And there goes another year. It was quite full of experiences. There were a lot of great things, lots of love, friends, big family visits, all exciting, but not all sunny and happy, of course. I think it was one of those years when you’re supposed to grow a lot. Running-wise, it was probably my worst year; I lost motivation and failed miserably (but with dignity!) in most races. I don’t see that as a particularly bad thing, it’s a learning process and we can’t always win them all. And off-the-track, it was amazing. We just can’t have it all, can we? 2013 had been a big year. BIG BIG and busy. I met Juan in January, he moved and we got married by September, I changed jobs, PRed at the Half and got a few AG Wins. Then I got an ulcer and it all went downhill, including my 5th NYCM in a row (a blah 3:49). 2014 started weak…
I had an ok Scotland 10K, though I had no interest in racing. Soon enough, we shipped to do the Boston Marathon, here are the Saturday pictures, which are awesome, and the Sunday pics, also awesome. And then there was the race (race report here), slow (3:48) and painful but oh so inspiring and uplifting. Glad I was there for the race (not for my legs or ego!). Total Miles: 80
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May
By now things were looking awful, I hadn’t PRed in a YEAR. A YEAR. So depressing. And I kept struggling with motivation. I decided to stop running completely. I still showed up to the Brooklyn Half Marathon, not knowing if I’ll even run it, and ended up having a great (and slow) time, seems like it’s all about the context for me! Total Miles: 41
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June
This month was also quite running-free and my parents came to visit so I was pretty entertained and didn’t even notice. Still, I did my 100th race, the Mini 10K, as they wanted to see me race in Central Park. This was literally painfully slow. I did run it with 2 friends but it was so slow, I didn’t even run that slow years ago when I started running! And, a fun picture. I took my parents to Bear Mountain and Connecticut and run a bit there, and a bit in the Fort Lauderdale heat, so cute. Stuff gets bad fast when you don’t run, how do non-runners live like that? Total Miles: 30
I cheered at the 5th avenue mile and took lots of pictures, here and the pros here. The running was going great until we left for our delayed honeymoon in St Croix, there was no running there (but lots of snorkeling!) Total Miles: 116
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October
and we came back straight to racing! First, the, Grete’s Great Gallop, in 1:44. Still, slooow, but getting here. The week after, I did the Staten Island Half, in 1:43 (it’s a bit flatter). Consistency and good predictors for the marathon in 3 weeks. Then the week before the marathon, I did a 5 mile race in Central Park, the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff, in 37:17, average pace of 7:28. Far from a PR. Still. By then it was a year and a half. But feeling GOOD. Total Miles: 132
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November
November was BUSY. I started it at the NYC Marathon Expo, which was all loads of crazy (even if smaller compared to previous years) and an Under Armour Party. Worked all week and then did the marathon, here is the race report of the #marathornado. I struggled to stay focused (in 3:49) so I just chilled, slowed down and tried to enjoy it. oh, whatever!!!! I ended up in the Asics homepage, I tried one of those treadmill studios, I kept Juan company at the Rocky Balboa run and got many pictures, and I bought a million of really-cold weather running gear. And I raced some more!! I did the Race to Deliver 4 miler in Central Park, which I enjoyed, and then a 5K on Thanksgiving, where both Juan and I came first on our AG. Winning! November was rock solid! Total Miles: 88
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December
Seems like the year just picked up at the end! December was great too. I spent .0005 minutes detoxing from Thanksgiving and 2 weeks eating my way through Buenos Aires. Even though I was a bit overweight and slow, I did ok (21:04) in a hot 5K, where my 67 year old mom joined. What a thrill! As soon as I got back to NYC and got a reminder of what last year’s winter tasted like, I got a bit depressed. Somehow, I’ve been running quite a bit in December, even capping the year of with a holiday pictures themed run, and watching the year close with fireworks at the NYRR Midgnight Run. Total Miles: 87
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And there you have it. Though the running was QUITE blah, the rest was wonderful, so I’d say it’s a win! What awaits in 2015? I have no idea, not signed up for anything, thinking about not signing up for NYC Marathon this year, and maybe focusing on the half marathon. I am turning 40 in a few weeks and I am just trying not to push anything. Whatever will happen, WILL happen. Right?
Juan and I went to the expo yesterday, Thursday, to avoid the masses. this is post is mostly pictures to give you a break from all the reading!
Who shrinked my expo? What happened? It is SMALL. In a way, I left happier, because it could be a bit overwhelming and exhausting, but I was done in 30 minutes… what? So strange. Am I the only one?
Anyway the fun pictures.
Juan told me to meet by the Javits statue. The what? I had been there a million times and I had never seen the Jacob Javits statue. that’s crazy right?
This is the first time that they had bib entry open to the public. It was so strange and AMAZING! didn’t have to separate from my hubs who just wanted to shop around, which you had to do before (and then meet somewhere outside on the OTHER side) Loved that!
Just because he reminded me of my husband, ok??
OMG!!!! Geoffrey Mutai, we chatted for a bit, about Berlin mostly, sweeeeet sweeeeet man! AND SO FAST. IS THAT CONTAGIOUS PLEASE?
Marathon woman! I love seeing Kathryn! I guess we’re going to Mallorca to do the 261!
Go mini me!!! well, it was cool but first there was some attempts to get it, where you sign up on an Ipad with your facebook account, and UGH, I don’t know my password!!!! So it blocked me off of facebook. much hilarity ensued and eventually I got it. So, as soon as I took it out, ugh, I got creeped out, it looked like me! CREEPY. then, I liked it. I want to bit it a bit, but I don’t think it’s in my marathon week diet.
don’t you think it looks like a blond Kara Goucher????
I saw many friends, chatted a bit and I knew there was a second floor. DON’T FORGET TO GO TO THE SECOND FLOOR!!! When you exit the main hall you take the stairs on your left. You’ll see it. I hope.
They had these big Start and Finish and a medal for each boro, which were cool. I’d love to have those in my apartment. I do.
sorry I sat in Staten Island, but I guess that’s what I do most of the time I spend on Staten Island for the mary!
I loved this photo!!!! I have never broken the tape and this is quite SURELY the closest I am every going to get!
the second floor was EMPTY
Then, we headed out, got some dosas for dinner at the Hampton Chutney, YUM and headed to the Under Armour Party as Nick Arciniaga and Chris McCormack would be there (and Macca is my husbands hero, and had never met him!). It was quite amazing! We were at the Under Armour Brand House on Broadway and Houston, Soho. Which, so lame of me, didn’t even know it existed!!! Well, it’s not like I go and walk around Broadway in Soho ever. Really, 2nd worst after Times Square for a local. the store was impressive!!! We pretty much wanted everything! (and did liiiiiiitle shopping)
They were releasing the speedform gemini. And I got a sample pair, we shall see soon!
Juan had an ENLIGHTENING 2-minute convo with his IDOL. We talked about it for hours. Wow.
wow the kid was EXCITED. note the osom sweatshirt? oh yes? yes, i got it for him! And Macca is TALL!
so funny that the two athletes looks this way and the brand people looked THAT way?
Nick and I had a cool convo. He is after Meb! eh, so easy, just stick to his back, Meb knows what his doing… Top American maybe? At least 2nd? Go Nick!
these shoes feel SO different, quite bounce and like they slide forward somehow. I got all the info and specs and havent read ANYTHING yet obvs, but I am quite curious. I dont do well or believe even in cushiony or bouncy shoes, but these felt different. Ill definitely put some miles in them after the marathon!
After that, we raced home. I had had a looooooong day at the office, preparing for this weekend’s marathon. Friday I am hosting and MCing my team’s dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square and I have all these other commitments for race weekend. Busy busy. TIRED. See you on the other side? how was YOUR expo trip?
How convenient is it to run a half marathon the week before another half marathon? You’ll know exactly how to pace it!!!! Well, that part I had covered. I had crushed and burned at the Grete’s Great Gallop the week before so I knew
– I had to start a bit slower and save it
– my final avg pace of 8:01 could turn into something a bit faster if I had some grip over the first 5-7 miles.
I had still had the same cold I had the week before, so I wasn’t sure my performance would be any better. On the other hand, the course is a bit flatter… It was easy to plan though. I’d go out easier than last week: 8:15s or around there and at 7 miles, on the turnaround, I’d start pushing it.
GETTING THERE
Well, I’ve never been one of those people who had issues with the ferry or anything. Yesterday, I did. there was a 7 am ferry, a 7:30 ferry, and an 8:00 ferry. The race would start at 8:30 half a mile from the ferry terminal, so the 8 am ferry was out, it’d leave us in SI at 8:30! So, we got there at 7:23 to board the 7:30 boat. We line up, everyone starts going into the boat, and at 7:35 they close the doors. WTF??? “the boat is moving, are you on the boat??” texted Blaise from the boat. NO!!!!! Crap. They left without us. “It’s not that crowded in the front of the boat”, great! now I am going to make it late to the start, have to wave around like a maniac, UGH, flashbacks to a week ago missing connections when coming back from the honeymoon. The Staten Island turned into JFK and LGA and all my worst possible scenarios. I hate travelling.
Luckily, all the drama in my head, and poor Juan’s ears, dissipated when another boat decked at 7:46 and we quickly left! We made it to Staten Island at 8:15 so we hushed to the corral, undressed and in 5 we were moving. No time to get cold waiting!!!! YEY. #win
THE COURSE
Well, the course is pretty flat. there’s about 3 hills but they’re little (smaller than Cat Hill) and one nasty bump at the end I didn’t appreciate. Still, quite an easy course and I liked it. There were enough spectators to distract us, a few bands and DJs and quite some action…
THE ACTION
Ugh. At Mile 5.5 (or something) I saw a runner (a man, around 55 years old) lying on the floor, with a police car and he was getting chest compressions. I was so shocked I almost stopped on my tracks. I barely kept running. About 15 or 20 minutes later, after the turnaround, my mile 8 or something, I saw they were putting him on a stretcher so made me feel a little better. I felt so stooopid running when someone’s live was at risk, i really wanted to stop. You always hear about those races fatalities but it was shocking to see it happening. It took me a while to shake it off. What was I supposed to do? but also, how do you get that out of your head??
Well, it was tough to relax. An 8 pace which should have been easy, was not. My breathing was still shallow and I was coughing and had som fun mucus that wouldn’t let me breathe. LET ME BREATH! Anyway, I tried as best as I could to relax and it wasn’t working. Then I tried to just slow down. It was tough to relax knowing last week i was toast at mile 10. What if the same thing happened??? UGH. Eventually by Mile 8 or 9I started relaxing and feeling normal… by Mile 11 I was able to push a bit harder and finished in an ALL OUT sprint, which was quite exhilarating!
If you look up there, I didn’t start as slow as I wanted to… even with the little bump on the first mile. Miles 5 and 10 are way slow, but looking at the course profile I can see why! Look at Mile 5 highlighted int his next image:
And look at mile 10, see:
I guess that’s why I slowed down. I really don’t remember the hills being that bad, other than the one on mile 10, but with my chest filled up with stuff the whole race was a hard-breathing hill… what a great workout though, right?
THE FINISH LINE
So, the finish line was at the Staten Island Yankees Stadium. A new finish so I had no idea what to expect. this is what it looked like, from Juan’s pictures. He was waiting there the whole time.
The last half a mile I passed a lot of people. A LOT. I had some nasty speed sprint fever and I burned it down. Then we turn onto the stradiums entrance, which was EPIC, and oh crap, we’re running on fake grass: ugh. Way to slow my sprint down 😦 Still a great finish line… as epic as Brooklyn I’d say!
I then bent down holding my knees and coughed for 10 minutes straight. SO GLAMOROUS, I know.
because 4 cups of Gatorade are not enough
heavy heavy staten island half medal
THE FINISH IS A PARTY
WOW, that finish escalated quickly!! the sun was nice, w could sit in the grass, I saw many team-mates in a minute and we were all happy just laying around. So much for being tired or layering back up so I couldn’t turn the cold into enterofluebolaenza. Nah, I’ll just hang out here.
why is he eating my apple?? WHY? oh, being married and sacrifice and all that smush
Stats Time!
