with my original plan.

I ran back on the bus and was greeted by a series of cheers and clapping. That really lifted my spirits and I held my hand up in a mixture of pseudo-triumph and gratitude for the applause. It’s the reactions like this that make me really love the running community that I’m a part of. Moments later, someone pointed out the window and said “look, there’s another one”, followed by laughter from the rest of the bus. Only this guy was not as lucky, because after he finished he started walking with his green baggage slung over his shoulder off the exit ramp of the highway, and it was still quite far from the exit where we were to get off. I can only imagine how his conversation went with the driver of his bus.

Arriving at the athlete’s village, things were COLD. I couldn’t tell if it was me, or the weather. I tried to find a place in the sun, to sit and managed to find some dry concrete on the outside of the highschool rather than on the wet field of grass where most of the crowd was waiting. I had a couple of bottles of water and kept sipping them because my throat was still dry and hurting. The drinking helped a bit. The longer I sat, the colder I became. I had a garbage bag with me incase I needed to lay it down to stay dry. I wound up punching a whole and fit my head through it instead. It helped keep me warm considerably. I continued to sit there until it was time to check our bags in. I noticed a lot of cops on bicycles patrolling the area. Some guy peeing in elephant grass soon had about 3 cops on bicycles and 1 on foot surrounding him, obviously giving him a stern lecture and pointing to the port-a-potties off in the distance.

At this point, I didnt have to pee.

Soon came time to get the bags on the buses. Things were so well-organized. Much better than the UPS trucks used by New York. The buses were lined in a row and every window on the bus had a bib number range posted on it going sequentially. Not only did you find your bus, but you found your row and there were plenty of kids on the bus to eagerly take your bag through the window. This proved to be a great system since finding the window which contained my baggage when I was done with the race was something that allowed me to get my stuff quicker than any other race.

As I was searching for my window along the buses I saw Frank and said hi. We spoke briefly and he asked if I found it unusually cold. I was so glad to hear him ask me that because I was still shivering with my 3 layers, plus jacket, plus my makeshift hefty bag robe. It was a bit of reassurance that I wasn’t more sensitive to the cold than I thought I should be if I was healthy.

Before I threw my bag through the bus window, I downed 3 liquid glucose shots. Swallowing them was a painful reminder of my sore throat. I then swallowed two more tylenols. Tucked 3 gels inside the lining of my shorts. Contemplated whether or not I wanted to keep (and then discard) the Nike running jacket I had on. It was just too cold without it, so finally, I decided to keep it on knowing I would be losing it. Yet, knowing it goes to charity made me feel it wasn’t being wasted at least. Besides, I just bought two new ones.

From there, I headed to the start with everyone else. It was a bit of a walk, down a steep decline. I wondered if the newton hills would be as steep as this decline. I turned around to look at it from the other way and said, holy crap I dont feel I can run up something like this. The whole time I’m wondering what the hell am I doing? I should be back resting. Why am I doing this? As I made my way, I realized I should pee once more. I saw someone else behind a dumpster near the woods and decided that would be a good place. Then I saw some cops slowly walking towards the guy and they actually gave him a hard time. The face on one of these little twerps was so confrontational I couldn’t believe it. He was aggressive as if he wanted a fight. Just so you know my perspective, my brother is a nyc cop, so I tend to be biased in favor of cops. This guy had the attitude of a bully. I walked away realizing this was no place to mark my territory and before I turned around I saw the cop pointing to the runner’s stomach, and the guy lifted his shirt to show his bib. From there, I don’t know what happened.

Finally, at the start, the sun was shining so things were warming up, but still had a bad chill in me. Nonetheless, huddled in the crowd after a while, I felt I could shed all the layers. I saw Mark from my old club also shedding his layers to be deposited in the same collection bag. I received a sincere greeting from him wishing me luck. I really felt I needed it too. I gladly gave the same to him in return. I could tell by his smile he was feeling good and ready for this. He went on to improve his PR by 75 seconds with a time of 3:15:54.

