This past Sunday was the NYC Marathon. After last year’s race, I had no desire to
run this race again. Since the wife and
I lived on the course for the past few years, we decided last year would be my
last marathon for a while, and it was a great way to go out. But when you’re drinking one night in
February and an email comes in saying it’s the last week to register for the
lottery, all decisions and inhibitions go out the window. And realistically, I haven’t gotten into the
lottery ever, so I didn’t think there was a good chance for me to get
accepted. So of course I
registered. And what happens is of
course I get an email saying congratulations, you’ve been accepted in the 2015
NYC Marathon. Great, just freaking
great.
So let’s fast forward a few months since the spring and
summer is my triathlon season and cut to end of summer and fall where I was
training for NYC. After moving out of
NYC earlier this year, I still haven’t been able to find my “long” training
runs so I have not been able to put in a good solid block of training in a
while. Setting up for excuses
already? Nope. Just trying to lay a foundation here. Other than that obstacle, my training was
pretty good. My weekly runs were crisp,
fast, smooth and nothing to complain about.
My long run days weren’t the best runs, but at least they were on the
pace I wanted to achieve. However, as
training went on, I was only able to get in 1 training run of each 18 miles, 19
miles, and 22 miles. I usually do at
least 3 runs of 20 plus miles heading into a marathon. This year, it just didn’t work out like that.
As November 1st approached, it was race day. Though the night before was Halloween and I
had fatherly duties to attend to like teaching Riley how to trick or treat
properly in the burbs. My little fighter
pilot did well and his candy take was impressive for a short amount of time
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| My little fighter pilot walking his Plane, Thunder |
I’ll save the normal pre-race stuff since it’s the same for
everyone across the board. Take the bus
to Staten Island, wait 3-4 hours, strip down, pee on the side of the road, gun
go off, Sinatra’s “New York, New York” plays, blah blah blah. Every race report about NYC will have the
same stuff. Nothing special there.
Going into the race, I really wanted to break 3 hours for
the day. That equaled a pace of
6:51/mile. All of my training was faster
than this so I figured I was in decent shape.
Having doing the race last year, I knew what to expect and knew how to
navigate the difficult parts of the course.
For the most part, the race was really really
uneventful. I didn’t realize it last
week, but running through Brooklyn was soooooooo boring. It is basically one long 8 mile stretch on
the same road. Nothing to keep you
engaged with change of scenery, scrowds, hills, etc. Just flat and straight. It was right around mile 8 where I said to
myself, things are looking really good but how bored am I?
At the half way mark, I was under goal pace and felt great
which was very promising. As we entered
Queen, the temperature for the day kicked up to 60 degrees and became pretty
hot. Not ideal race conditions. Having cramped up last year and a few times
this season, I took in liquids every stop (every mile) and had my Base Performance
Salt to keep me in check. At the start
of the Queensborough Bridge, it felt like I had too much in my stomach. Last
year I attacked the QB and felt great doing it.
This year, the bridge just felt like it never ended. I can’t believe how long this thing was. Did the bridge grow?
Coming off on 1st Ave is usually a great time. Last year was quiet, this year was loud. I went over to the crowds since I felt I
needed a boost of energy but I just couldn’t capitalize on it. My energy levels were shot. At mile 18 I just didn’t want to do it any
more. The wife’s brother and his girlfriend
were the only spectators who were going to be on course for me that day. The wife had to work and no one else was
around. They were right at the mile 19
mark and I fought my hardest to make it to them. I did and about 2 blocks after seeing them,
my body just said, thanks for the year, and “let’s go enjoy the offseason”
I just didn’t have anything left in the tank or in my
legs. I slowed my pace a little to catch
my breath and mentally get back in the game, but it didn’t matter. At mile 20 I was still under goal pace, but
not having enough long training runs in me, I just couldn’t push any more. I didn’t hit the wall for the race, I hit the
wall for the year.
So for the final 5 miles I started playing the math
game. Since I knew I wasn’t going to hit
the 3 hour mark, I said, ok let’s just get a BQ. This allowed me to walk a little and have
about a 5 minute allowance of walking for the final 5 miles. That’s doable. Yet, as the distance crept up, so did my
walking. I have never walked this much
in all of my races combined. I was running for 3 minutes, walking for 1
pretty much every mile for the final 4-5 miles.
I wish I could write something on how I enjoyed the race,
overcame adversity, or anything like that.
But I didn’t. I was in such a fog
that I just wanted it to be over. It was
the offseason or bust for me.
So I crossed the finish line in a time of 3:19, which was
worse than my time last year, but I’m ok with that. I didn’t hit my goal, I didn’t do anything I
wanted to, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen. I didn’t put the miles in and that’s my
fault. Normally, I would be upset, but
I’m ok today. I’ve learned a lot this
year about my body, my mental approach to training, and what I enjoy in a
race. It just so happened that my
enjoyment ended at mile 19 of a race that had 7 more miles to go.
Either way, the NYC Marathon is in the books and I say this gracefully and with respect, I won’t be back. At least not for a few years. My marathon days are over for the time being
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| The part of the race I felt good. Looked good in my Fusion gear and Skora Tempo's |
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