Finish time: 1:43:39 (a minute faster than last week’s 1:44:53). Average Pace: 7:55
Soon Juan andBlaise and I headed for the ferry, got back on the Island, had brunch and run some 5 miles more. I turned Sunday into a double. the second run was NOT pretty. Actually, you can barely call it a run, but I didn’t stop once and had an avg 9:47 pace so I am counting it. This cold has annoyed me to no end this week.
Well, so… now I have the NYC Marathon in 3 weeks and I am not sure of my goal, as I HAVE NO IDEA what the hell I could have raced if I wasn’t sick… so my NYC marathon prediction guess will be interesting… 😉 let the gambling begin:
I did not run a step on my honeymoon, so there went a whole week. Then, when I got back I run on Wednesday and then… I didn’t feel so good. By Friday, I was shivering, feeling feverish, my chest was tight and my throat was hurting. Booohooo. I had soup and tea and honey and all the crap people do when they’re fending some bug and felt better by Sunday so I decided I’d take a crack at the Gallop. Even if I didn’t win, it’d be a good excuse to get out of the apartment and get a decent run on.
Basics about the Gallop: it’s two loops of Central Park, not the easiest/fastest but close to home and I know the course well. Piece of cake!
It was sunny out but around 47 degrees, brrrrrrr, so early in October for such cold!
Nothing to do while waiting for the race to start……..
The husband stayed with me by the corral so I could be warm until the last possible second. When the national anthem was done, I threw all layers, pants and jacket over the corral and went. I felt okish. Slow, sleepy and with a tight chest, but the legs seemed fine. I had a racing singlets and short tights, but kept a long sleeve shirt and gloves for at least the first mini-loop, as I knew I’d see him again and didn’t want to get cold and risk my health.
I started out easy and soon I noticed I was running at a decent clip. Mile 1 was 8:06. I thought it was fast but I kept telling myself I had done 8:16 in the Tune Up (3 loops of the park!!!) so I had to believe that I could sustain in. We’ll see. By Mile 1.5 I saw Juan again and dropped my long-sleeve!
Kept the gloves! I also had shuffled for a bit with a team mate I didn’t know, Young. Poor thing, we run together 100 meters and he was already laughing at all the shoutouts and attention I kept getting. He laughed that he wasn’t famous and we talked about how we both felt. One had some sort of bug and one had a hangover. That makes for some interesting miles… I told him I thought I’d do between 1:45 and 1:50 and to drop me when he felt like it but I think the hangover caught up with him soon as I seemed to lose him. Mile 2 was 8:08 and then the interesting part happened: going into Harlem Hill (which you know is a lot harder in this direction, clockwise) I run a 7:41 and a 7:54. Who knows. Heading back on the east side was a 7:51 and it seemed like I had this down. I remember feeling well and strong and hoping I felt the same way on the second loop. It did seem fast, but really, I had no idea what I had with me that day!
When I get off Harlem Hill, closing in on mile 6, I see Juan again and there goes the gloves! Now I am free to run as naked as I possibly can! Mile 6 was 7:58.
Then I decided it was time to fuel. I didn’t want to stop but I thought I HAD to. I had a gel, sipped some water, and started running back up again. Mile 7 was 7:44 and then things started to unravel.
Not just because my husband loves that BURST button on his phone but because the gel didn’t sit well with me, for some odd reason. I don’t usually have issues with them. Who knows. My stomach got tight, my chest got tight. I remember trying to figure out why I was running IN PLACE and I knew both things were an issue. My stomach was turning and I felt like I couldn’t breathe anymore. My pace felt like I was doing 11 minute miles. In a second, I had no energy left and I just wanted to be done, there was no kick, nothing. Mile 8 was a struggle at 8:20. I do remember I felt well for a bit and thought I had it back and I’d feel better: mile 9 was 7:44. But no. Once I was on mile 10, I was done. I tried to kick, there was no way. The last 3 miles were a drag and there’s nothing I could do about it.
Mile 10: 8:28 / Mile 11: 8:15 / Mile 12: 8:19 / Mile 13: 8:15 / And the last bit was at 7:04 pace.
But really, the last miles were awful. Though you wouldn’t be able to tell, right?
Here’s all the laps, see how bad it went?
You could argue that I started fast. I don’t think I did. I don’t usually start fast and I think if my stomach wouldn’t have played a trick on my, that’s a pace I could have held up. who knows though?
I finished ok, Young and Russell caught with me, there were some pictures, the one below appeared in the NYRR Photo Gallery
Soon I had found Juan (with my warm clothes!!!) and Patricia who run a 1:36… well, I am so far from that. So glad she still lets me run with her!!
There were some race pictures I will be buying soon. Sharing here but I don’t know that it’s common to get so many good pictures!
Well, so… now I have the Staten Island half this next Sunday. It’s 4 days away and I haven’t run since Sunday, and my chest is still a mess.. what to do, what to do?????
You know the “don’t wear anything new on race day” and all the basics… now, let’s do the New York City Marathon as right as we can. I’ve done this race every year since 2008 (minus 2012 of course…!!) and I can see how logistically heavy it is for someone from out of town or doing it as their first marathon. So, here we go! Let me know if you have any specific questions in the comments section below. I promise I will answer.
PRE RACE LOGISTICS
Make a MARATHON PACKING LIST (even if you’re not traveling) and sort it all by stages, here is my Marathon Packing List to start with. Get everything in the list ready as soon as possible.
The EXPO is big, so please bring some patience, money (there WILL be a few things you’ll want), and comfortable shoes. Don’t forget to bring your confirmation form and photo ID. Get to the expo at off hours (avoid the lunch rush or after 5:30 pm if you can) and on the earliest day you can make it, it tends to get crowded later. Check for the course strategy sessions live so you can take a good look at the course (I’ll be doing some of them there, including Spanish and Italian), there is usually one at the top of the hour. Side note: running stores all over the city have amazing gear and discounts too (organized and outdated list HERE)! Also, if you have time for fun, there are tons of events to attend to do on race week (lots of them will be on the app for the Expo/Pavillion, but I’ll put all the 2023 CONTENT here).
Set yourCLOCK back on Saturday night, the night before the race. If you use a smart phone like 99% of the population, you’ll be fine. Sleep! Also, do not stress if you don’t sleep Saturday night (no one does) but make it a point to go to bed early all week, mostly Thursday and Friday. PLEASE.
Download the APP, your confirmation form is in there, your race number, ferry time, and all the info you might need. Also, people tracking you and coming to cheer you on will find it super helpful, tell them to get it. (Apple / Google)
As you might know, in NYC races, and in some parts of the city, the GPS can go highwire and then you’ll think you’re doing 4 minute miles, or 17 minutes per mile!!! GPS can be sporadic in some spots (like in the Verrazanno if you’re in the pink corral, or the Queensboro, or crowded areas like First/Fifth Ave, or Central Park). Be prepared for that. I prefer to set my GPS to manual lapping. Basically, I lap a mile every time every time I see the Mile Marker, and I know exactly how long that last mile took (I just look at “last lap time” instead of last lap pace. You don’t have to do this, but at least keep in mind that some miles might be “shorter/longer” than others (actually, if you set your Garmin to lap a mile at 1.01 that matches the mile markers better, when the GPS is accurate).
The night (or week) before, WATCHRun for your life (full free version) for inspiration. Best movie about the NYC marathon. I weep like a baby every time. Hail to the Fred!!!
Bring a lot of cheap or THROWAWAY CLOTHES to the start, you WILL need them. Find a mylar blanket from your last marathon (and don’t throw away the poncho you’ll get at the finish here!). You will cherish them until the last minute in the corral (I wear one as pants with tape and one as a cape). I wear my throwaway cardigan or a sweater (cut in the front for easy peeling while running, kept it in place with a safety pin!) during the first mile too! Go to the dollar store and get knee-high socks, cut the toes part and you’ll have throwaway arm warmers! I keep half of it on until Mile 3, it can be windy on the bridge, mostly if you are on top (blue or orange waves). Don’t worry about looking like a weirdo, everyone will look like that!!! Or they’ll wish they did. Really: pile it up!!!
WHAT TO WEAR… usually, the marathon is in the 40s or 50s (the average temp historically is 54). If you’re not checking a bag, layer with things you’ll be happy throwing away. My rule is if it’s over 40, I do short sleeve/singlet and shorts. But depending on the wind/humidity/lack of sleep/whatever you can add a hat, arm sleeves, etc. Always wear things you can get rid of easily and won’t miss. Be smart, and make sure you can peel off layers comfortably. Even in 2014, with the marathornado, I didn’t need extra. I had leg warmers and hated them, I was so hot. Make sure you can peel the layers easily WHILE running and throw them out if you are not sure and bring too much, ok? If you don’t carry your phone, at least carry a $20 bill, a metrocard, a credit card, and an ID with you, just in case. Better ready than sorry.
FERRY/BUS transportation to the start, NYRR will assign you a specific transportation or you might have picked one when you claimed your spot (DECIDING ON FERRY OR BUS? GO HERE) There is a reason why you have to get on your bus/ferry a bunch of hours early, I promise it makes sense. Your transportation would usually be 3 or 4 hours before your wave start. This leaves ample time to get everything done, even a long line at the portapotty. NO race before the race: that means don’t be rushing, take your time, and wake up extra early.
This is the breakdown of what would occasionally happen on race morning if you chose the ferry, for example:
7:00 am ferry, takes 25 minutes to get to Staten Island. Get some pictures of the Green Lady, you’ll love the ferry ride.
7:30 am. You are in Staten Island!! When I land on the Staten Island side, I usually like to go to the bathrooms IN the terminal, they’re WARM, then just follow the crowds out of the ferry, you’ll do a right and a left, walk outside, do a block or two, and board the buses to the Athlete’s village, it can be 10 or 20 minutes, let’s assume 30 for traffic so you don’t stress. Sometimes there is a loooong line to get ont he busses, stay patient, we’re all going in the same direction.
8:00 am. You get to the village. There is usually a line or crowd to get through security. Walk to your village area (pink/blue/orange).
8:30 Find a portapotty line in your village, you’ll need at least 30 mins to pee. Lines can be long. if you want to grab a banana, tea, coffee, etc., pick that up before the line and eat in line.
9:00 get to your corral, sometimes they are hard to find so don’t wait until the last minute. Corrals will usually close 45 to 30 minutes before your start. In there you can finish your nutrition, rearrange your gear, all that.
So, my wave is 9:10, my ferry is 6:15, and I’ll probably leave home around 5:30 to get to that ferry, so that’s some math…
ATHLETE’S VILLAGE. It’s HUGE. I like to bring the pocket guide from the expo because it has a map, or finding your start corral can be hard. If you’re planning to meet up with people there, you’ll definitely need a plan. Tell them to wait right off the entrance or maybe at a particular tent, or have a cell phone with you. Did I mention it’s huge? There’s not much cover from the elements but you’ll find food and drinks (bagels and coffee and Gatorade and bananas and tea and stuff!). Head up to your village (your bib color) and camp close to your corral, and pay pretty close attention to the instructions. You do not want to be looking for your corral or getting to it as the wave deadline is done. I’ve been locked out of my corral TWO times just because I was socializing and taking pictures and not paying attention, even though I got there early… If you checked the marathon packing list, you are dressed warmly, have food, water, toilet paper, etc, so set up next to your corral and enjoy the day. If you are going with a friend, and you are in different starts (colors), you might have to separate here; unless you decide to start/run together. If that is the case, you can both start in the corral of the highest bib number, no matter the wave or color, just go to the higher number together.
What the Athlete’s Village looks like: it’s big -and hard to meet up with someone. And we all look like weirdos! Get a cute orange hat by Dunkin!!
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Write your NAMEon your shirt. If you don’t want your name, write something funny you’ll want people to scream at you all over the course (Speedy? SuperMan? Goodlooking?!). It will make your race 100 times better. If you don’t want to ruin your gear, cut the letters out of duct tape (like I do!) and voila, they’ll peel right off before you wash your shirt.
