An Ironman Cooks!: Non-Cooking: New York Marathon Race Recap!

The short story: I did it!!! Despite the crowds, the wind, and the hills (hello bridges!), I managed to set a 17 1/2 minute personal best, running a time of 4:11:29. I feel so proud/happy/excited about my time and can't wait to see what else I can do.

The long story starts a few days prior...

Thursday

October 31st was a BIG day for my family. My brother and sister-in-law welcomed their baby (my first nephew!) on Halloween, a full three weeks early! Apparently, he did not listen to me saying to wait until at least November 10th (after I got back from Puerto Rico). He has my family motto: if you are not early, you're late!

My parents had planned to go to New York with me the next day. I was a bit worried I would have to buy a last minute train ticket, but instead I got this e-mail from my lovely father: "If she hasn’t called yet, you will be hearing from your mother. We weren’t model parents…so I doubt we will be model grandparents…on to New York." It made me laugh and breathe a sigh of relief. (And really, they are fantastic parents.)

Phew! After leaving work early to go see my baby nephew, coming home to hand out candy, running to the store to make last minute enchiladas for the bro, and packing, I went to bed late, exhausted but excited for the trip.

Friday

We got to New York around 1:30. After checking into the hotel, we headed out for food and the expo. I checked New York pizza off my list and got to the expo around 3. The expo was pretty massive/exciting. All of the big brands had full NYM apparel lines. Apparently, I am really bad at holding onto my ID and luckily heard my name getting announced every possible way over the loudspeaker ("A" for effort!) and picked it up at lost and found. When I heard it, I was just thinking "Please don't let my parents hear!" because they think I always lose my wallet as it is.

The highlight of the expo was meeting my running idol Bart Yasso!!!! At the Philadelphia half marathon a few years ago, I had the choice to get a high five from him or from the mayor, and I went straight for him. Of course, I totally geeked out meeting him in person "Can I get a picture... you're my hero of running." I really need to work on the whole talking to people I admire without getting too starstruck thing. After the expo, I met up with my friend Joanie from my Glacier trip for an awesome dinner in Tribeca (mmmm, homemade gnocchi).

Pizza!

Entrance to the expo

BIG deal

Bart Yasso!!!

Saturday

My parents and I checked out the finish line to the marathon, picked a meeting place, and then went to Hell's Kitchen for a "hole in the wall" food tour. We were the only people on the tour and got taken around by a true local who showed us all her favorite haunts. We also got samples from 6 of them. It was DELICIOUS and pretty much defied the whole "don't eat anything new the day before the race" but you are talking to a girl who has done a half ironman with new shoes (forgot to pack mine) and a full ironman with a new saddle/bike shoes. It was definitely worth it. It also made me imagine what it would be like to actually live in New York, which I thought I could do until I imagined my nonexistent kitchen in my studio apartment. After the tour, we headed back to the hotel for a nap, and then got crepes for dinner! Eating my nutella-banana crepe, I was in my happy place and excited for the race.

Me and my dad at the finish line

Support crew!

Getting pumped!

Empanadas!

Milkshake! (this is actually a tiny glass but looks large)

Chorizo taco

Zucchini pizza (the bread was key)

Spankonita

Famous greek bakery

Not a stop on the tour, but who doesn't love a giant pig!?

Apple pie

Not a french creperie

But they still had amazing dessert crepes!

Sunday pre-race

Finally, race day! The moment you all have been waiting for. The day started early (5ish), which luckily was really 6ish with the help of daylight savings. I had to catch the Staten Island ferry to the start at 6:30am, but was not due to start the race until 10:30. Luckily, my hotel was a 5 minute walk from the ferry. I lucked out and met a few nice people on the ferry, and we hung out in the terminal on the other side until about 8:30, meeting other people as we waiting. I love the bonding aspect of races! All in all, I met a 20-something nany from NY, a 40 something OBGYN from Connecticut, a 30 something first grade teacher from San Fransisco, and a 23 year old Harvard Med student. I also met one poor cop who had to keep us out of the way of the unloading point, but he was in good spirits & brightened my day. While waiting, I managed to get some breakfast that mirrors what I usually eat (eggs & toast), which took away some anxiety. Around 8:30 my group went to catch a bus to the start, which took awhile. By the time I got to the start area, I had just enough time to use the bathroom & grab some a bagel and some coffee. Then it was time to head to the corral.

Repping Team Z & wearing a blue ribbon for Boston

At the ferry, in my throwaway fleece (that got donated to goodwill thanks to the many new york marathon volunteers)

Getting on the ferry

Killing time at the ferry terminal

Breakfast!

On the bus to the start

Walking with my crew to the start

I was in the green wave

pre-race food

My corral (the areas runners gather before the race that in theory lines us up w/ other people running our pace)

Race & Post Race

I was in the last corral of the third wave, which was for the 4:30 marathoners. I was hoping to join up with the 4:15 pace group, but they were somewhere in front of me. Luckily, on the walk from the corral to the start I managed to move quite a bit up the crowd (with some creative walking). I thanked the volunteers along the way, and had one say to me "No, YOU'RE awesome," which really made me happy. At the start, there was a loud group of older Italian men (fitting the stereotype) taking pictures and having fun, which caused some amusement for the rest of the crowd. After "God Bless America," the starting gun went off and the runner's took off, listening and singing along to Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York." It was quite a magical moment.

