Thanks for your patients while I recovered last week!
Now for the good stuff: the 2010 ING NYC Marathon review!
Somehow I managed to keep the marathon of my mind in the days leading up to it, although by then my nerves were already shot. Saturday night me, my sister Katie, my mom, Chris, and Emily all went out for a nice pasta dinner in Hoboken, and then it was off to the Hilton Millennium in NYC for Katie and I. We were tucked in by 8:00PM, but I found Avatar on the tv...an hour into it I forced myself to shut it off - it wasn't the night to get sucked into a three hour movie that was going to get my mind going. I think I feel asleep around 10:30.
By 5:00AM I was up (daylight savings...extra hour!), and Katie was already gone for her transportation assignment. i watched some Law and Order while I got ready and about 6:15 AM met team mate Scott in the lobby. After a short cab ride to the Staten island Ferry Station, we started counting down to 7:15. The terminal was PACKED! It was awesome to see a variety of runners - just a great range of ages, ethnicity, sizes. It really drove home that marathons might be some of the most diversified, tolerant options in life. People who can run it in less than 3 hours are mixed in with people who run it in 7; people who are racing in a wheelchair are sharing the course with hand-cyclists. There is no discriminating on the course, and everyone is supportive of each athlete.
There was a little blip when the 7:15 ferry never showed...after some claustrophobic time, we managed to squeeze onto a ferry at about 7:50, and then once on SI, took a bus to the green corral. Katie and I had planned on meeting up because she was also in green, but alas we didn't get to the staging area until after her start wave had lined up. We were actually able to see runners in the first wave start because the corral was right next to the bridge. And yes, it's no joke that many guys just stop yards onto the bridge to take a leek. It was pretty funny (although, as a runner who was starting on the lower level, a bit unnerving).
After getting some coffee and enjoying a bagel, banana, three trips to the bathroom (points for me for snatching a roll of toilet paper from the hotel bathroom on my way out), and getting my ipod, sunglasses, tissues, sleeves, gloves, and hat set it was off to the starting corral. The gun went off and POOF! Nothing happened. Which I expected - it took about ten minutes to shuffle to the start line.
So the course begins on the lower level of the Verrazano-Narrows bridge. It's a double-decker suspension bridge that is the longest suspension bridge in the US. It connects Staten Island to Brooklyn, and is almost a mile long. It has been the starting point of this marathon since 1976. And here's a noteworthy tidbit: due to the thermal expansion and contraction of the steel cables, the bridge roadway is 12 feet lower in the summer than in the winter.
It was pretty chilly and windy on the lower level, particularly with the lack of sun. It has a pretty steep incline as well, but the incline, wind, and cold didn't matter: it was such an unbelievable feeling - so many months of preparing and training, and the moment was finally there. Right before my wave started a plane flew over, pulling a banner that said "Breath deeply and enjoy the moment". It was just the first of many encouraging signs, words, and sights along the 26.2 mile track.
I had a pretty good starting pace. With 12 minutes/mile as my goal, I was 6 minutes ahead of the overall 5:15 goal by the 10 mile mark. I felt great, my knees were holding up, and I was envisioning knocking another 9 minutes off to come in at 5 hours. I had been alternating between water and Gatorade at each water station to keep hydrated, but that caught up with me by mile 12. I decided to hit the port-o-potty at mile 12 and it may have been the worst decision for many reasons. First, I had to wait 7 minutes. that killed my advantage, and before I even went it I was now looking at being over 5:15 overall. Second, I didn't really have to go...big waste of 7 minutes for 20 seconds. Third, and this was my biggest worry with stopping at all - when I started back, my right knee didn't want to play along. That 12th mile ended up being a 19 minute mile and I was limping for he next three miles, which crushed any hopes of 5:15.