EARPHONES? If you are used to racing with music, no need to stress about this. I like to keep them around (like in a pocket!) and turn them on only when necessary. Sometimes I need a distraction, and though the crowds will carry you through everything, you might need an extra oomph at some points, like on the quiet Queensboro bridge, though I’ve learned to crave that moment alone in the bridge lately. If you’re in pain or need to recalibrate your pace and need quiet time, you can move to the middle of the street where you won’t be engaging with your fans. Big big big big disclaimer: the spectators ARE the marathon, and if you use your music you will miss out on a lot. A lot, a lot. A LOT. They can push you so much more than your music ever could, so use their free energy up. You’ll have tons more fun than you expected if you get lost in the crowds cheering. And no one will let you slow down or walk!! Disclaimer 2: if the music is on, make sure you can still hear what is happening around you, people might need to pass you or stuff like that. There are athletes with disabilities on the course, and/or any kind of stuff happening so you have to keep all your senses peeled. Be alert, cautious, and really really really careful!!!! Be in the moment, don’t miss out. Every second can be fun.
Place your SPECTATORS in spots where you’ll need them. For ppl who know how to use the local trains and can move easily, I usually set 4 spots. One in Brooklyn around mile 5 or 9, and then really high on First Avenue, past 110 where the crowds thin out, so then they can cross over to 5th Avenue, the third spot, and see you again and then zip over to the finish line (4th spot!)! Know exactly on what side of the street they’ll be so YOU can spot them (they won’t be able to spot you!). Send them with something big: a flag, a sign, balloons, a huge funny hat, etc. Here is the most amazing 2023 tool that estimates where/when they can see you and all the train stops close by! Tell them to get comfy shoes, really warm clothes and to bring food. It will be a long day for them too!
You will need/love the extra push, so ask for help!! FORCE all your friends/family to come watch you. Send an email a week before and ask them “where are you going to be?” or/and use the tool above to see where is easier for them to get to. Then tell them a time you’ll go through there, give or take 10 minutes, and decide if they’ll be runner’s Left or Right. Then make a little-tiny list you can carry in your pocket (Example: 74th st, John, left / 32nd st, Mike, right, etc.) in order of appearance, put clear tape all over it so it won’t get sweaty and basically go from John, to Mike, to etc… Let them pull you along the course and that’ll break the course in parts, instead of think “AH, I gotta go 26.2, ugh” you’ll think: “I am just going to 74th, to see John!” Use the sheet, so your fans can find you easily.
Get yourself a COURSE-SPECIFIC PACE BRACELET, this one is the BEST! It’ll adjust your pace per mile, given the uphills and downhills. And it has way more information than you could ever need. Hill info, spectator info, Plus, you can set it for your particular racing style: negative vs positive splits, big or small fade, etc.
Plan your NUTRITION way ahead. For the race: try to practice in training with what they’ll have at the race: water, yellow Gatorade and Science in Sports energy gels (water and gatorade at every mile (excluding miles 5, 7 and 9) and gels at miles 12 and 18). You can buy gels at the expo if necessary. But for race morning, get bagels/oatmeal and whatever you need the day before as there will not be a lot of delis open at 4/6 am. Here is what I usually do.
If you need to MOVE around the days before the race, go to Central Park. You’ll see many of your race-buddies and get to enjoy the best place in the world as a runner. There’s the Abbott Dash 5K early on Saturday, go watch/cheer if you can. The Parade of Nations and fireworks Friday night are fun too to get in the marathon weekend spirit.
Find a MANTRA, or two, you might really need them. I write them in my hand where I am sure I will see it.
The RACE COURSE WILL BE CROWDED, so PLEASE, if you need to stop for a walk or move over to another lane for water, please please please signal with your arms, and look around behind you before you make any moves. Also, put your hand up when you are slowing down if you have someone slowing down ahead of you. It doesn’t matter how tired you are, DO NOT just stop or go sideways. Be considerate of your fellow runners who trained hard and could trip and lose their dream race! On the other hand, you’ll always have someone to run with, pace off, or follow when you’re tired. Pick them up when you feel strong, encourage them when they need it, and keep your eyes peeled for anyone who might need help!!!!
If you are in the PINK corral and you’re scared you’ll be peed on… don’t! That is just a myth. I’ve been pink many many times before and saw/felt nothing. I’ve also been on top a few times and didn’t see people peeing. The odds that you get peed on are about 0.0000. Okay? If you’re scared, just stay in the middle, with the bridge right over you.
RACE STRATEGY
I am gonna break the race into parts, so you will know how to tackle each segment. DEVICE A PLAN and stick to it no matter what. A smart plan is to aim for even effort. Still, I always go for negative splits, as hard as that seems in this course that has many uphills/bridges in the second half. If you keep it strong and conservative throughout the race, it is possible. I am an average runner and have negative split in all my NYCMs but my first. Ask Bart Yasso and he’ll tell you: “NYC for sure is a 100 % negative split course. Hold back in those early miles and it will pay off later in the race.”
If you are still not sure, check a few of my NYCMs. Again, I am just an average runner! Check how the faster I went through the 13.1 mark, the slower my marathon was! This is quite telling… Check 2009 and 2010 where I only PRed by 3 minutes. Check how in 2010, I started a LOT slower… my first 5K was 1:30 slower! By 13.1 I was FOUR minutes behind… and I still ended up PRing by 3 minutes… Unbelievable, right? YOU can do it (you can also see how this starting-slow works at the end of this post)
Basically: You have to believe in yourself.
Onto the race parts then!
Mile 1-2. The Verrazano: what goes up, must come down
Tricky tricky part if we have to pick just one… the anxiety, fun ahead, the cold, the thousands of runners around you, it’s almost impossible to not let yourself get swept away in this wave of excitement and start too fast!! Well: STOP IT! Force yourself to go slow with everything you have. You will be tempted to match everyone around you, resist with all you can. Let people GO. I promise you: sooner or later, they will come back to you. They will. LET. THEM. GO. Enjoy the excitement of the first 2 miles, and relax. If it feels annoyingly slow, you are doing it right. If it’s crowded, DO NOT WEAVE. They’re doing you a favor by keeping you tied up, relax. The biggest mistake most people make is going too fast on mile one and as soon as they get off the Verrazano, they’re done. Toast. Don’t be one of them! Mile 2, you will be forced to speed down the bridge, you will feel tempted to roll with it (and everyone around you), and pass people. Remember: hold your horses a bit. If you start too fast, your race is ruined. The first two miles should feel easy, on the hard uphill (3% grade for 8/10 of a mile) and easy on the downhill (3.4% grade for a whole mile).
Mile 1 should be about 1:30 over your avg pace, and Mile 2 will be your fastest, 20 seconds under pace.
Just remember this: Bank = Bonk! Mile 3 is when the race starts. The main goal is to get to Mile 17 feeling as if you haven’t started the race yet.
And one more thing that applies to the whole course. It will be crowded and you’ll notice the stream of runners going around obstacles (curbs, signs, markers) in the middle of the road. You’ll really have to pay attention, and look ahead, at least for the whole Brooklyn section (with the curb in the middle of 4th Avenue) and First Avenue, or you can easily hit something and go down. When you run on the sides to be close to the crowds, you are more likely to have gutter/drain cover/footing issues. It’s not lethal but be aware that there’s a trade-off if you want to see the crowds.
Miles 3-15. Brooklyn: the 4th Avenue Party
Your goal for the first half of the race is to get to the Queensboro in one piece, feeling strong enough to climb over the bridge and to get yourself in the city in fighting shape. Exercise all your patience here and keep yourself in good check to not let yourself go. If you are running comfortably, you are doing it right.
Miles 3 to 8 will be easy and flat, this is when you save your energy, you are definitely going to need it later. There is a little hill at 8.5 and then the Pulaski Bridge right at the halfway mark which might seem like a mountain if this is your first time. The climb is a 4.3% grade for about a quarter mile. Slow down and go for even effort and not even pace on the bridges for now. It’s not the time to break out your sword.
There will be water/Gatorade every mile, so if you miss one, don’t stress. Don’t go for the first table as everyone will do that. There are many many tables, go to the last one. Portapotties are also at every mile so keep an eye out and don’t dart sideways!
Mile 3 to 15, should be at your avg goal pace or maybe 5 to 10 seconds faster than avg goal pace. Remember bank = bonk
Mile 16. THE Almighty Queensboro/Ed Koch Bridge: this part is for YOU
The Queensboro is quiet. Savor this you-time while doing a whole body systems check. Focus on the sound of the footsteps or take out the music out of the pocket if you prefer. This will be the quietest time of the whole race and it’s a long bridge… I like to embrace the solitude of this mile, savor it, and prepare for what’s ahead. Back down on the pace a bit so you can get to the top of the bridge with enough strength to take on the downhill! The climb (3.4% grade for a mile) is way longer than the downhill, which is steeper (half a mile at 4.3% grade). Rolling down the 59th st bridge onto First Avenue is surely the most exciting moment in the whole race (well, at least to a lot of us), and maybe, in all marathoning. Get ready.
Mile 16: around 20 seconds over avg goal pace
Mile 17 to 19. First Avenue: Hello New York City
First Avenue is where a win is made or lost. Many elite runners broke their strategy here and paid hard for it. Don’t get taken by the really loud crowds. Keep in mind there are still a few bridges and long uphills ahead of you. The marathon will start taking its toll on you at mile 20 and we are not there yet. AT ALL!!
Plan to set on a steady pace here so you can start making up some time. Do not force a lot of speed, and if the crowds are getting you too excited, make sure you hold back. Move to the sides if you need cheering or to the middle of the road if you have to focus. Cautiously break out your fourth gear and start focusing on the goal. If you have followed a smart strategy up to here, you should be right on goal pace by Mile 20, or maybe 30 seconds behind (which is always a LOT better than 2 minutes fast!). Gels will be around Mile 12 and 18, so check if you need an extra one for the last miles, and think what color/flavor you like so you’ll be ready to grab it!
Mile 17 will be about 30 seconds under avg goal pace, M18 will be a bit slower, about 10 seconds over avg goal pace and by M19 you should be back on avg goal pace
Mile 20 to 23. The Bronx/Harlem Experience: there is NO Wall (without graffiti!)
This is when you will use up your training and start working hard… and it will get REALLY HARD fast. Not only you hit twenty, but there will be a two bridges there. Dig deep and stay focused on your pace, ease up on the uphills and bridges but make sure you don’t get too distracted or discouraged. This is a really nice stretch to start pushing the pace. Just focus on getting back into the city in one piece to face mile 23. Once over the Madison Av Bridge, you’ll be right on Fifth Avenue. If you see trees ahead, keep in mind the Marcus Garvey Memorial Park will intersect the course on 125th, and then you’ll be back on 5th Ave. Now, just get to 110th st, where Central Park starts! This is the tricky part.
Mile 20 to 23 should be right on avg goal pace or maybe about 5 seconds under
Mile 24. Fifth Avenue, the ninja hill.
You’ll be coasting the east side of the park from 110th to 90th, right on Fifth Ave. This will be a long straight stretch, so rare in this race, but it’s all UPHILL… It is going to hurt, the climb is 0.90 of a mile at about 2.5% grade (you won’t even see it coming!), and you’ll be tired. Use your mantra here. There will be enough spectators to help but this is when you have to start digging deep and see how many gears you have left. Keep in mind you might not notice the uphill at first so don’t go all out crazy just yet but keep focusing on the finish line pulling you. Don’t let it win!
Just let the street numbers trick you to the entrance to the park, just one mile away at 90th st. Fred Lebow won’t be there to salute you as always, so all you can do is catch up to ALL those people who went out too fast at mile one and two, you’ll spot them easily. Sad but sure. Pick a bright target 20 feet ahead and don’t let them go. One at a time!
Mile 24 will be slow: about 20/30 seconds slower than average goal pace
Mile 25 to 26.2 Central Park
Once you make that right at Engineers Gate into Central Park, you just have just about 2.2 miles to go, all undulating with steep/short ups and downs.
If you did things right, you will pick up a LOT of people in this stretch. A LOT. A LOT LOT. Undulating hills all the way to the uphill finish, you’ll be able to change biomechanics so often that you won’t be too set on one form, which is great. Find your fifth gear and ram it home. Enjoy those last two miles, they go by fast and you’ll be stopping soon so USE ALL YOU HAVE LEFT!
There is a looong 3-avenue stretch up Central Park South (5th ave to 8th ave with 3.3% uphill grade) that seems to last forever though it’s just a half mile…. focus on the Columbus Circle towers at the far end. Make sure your bib is visible, very important here. Once you get to Columbus Circle, you make a right an enter Central Park for the 2nd and last time. The hill at the finish line is the steepest of the whole race (very short, but almost 5.5% grade!) so just ride it as hard you can, as long as you can still finish with a smile!