Soon, I began to feel the glucose, and perhaps the second dose of tylenol, and thought to myself, I’ll know whether or not I’ll be able to finish within minutes of starting. The fighter jets fly over head, and they were pretty awesome. The gun goes off, and we all begin walking uphill towards the start. As all of us realize we just unexpectantly walked over the starting mat (the start banner was further up), everyone started their watches and began running.

This is going to sound corny, but as I began running I promised myself, no matter what happens now, I’ll be proud of whatever I manage to accomplish (or fail to accomplish) here. Given the situation, there’s nothing more that I would have been able to do, and I have to learn to roll with the punches. I accepted the fact, none of this was foreseeable or in my control. So two minutes in and running, I still had to pee as did many others who were along the side of the course. I pulled over to pee as well. And, with that, I reaffirmed that I would not hold any importance to my time for this race. Just get myself to Boston the best way I can and stay healthy.

Manhattan Half Race Report

January 24, 2010

herb race report, racing, running , , , , 2 Comments

I’m pretty happy about my performance at the Manhattan Half today. I was secretly hoping for a sub 90 minutes, but I didn’t want to admit that to myself. I wanted to stay focused on the main purpose which is to just go out there and testing myself without any expectations. Plus, I didn’t want to set myself up for disappointment, given the recent training hurdles and recovering from being sick. I’m beginning to realize I do better when I keep things in perspective and avoid putting pressure on myself.

My official result is 1:29:48. Just under 90 minutes and about 32 seconds off my 2007 PR, (1:29:16) and 49 seconds away from my goal for the year (sub 89mins). It’s satisfying to know I’m not so far away from that this early in the game. This was my first race in a while, not counting the nyc marathon 3 months ago which is really a different animal.

I’ve had a lot of bad luck in the half for quite some time. I wrote about how it’s my favorite distance, and it really is, but since I’ve PR’ed I’ve had chronically bad performances for various reasons of going out too fast, hot weather, injury, or just not having it that day. My PR was the only other time I came in under 90 minutes.

Since, this year, they moved the start to a less convenient location for my commute, I had to take an earlier train. The one after would have been cutting it too close. As it turns out, I arrived a little before 7:00am in the dark before the sun came up. I had about an hour to kill and realized it was feeling a lot colder than I was prepared for.

Ironically, the night before I was considering wearing shorts since the forecast was 35 degrees. I’m glad I played it safe and wore a long sleeved hooded top and tights, but I should have had a heavier jacket for the wait. While waiting, I found Mark T and his friend Matt and that made the hour go by considerably faster.

The night before, I had a sour stomach with gurgles and my wife complained how she kept burping up the taste of the dinner we ate at the place we went to. If it’s not one thing, it’s always another on race day for me. Waiting around I hit the port-a-john two times and then realized during my warm-up with Mark I had to go a third time and I had to get to it fast.

While doing my business, the sound hitting the bottom of the port-a-john made my heart start racing. Right before the race I come down with diarrhea. When I was finished doing my thing, there was no time left and I had to head straight to the corral.

On my way over, I saw Joe running and he asked me in German how I was as if I was multiple people, so I answered back in German that “we were good” and thanked him. Before I had a chance to tell him I was lining up more towards the rear and to wish him luck, he darted through the crowd and was gone.

Waiting in the crowd at the start things felt warmer. I felt as if I had a little gas and before letting one slip out I realize it wasn’t gas and thought to myself, “oh shit”, literally! Starting in 1 minute, and no port-a-joins in sight. Well, screw it I said, it’s not a goal race anyway and I’ll have to just last until I see one on the course. I’ll just correct my time on the garmin for myself.

