I missed out on hill training with Patricia and took it easy on Thursday. We arrived in New York on Friday and after settling in the hotel, took the subway to 42nd street and tried to find the shuttle to the Expo. We finally gave up and walked a mile or so the the convention center. On Saturday, we walked around the city, saw a show, met Eric and Tom at Grimaldis for pizza
and attempted to watch the Greenwich Village Halloween parade. Apparently, 2 million other people had the same idea so needless to say, it was pandemonium. It was pouring down rain and since we couldn't get a spot to watch, we decided we would head back to the hotel. Unfortunately, they closed the entrances to the subway. We couldn't hail a cab, so we walked 2 miles in the rain, back to the hotel. It wasn't how I wanted to spend my pre-race, taper evening. We made it safely back, took hot shower and went to bed.
4:30am rolled around very quickly.
How was my marathon experience? A little history first: Many of you know that Steve and I did the NY Marathon last year. We spent 3+ grueling hours in the cold, waiting for the race to start. Steve didn't know it at the time, but the freezing wind on his back was the catalyst for the start of pneumonia by race end. We were the last people in the last wave. Mile 8 was the last water station for us and the half marathon marker was the last mile marker we saw. We were relegated to the pedestrian walkway, so we didn't get to hit the mat. At mile 17 we stopped in Starbucks. Steve got a hot cocoa and I got a latte. We had to wait for all the red lights to turn green on 1st Avenue and made it in as DNF after 8hrs and 15 minutes.
I enjoyed the time I spent with Steve but was disappointed with the race experience. When I got into this year’s race again, I had several goals: 1)Finish under 7 hrs and before dark fall with an official time; 2)Experience the "fabulous" race that everyone had raved about, a race that included water stations and mile markers and 3)Hit the mat at mile 13.1.
I must say that it turned out to be everything I had hoped it would be. When I picked up my packet at the Expo, I discovered that I had not been given my Ferry assignment. I was pretty aggravated but decided I would go to the Ferry anyway. After all, it was public transportation - how could they turn me away? Plus I had an email confirmation. I got to the Ferry at 5:30am, and after talking to the volunteers, discovered that the requirement to have a pass was all a scare tactic. The ferries were running every 15 minutes, and the buses would be on the other side until the 8:00am ferry arrived at Staten Island. I stayed in the comfy terminal until the 7:45 ferry (the rain stopped around 7:00am) and got to my "village" in time to drop off my bag. I headed to the corral area and somehow managed to start in wave two instead of three. What a huge difference being in the middle of the race made. The crowds were terrific and very supportive. I didn't have my name on my jacket this time and I regret that. Those who did got great big shouts of encouragement from the spectators. The weather was great – overcast and in the low 50’s.
One of the funniest things that happened was when I had to make a restroom stop and didn’t want to wait on the portapotty line. I bee lined for the McDonalds that was on my right. When I got to the restrooms there were 4 female customers waiting for the women’s’ restroom. They saw I was a runner and told me that no-one was in the single potty men’s room. I darted in and after about a minute the door knob started shaking and there was loud banging at the door. I yelled that I was inside and they still kept banging. When I opened the door to leave, a male runner who apparently was in distress yelled at me and shook his fist in anger. I found it quite funny. Most of my fellow female runners would probably agree that it was payback time for all of those guys who were peeing off the bridges and on the side fences at the start. My other memorable moment was when I received a text from Harris. I had just pulled my phone out of my pocket to get to my camera when I saw his text saying that he hoped I had a great race. I responded with “mile 17 now”.
I was disappointed that I missed Tessy at mile 8. Stan tried to connect with me on First Avenue, but he missed me because the 59th street subway exit was closed. The route going into the Bronx changed so that we runners could see more of it. The route was not very pretty and did not make me want to visit there again. I saw a number of athletes, who were part of the Achilles Foundation, handicapped runners who had two to four guides assisting them. They were a great inspiration!
The setting sun came out during the final 3.2 miles of the race as I was heading down 5th Avenue and into Central Park. It brightened the already blazing fall colors and created a perfect backdrop for the race finale. There was a “1 mile to go” sign after the 25 mile marker, a welcome warning that the finish was near. It was followed by another half mile alert, then the countdown – 400 meters, 300 meters, (there was Stan -I waved and kept on going), 200 meters, 100 meters and the Finish! I got my bottle of water, my medal, a Mylar blanket and a most welcome deli sandwich. I finished in 6:55:29 (and that was with 4 potty breaks), not my best race, but a PR for NY and under my goal time.It was a great race and I highly recommend it. The good news for fast runners is that there are automatic qualifying times which include half marathon times, too. I signed up for the Houston full marathon, and as much as I enjoyed this race, I think this will serve as my last full marathon for a while. This January it will most likely be the Houston Half for me!