Mile 25 should be a few seconds under average goal pace and M26 maybe 5 seconds over average goal pace. The last point2 will be slower, about 20/30 seconds slower than average goal pace.
Pose for the finish picture!!! Smile, arms up, you got this. DO NOT HAVE A FINISH LINE PICTURE OF YOU PAUSING A WATCH, I warn you!!!!! We have official results, ok? Stop your watch a few seconds before or after the finish, just not there.
That’s it, you’re home. The most famous finish line in the world. Cry if you want (I always do!). You can stop now. Just make sure you don’t stop right at the clock, or there’ll be a human pile on top of you 😉
Plan on it taking a LONG time between finishing and exiting to find your friends/family -about 30-60 minutes. It’s crowded, and you will be moving slowly even if your body is capable of moving more quickly.
then…
Walk, get your medal, take pictures, get your stuff and/or your poncho, meet your friends, get drinks and clothes on, eat, enjoy, celebrate, stretch, ice bath, rest, eat more, sleeeeeep! Go to the finish line store early Monday morning at the Pavillion, tell everyone about your race, eat some more, walk around, get your medal engraved, buy get some finisher’s gear, wear the medal on Monday if you are a tourist or if this is your first mary, go downstairs backwards, have a congratulatory donut, look for your name in the NY Times on Monday, tell people you won’t act crazy anymore and won’t be doing another one of these ever. Sign up for another marathon right away and celebrate some more. Celebrate the whole week if you want. You earned it. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done this race, or any, finishing NYCM is always amazing. I dare you to not cry once. This marathon is our victory lap through the city, after all our training. ENJOY YOURSELF.
Questions?? Anything to add? Anything you want to go over? Comment below (it’s a lot faster than me replying to an email, trust me!)
My Race Reports with tons of pictures and more info:
I guess I hadn’t told many of you so when people see me running and they haven’t seen me in weeks or months, they are perplexed: “you’re running now?“.
I am. It all started back again, out of nowhere, with July, and I’ve been doing around 25 miles a week consistently, even some enthusiastic speedwork. Slow, and frustrating, yes, but back on the horse. Mid-July I made myself a NYC Marathon training, program, the exact same one I’ve been using for all my NYC Marathons, since my first in 2008, I know it works for me, and so far so good.
Mind you, that plan, where I am mostly hitting all the workouts, says I can do a marathon in 3:32, which would not be a PR but a bit better that the miserable Boston race I did (untrained!!) at 3:49! A 3:32 marathon translates into a 3:37 in NYCM.
I am so excited about the speedwork though, that I somehow convinced Daphne and Kettia to move this week’s tempo to today. And instead of the prescribed 8:03 pace we did: 8:03 (nailed it), 8:09 (still yeah!), 7:44, and 7:32. Plus, these were on hills and dirt, so you can safely take at least 10 seconds off of each.
Finishing Speedwork Feels good.
Feels really good to be able to feel the come back.
It’s not easy. I don’t always still have the motivation. But having good friends with me just make it A LOT easier. Daphne should start getting paid to pace, she’s a natural rabbit. No matter what sort of run it is, she’s ALWAYS keeping it honest. It’s exactly what I needed. Kettia tends to push my buttons pace too, but as neither of us are 100% committed I sometimes convince her to back off, boo me.
It’s going well. I did 12 last weekend, my longest in a long time, and it felt like I was doing 20, during and the whole day after. I was so exhausted. Not sore or in pain but overall tired. 14 this weekend… and on and on hopefully. Good thing is, it’s Summer Streets already, which has me so excited!!! Everyone I know is doing Team Champs so I’ll have to find someone to run with (anyone? 14 miles at 9:30 pace? I promise I’ll chat so much you won’t even notice the miles!) but things are moving. And I am already over 100 miles this month, that is the first time this year!!!!! Yeah, I’ve been quite lame with the running for a WHOLE YEAR. That included two marathons (plus a million medical things!) but that just proves you that anyone can finish a marathon!
My big lesson is that it’s all in your head. In the good times, and in the bad times.
I always knew I run my easy runs too slow, my long runs too too slow and I do my tempos and intervals with very little enthusiasm. I realized this morning, when a friend was dragging me through a fast half mile (which was probably at 9mm) that I just don’t like pushing! Ever!!!
Two weeks ago, when I was in Florida, I run with two coworkers that were, as they said, slower than me. Compared recent times, and I felt safe, it’d be a fun easy run… and then they took off at a “can’t talk” pace for what was an easy run for them. I run with Kettia often, and even years before when there was a gap in our race times, she’d make me cry in training runs. Even this past winter, I run with her group in training for the NYC Half, and even though I ended up racing faster than them, I was crying and dragging during the long runs… Kettia says I show up for race day. I know I don’t like pushing hard, so I limit myself to the races for that.
I DO NO LIKE RUNNING HARD.
I DO LIKE WHEN MY “EASY” IS “FAST”, that’s what I would call a good performance. But that, obviously, takes a lot of work to achieve… I’d even say that my fastest times were easy, and I was completely relaxed. It felt nice.
Right now I am at SLOW AND EASY, meh. And I know that I need to run hard to get fast… it’s gonna be tough. Or slow.
I know some of you go hard (at “can’t chit chat” pace) even for easy runs. My husband, for example, doesn’t even know what slow or easy mean. He goes all out in every run. I call him “one-speed-Juan”. He’d go out at the same hard pace whether he was doing 7 miles or 18, to end up just walking back (suicide pace works?). I’d measure my effort by heart rate, or by the talk test… I can go fast, only when it feels easy… Most of the people I know are the opposite though, they take off, always, like it’s a race. Ugh.
Am I alone here? Or do you also prefer to go out hard, have a better workout, train like an animal, get stronger/faster; if so, did you always enjoyed it or is it something that you learned to like over time?
I just like to do a running tour and watch people and birds and trees and bop to my music! I wonder if there is a way to wake up the beast in me or the competitive in me? I have ZERO of that!
As you might have read, I lost most of my running mojo some time back and I have been quite off. But, I had signed up for the mini… and my parents were in town and wanted to see me race. Also, the mini is like THE quintessential race… I have done it every single year since I started running, in 2007, so that’s EIGHT in a row. I love this race.
Okay, why you say? There’s not cute boys to lookat, you say! Yes, no boys, but can I just tell you a secret?? This is, shhhh, OUR race… We just race with our girl, we bond, we all support each other, we do it for us. Yes, it’s sexist to have our own race and to keep the race going shows that we’re still not equal to men, or exagerates that we need special treatment, but you know, let’s take it while we have it! Plus, this race smells better in general. And… we all know it, we women pace BETTER. Yes, it’s true, men are just too emotional to pace off. I know I can just click behind another girl with my pace and sleep to this finish here. That doesn’t happen in the other races… You KNOW what I am talking about… you know.
Love that I always get a 500 something number for this race
As my parents were visiting, Saturday morning we all woke up around 6:30 and walked to the start. It was hot and humid already and got this sight:
NO EXCUSES. oh oh.
yes, I am wearing the tutu
The day before my friend Florencia had called me to see if I was around NYRR as I live super close. I had forgotten she was running!!!!! We decided we’d run together. Made me SO happy to know I could run with her!!!!! We’re besties, and what else could a mojo-ed out runner than a friend to chill with at a race? EH> well, maybe frozen pops all the way but Flor would be good enough! I then heard from Sole: “I want to have a fun race too!!” yeah then!! The three argentinians would be pacing and lolling up and down the park at a festive pace. Plans UP!
Headed to my corral, blue, and the great thing is that the stage is right there… many pics were taken!
Martina and I
Patricia and I
Then the NYRR photographer snapped a picture of a few of us there for the site, link here.
full size craziness:
Soon enough the speeches start!
Mary Wittenberg
Kathryn Switzer
Deena Kastor
Spotted: Josh Cox!!!
Desiree Linden (nee Davila!)
Nina Kuscick
Spotted: Greg Welch (If you don’t know who he is, my iron-husband would yell: Ironman World Champion, etc etc!!)
Boston Strong!
Soon it was 8 am, muggy as hell, and Peter Ciaccia was giving us clearance on the roads. We were just a few minutes late, 3 or 4, which is unusual for NYRR races but I was getting hypernervous. Why? Oh WHY? My heart was pumping scared.
Em, I hadn’t run in over a month and I was towards the front of a crazy fast 10K full of olympians. Of course I moved back like 4 corrals; I moved towards the back of the stage and let everyone go while I waited for Sole and flor, I was NOT about to get trampled at one of the fastest women road races!! but… wow, my heart was ready to jump out!
Peter Cha-Cha we love you!!!!!
Two-three-4minutes later or something, Flor, Sole and I get moving, while we chatted. I knew Juan and my parents would be on 72nd, on the west and then the east sides. So my first goal was to run 5 blocks to see them.
that was easy. Mom having a super emotional (and patriotic) moment. Juan snaps away.
I snap back. We all hit each other!!! (I swear it was hot!)
My dad, already overheating too!!!!
Jeremy and his Jeremy-baby!
Sooo, I love that stretch we run in Central Park West. We NEVER run outside the park and it’s so nice and historic and amazing and museumy, ah, love it. But that’s when I usually go out too fast (because, hey, no men means I get places up high in the first corral with the ultra fast women, SHIZZZZ ensuing pace!) and then it’s sooo painful going into the park at 90th to climb that stooopid Harlem hill. This time, it was breeze. Only, there was no breeze, so I was overheating (also probably because I have no muscle and I am made of nutella and wafers and cookies these days. It was like I couldn’t breathe, doing a 10 minute mile pace. KindaRIDIC. Still: FUN.
So, I caught up with Meghan, from my previous job at TNT and we run and chatted for like half a mile. That’s what I miss about running the most, not that it shapes me into a perfect 10 (hahahhaha!!!!) but the social aspect of it. I get to see all my friends (plus all the other people I know) in the funnest environment. I don’t drink so I am not the bar type and you really can’t eat with everyone (not the way I eat!) or have time to hang out with everyone, but you CAN see eveyrone, at the same place, doing something fun: RUN A RACE. Heck, I miss THAT. A LOT.
When I tell people I hate racing they don’t understand why I do it so much. Because THAT.
See?
Even Flor (on my right) looks happy and we were both looking for a frozen pool by then!
Miles went by easily, mostly chatting in Spanish (the three of us are Argentinians, go figure!), laboring up the hills a bit with the humidity (note: when you’re out of shape, you feel it a LOT MORE! thousands of kudos to the people who are just starting to run, it’s HARD work!! Please do stick with it, it gets a LOT LOT easier) –I need to get back to “easier” please!).
We had two cups of water at miles 3 and 4, we were melting. Then, back at 72nd, now on the east side, we saw the Dashing Whippets, plus Juan and my parents. Spot the flag!
with one mile to go, they cheer you into 5 minute mile pace and then you realize you need to calm the EFFFF down!
easy way to get everyone’s heart rate spiking to the final sprint! Loved the 9+1 reference Fred!!!!!!! From left: Ned, Fred, David, Tom and a Whippet I haven’t met yet! (click on pictures for full res, you know you want to!)
HIGH something. What is up with my face?
Took a shot of my partners in (slow and fun) crime.
We finished, so hot and ready to be in a cold shower, and went straight to drink 4 cups of water. YUM.
i think we all HATE carnations. YUCK. a towel or a wipe would have been better.
my parents right at the finish and us. And guess what we did with the carnations!?!?!
ah, boys are SO ok after the race! OR an IronMan.
We had to ship out of town soon so we didn’t hang out for too long at the post race, which is my favorite to hang-out at! We headed straight to brunch at EJ’s which by then was pretty empty, yey for a fast table!!!! but first we scored a few pictures of the winners/record breakers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NOT US
Juan too excited, with Greg Welch, if you, again, don’t know who that is (it’s ok, I didn’t either!!!), here
Mandatory visitors’ shot
Hand is visible!!
Because Tom.
Now… this was my SLOWEST 10K EVER at 1:03. Even in my slowest times when I was starting up I never even went over the hour… Pace was even slower than the Brooklyn Half a month ago (which was my last run!). Nothing surprising how things are turning here.