So, the horn goes, and we’re off. I cross the start very quickly in about 15 seconds and start the garmin. This is my first race in the new corals and it looks like NYRR finally got something right lately. I made sure not to go too fast and tried to just go with the crowd. I kept thinking to myself “easy and relaxed and just see where it takes you”.

Mile 1 – 6:51 – Not sure how things were feeling at this point. It was still too early.

Mile 2 – 6:49 – Ran over cat hill and I was surprised how fast it went by. There was effort but less than what I usually experience during a training run. Still not sure how this will go though and I’m having occasional feelings of pessimism.

Mile 3 – 6:36 – Flat and I may have pushed through this one too hard. I remember being surprised at how fast this split was and reminded myself to dial it back again.

Mile 4 – 7:00 – Harlem hills. Pushed through it with effort, but less than expected. A good sign. Getting to the top I thought to myself that I had some time to recover on the downhill

Mile 5 – 6:59. This mile was even harder than Harlem hills. There are a few rolling hills during this mile and Harlem hills just sets you up to struggle during these. I see Mark ahead, catch up to him, and pace with him a bit before saying hi. I try to get comfortable. I find my groove and it takes me ahead of him.

Mile 6 – 6:42 – Some downhill, flat and a little incline before more downhill to where we began the race. At the start of this mile I began to feel as if something was going to squirt out. At the end of the mile there were a bunch of port-a-johns, but things were feeling better and I threw caution to the wind and skipped stopping. If things got worse I would just have to slow down until the next port-a-john opportunity.

Mile 7 – 6:46 – Same as mile as mile 1 with most of it uphill. My pace wasn’t all that fast, but things started to turn around and it the effort seemed easier than the first time. During this mile I began to find my groove and get comfortable in my stride. The crowd was also thinning out and I had some more room.

Mile 8 – 6:53 – Again, up cat hill and a tad slower than the first time (mile 2), but still feeling good and I get through it before I know it. I remind myself I won’t have to do that hill again.

Mile 9- 6:44 – Slower than mile 3 but more comfortable and at the right pace. It felt right. If I could have just did the whole race at this pace.

Mile 10 – 7:11 – Harlem hills again and I had to push hard through this one. I panicked a bit at how off this mile was, but I realized at this point, I was probably going to do a sub 90 if I just hold it together.

Mile 11 – 6:56. A bit better than mile 5, especially considering the fatigue setting in. However, I’m feeling hot in my top and I wish I dressed smarter considering how warm the weather forecast was. :)

Mile 12 – 6:41. About the same pace as mile 6 but I’m pushing very hard now in terms of effort. I see the guy I’ve been running along side for the past mile take a gel, and I think to myself, “what is that about? A gel at mile 12 in a half marathon?” Then I remember I still have my gel tucked in my sleeve, unused. I remind myself its the same gel I planned to take at mile 18 in the marathon 3 months ago which I skipped then too. I had no intentions of taking it now.

Mile 13 – 6:48. This was tough since I began running into the back of the pack and there were lots of people in the way. It was uphill and a struggle to maintain the pace and dodge around those in the way. I saw mile 13 and I thought to myself, “I got this, less than a minute to go!”

Mile 13.1 – the math says 0:48 seconds, but there’s no way I finished at an 8min mile pace. Nonetheless, I run hard across the finish and I see the gun time was 1:30:05. I know I’m under 90 minutes and I think back to the last time I did the Manhattan half back in 2007, and I feel I’ve redeemed myself.

I think I’ll attempt to do all 5 NYRR halves this year with the one in Brooklyn maybe allowing me to break 89 minutes. It would be nice if someone knew when they were scheduled for so that we can plan better.

(Edit : According to Brooklyn Running, the Brooklyn Half looks slated for May 22.)

