Haven't been around here in awhile....but I have a race report to share

Executive summary: On November 1^st, 2015, I ran my first full marathon, the New York City Marathon! This is a goal I worked hard for, doing the NYRR 9+1 plan the year before in order to gain guaranteed entry, which required running 9 NYRR races and doing a volunteer shift at an additional race. I trained hard, but got injured towards the end of training and threw all goals out the window and just wanted to finish. And finish I did, in 5:55:33

Training

I ended up doing the Hal Higdon Intermediate plan. Even though it was my first, I had been regularly running half marathons for 2 years and was running 25ish miles per week with 10-13 mile long runs each weekend and the Novice plans didn’t get up to that point for many weeks. I also worked with our own Dtothe2nd to customize my plan a bit, and had to make some minor modifications to account for life stuff like a friend’s wedding. I was roughly training for an A goal of 5:00, with a more realistic B goal of 5:15, C goal of 5:30 (most of my long runs were in the general vicinity of a 12:30 mm average). The plan was going great from late June until late September. I didn’t miss a single run that I didn't make up within the week, maybe cut a couple runs here and there a mile or 2 short, got in my long runs and they felt great. I did 13, 14, 15, 16, 16 again (was supposed to be 17 but had to cut it short because I was going to be late to my friend’s bridal shower since I was running a bit slower than usual due to extreme heat and humidity), 19 and 20. My weekly mileage peaked at 50. I was going to have a cutback week, then another 50 mile week with another 20 miler and then start the taper. But instead, during the cutback week following my first 20 miler, disaster struck. I developed a horrible case of Posterior Tibial Tendonitis in my left ankle.

Injury

I ended up having to shut down training completely 5 weeks out from the marathon to have any hope of the tendonitis healing on time. Meanwhile, I tried anything and everything to accelerate healing. I basically threw everything that was recommended to me at the wall in hopes something would stick. I did physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, medical massage, had several emotional breakdowns, etc. I considered DNSing the race but finally decided I just had to try. I live at mile 3.5 of the course. I decided I would start the race, and if it hurt that bad in the first 3 miles, I would simply go home. If I made it past that point, I would just listen to my body, do my best, and drop out if I had to. I let go of all time goals. I decided that I would do run/walk intervals and take it very easy. New goal became finish, and finish in one piece. Though, secretly, I wouldn’t admit to anyone that I really hoped to finish in under 6:00 hours, but really didn’t care if that didn’t happen too much as long as I finished.

Before the Race

The morning got off to a stressful start. Well, because of a wardrobe malfunction, and then a clusterf*ck at the Staten Island Ferry…. I almost didn’t even make it to the starting line. The night before I watched the Mets World Series game in bed so I could fall asleep right when it was over, they lost a heartbreaker and I went to bed upset.

Woke up on time with my first alarm at 5:45am. Step 1 was put the heating pad on my ankle for 30 minutes. Got up to make coffee and realized I was out of K-cups. Fail. Walked to the corner store to get coffee, noticed it was even more mild than I thought it would be out, probably mid to high 50s, and made the decision while I was out to save a lot of my throwaways I had bought for another time. Had my coffee and half a bagel with peanut butter, and packed the other half bagel, a banana, a Cliff Organic Banana Beet Ginger packet and a Honey Stinger Chocolate Waffle for the long journey to and wait in Staten Island, foam rolled, and got dressed.

Flat Me:

It was just before 7:00 when I began getting ready. Plan was leave my apartment by 7:15, walk the 7 minutes to the subway, take the R train 20 minutes to South Ferry and meet up with Jill (sapf) and some other friends from our Runners United NYC running club at 8:00 to take the 8:15 ferry. But when I put my shirt on, my lady parts obviously stretched my iron on letters of my name and “first marathon” written underneath it too much, because they all started peeling off. I decided to run into Rite Aid on the way to the subway and buy clear packing tape to put over it, because I would be darned if people wouldn’t be able to call out my name. This detour ended up being costly, because I arrived at the subway station just as an R train was about to pull away. Ran down the stairs, almost fell down the stairs, and got to the bottom just on time for the train to pull away. Darn. But another should come in 8 minutes. That may mean I would be a little late for the RU meetup, but should still make the 8:15 ferry. Well another subway didn’t come for 20 minutes. I started crying on the subway, because I couldn’t remember when the last ferry was to get me to my start on time and I was truly afraid that I would not even make it to the race. Got to South Ferry at 8:13, only to find out there was no way I’d make my 8:15 ferry. Not because I’d missed it, but because a clusterf*ck caused a huge backup in getting runners onto the ferry. I had to wait for TWO ferries and didn’t get on til 9:00. They were telling us the buses may not wait for us. Cried again. But there were SO many runners on I felt like the buses had to wait….right?! Tried to relax, took a few pictures on the ferry, ran into a running friend. The buses from the ferry to the start were also crazy. Long lines and lots of traffic. Panicked again because it seemed I wouldn’t get to the corrals by the time they closed. When I got there at 10:45 for my wave's start time of 11:00 (talk about cutting it close, geez), people were still lined up to get into the corrals. I ran into a few friends, took off my throways, and got in line as we immediately proceeded to the start line. No time to wait around and relax but I made it! Ran into another friend in the corral. Suddenly they were singing the National Anthem for my wave, and away we went! I was running the NYC Marathon!

Pre Race pics:

Miles 1-4

Took it very easy going up the bridge. Took some pics. Stuck to my plan of run/walk from the get go. I was doing intervals of 2:00 minutes running and then 1:00 minute walking. Came off the bridge and was in my neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn! Saw some of my coworkers/friends in Mile 3. Loved every second of running through my neighborhood. The crowds were AWESOME! And there was really nothing like running past all the stores and places I go to in my everyday life while running the NYC marathon. Wasn’t paying attention to my pace, but worried I was going a little too fast when I saw each split. Took a Gu at mile 4.

1: 13:26 (uphill up the Verrazano Bridge)

2: 12:03 (downhill on the bridge)

3: 12:20

4: 12:08

Bridge Pics:

Greeting some friends upon entering Brooklyn:

Miles 5-8

Ran into a friend Melanie (not our Zelanie) from a running group on the course around mile 5 or 6. I was super happy to see her because she had been so helpful to me while I was injured because she had dealt with the same injury. We were running the same pace around (she said she was tracking me and started less than a minute after me) and were doing run/walk intervals. I confessed to her my secret goal of sub-6:00. She told me she had the same goal. We stuck together for a few miles. Saw my parents and friend Marilyn in mile 7, that was a really huge boost! My friend Melanie needed to pee in Mile 8, and there was a line at the portapotties. I didn’t have to just yet so we split up. Took a Gu at mile 8.

5: 12:43

6: 12:20

7: 12:23

8: 12:51

Greeting my parents:

My dad's sign for me, a running "K"

Miles 9-12

Mile 9 I ended up needing the portapotty myself and when I saw a set without a huge line I took advantage even though it wasn’t an emergency yet, I was afraid when it was an emergency there would be a line. The crowds in Brooklyn continued to be awesome. I was wearing my Mets visor, and the Mets were still in the World Series at that point, and so SO many spectators had on Mets stuff and yelled “let’s go Mets!” at me and I yelled it back. Others yelled my name and I was thankful I had put the packing tape on my shirt to keep the letters on. Lots of bands on the course, too much fun. Mile 10 or 11 I ran into Melanie again, and this time we never split up. We ran the rest of the marathon together, and I was so very thankful for it. Saw a friend at some point in here and ate some pretzals she gave me. Took a Gu at mile 12.

9: 13:53 (portapotty)

10: 12:55

11: 13:30

12: 13:08

Miles 13-16

The Pulaski Bridge was mile 13 and we crossed from Brooklyn into Queens. We spent a little bit in Queens, then The Queensboro Bridge encompassed miles 15-16, about .75 mile uphill and then .75 down. I was feeling a little niggle in my ankle, and Melanie’s calves were bothering her, so we decided to take the uphill part of the Queensboro super easy. We “reversed intervelled” doing 2:00 minutes of walking and 1:00 minute of running. We went back to the regular intervals on the downhill. And then, we were in Manhattan, running up First Avenue with great crowds! Took a Gu at mile 16.

13: 11:15 (I call BS and probably Garmin tomfoolery)

14: 13:09

15: 12:56

16: 15:40 (up Queensboro Bridge and reverse intervals)

Miles 17-20

First Avenue was fun, great crowd support. Mile 18 saw my parents and Marilyn again, this was a huge boost!! I grabbed an extra Gu from them and a honey stinger waffle that I had them carry because I was so hungry that I was worried I’d need it. Continued on up 1^st Ave towards the Bronx, still feeling great.