My 10ks:
Look at the last 3 for this year, emmmm. No excuses, as the Mini bibs read:
I need that bib. I live that bib.
There is no excuses. It is what it is and I am who I want to be. Pace usually represents something. Sometimes your body can’t cope with the brains demands for speed and gives up. I am in a period where my brain has given up and the body has no reason to push at all. Could my body have gone a bit faster? Possibly. But my brain is not in it.
Now I have no other races up ahead in the close future, like I had Scotland, Brooklyn and the Mini to force myself to go do. I didn’t run in between them. This was my SLOWEST RACE EVER with a 49% age grading. A 10K. Insanity… We shall see now. But I did go out for a slow-short 3 mile run last night… Who knows.
As I had declared last week, I am done with running for now, I needed a mental break after 10 years and I wasn’t going to run anymore. But… I was signed up for the Brooklyn Half and the Mini 10K (in 3 weeks)… what to do? Well, I’m gonna pick the bib and tshirt and decide later. Maybe I would feel like running by Saturday…?
Pre-Race Party/ Bib Pick Up Bib Pick Up is more like a party, hence the renaming… It’s a nice place, by the water, with a GREAT view of the city, many food and drink options, a lot of space to hang out and see your friends, and the truth is we were running into people we knew every inch we walked. It was bit crowded, there was music, things to shop for, fun atmosphere. Too bad the weather didn’t help much but we got there, got our bibs, took some pictures, looked at the new balance stuff (nice!), went outside, got some food (there was a truck with melted cheese deliciousnesses) and stayed on the “lawn” to hear the band, then it started raining so we left soon. The trek from the Upper East Side where we live took about 1 hour each way, mostly because the 4/5 leaves you like almost a mile away. It’s a super nice walk though, and that street Lululemon or something off the Borough Hall stop is so super super nice!! I am planning to go back to the area.. on a nicer day. It’s a really nice park and you can’t top the views (says the Manhattan girl: if there is no view of the city, there’s no reason to leave the city!!!). Now, if you want to get in and out fast like this was midtown, won’t happen! I liked this place, though I liked the place they had last year too…
Walking to the expo on the Promenade or whatever that’s called
We have been bibbed!
Something I like about leaving the city, the perspective when you look at the city…
Friday: D (decision) day So, come Friday I hadn’t made a decision yet (Title should be more like INdecision day). Should I eat some carbs? Should I prep running clothes or should I just find something to do? If this was just a race in Central Park, it’d be easy to decide to skip it. But… the Brooklyn Half is more like an event… or a trip out of town with hot dogs and beach… AY, I couldn’t make up my mind, and by 4 pm I was stressing a bit. Juan was going to race it, so I’d be up at 3:30 am no matter what. If I could stay and sleep it’d be a different thing. BUT, if I had to get up and get out anyway (I am not just not going to not go cheer or meet him at the finish, can’t just stay home, what type of wife would Ii be??) then I might as well put some running clothes on…? So, staying in bed and sleep through it was not an option. I determined I’d go, try to run and enjoy it and if I didn’t, I’d just take the train… I had two exit strategies, my friend Tessa at mile 1.5 and my friend Flor at the 5 mile water stop. I’d just go with them to the finish and whatever! Flor even had a shirt for me. Then… I had the idea to wear the tutu to amuse myself: tutu power ON! You know my tutu, right? The BIG ONE!!!!
Then… I had the idea to ask on Facebook… because it seemed everyone I knew would be running Brooklyn to see if anyone would want company at my slow chatty pace! I wanted to make sure I had fun, and I was not going to do it alone for sure! I was looking for someone to chat through 13.1 in around 1:50 to 2 hours… I got offers to pace people but, pacing wouldn’t work, the other person would be working hard and who was I was going to have fun with?? Still a few people offered and we planned to meet in the corral! If all else failed and I got bored, I had my metrocard with me and would hop on the train to the finish! I had no issues giving up fast if I am not having fun. No guilt!
RACE MORNING!!! It was cruel how early we got up, and we went to sleep late because we got sucked into watching the Barbara Walters special…beeeeep beeeeep beeeeep 3:40 am alarm!!!! We figured we’d leave by 4:20 to get to the start by 5:40. It’s a long way from the Upper East side and I didn’t want to stress being late. I was going to be miserably sleepy and tired anyway! Luckily, it had just stopped raining, wohooo. We got ready, bundled up and got on the 4 to switch to the 2 in Fulton with another 10 thousand other runners. It was quite simple but I am always scared some train might not be running, we got there quite early. And sleepy. As it would turn out, we were quite right to get there early…
Look AWAKE!!
Bagagge and Start As soon as we got out of the 2 in Franklin Avenue, wow, there were high fences all over the place and only one way to go. Note: always check the NYRR website and use the train exit they tell you to use (if you go with the one you think is closest you might end up walking miles because of the fences!). That way then security and metal detectors then security again and IN! We then walked towards the corrals (starting from the back), where we saw the portapotties inside!! Wohooo, we rushed into those, as they were all empty, took care of business, then kept walking to drop our bags and back to the corrals. It must have been like a half mile walk, we got to the trucks and deadline was 6:20 am, we had 10 minutes! We had to rush and change as they were NOT waiting one second!!!! We dropped our stuff quickly (it seemed like a liiiitle bit chaotic) and headed back to the corral. Yey, portapotties in the corral again!! For a change, the first wave started late, this is never the case in NYRR races. I was a 4 corrals back so I am not sure what was going on in the front, but the first runners were 7 or 8 minutes late to start. Wave 2 seems to have started on time.
Race Atmosphere This race was huge, you could tell right away. I wasn’t sure how many people would be there… 20,000? 30,000? It seemed super ultra mega organized: like they were expecting Obama… there was a LOT of people, but still I never felt more crowded than usual. I saw so many people… many from out of town (sometimes you can tell by their t-shirts!). It really felt like something big was about to happen. By the afternoon, it’d be confirmed that this was to be the biggest half marathon in the US with over 25K finishers… craziness.
Weather. It was coldish waiting at the start, glad I had brought an old turtleneck I wanted to get rid of. It was 58 at the start, but with the little clothes and wind, we were freezing! Of course as soon as it started, it was perfect (and I was wearing as little as I could!) but then the sun hits you on Ocean Parkway, and oh uh, hottish! It was totally fine though.
The CorralsI was corral 3, Juan was 4, so we had told everyone to meet us at 4. We got there early and met up with Patricia, a lot of my team mates, Elyssa, Lara, and so many more people. Apparently Blaise was right there too and I missed him. It gets crowded quickly so if you’re going to meet someone in the corral, always pick a corner!
Elyssa, from this Bridges Runner blog, orange shirt, had volunteered the day before to run with me. I shyly asked “I like to talk when I run, is that ok? do you like to chat when you run?” I know some people hate it but as I said, I needed to have fun, and I needed help! But also, I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day! She said YES. I was so happy. Now let’s see if we’re both comfortable and happy at the same speed…! The Courseis…GREAT! There are a couple of little hills in the first 10K, and then flat or downhill past mile 6. You REALLY have to negative split here or you did something wrong. Good course to PR in, though for some reason, I never seemed to PR here… There is the one hill in prospect park, which is not that steep but seems to last foreeeever (elevation profile is here) because it bends so much you have no idea where it ends. There can be way too much sun after you leave the park, but luckily there’s a few trees. MY RACEWell, I really I had no idea what to expect. Having felt so slow and tired lately and with my crappy attitude… we started slow, we chatted… we cheered, we screamed, we talked about how we both didn’t feel like running but we were still running because, by talking, it didn’t feel like running. We stayed on the side and made sure we didn’t bother anyone, mostly in the first couple of minutes when it seemed like all 20 corrals were passing us. Soon, everybody’s speed matched our non-speed and we were seriously cheering people around us. I am sure we bothered some people, as the people who talk sometimes bother ME when I am racing hard and unable to focus, sorry. We tried to not be obnoxious but most people were happy to have us cheer for them. We checked on each other and made sure we were going slow enough to not push ourselves, to make sure we were relaxed and having fun. We somehow managed to have a lot of fun the whole way!
Picture by Ben Ko – thanks BEN!! Still had my start turtleneck as a scarf on the first half mile, just because even if it doesn’t match, I need to make a fashion statement!!!!!
I got hot soon, even though I wasn’t racing and I was wearing less clothes than EVERYONE around me. The tutu was great though… it got SO many cheers and shoutouts that all I was doing sometimes was say thank-yous nonstop!! I love my tutu! The park was bit more crowded than the rest of the race but it really wasn’t so bad. We were having fluids every 2 miles, and one gel as we left the park. I saw so many people cheering, at the water stations, passing me in the race, really you felt like everyone was there! Pace-wise, I have to admit, I barely looked at my watch once or twice… I had no idea. Elyssa shouted mile splits sometimes, just because our only thing was to check not to go over 2 hours, but as I can’t do any math, I figured I’d look at mile 10… I like to hit the pedal when I leave the park but Elyssa had an irish soccer game -or something- to play that afternoon and wanted to save some energy, and I was comfortably having a good time that I was not chancing it by taking off! By mile 9 we decided we’d finish together and we did just that! Easy peasy, half done! We got to Coney Island, we put our hands together and crossed the finish line. 1:57 and something.
Done, we had fun, and now we have some more fun. In Coney Island!!!
The Finish Line The best part! You have around 300 meters to run on the boardwalk and it gets loud and crowded, even before 9 am! They had medals, bagels, powerbars (chocolate and mint, yuk!!!) and gatorade+water. It is just such a happy place and by 9 am you are free to just go do whatever you want!!! I had told Juan to wait there for me so I caught him as soon as I got my medal! There were a few blocks walk until we got to baggage but it was super organized and easy. Really nice medal too. And we got more pictures of course! The Post Race/Getting my bag back fiasco! Well.. we had to walk a bit to get our bags and holy molly it was a MESS. Seems like just a few bags where there, there was no line, everyone was against the fence holding their number and shouting their number and if the volunteers found it, they’d bring over the bag. My bib was on my skirt and I just didn’t feel like unpinning it so I asked someone (taller!) ahead of me to shout my number and SOMEHOW I got my bag super fast… Everyone else was just standing there… Apparently, I was one of the lucky few people who got to bag check in time! I learned a LOT of people didn’t get to the bag deadline early on, so they dropped their bags in the “late” truck, so those bags where being brought there in bunches… and/or there were not enough volunteers. I offered to jump in to help to organize the bags by numbers but they didn’t let me. It really was a mess all around. Stats time Oy, this might be painful… or whatever! Finish time: 1:57:32. Average Pace: 8:59. 20 minutes off my PR, ha.
Previous PR: 1:37:35. From: March, 2013Age Grading: 57.55% OuchOverall Place: 10,758 of 25,587Gender Place: 3,831 of 13, 678Age Place: 523 of 2,105 (still top 25% which is fine… I guess!) To note looking at the stats, not only this is now the biggest half marathon in the US, but also, there were more women finishers (13,678 ) than men (11,909), insane! Total was 25,587 . Also sad, one runner died at the finish. This always makes me so sad.
Splitsville!
Seems like I lost satellite in the last mile I think. I kept looking and it said 12.47 for a whiiiile for a long time.
The Result I am VERY HAPPY with the race I run. I was not in shape, I wasn’t into it, actually, I had no interest in even showing up, but I managed my goal, to have fun, to not suffer… This doesn’t mean that I am back. I am not feeling like running still and for what I see, I probably won’t for a while. I am back to not running. But I managed to get to my beach party, the way everyone did: by running 13.1 first.
The Post Race Well, I skipped the MCU park as I had already been there last year for a NYC Runs 5k and my team, the Dashing Whippets, always has a beach party!!! YEY, beach weather. FINALLY! So we scooted over to the beach after we got our bearings and omg, the FUN
I am done running. I am HAPPY.
Happy Birthday Whippets (5 years!!) and Matthew Wong (a few more!)
Cute Speech by Rich. Everybody cried, no, not really. Then there was a chase to plaster a cupcake on Matt’s face but I think Matt had been training to avoid that…
cupcake boy (I am donut girl)
Boys will be boys??
My girl Kirby and I showing off or matching shorts!
