NYC Marathon- Race Report

After much ridicule from Liz, I'm finally writing a new post...

For the last 5 years I've tried to gain entry to the NYC marathon but was never selected in the lottery so instead I watched from the sidelines as Liz and her family each ran. As a spectator, I've seen the incredible crowds on 1st Ave and cheered on runners as they've turned the corner into Central Park but miles 16-26 are all I've seen of the course. So as a 3-time reject, my time was finally here to run.

Heading into race weekend, I was extremely excited to run. Having done a few 70.3's and shorter races this year, I hadn't been this 'pumped' since IMLP last year. All of my long training runs have been done around 8 min miles so I set a 3:30 goal time in NYC. With this in mind, I knew my biggest issue would be holding back for the 1st 13.1 miles.

Race Day:
This was probably the most well organized race I've done. I took the subway from Grand Central to the Staten Island Ferry and hopped on for a 7am take-off. I met up with Joey's friend, Rooney, and tried to gather all the advice I could get from a NYC Marathon veteran. Rooney hooked us up with a ride from Staten Island to the race start and after a quick chat with team continuum, we split off for our respective 'villages'.

Bathroom and coffee lines were short so I took care of business and walked to my start corral at 8:50am for a 9:40 start. As the gun went off, I started with the 3:30 pacer and found a surprising amount of space on the lower level of the bridge. It was windy and cold on the bridge but I held an 8:40 pace for the 1st mile and an 8:05 for mile 2 so I warmed up quickly. The crowds started around mile 6 and were pretty steady throughout. With all of the cheering, I turned off the ipod and concentrated on the cheers and my stride. I was forcing my to stay at an 8 min pace b/c I felt like I could go a lot faster. Even though I felt good, I was pretty surprised by all of the hills and knew they'd eventually take their toll. I was prepared for the verazano, queensboro and the trek into central park but felt like 90% of the course was uphill.

With a steady headwind and all of the uphills, I finally started to slow around mile 14. The smaller uphill in Queens right before the bridge killed me. I struggled to keep running but had dropped to 9:15 min miles and knew the rest of the race would be a battle. Not wanting to show my fatigue, I put on a smile and sped up around mile 16.5 as I knew I'd be seeing Liz, my mom, Joey, and Jen for the 1st time. Their cheers and the overall 1st ave mojo kept me going strong until the Willis bridge in Harlem. Unfortunately, it turned ugly from there. I slowed significantly and started cramping at mile 23. It tooked everything I had not to start walking and if my race crew hadn't been waiting at 24, I probably would have. Getting another boost from them, I was able to finish the last 1.5 miles strong with a final time of 3:37:15.

I missed my goal by 7 minutes but PR'ed by 8. Overall, I am very happy with my time and felt I gave it everything I had. I still believe I have a 3:30 in me and am strongly considering going for it this Spring. In the meantime, I'm trying to recover quickly so I can run the Rosaryville 50k this weekend. Right now, I'm way too sore and wouldn't be able to run but we'll see how I feel on Friday.

A big thanks to everyone that came out to cheer me on, gave me advice, and made it such a great race weekend. Hopefully this will kick start my return to blogging...