(Edit again :
Tentative dates
05/22 Brooklyn
08/15 Bronx
09/12 Queens
10/02 Grete’s Gallop
10/10 Staten Island
)

All or Nothing! – ING NYC Marathon 2009 Race Report

November 29, 2009

herb race report, racing, running , 3 Comments

Initially, I wasn’t sure if I would write a race report for my marathon. After all, I’m doing it now a month late.  Mainly because I no longer post actively on my former club’s message board, and therefore, I wouldn’t have had any place to put a race report.  But this race went very well for me and I did not want to not have a report to read back on next year.  I find I write these race reports more for myself to review in my head what occurred.  Therefore, as I write this I do not know where I will publish it or if anyone else will even read it. So, I figured I’d start a blog to store my race reports and thoughts about my training and maybe other things as well.  Not sure where this will go or even if the blog will continue after this report, but for now, I’m just focused on getting this report written somewhere.

So for this race, I cut my goal back from my last attempt.  Last time I was pretty much determined to get under 3:10 at any cost which may have had a factor in me blowing my race.  This year I was going to play it safe and I chose 3:15 to focus on since it would be a PR for me and it would get me into Boston.  It’s also a time I felt I could realistically achieve even on a bad day if I put the right training in.

This was my third marathon I was going to race.  My first, being the 2006 Westchester Marathon, left me only content with my result.  I did 3:18 and missed Boston, and although I was content, I was also left with a lingering feeling that I could have done much better.The second time around, in 2007, I was more experienced at racing and made a lot of improvement in shorter distances, including the half marathon.  I wanted very much to go out there and prove how much better of a runner I became by getting a great marathon time.  Instead, I got a result which left me feeling like my whole year of training was a waste and I began to question why I even did this.  To make matters worse, in 2008 my training suffered even more due to plantar fasciitis and I had to defer the marathon that year.

Therefore, it became absolutely imperative that I achieve my goal this time around.  Missing my target again at this point would have left me in an extremely bad state.   So 3:15 was decided early on in 2009.  I would take baby steps for now and gamble for a more aggressive marathon only after I achieved 3:15.   So for now, 3:15 – no faster and no slower.

By the time my training was winding down, I felt very confident I could do well this time.  I did a few 20 mile runs completely at my target marathon pace.  And I knew it was something I could easily repeat, albeit, I was very exhausted at the end.  A bit of a taper and some rest, I’ll squeeze that last 6.2 miles out somehow.

During my taper, I did it right this time.  I continued to run almost all my miles at target marathon pace – even the easy days since I cut back on the number of miles.  I did my last 20 mile long run 3 weeks out.  From there it was 15 miles the next weekend and then 10 miles the weekend before the race.  Mileage during the week would be 75% of what I would usually do on any given day for the first week of the taper, and then 50% on the final taper week.  This is very different from last time where I cut back on both effort and distance significantly.I’ve seen a lot of debates on how to taper and I struggled with figuring this out for a time.  But now, it’s clear what works best for me, and therefore, I mention these details.  Cutting back on distance but keeping quite a bit at marathon pace kept that pace feeling easy and familiar.  It also played a part in keeping me mostly confident throughout the taper which is another challenge.

In 2007, the biggest mistake I made was that I went out too fast and could not get comfortable with my pace.  I knew I was going too fast but could not slow it down.  This caused me to slowly fall apart after mile 14 and blow up completely on mile 16.  From there it was 10 miles of agony just to finish; leaving me with a finish time that was slower than my time at the Yonkers marathon that I ran a month prior as a tune up.  I believe there are many reasons why this happened, but I already wrote about them in my 2007 race report.  However, I’m convinced almost everyone gets sucked out early on at the NYC marathon and goes out too hard.  Perhaps it’s the size of the field combined with the endless traveling, and waiting, and preparing that causes everyone’s anxiety to build up and become impatient at the start.  From there everyone just seems to feed off each other when running the early miles.  This time I kept telling myself it was going to be different.