17: 12:59

18: 12:54

19: 13:20

20: 14:11

My dad waiting for me at Mile 18:

Greeting my dad:

Mile 21

My Garmin hit mile 20 just before the Willis Bridge into the Bronx, although the mile marker was after the bridge. At this point the Garmin was about .5 miles or so ahead of course markings. On the bridge, Melanie said she really needed to stop and stretch her calves. I was starting to feel soreness in my lower back, hamstrings, and hips so stretching sounded amazing. So we stretched, continued into the Bronx, and right over the bridge was a cheering section for my running group, who gave me more pretzals, some bite sized Halloween candy, and hugs. Also decided to hit the portapotties just after this. This is why this mile was 238648392 years long. Gu-ed at some point too.

21: 16:59 (stretch, portapotty)

Miles 22-26

The Bronx wasn’t so bad, was starting to get tired and sore, and look more forward to walk breaks. I was happy to cross back into Manhattan, because that meant we were approaching the home stretch. Just before the Mile 23 marker, my parents and Marilyn were there again, and warned me of a big hill to come. That hill took my soul. Running down 5^th Avenue, I felt done. I don’t know if it was the hill or “the wall” or a bonk, but I really dug deep and needed a lot of mental toughness here. Mile 24 we were into Central Park. I was so happy to see the park I started crying a little. I felt like I was hit by a bus. Everything hurt. I began dreading the run intervals. I began begging to cut them short. The intervals became more like 1:45 run/1:15 walk. I saw Jess (lilacjive) in this mile and was so happy! I really was ready to be done. Mile 25 Melanie and I had to switch to 1:00 run/1:00 walk intervals. I really wanted to die. Looking at my splits, I am shocked they were actually consentient with the rest of the race because I felt like I was crawling along at a snails pace.

22: 12:56

23: 13:32

24: 14:18

25: 13:02

Melanie took this at Mile 22.....I look better than I felt haha

.2

But…..finally…..we could see the finish line……

And I totally ugly cried. I had done it…..I had completed my first marathon! With an injury and on 5 weeks no running, the odds may have been stacked against me, but I did it. And….in under 6:00 hours! 5:55:33!!!

Was it my best potential had I been able to finish training, and if I wasn’t purposely taking it super easy and doing intervals? Probably not. Was it the best possible race I could have run that day? Absolutely. Am I proud? Absolutely. Will I run another? Absolutely

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Finished my first full marathon, the NYC Marathon, in 5:55:33.

Great race report.  I'm so glad you found a way to get it done, despite the injury and long break.  How do you feel now that you've had a couple of days to recover?  How is the ankle?

Brilliant- the race was worth the snafus to get to the start. I just wish I'd have left my apartment much earlier. But no one from previous years knew to advise leaving extra time because apparently it hadn't been like that before.

Ginny- My ankle somehow is feeling pretty good....it's the rest of me that isn't! Recovery has been very difficult. I'm still sore. But....I guess when you run 26.2 for the first time after not running for 5 weeks that is to be expected.

Sapf- thanks!! It was fun going on this journey with you we will do a happy hour or something soon!

Kristin,  I think the way you adjusted your goals was perfect. I think you and I both know that it takes a great deal more training to accomplish this distance. I would live some day to come up and run NYC for the experience.  Congratulations on your first marathon!

Congrats, fellow marathoner! You hung tough, you got it done, with a smile on your face all along (on the pics, at least), and you beat your objective for the day. Very nice report, too!

After your injury, and seeing all those 0's posted in the Miles Game dailies, i thought for sure you would DNS. And if you started, you would likely DNF. And if you finished, there would be a huge slowdown in the final miles, and risk missing the cutoff. So the fact that none of those things happened is truly a testament to your years of experience running HM's, setting out with a realistic goal, and your toughness.

Congratulations on your first marathon!

I have to say after reading yours & Jill's reports (and others in the past), I'm not sure I'd ever want to run NYCM - logistics just seem like a nightmare. But if you could just drop me in at the starting line, sounds like an exceedingly cool race to run.

Great job training, toing start line and finishing your first full marathon!! And great RR

Congrats!  You did what you had to do, and in the way you had do do it to meet your goal.  I'd say you are pretty tough.