Five Boroughs

After three years of getting denied by the New York City Marathon lottery, I got in. Finally. I was guaranteed to, actually, as a carry-over from their old "3 strikes and you're in" policy. I registered in the Spring, shelling out the wallet-emptying $266 entry fee. I was immediately pumped, although I was also a little tentative since my last one (New Orleans) didn't go so well and I was still battling some injuries.

Summer running was pretty ugly, but once I started training upon returning state-side, it went fairly well with only a few aches and pains along the way. Still, I was probably slightly under-trained. I focused on the mileage and not on speed, just trying to believe that I could do it again. Towards the last month of training I could tell I would likely run around a 4:15, with an outside chance of 4:00.

The weekend before the race, we were down in Wilmington, North Carolina to cheer my dad on as he competed in his first Ironman distance triathlon. It was a great experience and very inspiring, and I couldn't be more happy to say that he finished very strong (and came in just before my Austria time)! I was totally pumped for NYCM. My lovely fiancée (newly-engaged, three weeks prior!) accompanied me on the Megabus for our ride up to New York. That was about the only thing on the trip that was cheap. Oh NY...

It was supposed to be quite cold (I'm half-glad I took the bus to the start rather than the Staten Island Ferry, with the other half being sad that I didn't get to experience the ferry ride over), so I had purchased a small blanket and a cheap towel to keep me warm waiting in the Runner's Village. While it was a cool vibe, I was freezing my little butt off because they took my blanket at the entrance! Security was quite beefed up because of Boston earlier in the year, so I wasn't too surprised... except when I sat there freezing while others had big blankets :(

The start of the race was certainly something to behold. Even with multiple waves, it was a crazy amount of people. Everyone was super-excited and ready to go. With a singing of "New York, New York" we headed out onto the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The bridge was amazing. There were so many great parts of this race, but this was certainly a highlight.

Runners on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge (from the 2010 race)

I was taking it a little faster than I had planned, but nothing way off pace. The crowd flowed into Brooklyn and we were welcomed nicely. I enjoyed the sights and sounds. Somewhere around Mile 9, I think, I saw Courtney and my parents (who had also made a side-trip to NYC to see me run), which was a great feeling! It gave me a boost for a mile or two before my right IT band (same one that bothered me in New Orleans) started to make its presence known. Somehow I was still able to manage to tough it out the rest of the way without major pain/injury. I did make a bathroom stop about halfway, which was a first for me! Exciting?

We made our way through Brooklyn and Queens, where I saw things like a Hasidic Jew playing Frogger through the marathoners... We crossed the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan, where the crowds were supposed to be the best (not that any areas were that empty...). I was a little disappointed, actually, when we came off the bridge, so I whooped the crowd into a frenzy like a crazy man :)

We dipped up into the Bronx for a mile or two before returning to Manhattan and heading to Central Park. I saw a friend from college along the way (cheering), which was nice, and then we entered the park. You enter the park and still have like 2 miles to go, but it's still a rush. I saw my parents and Courtney again in the park (and once more earlier), which again was a boost. In fact, my last mile was the second fastest of the whole race! I felt like I was flying along in the park. I couldn't believe how accurately I predicted my time... 4:15:27! Other than being a little sore (IT) and now quite cold, I was pretty satisfied. It took forever to get to our special "orange parkas" once finished (walked at least a mile, I would guess), but once I had it, it was nice. Finally, after a LONG walk (and a LONG time), I was able to make my way to my fiancée and parents.

NYCM was a great experience and I had a blast. Would I do it again? Probably not. Partly because I'm trying to do one in every state, partly because it's logistically difficult due to its size (50,134 finishers! The results portion of the results book is 124 pages long!), and partly because it's freakin' expensive! Still, I recommend doing it at least once if you can.

It wasn't a new state for me (I captured New York with the 2006 Wineglass Marathon in Bath/Corning), so I'm still at 16, with 34 to go. Next up: Tennessee (Country Music Marathon in Nashville, 4/26/14)

Running Threux New Orleans

New Orleans Rock n' Roll Marathon (formerly Mardi Gras Marathon) - February 24, 2013

I came into the race knowing that I wasn't well-trained, since I was still fighting the injury bug (for a year now). The flavor of this training period was ankle/shin issues. I still was able to train a fair amount though, so I went through with it. I figured I could handle around a 9:00-9:30 pace, and that I'd help my sister pace my dad, who was shooting to crack the elusive 4-hour barrier.

It started out great. I felt good, and we were on pace for better than 4 hours. I was enjoying running through The Crescent City. Hey, you could even call this race The Big Easy! Flat, fast course, and the weather was phenomenal. But then it hit. Hard. Right around the halfway point my right IT band just blew up. Not literally, of course, but out of nowhere (wasn't even one of my concerns!) it really starting hurting. After less than a mile more I couldn't run anymore. There were even points throughout the next 12 miles that I couldn't even walk on it. I should have quit, and this was probably the closest I've ever come to DNF'ing a marathon. Let me tell you: it is NOT fun to walk for 3 1/2 hours when you should be running and you can't. 12 miles is a long, long walk. I tried my best to enjoy the scenery and nice homes near the coast, but it wasn't easy.

My dad and sister passed me out on one of the little bridges and I cheered them on as they went by... he was a bit ahead of 4-hour pace and looking strong! I slowly made my way, very unhappily, and eventually made it to the finish in 5:33:54, my slowest time by 38 minutes, which of course makes sense when you walk half of it! I was happy to find out though, that my dad had achieved his 25-year goal of breaking 4 hours! Slow Pole had graduated to Flyin' Eagle!

This was probably one of the most difficult marathons for me, mentally. While I only ran about half of it, I still finished, and will count it as State #16 even though I kind of feel like it has a miniature asterisk next to it. Only 34 to go...