The night before, I got very little sleep which is typical for me whenever I have a race the next day.  I may have gotten an hour or so early on, but woke up in the middle of the night around 1am.  I managed to squeeze at most 2 hours more right before it was time to wake up.  This left me feeling even groggier.  I showered to wake up, ate the same breakfast I always eat – yogurt, honey, wheat germ, and oatmeal.   Ate a banana, grabbed my bag, and rushed to the buses at White Plains high school since I was somewhat late.  The bus ride was pretty uneventful.    After arriving, the line to get into the athlete’s village was huge and seemed like it took forever to get in.

Upon entering, I walked around somewhat, used the port-a-johns, tried to find a bagel to eat, something to hydrate with, and then looked for a place to sit and just relax.  It was a wet muddy day and the curb between two UPS trucks was the only place.  I tried not to think of the race and what I had ahead of me.  I tried to relax and clear my head which was hard since I felt the need to keep checking my watch to make sure I had enough time to check my bad in and get to the start – if you read my 2007 race report you would understand why.  Right before checking my bag in I sucked down a Gu.  My plan was to take 4 in total.  One before starting, again after mile 7, then 14, then 18.

Lining up actually seemed rushed.  I think if I arrived in the corral any later I would have been left out of wave 1 like many people I saw begging to be let in.  In addition to that, many people were fighting to get as much in the front as they possibly can.  I couldn’t understand this since I felt section C is pretty far up in front and not likely to suffer from congestion during the start.  In fact, its quite the opposite as I’ll explain.

Shortly after the cannon went off, which felt like forever, I remember climbing the Verrazano narrows bridge reminding myself everytime packs of people passed me that my pace and effort was right.  I found it amazing people with 3:30 pace bibs on their backs were flying by.  Nearby was another runner who seemed to be carrying the same pace as me, so I asked him what his target time was in which he replied sub 3:15 – same as mine.  Nothing like a little confirmation, so we agreed to hold the pace together and both knew everyone was running uphill too hard too early on.  He mentioned his name was Remy and he’s done a 3:03 in the Berlin marathon but is not as well trained this year so he wont be pushing too hard for this race.  I made sure to keep this in mind in case things felt too fast.

Mile 1: 8:00
We hit the first mile marker in the middle of the bridge in 8 minutes.  Much slower than an our overall target of 7:26 but it was to be expected and anything faster would have been too fast.  Despite reminding myself mentally its better to err on the side of caution in the early miles, its still an uneasy feeling to know you’re already 24 seconds behind your goal at the start.  Then as everyone is passing you, it makes it even harder to digest.

Mile 2: 6:45
The second mile was all downhill and we just seemed to let it go.  It was definitely effortless but perhaps too fast.  No problem.  We recognized this and knew to slow it down when coming into Brooklyn.

Mile 3: 6:59
Mile 4: 7:08
Mile 5: 7:15
Still going too fast and we knew it, but everything felt easy and good.  It was really hard to slow it down since we were still being passed by so many runners.  Remy accurately described it like being swept away with the current of a river.

Mile 6: 7:13
Again, too fast and I’m beginning to worry about a repeat of 2007.  It’s beginning to feel as if I’m getting dragged out by Remy and I let him know the last mile was another 7:15.  At this point I had trouble understanding him and it sounded like his target pace was 7:15, not a finish of 3:15.  I tell him I think I’m going too fast for 3:15 and Im going to make a conscious effort to slow it down for the next mile.  A woman in her 40s was running neary by and chimed in how she overwhelmingly agreed this is too fast for 3:15 and would run with me for a while if I wanted.  She never mentioned her target pace but I figured there was no harm in running with her so I agreed.  Boy, was I wrong.

I don’t mind communicating, but jeez, keep the small talk to a minimum.  I’m not on a training run here.  The pointless questions and comments like what I did for a living; how fast her fastest member in her club was running; the fact this run is just for fun for her; how her husband is going to scold her for going out too fast but she doesn’t care; etc. Endless, mindless chatter with no point that was really preventing me from finding my groove.  Furthermore, while she was running on my left I found myself slowly being pushed into the right side of street where I was practically on the curb running into the spectators.