The race starts with crossing the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn over the first mile of the race. I had to hold on to my hat because of the wind, and tried to move myself up in the race. I am really happy I wore my Team Z shirt, because despite there being 50k people starting the race, I managed to run into my teammate Abe and a teammate's twin brother Alex within that first mile. We wished each other luck and parted ways.

Around mile 3, we entered the heart of Brooklyn where the crowds lined the streets! Over the next 10 miles, I stuck along the side and collected as many high fives as I could. I am happy to report I got my personal best in that as well! I think this helped me keep a steady pace, and I was happy to see I was on pace to get my 4:15 (about a 9:40 minute mile) throughout the first 10 miles. I was feeling some twinges of discomfort, and was feeling worried about the second half of the race but just kept moving and enjoying the crowds (and all the music). I liked seeing the different neighborhoods, and really got the sense of the different cultures of each area. I also made sure to say thank you to as many people as I could along the way.

Around mile 15, we crossed the Queensboro bridge, which is about a mile long uphill climb. This is the point the race got really difficult for me mentally. I just was looking forward to seeing my parents at mile 18 and kept moving. I picked up the pace a bit (uphill), with the hopes of seeing them sooner. Unfortunately, when I got to the point I thought I would see them, they hadn't gotten there yet. Despite the disappointment, I kept moving. At this point, I wasn't feeling like I was going to blow up (but wasn't feeling that great either) and decided to pick up the pace a bit more. I am grateful for the long 8-10 mile tempo (fast) runs I did during my training, because it gave me the mental strength to know my legs can keep up. I just kept picture Jens Voigt's motto "SHUT UP LEGS!"

At mile 20, we crossed yet another bridge into the Bronx and then headed back towards Central Park. At this point, I was getting a bit testy. It was also the point several spectators (with the double strollers) decided to cross the race right in front of me. I may have lost my temper at the double-stroller couple, which was not a "racing with gratitude" moment for me.

At mile 23, I was expecting to see my parents and once again, I was running too fast for them (don't worry, they managed to see me giving out high fives in Brooklyn). Despite more disappointment, I pushed on knowing I had only 3 miles to go and was guaranteed a personal best, even if I ended up walking. After a looooooong climb uphill (Dennis Smith put it best in his race report: " When it came to just over 1 mile to go and it went from a flat road to Mount Everest (truly just a false flat of no more than .5% grade)"), we finally made the turn into Central Park. At this point, I caught up with the 4:15 pace group that had started in front of me. I put my head down (looking up to enjoy the crowds) and pushed ahead of them (after a lot of effort). The only unpleasant part of this portion was when I was trying to run through an aid station and got slowed up (but not stopped) by all the people stopping. Another runner had the AUDACITY to put her hand on my back and chastise me "Runner, you can't stop here." She is so lucky that I didn't see who it was because my Irish temper was ready to come out big time. I get she was also trying to get to the end, but you do NOT touch another runner, especially one running with the flow of the racers. I shook it off, and kept pushing.

I crossed the finish line at 4:11:29, thrilled and exhilarated! I was also a bit cry-e because I was so dehydrated & exhausted. To say I left it all on the course would be an understatement. (Tuesday I work I told my coworkers I never wanted to run again. A lie, but also representative of my feelings at the time). The tears of joy turned to tears of frustration (not outward) as I made the long slow shuffle the 10 blocks until I could exit the race. I made conversation with other runners but was definitely in pain. After exiting, I was given an orange poncho that actually really helped keep me warm. However, it was quite a site seeing all these people walking around in these cultworthy ponchos (see pics below). I made my way back towards where I was meeting my parents (calling my brother & texting my friends in the meantime). Luckily, I had cash with me and was able to pick a soft pretzel along the way. Unfortunately, the cops started blocking people's paths and redirecting them in a giant circle with no explanation. After getting stuck for several minutes, I called my parents, and in my exhausted despair told them I couldn't get to them & to just meet me back at the hotel. Of course, three minutes later I finally figured out how I could have gotten to them but it was too late. I made the long journey back to the hotel on my own. The finish fiasco unfortunately really put a damper on my experience.

Once I got back to the hotel, I was in much better spirits & was excited to recap the race for my parents. I called my grandmas (who informed me the TV said it was a really windy day), showered, and then we headed to a local bar for a beer and dinner. The next morning, we got up, headed to Brooklyn, and did the smart post marathon thing of walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (my first time). I picked up my Starbucks (that I failed to get after the race), and a copy of the New York Times. I opened it to the marathon section, and was thrilled to see I made the paper!! They published the first 32k results, and I had the pleasure of being 20,542 (out of 50k)!! I feel bad for the remainder of the field. Why not publish them all?

When looking at the results, I saw I managed to finish in the top 3rd of my age group, and I believe the top 4th of woman. This is a major first for me. I have never compared myself to others as a measure of my success, but there is a certain satisfaction in having such success against the field. All of my hard work this last year has really paid off and I am so happy that I believed in myself enough to go for gold! I am looking forward to seeing what I can do at the Rock and Roll marathon in March, and the Ironman in August.

Thanks for all of the support! I couldn't have done it without you all.