Thankfully, I spent some time mentally preparing for something like this. 5:15 was my goal, but I decided ahead of time should something happen to be ready to adjust he goal and set a second realistic goal, 5:30. While I reconciled myself this, in my head I was complaining a lot about the knee, even praying that the pain would subside. remarkable, a moment later a horrific sharp pain ripped through the side of the same knee, and I suddenly found myself realizing he earlier pain wasn't so bad and I could tolerate it - so I asked for the sever pain to be taken away, and promised to tolerate and work through the milder pain, which is exactly what happened. I'd like to think it was my reminder - that reminder I've given myself during many training runs, that no matter what's happening with my body, to remember how lucky I am, and remain grateful for the ability to run. Of course, it also helped knowing that I'd be finally seeing my family at mile 18.
Emily waiting patiently for me to get to mile 18, enjoying the sign she was holding up.
Ringing her bell for all the runners!
It's actually a very long time to go before seeing people you know...over three hours of running, bu what's so great about this marathon is the streets are packed the whole way - bands, people with signs ("run like you stole something" "you're feet hurt because you're kicking ass"), kids giving high-5's, people handing out tissues, candy, oranges, bananas, Vaseline. people ringing bells, screaming, encouraging you by name or by things your shirt says. It was so amazing to have people lift you up and help push you the WHOLE way.
At mile 18 I was coming up first avenue, and knew I'd see Emily, Chris, and my mom around 90th. I started looking for them after 88th, and was able to spot them right away.
No greater motivation than a big hug from your best gal...
On the move...
Besides hydrating at each mile marker, I ate a gel (Gu, chocolate outrage and mint chocolate) at mile 6, 12, 18, and 21, and ate part of a G2 bar after mile 18. Energy and hydration, thankfully, were not issues for me.
I saw my fan club again about half way into mile 23, before entering central park...just a quick pass by, and then I was on my way to the home stretch. Here I am leaving people in my dust (okay...not really but I wasn't last and I never saw the sweeper bus...)
Before the marathon Chris told me he entered my bib number into a friends-and-family program where if your bib number is visible and scanned during the course, they'll pop up a personal message for the runner. Right around mile 24 there was a huge screen and sure enough - there was a great personal message for me. I was screaming "that's me, that's for me" like a fool!!
The best sign came at the start of mile 24: "Pain is temporary, but pride is permanent". What a great thing to read at that point, having run for over 5 hours, knowing that this was the final push. My watch indicated I'd need to run the last 1.2 miles in about 8 minutes to come in by (just under) 5:30, and that saying helped me dig deep at the start of mile 25 and essentially sprint. I came in just under 5:30 according to my watch, and thankfully it was pretty cinched to the timing chip, with my official time at 5:30:48.
It's pretty awesome that Tatyana McFadden, an elite wheelchair athlete who has Spina Bifida, took first in her division in the marathon. Limitless.
After a celebration Sunday evening, and lots of awake time Sunday night reliving everything (did I just do that? Unbelievable!), and more celebrating Monday, we headed back home. The pain and ache in my legs subsided on Thursday, although i was pretty exhausted all week. It was also really weird to essentially not run or work out all week. I did go to spin Thursday after the marathon, but it was a low-effort workout. Then Saturday I hit the pavement for the first time, for an easy 3, which ended up being pretty awkward and weird - my right knee, which gave me troubles the last month of training and during the Marathon, was fine. My left knee, which only gave me small problems (eased by running with a compression band the first two months of training) was killing me! We'll see how things go this week. Only 12 miles total, 3 Tuesday, 4 Wednesday, and 5 Saturday. Then next week, a regular "base week" of 26 miles, which includes the Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning. I'm hoping I can reconcile the knee issues, because I'd like to run the Cleveland marathon in May, and complete it in 4:59:59 or less.
This is the plaque that the Director of development from SBA presented to each of us after the marathon. I also received a lovely Thank You letter, with a personal note by SBA's president written on it.
The front of the Medal, featuring the bridge, the year, and of course the marathon information.
That's one relieved spouse pictured here, at dinner Monday. Word on the street is, he was more nervous Saturday and Sunday than I was!!
Great job, team...and thank you to everyone for your help and support. And of course, the biggest thanks of all to someone so special, Emily. Without you, none of this would have been possible.
You are already changing the world.