 Gradually being pushed off course.

I told her I was going to get on her left side and did so.  Not long afterwards, I realize I’m now being pushed up against the median in the middle of 4th avenue with her close by my right side.  How do I get rid of her?  I contemplate excusing myself to go to the port-a-john.

Mile 7: 7:31
Right before we hit the 7 mile marker I began to wonder what pace we did for the last mile considering the effort given.  I didn’t think we slowed it down at all.  However, when we passed the 7 mile mark I realized we didn’t just slow it down a little; we slowed it down a lot.  I ran that mile slower than target pace and it was the hardest mile so far.  I knew I had get rid of her and fast.  I quickly mentioned I’m going to the right side of the street for water.  There was also water on our side of the street straight ahead, but I didn’t care.  I just left and made sure not to look back.  After chugging the water I sucked down my second Gu.  A few minutes later, I saw Remy up ahead and wondered if I did the right thing.

Mile 8: 7:26
Mile 9: 7:18
Mile 10 :  7:11
These miles actually felt great. During mile 8 I found my pace.  Mile 9 was fast like the others but I decided it was fine.  It felt right and I knew I could now make a conscious effort to slow it down by myself if I decided.  Between 8 and 9 I noticed Remy again towards the right as I passed him.  I’m doing this by feel and I’m even throttling it back a bit.  It feels easier than my 20mile training runs at marathon pace.  I’m no longer worried.  There’s some considerable uphill here, but I don’t feel it.  It just feels good and I actually want to go faster but I don’t.  Mile 10 was faster than expected, but looking at the elevation charts, its all downhill so it makes sense in retrospect.  This would also be the last time I would see Remy and he went on to finish in 3:20.

Mile 11 : 7:30
Mile 12 :7:16
On my way to mile 11, I heard someone talking about the blue line being the shortest path through the course.  Coincidentally enough he also had a 3:15 target for Boston so we decide to hold it together.  Despite everything I said about the previous 3 miles, I still had concerns that I might be running it too fast and will feel it later on towards the end.  However, I didn’t stay with him very long.  I got the hint he wanted me to go on ahead as he kept expressing concern about holding me back.  He was from San Francisco and this was his first NY marathon.  He also kept expressing concern about “the bridge”.  I left him after mile 11, and I figured at mile 12 I’ll take my next GU a bit early and run it on my own again by feel.

Mile 13 :7:21
Mile 14: 7:26
I’m intentionally keeping things very easy.  I know the 59th street bridge is coming up and I’m not entirely sure what to expect.  As of now, things are going quite well and I’m a minute ahead of my goal according to the gun time, so overall, actually about 2 minutes ahead.    After mile 13 I climb the Pulaski bridge.  Same as last time, the incline seems to be more significant than the elevation charts depict but this time it’s no problem getting over it.  I notice lots of others slow significantly here and I pass quite a few.  I ask myself again if I need to slow it down.  Coming down into queens I felt strong and excited.  It seemed somewhat remarkable to me how desolate and quiet the Pulaski bridge is; like being on an empty freeway, and how drastically everything changes as soon as you come down and make the left into the cluttered Queens neighborhood with the cheering crowds.

Mile 15: 7:29
Mile 16: 7:17
As I enter the 59th street bridge, everything seems to get quiet.  The long incline is somewhat intimidating but I know I can get over this no problem.  Starting out I barely see the 15 mile marker at what looks like the top of the hill and I keep my eyes on that as I make my way up.  I hold my pace and I’m passing lots of people.  Gradually, I see more and more people are stopping and walking.  I’m reminded of the North County Trailway where I did many long runs as an out back with a few miles of constant downhill followed by a return trip of a few miles of constant uphill.  I feel this prepared me well for this point in the race.   As I get closer to the 15 mile marker I realize it’s actually nowhere near the crest of the hill and not even halfway to the top.  I focus on what I think is the top and I keep going.  I feel the cold wind hit me the higher I go and it feels great.  I’m getting up this hill with no problem and I feel strong and excited.  I even ask myself if I need to throttle it back a bit to prevent running myself empty.  This is a far cry from when I struggled to just keep running last year.