He’s not normal. (It was the Gatorade!!!)
So Many Whippets!! (Apparently I am menopausal as I am the only one without a shirt..!?!??!)
It’s done. I am not sure when I’ll post again, if I have anything else to say… but, my parents are coming to visit (after 5 years!) and they’re too excited to see me race, and the Mini10k happens, so, we shall see.
The Brooklyn Half Marathon is already next weekend and I wanted to let you all know about the Brooklyn ½ Pre-Party Fun Run, Presented By New Balance taking place on Thursday, May 15th at 10:30am. This free event gives runners an opportunity to get in a fun 4 miles and pick up their race packets before the big day!
Wondering how to get to the Brooklyn Half Pre-Party Presented by New Balance? Why not run? Join New Balance for a 4 mile fun run and you’ll gain early access to the Pre-Party so you can skip the lines to packet pickup, shirt pickup and the official merchandise. The run will start from the New Balance Experience Store @ 150 5th Avenue at 10:30am. They’ll even take your dry gear over from the store to the party for you and give you a subway card so you can get back home after the party. RSVPs are limited.
Any other time, I would have hated the results. But I am happy.
There I went, into my race #95, knowing I wouldn’t PR and I was still happy. The weather was finally nice to run and race in and it’d be a great way to do some speedwork. Even if I am two weeks away from Boston with just one long run. Whatever, right? So I went in relaxed, looking for a training run, to get in below 50 minutes (so far from my last 10K at 44 mins last year) and I came back with a lot of happy
THE RACE
Getting there. Juan and I jogged to the start, a simple 1.5 miles Start. Super organized as always. I met my training partner Patricia in the corralqu she said she was shooting for 49, perfect, I though.
Weather. 45! Can it be any better? NO. I always say: over 42 is singlet weather. Booty shorts and singlet does it!
The Course. Is… OY. This is Central Park. A whole loop! CLOCKWISE. Rolling hills 75% of the time. And Harlem hill is WORSE in this direction. Not a PR-friendly course, barely any flat, but nothing also that you can’t do.
The Post Race. I saw everyone I know there, so fun…! Plus the raffle excitement. I love this race! Oh oh and the main thing: BAGPIPES AND KILTS EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY RACE
Weather was nice, all was calm… but I was a mess… 15 minutes before the gun I felt like I had to go #2… TMI right? But if you’re reading this you quite probably are a runner!!! Well, I didn’t have time to get out of the corral, go to the portapotty and start in my corral, so I decided I’d do my best to hold on to it (somehow..?). Is this too gross? Well, I really didn’t think I’d make it. But I had the same gut feeling in Berlin and it lasted 11 miles… I only had to do 6 here! I hoped it’d go away and lined up.
My goal was to be under 50, which is quite far from my PR but oh well, this is where I am now. Patricia and I started together and literally switched leads for about 3 miles. I was feeling ok but she had a lot more than me and I felt I was starting to burn gas so I decided to let her go early on (smart move!! she’d go on to finish a minute before me!). The whole race went well as usual, I had nothing crazy to say about it, more than my stomach held up, YEY. Going up the hill in the last .1 is always hard but had to get done:
The race ended fine… I never run out of steam but I don’t I run the best I could have, I just really wasn’t sure how to read my body with whatever was going on in my tummy..! If you look at my laps it looks like I was running two 5Ks instead of a 10k…! Ugh.
Stats Time!
Finish time: 47:41. Average Pace: 7:42
Previous PR: 44:32. From: May, 2013
Age Grading: 65.37%
Overall Place: 1559 of 8067
Gender Place: 280 of 3899 (wow, I really can’t complain, can I?)
Anyway, we had some fun after with my friends, team mates, the guys in kilts, the bagpipers, the raffle and the band there (who were they??? so osom!)
Juan and I, both of us around 3 or 4 minutes off our PRs and for the first time at the same AG!
With some more Dashing Whippets wagging our tails after dropping many hammers!
Soon after we headed home, showered, complained about how tired we went and headed out before noon to walk through the park (again) to go watch some of the Scotland Parade. I really do LOVE bagpipes!!! Here’s a couple of pics!
And then… we were DESTROYED… seriously, a 10K can drain the LIFE out of you! Hot chocolate, gnocchi and bed!
Just because we are on NYC Half Marathon week and it seems to be all we can think about around here… some pics from my SIX NYC Half Marathons! it’s crazy how things change… NYC Half was my first half marathon AND my first race ever… so here we go!
2014 – A race run for fun (race report), finished in 1:50:10, with great splits and smiles 😉
2013 – got a PR of 1:37:35! (race report) my fifth NYC Half! fun day!
at the expo
rocking the park
PR!
but wait, there’s more!
2012 – 1:43:04 was fun to be back to the race after 3 years! (race report)
but wait, there’s more!
2009 – 1:49:12 it was still in the summer and I think this was the hottest one ever (race report)
but wait, there’s more!
2007 – 1:51:29 my second!!
2006: 2:06:11 my first race ever, my first half ever and my first NYC Half ever… I was so overwhelmed I cried during the last two miles (I could barely see with all the tears!!!!). There’s no pictures of me running during this race (I had no idea how to even get pictures!) but now you can see why I love this race right?
That’s just how I have been feeling lately. I don’t have any motivation to go out there in the cold and freeze and suffer. Two days ago, I put my running tights at 8 am and by 3 pm, I took them off and gave up on the run.
The quote is from the movie Rush. If you haven’t seen it, I’d highly recommend you do. It’s about two competitors who are complete opposites (personality-wise) and push each other way further than any of them would have gone on their own. It was amazing. One of them is cold, strategic, all math. The other one is passion-driven, all instinct. I’ll get back to this. This is the full quote: Happiness is your biggest enemy. It weakens you. Puts doubts in your mind. Suddenly you have something to lose!
Lately, the cold has me couped up inside. As you know, I always hated running in the cold. But there was always fun to be had, goals to be fun, places to explore… Lately I’ve been feeling like there’s none of that, and all the fun is had inside. Here’s my minus list:
– One training partner moved away, the other one can’t run. And I don’t like running alone very much.
– I also am not much of a group runner. And Juan is too fast for me to run with.
– I don’t have any exciting goals ahead. I’ve signed up for Boston (out of support mostly) but my heart doesn’t seem to be on the marathon training anymore. I have no short term goal. Also, I am not sure I believe in goals… Still, I need to find a half to focus on.
– I am in semi ok shape, but my running has been lacking so much since the ulcer in July, that all my speed is gone. Every run is WORK. And I hate that.
– It’s cold and dark out and I am too comfy and happy indoors.
No big deal, this happened before, many times, even this year. The big thing is, I just don’t feel like running most days. And the one BIGGER thing is, I don’t feel bad at all about it. It is what it is. I know it will come back. I know I will enjoy it again soon. It’s my thing, I just don’t feel normal without running, it’ll definitely come back!! So I have zero intention to push myself. I would like to give myself a few (more) weeks to do what I feel like and then hopefully it will all come back. I am enjoying this for now. Back to more warmth and relaxation.
PS: do watch Rush if you can and tell me what you think! It’s one of my favorites this year! I am still trying to figure out who of the two of them I am more like!
this is crazy, but somehow I made it in there with Sarah Reinersten (my husband’s crush), Team Hoyt… seriously. A great list minus the one! Read the list here.
Well, so I woke up Monday morning early, sore, and tired. I am sure by now you know that your body needs SO much more sleep the week after the marathon… but somehow, you can’t sleep for a few nights. You’re sore, you can’t get comfortable, you’re hyper, the sheets hurt, turning hurts, your toes are swollen…
Monday, early, I ALWAYS go to the NYRR Charity Breakfast. I seem to always be there with a different charity but I am always there. After all, I can’t sleep, the clocks have changed I and I wake up early, there’s food, friends, a walk in Central Park to clear some lactic acid, and always some celebrity.
Juan came with me, and the walk to the park was slow but comforting. As well as the cold weather. I met a lot friends, colleagues, ex-coworkers, and more friends. A friend told me to sit at his table, right there, and we ended up sitting by Ethan Zhon, american soccer player, Survivor winner and he also has his own charity! We are chit-chatting with everyone and two seconds later, I look up and Ed Norton was sitting on my table. Crazy world.
I figured he’d be the guest speaker, as he had done it once before, but no… it was someone I didn’t know, Sarah Reinertsen, and all of a sudden Juan is flapping and flipping “she’s the reason I got into Triathlon!!!“, “Sorry honey, I love you but I have huge crush on HER!!“… unstoppable stuff like that… so funny. And I was like… who??? I admit I don’t know much about triathletes… he set me straight right away. Wikipedia: She’s an American triathlete and former Paralympic track athlete. Reinertsen was the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Reinertsen has broken the women’s above-knee amputee marathon record several times.
Plus these:
I doubt you’ll forget now…
Anyway, I had no idea. And OMG she has a story… it was so amazing to hear her talk. You might have to get her book but this girl is INCREDIBLE. I was so moved, in seconds, I suddenly had a crush on her too! Instantly! Once it was all said and done, Juan and I went to say hello. emmmm, she also speaks Spanish. She’s amazing, period!!!
Well, he was giddy for a bit. An hour. Or two. I loved hearing her story and meeting. Inspiration Maximus Activated!
Blue text is from Part 1, so you know where we left off…. My friend Helen was in the subelite corral, which was right on top. She took the picture below… What a bunch of weirdos we all are…
I was starting to get a bit nervous. I kept telling myself “I am a runner, I know how to do this with my eyes closed” but being around all these fast people was a little intimidating. I KNEW (I would have bet money right there) Tessa was going to go onto have a fantastic race. I saw it in her face. She was quiet but relaxed, like a ticking bomb ready to explode, about to unleash the beast she had been nurturing for a while. In a few seconds, we’d hear the national anthem, Mary Wittenberg, Bloomberg, the gun, Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York, the excited footsteps on the lower deck and I knew I would helplessly lose her. But I knew she wouldn’t let her (and mine) dream go. I shouted a few Go Tessa, You Got this as she run away from me. She’d go onto a 3:16, a 7 minute PR, insanely-precise run race, and I knew, as soon as the race started, within 10 steps, before she even left me, that I had nothing in me. Nothing. That I had no business being there. That I wasn’t prepared for what was ahead and I was going to be taught a lesson. I tried to relax and do my best to salvage the carnage but I couldn’t relax. Everyone was passing me at 5, 6, and 7 pace and it was crowded and we were going uphill and the bibs were being shaken by the wind and I could feel the footsteps above and thought about the many hours I still had until the finish and I was so scared of tripping and falling and my legs were so dead, and I was cold but I was hot and it was so crowded and fast… I couldn’t relax. I did my best to settle and find my rhythm… but I couldn’t. The race was stronger than me and I wasn’t prepared, I wasn’t trained mentally or physically to control it, or to control myself. I just did my best to not despair...
A lot of friends passed me. Lots and lots of people. And still, I was going way too fast. I couldn’t control my speed, my heart rate, my head was spinning with fear and panic… I felt like someone who is trying not to drown so they patter around frantically wasting all their energy helplessly. I knew I was making things worse. I just couldn’t stop it.
I had brought a 3:40 pace bracelet for kicks (far from my last marathon at 3:27 but still a good point reference for me). I figured that, if I was doing anything slower than that, I would not need a pace bracelet. Average pace for 3:40 is 8:25. So the first mile with the uphill and all was a bit INSANE at 8:35. Seriously. I KNEW I had already ruined the race because I was going bonkers. I had already also started crying a bit early. I missed running. I hadn’t run in two weeks. I hadn’t done this marathon in two years, and 2011 was so different doing the Footlocker Five Boro Challenge. I was nervous and crying hysterically this early, no good.
Still going so fast… but, in EVERY SINGLE OTHER RACE I ever did, I ALWAYS thought I started too fast and got scared. And I always thought there was no way I could sustain that speed and I always did maintain it. I always know how to pace. It’s my thing. I pace well. I start easy and finish super strong. What if this time it would be the same thing as every single other race? I really wanted to believe it but my legs felt dead, my heart rate was insanely high at 184 average for the first mile… I knew I had to slow down, but my brain wasn’t trained to have any control over my untrained legs. I was like a drunk person or a child that had too much candy and there was nothing I could do from the control room.
