2016 New York City Marathon Thread (Read 290 times)

 

I stayed in Times Square last year -- Hilton DoubleTree Suites at the corner of 47th and 7th Ave.  Very nice hotel.  Not sure if you need a suite, but I had my wife and 2 kids, so I enjoyed the 2 room layout, plus the microwave and refrigerator.  Great location with a subway stop about 1 block away.  I selected bus transportation to the start line, so I loved being able to walk just 5 blocks in the morning to catch the bus at the NYC Public Library.

 

Cost for me:  $0.  I stayed 5 nights and used my Hilton Honors points.  Not too bad.

 

About watching the race live:  you might catch some of it.  Last year, I saw the men's finish on the big video screen around mile 17 as I started running up 1st Avenue.   My first thought was "how cool is that -- I just saw the finish live" ... and then my second thought was "Sheesh, they just finished and I'm only at mile 17."

I hope they do the jumbo-trons again this year.  From what I recall, there was also one at mile 8.  And, maybe another at mile 20.5ish in the Bronx?

Thanks for the hotel tip.  A suite is more space than I need but that's good to know.

Julia, I've seen several "heat & humidity factors" published. A quick search found several of them at this single webpage:

http://www.over40runner.com/info/RunningInTheHeat.html

Hope that helps.

 

Yes! You really can't use a summer race time to predict fall performance, in my experience. I always get faster in the fall, partly because I'm training over the summer for fall events, but mostly (I think) because it's cooler and less humid in the fall. Like Blue Rocket, I consulted an article discussing how much your pace is affected by heat and it estimated that between 70-75 degrees, your pace drops 7%; don't know if that takes into account humidity which can be a huge factor.

 

Also, if you are using races as tune-ups, you are probably "training through," and not tapering. For a half marathon, there is a difference between what you can do if you actually taper for 1-2 weeks versus cutting back for one week.

 

One thing that could be useful for you is to examine how the heat affected you and what you could do if it was 70 degrees or warmer on marathon day. Do you think you hydrated enough? Were you taking base salts or doing anything different to accommodate the heat? I know you are a real veteran and you know what to do in the heat, so there may be no lessons to be learned, but thought I'd mention it. I ran a 5-mile race as part of a triathlon this summer when it was 93 degrees, absolutely no shade, with a heat index of 106. Needless to say, I was very slow, and although I doubt that I'll ever run a race in those conditions again, I did learn some things about coping with the heat.

NYCM won't be my first rodeo , so I can definitely draw on previous experiences to run by what feels like marathon effort to finish.

I have another race in a few weeks so maybe that'll be a better indicator.  Thanks to my log here, I saw that the year I set my PR at NYCM, I ran almost the same pace as I did at this same HM.    Still, it's hard to imagine running the same pace twice as far in only 7-8 weeks based just on cooler weather.

Thanks for all the positive encouragement, everyone, after what I thought was a disappointing race.  I decided to leave my coach and will do some type of  Pfitzy training for the next 7 weeks.  If you're curious, I blogged about it just now.

I'm coming into town on Friday, so I was thinking of catching a show.  My short list is composed of Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and Don Giovanni.  Any recommendations?

Happy running!  I can't wait to hit the streets of New York!!!

Good luck, Julia! Bold move to leave your coach, but makes sense to me. You've used Pfitzinger in the past and it's worked for you, so you should be good with following a plan that has given you success. Since you've followed this plan before, you can slip back in over a couple of weeks.

 

I tried to follow a modified version of the Pfitzinger 55 plan while training for the Ironman 70.3 Atlantic City this past weekend. Had a really tough but rewarding 70.3 race, but had to give up on Pfitzinger for the 2 weeks prior. I'm still hoping I can get back into training for NYC next week and hope it won't be too late! Longest distance I've done so far is 18 miles and that was a month ago.

 

Definitely have fun in NYC! Great short list of shows -- all are must-sees. Both Phantom and Wicked have been playing for a long time, so you should be able to get tickets at a decent price. Get the Today Tix app for ticket deals. I've heard good things about School of Rock and loved Matilda, so I can recommend those as well.

 

Still in the after-glow of my 70.3 tri, but hoping to get psyched for NYC soon!

I don't know if people are trying to make me feel better, but I keep hearing 6/7 weeks is still time to get some quality training.  So, maybe there's hope for both of us. 

A co-worker recommended Wicked over Phantom, so I might book that.

Confirmation forms (i.e., bib number, wave and corral information) is available on the MyNYRR page.

I saw my wave and said out loud...  Green?!?!  I've always been blue.  I'm lucky to still be in Wave 1, so I really shouldn't complain.  Plus, I guess it'll be a new experience.

Edited to add, I ran the Army Ten Miler on Sunday and just posted a race report.  And, Hooah!

 

 I saw my wave and said out loud...  Green?!?!  I've always been blue.  I'm lucky to still be in Wave 1, so I really shouldn't complain.  Plus, I guess it'll be a new experience.

 

FYI:  You can move to any COLOR start you want.

Julia, I know that you are a NYCM veteran, so I'm sure pretty sure you're aware of the corral rules -- but others might not, so I'll post a little tip:  you can move to any *color* corral, just as long as your bib number is lower than the number range for that corral.

Official rules from NYRR:

"Runners who are assigned to different corrals but wish to start together may do so by going to the corral and wave corresponding to the higher number. You are allowed to move back to a later corral, but not forward."

http://help.tcsnycmarathon.org/customer/en/portal/articles/2120207-wave-and-corral-assignments

Interesting how this info says 'higher number' -- which leads me to believe NYRR needs to update its web site.  I'm sure this info refers to the old corral numbering system (last used in 2012?) -- where every corral had a number, regardless of Wave or Color.  I found a post from 2012 showing the old numbering system (corrals numbered 1 thru 72).  Check out post #6 in this thread: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=460326

Example:

I was bib #9290 last year.  I moved 'back' from Blue, Wave 1, Corral E (9,000 to 9999) to Orange Wave 1, Corral C (11000 to 11,999). I made this move for 3 reasons:

1.  Orange start  is less crowded for the first 8 miles on 4th ave in Brooklyn.  Blue/Green merge after 3 miles and run on right side, while Orange-only runners are on left side.

2.  My planned marathon pace on race day was slower than my overly-ambitious estimated pace. So moving to the higher range was the right move, but.... I was starting 2 corrals closer to the front!  Strange logic by the NYRR, but it worked for me.  And it was legit.

3.  I still could run on the top of the bridge.  Nothing against Green, but I wanted to run my first NYCM on the top level.

NOTE:  You might encounter a corral marshal who doesn't know the rules -- and might stop you from entering the corral. And that happened to me and 3 others (in different corrals).  After some discussion and explanation, I was allowed to enter.  In retrospect, I should have talked to someone at the Expo about my desire to switch corrals (from Blue to Orange), and I would have requested some document or form or bib sticker to show the corral marshal -- just to make life less stressful on race day.