NYC Marathon 2008- Fun.

(I start to write 1 post, but it's way too long, and since my race is easily divided into three distinct parts, they will be: Fun, Not so Fun, Very much Fun)

You can get the short version in the previous posts.  It wasn't pretty.  But it was [mostly] fun, and I finished with a smile, so goal accomplished.  Am so so glad NYC was my first marathon, the support of the city and all  of my friends was amazing and I feel so blessed.  As I hobble around my apartment today, the emails and messages are icing on the cake (I don't like cherries).

Long Version:

My confidence was admittedly shaken going into race day.  My 20 mile run didn't go as planned (ie I ran too fast), and the three weeks that followed were tough, mentally and physically.  I fell and bruised my back/ass pretty hard and think it really inflamed my hip, which had been doing so, so well in the last weeks of higher training.  About 5 days before the race I tried to get rid of the negativity, finally had a comfortable run, and was ready as I could be.  I was confident in the training I had put in.

I also fought off the desire to set specific time goals for my first marathon.  From the beginning, I tried to keep the goals simple: Have fun, finish healthy and with a smile on my face.  Of course in the back of my mind there were specific goals, but I tried to keep them away.  

I had a little bit of a freak out when I found out at the expo that the 3:50 pace group would be starting in my corral.  I decided to use this to my advantage and try to stay BEHIND them and away from them to keep from going out too fast.  Unfortunately I never even saw the pace group.  The only pace group I saw was the 4:15 group run by at mile 23.5.

Race Morning

Was able to get a good night sleep, including an extra hour b/c of setting the clocks back the night before.  Only had one dream (nightmare?) about running up the side of a mountain.  Woke up at 5am and hopped in the shower to wake up and warm up.  I had two Go Lean Kashi waffles, a greek yogurt and water for breakfast.

Logistically, the NYC Marathon is interesting.  As it is a point to point race, through all 5 boroughs, you start in Staten Island.  Which means transporting close to 40,000 people to Staten Island before 9Am.  I had been assigned the 7:00am ferry to Staten Island, where buses were provided to get runners to the staging area near the start line.  In addition to the simple transportation logistics, this year was the first year NYC had 'wave' starts, with about 13,000 people starting every 20 minutes.  They hoped this would ease congestion at the start, where the course merged, and at the finish.

I left my apartment at 6am and got a cab to South Ferry. I arrived just as the 6:30am ferry was leaving, and decided to take this ferry.  The ferry was buzzing with excitement, and I tried to zone out and not think too much, as my stomach was in knots.  I took a few pictures of the sunrise over the Verrazano Bridge, this is thethe first 2 miles of the course

Once arriving in Staten Island, I decided to stay in the ferry building for a while, to avoid having to wait in the cold for 3 hours (my start was at 10am).  Luckily, I ran into a friend at this point and we spent the next 2 hours chillaxing- first in the Ferry Terminal, then huddled in trashbags and blankets after we had to check our baggage.  I ate a plain bagel while waiting, probably around 7:30/8am.

Of course I don't know what it was like before, but the wave starts seemed to work great.  I think the first wave started a few minutes late, but I headed over to my corral once they called wave 2 and spent maybe 20-30 minutes until we were off almost exactly at 10am.  I had 1 Gu while waiting in the corrals.  Not as bad as I expected.  We walked from the staging area to the start, turned a corner, and the bridge was in front of us!!  I started to get choked up- there was so much emotion and excitement in the air!  The weather was perfect- I ended up running in shorts and a sleeveless top and was comfortable the entire time, and wore gloves for about 10 miles.

Mile 1 - 9:19

Mile 2 - 8:14

Once the cannon sounded, it probably took less than 30 seconds to cross the timing mats, and right away I was able to setting into a comfortable pace.  It was not nearly as crowded as I expected.  The first mile of the course is actually the longest climb, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, connecting Staten Island to Brooklyn.  The view was amazing, and my body was feeling great.  My hip was definitely bothering me, but not to the point that it was altering my stride so I didn't worry.  Everything I had read said not to freak out over the first two mile splits, and to average them and move on from there.  

Mile 3 - 8:33

Mile 4 - 8:50

Mile 5 - 8:48

Mile 6 - 9:04 (first Gu)

This part of the course is up 4th Ave in Brooklyn.  The crowds were amazing, I felt great, BUT KNEW I needed to slow down.  You can see in my splits I was trying to slow down.  I would have loved to be running right at 9 minute miles, I just couldn't seem to find it.  I took my first Gu at mile 6.  I tried to assess how I felt, and I felt great.  My hip was nagging, and I had been feeling a side stitch since the start, but my heart rate was totally controlled and the pace was effortless.  

Mile 7 - 8:55

Mile 8 - 9:06

Mile 9 - 9:40 (course merged- bit of a bottleneck)

Mile 10 - 9:04

These miles were my favorite part of the day.  The crowds in this section of Brooklyn were AMAZING.    The three 'color' starts merge at Mile 9, and at the same time the course narrows a bit, so there was a bit of a bottleneck.  But it didn't matter, the crowd was AMAZING.  People were standing 10 deep, up the stairs of the brownstones, and rocking out with live bands.  At one point, I swear an entire block was dancing in unison!  It was amazing.  I missed my friend who was taking pictures around 9/10, and was a bit bummed.  I also didn't see Josh, but thanks for all your well wishes and support!!  I knew I had more friendly faces waiting at 15, so I tried to look forward to this.

In retrospect, at this point, I was really starting to want to see a friendly face.  I still felt fine physically, but I hadn't seen anyone I knew since I left my friend in the staging area around 9am.  I thought I would see some familiar faces on the course, but I was beginning to feel a bit lonely.  This is where 'Fun' ended and 'Not so Fun' began....