We could hear and feel the wind. It was on our side so it wasn’t that much trouble in the lower deck, but I wondered how long should I keep my layers on… and what would happen when we left the Verrazano… Mile 2 was 6:46, ridiculously fast, but I was on the same uncontrollable panic mode. And my legs were dead going downhill… that’s never a good sign. My legs usually LOVE downhills!
Pretending to know what I am doing. good, right?
We left the bridge, I started getting really warm and finished shedding my layers. We run through the back streets of Bay Ridge and I noticed how many people were out there. SO MANY. I have done every NYC Marathon since 2008 and I had never seen soooo many spectators. It was exciting and I could barely enjoy it. Soon enough, we turned onto Fourth Avenue, and, still crowded I clock Mile 3 at 8, so my first 5K was at 8:01 average. I knew it was unsustainable, but there was nothing I could do at this point. It was a mess already.
I knew though, that I’d see Juan in a couple of minutes, and that was my first out. I decided I would keep going, my leg wasn’t hurting and, though slow, I could keep going. Soon, I spotted him in our prearranged corner, exchanged kisses, told him how I felt and kept at it. Trying to reign it in. To no avail of course.
Brooklyn turned into a blur. I realized I was tired and I couldn’t keep myself interested in the crowds, the fun, the city, the course. Pretty much, I was not enjoying it. I mostly put the music up, went to the middle of the road, looked down, and tried to focus on just one more step. One. More. Step.
Mile 4: 7:45, Mile 5: 7:43, Mile 6: 8:00, Mile 7: 7:53, Mile 8: 8:02, Mile 9: 8:06, Mile 10: 8:11. My 15K was average 8:06. Somehow I was keeping a REALLY fast PACE. According to my pace bracelet I was 2 minutes and a half sub 3:40. Emm, am I capable of a 3:37? NO WAY. But my legs were doing whatever they wanted. I’d later realize they didn’t know we were doing a marathon, they though it was a half marathon….
I kept at it, one step at a time. I cried a lot. I was just feeling slow, tired… and things started to get worse. The thought of Michelle waiting in her PJs on Bedford kept me going for a while. I was just SO thankful she was there, just like she does every year! Mile 11: 8:30, Mile 12: 8:09, Mile 13: 8:25, Mile 14: 8:44. Going up the Queensboro I didn’t stop to walk like so many people but I FELT like I was walking… Mile 15: 9:52, Mile 16: 10:23, getting off the Queensboro was not the high I always experienced. I had to make a decision. If I was to end the race, I was seeing Juan at Mile 18, I could just stay with him. I was getting slower and slower… I decided that I was NOT GOING TO WALK. AT ALL. And that as soon as I started walking, I was going to walk straight home. NO WALKING. HANG IN THERE and finish this thing. My 5K splits were dropping like crazy. Pace at 20K was 8:22, at 30K I was at 8:28 and it just kept getting worse and worse. I was past my 3:40 pace bracelet pace now.
Around 80th Street I saw my friends Katy and Mikhail who made me feel so good and around 117th I knew I’d see Juan and my team mates! That kept me going for a while. But I kept going: Mile 17: 9:49, Mile 18: 8:49, Mile 19: 8:56. BAD going towards Fifth Avenue WORSE and Central Park Worst.
I knew Juan was coming ready in tights to run if needed, and I debated whether I wanted company for the 3 miles into the Bronx. I decided to go at it alone. If he was with me, I’d start complaining, he’d tell me how great I was doing and I’d start hating him. I’d rather shut it all down and just haul to the finish as dissociated from what was happening as possible.
I spotted the Dashing Whippets, did the continuous high-five as best as I could (see how low/tired my arm is?) but I was really happy to see them all!
One thing I had started doing was to stop crying when I knew I would see Juan. I didn’t want him to worry or try to come with me. Then, before getting into the Bronx, I spotted Ben, who always makes me smile!!!
Thanks Ben!!! Photo Credit: Ben Ko
The Willis bridge into the Bronx felt like I was climbing the Empire State Building. I am not exaggerating. I have climbed the ESB!
See how miserable I look? If you have seen ONE of my race reports, you know I know how to look good in race photos, marathons or whatever they are. These are just my worst pictures ever. But… the BRONX was bopping!!! It was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it!!!! It was so much fun. There were funny signs and somehow I noticed! Plus I saw two team-mates and shouted around a lot.
Through the Bronx!! Photo Credit: Luciano Rezende
Photo Credit: Luciano Rezende. Can you figure out what’s on my shirt?
And when you don’t think it can get worse, it does: Mile 20: 9:14, Mile 21: 9:47, Mile 22: 8:58... I saw Mary Arnold there, just because she was shouting my name like I was drowning. Everything was a blur. I just focused on getting to Fifth and 109 where I’d see Juan again, and then Patricia at 98… I just kept looking at the street numbers but they took SO long to get to me. I really felt like I was walking and if I had looked at my watch I would have noticed why… Mile 23: 9:07, Mile 24: 9:26.
Couldn’t even stop crying at this point
Somehow I managed to get to the park. And I just didn’t want to keep going. I would have given anything to convince myself to turn left at 90th and go home. The park wasn’t as crowded as other years, so I managed to see a few friends there (Marvin, you almost made me stop with that sign!). Counting my steps to the finish line. Those were the longest three miles of my life. I was completely demoralized, depressed, upset. I felt like an idiot. How could I ruin this day?? I knew I would finish but I didn’t want my marathon to be this type of experience… I was really upset with myself. I knew I should NOT have run it. I had done 10 marathons and ultra and I never felt this bad. I’d run injured before, I had run slower times, but this was just a horrible idea. I started heaving and crying again. So much that runners around me tried to calm me down and tell me I was so close and I was doing great. I wasn’t. I just wanted it to be over.
Faking happiness for the camera!!!
When I turned on Central Park West, I thought I was almost done. Wow, those blocks felt like 10 miles. I felt like I was walking and I couldn’t finish soon enough. I was still crying all my way up to the finish line. Mile 25: 9: 07, Mile 26: 8:56.
I finished. There was no happiness. There was no glory. I was still/already crying when I crossed the line.
It took about 3:49:34. The time was fine, not my slowest (still within my 4 hour forever limit), far from my fastest. The time wasn’t the issue. My problem was that I was so way over my head about what I could do that I ruined the day. I ruined the most precious day of the year. I don’t blame myself for not training, I didn’t have a choice there. But I should have skipped the race. And I should have started 2 corrals back with someone shooting for 4 hours to help me pace right. I let my untrained brain trick me, and I don’t like acting stooopid.
And now I know what happens when I DON’T TRAIN FOR A MARATHON. I am just a miserable person, who wants to go home, has no fun whatsoever in the best race ever, can’t control the pace, and positive splitted like a maniac. I don’t want to be that person ever again. Please smack me in the head if I ever attempt to do something this stooopid again.
My pace represents exactly what I did and how I felt:
Worst possible race splits in the history of racing.
I ended #10908 of 50,304. Overall Gender Place: 2,076 of 19,579.
These are the worst ever too. Can someone be this dumb???
Once I stopped running I started crying more. I cried the 500 blocks to my UPS truck, all the way from 67th street to 85th, that’s a LONG walk. Then I cried some more. As soon as I put one foot outside the park, Juan caught me and we both cried for like 10 minutes. 10 minutes later I was at Shake Shack, this man is a keeper.
What else other than Shake Shack could anyone possible want?
I kept crying. I was upset. I skipped all the parties and reunions because I couldn’t ruin everybody else’s day… I kept telling Juan I needed to get off my sweaty bra because I was sure I was as chafed as raw meat. Went in the shower with no issues. Turns out, my diaphragm was hurting from so much crying, or heaving, or breathing hard. My ribs hurt for two days.
I want to pretend I learned the lesson. But I am way too stubborn. And I love running too much. I just hope I am smarter next time.
From Monday’s New York Times:
And just like that, it was over.
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The 2013 New York City Marathon was going to be my 4th NYC Marathon in a row (or 5th if it wasn’t for a hurricane), and my 91st race ever.
I’ve shared some in this blog: there was a bunch of medical things that happened to me in the last months, including an ulcer, two falls, wild leg spams/pain, a labral tear and a couple of other things I don’t even want to talk about. As you can assume, I barely trained. The ulcer was the worst: for two months, I was eating so little I could barely walk or stay awake, so no running. I got really weak, lost a lot of muscle mass, and all hope. But the truth is, the marathon was so far removed from my day-to-day, with all I had going on, that I barely thought of it. I even got proposed to and married in the middle of it all, traveled for work, etc. Running was secondary.
The week of the marathon was tough. I was working a lot and, mostly, trying to figure out if I could actually run or not. Or if it was wise. Or if I’d make my leg pain worse. I didn’t run one step the two weeks before the marathon, had an MRI that week, saw another doctor on Thursday, had pain constantly. Waiting until the last 3 days was driving me crazy. Plus I was working at the expo and with a million commitments to even rest.
Thursday, the second doctor of the week said Go. I said OK.
Panic and Doubt settled in. I am not ready. I haven’t trained. How long is this gonna take? I knew I could finish it but I had no idea what kind of pain I’d have to face. I’d had pain in half my marathons. This, my tenth marathon, would be a different monster. I kept telling myself that when I run the 2011 NYC Marathon I was in way worse shape, as I had sat on my butt for 3 month with a foot stress fracture. I didn’t even walk for 3 months! And I did the marathon, finished strong and had no pain during or the day after. This one would be easier. Telling myself I’d be ok, and I knew how to push through anything, I headed into race day.
Pictures of the expo, elite athletes at the media tent, here:
Saturday I worked at the expo until 5 and then attended our Autism Speaks athletes dinner (for work) at the Hard Rock Cafe. I got home around 10 and went to sleep!
Sunday Morning
I got up around 5 and by 6:15 I was at the terminal. There was a LOT of security everywhere this weekend. And I mean EVERYWHERE. In the terminal, at the expo, in the ferry, getting off the bus, in each corner on the course, on the rooftops. EVERYWHERE. You felt safe (or watched!) no matter what!
Run into Lisa as soon as I walked in and Blaise two minutes later!
Blaise and I sat on the 6:30 ferry just because we got there so early. Our plan was to catch the 6:45 or 7 am ferry, YES, for the first wave at 9:40… we saw so many people who were in wave 3 or 4 there. I am not sure why people head there so early. And not sure why they like to freeze out there in the cold for hours… oy. Once we got to Staten Island, my corral buddies Tessa and Tree and Shawn were there, hanging out in the warm terminal. We sat for another half hour catching up and talking race.
Back in the Staten Island side of the terminal, we head for the bathrooms… See anything strange in this picture??? LINES in the men’s bathrooms but not one person in the WOMEN’s… how is this possible???
See??? ALL MEN. what are they doing in there??? SO strange!
Around 7:30 we left the SI terminal for the buses, they’re right outside on a short two block walk.
View from the bus. See those buildings all the way over there??? That’s where we have to run and a bit more.
Tree and I catching up in the train!
Tessa and an instant friend we made in the terminal
As soon as we got to the Athletes’ Village we went straight for the UPS trucks as we assumed they closed at 8:30 or something and it was that time. We left our bags and proceed to our tent. Somehow, I had a qualifying time for the Local Competitive Corral. What is that? Well, there’s the elite runners, then the subelite, then my group, and then the rest of the runners. As we were supposed to be fast, we get to line up right at the head of the Green wave (elite are in the blue), but we get our own tent with food, with our own portapotties, and a lot of local friends! JACKPOT!
NO ONE IN THE PORTAPOTTIES. they were clean and empty. AMAZING.
Tessa and I bundled up and cozied up for the 20 minutes we waited (we really did time it perfectly!!!). I love this girl. Had some gatorade, went to the portapotties and in 10 minutes we’d be right at the green line. CRAZY.
Me, Xavi, Tree and Tessa.