Through the left side of my vision I see the buildings of NYC and I begin to realize how high this damn bridge actually goes.   As I hit the top I let out a loud YES!  I did it!  This hill is where I blew up and threw my race in 2007, and this time I got through it easily.  It’s all downhill from here.  I coast easily downhill and just let it go.  Towards the very end of the bridge the downhill feels significantly steeper as I land, but I’m almost out of the bridge.

Mile 17: 7:02
Mile 18: 7:14
Mile 19: 7:15
First avenue looks wide, far, and mostly flat.  All the runners seem to migrate towards the left half of the avenue.  I decide to stick in the middle towards the right where there’s more room.  I tell myself the course is easy from here.  I passed the hardest part.   Right after mile 18 I feel my stomach now significantly. I’ve actually felt some pains for a few days prior and even felt some sharp pains in bed the night before.  I blame this now on the baby aspirin regimen I put myself on after reading some advice from a NYRR periodical to do so for 30 days prior to the race.  It made sense to me at the time, and would even continue now if it wasn’t for the fact my gut can’t handle it long term.  On top of that, I had an aspirin that morning as well.  Considering my stomach, the thought of taking my scheduled Gu seemed less appetizing so I put it off and wound up never using it.  I skip some water stops as well.

Most of first avenue is a bit of a blur but it’s when things first started feeling like I had to put effort in.  Its actually not as flat as I thought.  It wasn’t the incline itself as much as the unexpected sudden change in pitch that sort of threw my groove off.  My splits show I ran these miles a little fast though, and nonetheless, the Willis Avenue bridge came sooner than I expected.

Mile 20: 7:33
The bridge is a bit of a steep climb.  Nothing like the 59th street bridge, but I’m tired and others are struggling as well.  I pass quite a few again and stay far to my left trying to minimize weaving.  The carpet on the bridge seems better than last time.  Coming down into the Bronx I know the ending is coming soon and I’m excited.  However, getting the water down is getting harder.

Mile 21: 7:27
Mile 22: 7:22
Most of the Bronx is a blur, and I don’t even remember seeing the Madison ave bridge.  As I go around Marcus Garvey Park, just as I hit the mile 22 marker, my right leg cramps and starts to turn to jelly.  I literally lose some control over it and I panic that this is going to be a repeat of the Westchester marathon in 2006 (where I suffered from leg cramps).  It’s actually at about the point as when I got cramps before.  I immediately think “this is it, my race is trashed.”  I do everything I can to find a stride I can manage as my heart rate soars.

I somehow get it under control and refuse to let it stop me.  This isn’t something that’s always possible.  When your legs cramp youre at the mercy of what they’re able to do.  I think I’m very lucky I was able to keep it at bay.  Part of the reason might be because I realize I get these often and when they happen they aren’t as much of a shock anymore. 

I also decide I’m too close to the finish for anything I drink to be of use during the race given the time it takes for the body to absorb the fluids; so I stop taking water and Gatorade since my stomach is hurting big time.

Mile 23: 7:19
Somehow the leg cramps give me something to concentrate on rather than my pace or anything else which is hurting.  I’m surprised I did this mile as fast as I did and I feel lucky.  Being it’s late in the race, I’m fine with this pace if I can do it.

Mile 24: 8:02
My slowest mile!  Between 23 and 24 on 5th avenue was a struggle.  Another long steady incline.  I felt I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted to for fear the cramps would come back, so I found the fastest pace I thought I could maintain based on effort.  I kept focusing on looking for the top of the hill.  I kept thinking this incline wouldn’t last any further than the Harlem Hills.  I had no idea this went all the way to 90th where we enter the park at mile 24.  The whole time I have tunnel vision while looking straight ahead.  I don’t notice any spectators but the endless noise is too much and it’s getting annoying.