We waited there for 30 minutes, 5 minutes before the gun we undressed. We had a tall wall on the right so we were protected from the wind (yey to being in the GREEN corral). We had piles and piles of clothes on the sides. It was nervewracking for me to be that far high up and close to the start, but I had great company…
See the Start up ahead? How STRANGE is it that we’re so close. They eventually moved us up to the Start sign…
My friend Helen was in the subelite corral, which was right on top. She took the picture below… What a bunch of weirdos we all are…
I was starting to get a bit nervous. I kept telling myself “I am a runner, I know how to do this with my eyes closed” but being around all these fast people was a little intimidating. I KNEW (I would have bet money right there) Tessa was going to go onto have a fantastic race. I saw it in her face. She was quiet but relaxed, like a ticking bomb ready to explode, about to unleash the beast she had been nurturing for a while. In a few seconds, we’d hear the national anthem, Mary Wittenberg, Bloomberg, the gun, Frank Sinatra’s New York, New York, the excited footsteps on the lower deck and I knew I would helplessly lose her. But I knew she wouldn’t let her (and mine) dream go. I shouted a few Go Tessa, You Got this as she run away from me. She’d go onto a 3:16, a 7 minute PR, insanely-precise run race, and I knew, as soon as the race started, within 10 steps, before she even left me, that I had nothing in me. Nothing. That I had no business being there. That I wasn’t prepared for what was ahead and I was going to be taught a lesson. I tried to relax and do my best to salvage the carnage but I couldn’t relax. Everyone was passing me at 5, 6, and 7 pace and it was crowded and we were going uphill and the bibs were being shaken by the wind and I could feel the footsteps above and thought about the many hours I still had until the finish and I was so scared of tripping and falling and my legs were so dead, and I was cold but I was hot and it was so crowded and fast… I couldn’t relax. I did my best to settle and find my rhythm… but I couldn’t. The race was stronger than me and I wasn’t prepared, I wasn’t trained mentally or physically to control it, or to control myself. I just did my best to not despair…
As the whole marathon week is over, I am putting everything here! Scroll down for the post-marathon elite photos.
Pre-Marathon, at the Media Events!
Armed with this puppy I headed to the Media Tent to meet up with the elite runners and see what their heads were going through, just because I can never figure out my own…
I am so sorry for this picture Kim. I am never this stooopid. she’s SO sweet. Somehow she always remembers me, congratulated me, and asked me to see my ring… We chatted for a bit about how strange it all felt after last year’s cancellation and how ready she was feeling.
Wesley Korir had us all with our mouths open… Read about him and you won’t believe the man. He works in the parliament and was discussing how he trained and worked as a politicians as well. He said not so nice things about his kenyan colleagues (mostly about how greedy and corrupt they are!) and how much he gets paid and all that. It was pretty amazing. Read more in always amazing Peter Gambaccini’s story: http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/wesley-korir-the-politician-as-elite-marathoner
Ah, I had been really rooting for Stephen, his last year has been amazing and to see someone from Uganda win the gold at the Olympics, in such a fantastic race… I was excited to hear him talk! He was telling us about his family, how he trained in Kenya, and the politics that brings into racing…
The Media Tent is right by the finish. This is what we had going on Thursday morning…
FRED!!! WE miss you at Engineers Gate! Hello!
Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter were around being interviewed informally. They were being inducted to the NYRR Hall of Fame this year! Congrats! Plus, Frank Shorter was turning 66 right that day… Amazingness in one room!
too many cool people to name: Scott Douglas, Peter Gambaccini and… ooops. Peter, you know Peter… he writes the first thing I read every morning, the RW news! http://www.runnersworld.com/person/peter-gambaccini Check his blogs out. it’s ALL you need to know as a runner. Scott… amazing stuff too!!!!!! He is the RW Editor and writes great pieces too, check them out (and ADD to your RSS NOW) http://www.runnersworld.com/person/scott-douglas
Post-Marathon, on Monday at the Winner’s Conference!
Now, as soon as the winners get their medals and crowns on, they become the busiest people on earth… The attended a NYRR Youth event that Sunday, go to the Empire State Building for a shoot, they ring the bell at the Stock Exchange, lots of stuff like that (ha, at least we mortals get to go home and put our feet up for 10 hours if we so please!!!!) and at some point they meet press. Here is all 4 of them!
On race morning and after that, the media events get moved to the Mandarin Oriental, right on Columbus Circle. quite convenient.
I am blurry because this is post marathon and I was tired.
From left to right: Mary Wittenberg, Geoffrey Mutai, Priscah Jeptoo, Marcel Hug and Tayana McFadden
Answering questions, mostly about tactics, the wind, what they’d done after the race, goals, the world majors, etc.
Notice the “little” Tiffany box for Tatyana for winning the Grand Slam!
Geoffrey Mutai and I, no big deal.
Priscah Jepto signing a LOT of things… among their many duties as winners… this.
and this.
Tatyana and Juan had an interesting convo about the sidewind and why the thick profile of the bike cause it’s carbon and something like that. Anyway, she eats candy like the rest of us (only AFTER the race…) so we also had things in common to discuss. PS: she had to leave as she had an exam to do. She’s a full time student WHILE she wins every single race she enters. Just because.
my race report next… oy
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You might have seen a lot of these pictures in previous posts but here is a lot. Just so you can feel like you were there…
The Expo on the first day… before the 50K runners and friends came to visit, so quier and nice…
Ryan Hall just happened to walk past me. What a coincidence!!!
I know you can’t tell but these stiff guys where running. CONSTANTLY.
PLEASE please please read the sign…
Pete Jacobs, as told by the sign and my delirious husband…
Ryan Hall going over the course…
All my pants are tear-away pants!!! Yours aren’t?
Pete Jacobs, Ironman Extraordinaire –and Juan, Husband/Ironman Extraordinaire
the line was INSANE
you HAVE to do these shots, or they don’t give you your bib… sure.
I shouldn’t have done that
With added security comes… crazy lines… but they went by fast I heard..?
You could end up putting on 10 pounds by the time you leave the expo if you’re not careful…
Or you could end up carrying 10 pounds in your bag from the free stuff (PLUS THE SHOPPING!!!)
free gloves (which I wore Sunday morning) plus my masterpiece.
Coolest pup ever loving the free greek yogurt. It was delish (the yogurt, I don’t eat dogs for now)
Matt Long signing his books!
Bart doing his thing 😉
Bart said “My girlfriend got married on me”. He was my boyfriend earlier this year. And I said he wasn’t fast enough… Apparently, he said that has always been his problem… YEAH RIGHT BART! PS: I love you! Both!
Gene, from Charity Miles, with an osom poster everyone signed! If you haven’t checked Charity Miles, do it now! http://www.charitymiles.org/
So… that’s most of it… fun right? The expo is worth a trip for everyone! Did you like it? Was it too busy? Overwhelming? you walked in and out? Would love to get there someday?
I got to see SO many friends (thanks to all who came to say hello at our Autism Speaks booth!!!!) that I had a great time! Now… onto the race report…. 😉
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Oh, sorry this took a bit. It’s been 3 weeks?!?! Time files! Anyway, I am assuming you’ll think there is a LOT of pictures here but you have no idea how much I (and our AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER RICHIE HILDEBRAND) struggled to select just a few. Seriously. He’s truly amazing. I have no idea how to get down to 100 or 200 pictures from 4 or 5 hours of pictures, which if you know me, was probably around 3 million pictures… Thanks Richie for the patience… you’re a SAINT.
Anyway, our ceremony would start around 4 pm in the Lake Pond in Central Park, where we’d meet our friends, so we took off around 2:30 for a picture-taking stroll through the park.
At Engineer’s Gate. Ready to roll through the park and take some pictures…!
We met Richie at Engineer’s Gate, and Pablo and Ana came with us. Pablo is Juan’s best friend, the guy who introduced us a long time ago, and our wedding officiant, who had flown in from Buenos Aires for the occasion. Ana, my only sister, also flew in from Buenos Aires, and as her dress was matchy, she was my maid of honor. 😉
Notice how the bouquet and everything matches in a purple kind of way?? Well, Juan got the tie first, because I insisted for weeks: I love purple and he hates it. But still, he made the first move (he’s SUCH a keeper!!!!). Then on Thursday when my sister arrived, I tried it all and she suggested my dress needed to belted. So, my dress thingy matched his purple thing, then I bought him the purple square, and then, that morning, Juan and Ana went to buy flowers and she made me the bouquet. Could we be any more low-key??
More Fred Lebow pictures with the whole gang. Click on the pics to make them bigger.
Don’t my sister and I look alike? huh? We then started walking north, and took some random pictures all over!
how do you pick just one?!??!? Richie!!!
We then went up to the Reservoir, on the north side of course… It was so windy… I sent the boys in for a try out first 😉
I think this is one of the most photogenic areas in the city… you tell me:
We just can’t stop doing stooopid faces…I don’t know what’s wrong with us.
It’s windy!! Then we did some by myself… not sure why, but they are nice!
Before you say anything, I hate those shoes. I hate wedges. HATE them! But… we’d be doing the ceremony and everything else in the grass and I figured a stiletto would get stuck, then dirty. I was wrong, I should have tried it, but oh well.
We then headed to the bridge north of the reservoir, right in front of the Tennis courts… how do I NOT know the name of it?!?!
I am SORRY, I can’t pick just one.. you have no idea how many I decided to put aside for the blog while I cried… but I am sure you haven’t seen wedding pics like these: GOOFBALL!
We can’t seem to be able to walk together without holding hands.
I love this one so much:
Maybe it’s because I tend to fall so much… and he’s good at catching me!
UP THE BRIDGE! (I love these ones too!!!!)
And some more random pictures…
OKAY, ready for this….? We are running…
OF COURSE WE ARE RUNNING!!!!
Then, after everybody was ready to sit down, give up, and/or cry, we headed towards our wedding spot, as per our park permit! The Pool Lawn. The pool lawn is gorgeous, there is a little waterfall, an amazing arch, and a pond with marvelous willows. (Plus a dirt track and the steepest downhill to sprint in the park!)
We then went down to the Arch and Waterfall. Soap-opera face:
I love these!!
By then, we had walked like 2 miles in two hours in the sun, taking pics. So, everyone was tired, hot, hungry, it was 4 pm, so we walked the extra 300 meters to our spot! There was already a lot of people and we had to get the party started!!
Christine, Sarah, and Juan
Pablo, Sole, Katie, Juan, Martina, and.. Daniela!
Sole, Katie, Daniela, and Martina
Caroline, Jeff, and us
well, Pablo is a magician… and we couldn’t stop him! 😉
the family! my aunt in the middle and my cousins, Karina and Carlos!
wait, wrong sister!!!
Time to start the ceremony… we only had a permit for 2 hours! (plus cleaning time of course!).
Pablo was officiating, and he had 4 pages of stories to share… Juan and I had written our own vows, five each, which we read, and it all went very fast. We have it all on video (ask me for the youtube link if you want to see it!!!) and it’s just 10 minutes, but it was fun, funny, and it really meant a lot to us to get to say that out loud, in front of a lot of people, and in the park. We had done our own vows before our City Hall/Sept 3rd wedding too, but it makes the commitment to each other so much more official…
if you know me at all, you know I do this a lot
Done! All SO FAST! Oh well.
I am not sure how this happened… I think this was Richie’s idea… That’s Adam and Michelle who are getting married in a few months too!
Kevin and Jill (plus Ned in blue)
Steph (who also got married the same week as we!), me, Ana, and Lo!
(Sky) Erik, Patricia, and baby! (Tom)
Wedding Cake by Steph!
Christine, Daniela, and Sole
Of course I am eating, and Helen
Sky, Martina, most amazingly creative gift ever, and me. PS: Sky came straight to the park right from her 6 hour race, which she WON. Jeez! Amazing
Patchoux, my friend and training partner, and me! Plus baby Lillie!
Martina being Martina
matchy-matchy? Well, YES
It’s never official until there is a jump shoot!
Or this.
Well, that was it. Soon it started to get dark, and we got cold and REALLY hungry. So we headed to a restaurant for food, and to relax. It was so much much fun. It all went so fast (proposal to this was 1 month exactly) but I am not sure I would have wanted to do anything differently or take more time. We have now the rest of our lives to do stuff (I don’t think I ever would have spent a month or a year planning a party…! EVER), figure stuff out, enjoy each other, get in trouble, and RUN!
Well, so, if you wanted more pictures, yes, there’s more, all in random order, from our guests!!
to all of you who came: thank you guys!!! you made our day so special… we hope you had fun!!
runningandthecity 