 Turning into the park at 90th.

Mile  25: 7:43
Lots of rolling hills in the park and my legs are shot at this point.  The downhills are no easier than the uphills at this point.  The whole time in the park everything hurts.  My wheels are starting to come off.  I have fleeting thoughts of stopping.  The other runners that I see on the side stretching their legs or walking make it hard for me to keep going.  I tell myself I did great so far.  Marathon pace all the way to mile 25.  You got cramps at mile 22!  You squeezed out 3 more miles!  Who could blame you for stopping a bit?  Then I remind myself of the whole year I spent training for this.  Specifically, both times I was on vacation in the Caribbean insisting on getting my daily runs in and not missing a long run.  Going skiing and doing my long run at the resort on a shitty treadmill imported from some eastern European country that doesn’t even exist anymore.  Plus, every weekend going out, even on the days I didn’t want to, in order to get my long run in.  If I give up now then you can throw all that in the toilet since it’ll be worth nothing.  At this point I have to do the full 26.2 miles at marathon pace for this effort to count and be worth anything.  Its all or nothing!  All these thoughts happened within a nano second.  As I exit the park I see the banner that says 1 mile left.  I look at my garmin and I forgot what it said but I remember I couldn’t  do the math to figure out if I’m close or not.  I was bonking bad!  How did my condition go downhill so fast?

Mile 26 : ~7:30
Along Central Park South I know I’m close.  It’s a straight shot.  Everyone says its uphill but it seems flat enough.  I notice all potholes.  I don’t look at the spectators.  I look straight ahead and have no idea what it is I’m looking at because my brain cannot make out the image.  I’m picking up speed thinking I’m getting to the end.   I just want this to stop.  I turn the corner and enter the park through what feels like gates that are too narrow.  I see the big banner up a steep hill which looks like the finish and I speed it up a bit more, pushing hard through the fatigue.  As I get closer I see its only mile 26.  NOT the finish!  The actual finish is about a quarter of a mile away and up what seems like an even steeper hill.  I have nothing left!  I didn’t hit the garmin at mile 26.  What was the point?

 Is that the finish up ahead?

Mile 26.2 : 1:36
I am struggling to get up the hill and done.  I’m so glad its almost over.  I try not to think at all the whole way from 26 to 26.2.  I just get there gradually.  As I get closer I’m so happy to see finish and when I’m close enough to read the gun time it’s ticking off at 3:15 and 40 something and counting.  By the time I cross the finish its still under 3:15:59 so I knew immediately I made Boston on the gun time alone.  My net time is 3:14:54.  Sub 3:15 was my goal and I did it almost exactly to the second.  Given the last 2 miles and how fast things fell apart I wonder if I would have been capable of anything more had I tried, but I’m just happy I did what I targeted.

I also wonder what I could have done on an easier course like Chicago or Philly.  I registered for the lottery for NY in 2010 two days later, but given the odds I probably won’t get in.  In the event I do, NY will not be a target race for me in 2010.  I’ll either run it as a fun run, which would allow me to really enjoy the crowds and everything else, minus the nerves and worry, or I’ll defer it for a guaranteed entry for another year when I feel like pushing it a bit harder. 

I’m thinking for 2010 I might want to target a PR course in the fall.

Not long after, I also registered for Boston in 2010.  I haven’t decided how I want to run that either.  I’m going to maintain my base for now, but I’ll decide in late December if I’ll do this as a fun run (3:30) or target something more ambitious (3:10).  I see Boston in 2010 more as a celebration of my comeback in ny.  I’ll race Boston one day, but not before I’m ready, and its too soon to tell if I’ll be ready this April.

Newer Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.