NYC Marathon 2011

It's been 4 years in the making. The ING New York City Marathon has a few methods for guaranteed entry but I'm just not fast enough or live close enough and also didn't want to fundraise. My options was to try my luck at the lottery. When I started, there was the guaranteed entry where if you were rejected for three straight years, you were automatically in the race for the 4th. So, 4 years in the making. I hear they're getting rid of most of the guaranteed entry methods in the near future. As usual, I ran this with my friend Reshma.

The full photo set is here.

The marathon expo was crowded and pretty insane. I'm usually okay in a crowd but I had to get in, get my stuff, and get out.

Marathon day started in the pre-dawn hours. By the time we signed up for transportation to the start, the latest option was the 5:30am bus. And our start time wasn't until 10:40. Yup, 5 hours in the freezing cold.



It had started to warm up by the time we started so everyone was able to shed some layers. All of the clothes left at the start (this is just a small bit of what was discarded)

is being donated to the homeless.

Finally (FINALLY!) at 10:40, we were underway. It took a long time for the crowd to thin out. The longest part of the race was in Brooklyn. I had motivation to get to at least the 15 mile mark because my friend Josh was going to be somewhere around mile 8 and Sonia was going to be around mile 14. I felt great at mile 8 and I was starting to feel the fatigue at mile 15.

I had been having ankle problems leading up to this race. I was ramping up the mileage way too quickly and my body couldn't keep up. In trying to take pictures and recording the race, it would force me to slow it down a bit and give my ankle a break. On the Queensboro Bridge, there was a section that had a beautiful view of both Queens (I think) and Manhattan so of course, I stopped and took a few pictures.



The Queensboro bridge was the bit of hell that everyone talked about. It seemed like an endless uphill and I walked it to save some energy. Back into Manhattan and I was ready to go again until I really got into the Upper East Side and noticed the slight but long incline. Around mile 18, my ankle started to bother me and the Bronx felt like it would never come. Crossing the bridge into the Bronx was a welcome sight! An even more welcome site? The entrance into Central Park because it meant the end was near!


Between miles 24 and 25, I saw a couple of people laying on the side of the road with police and medical personnel standing over them. I did not want to be them, to have come so close to finishing and being unable to do so. At this point, it hurt my ankle to walk and my quads didn't have it in them to keep running so I did the best I could to just finish. 6 hours and 29 minutes later, I finally crossed the finish line. My brain could not form coherent thoughts and the only things I knew were that I had to get out of there for the 7pm dinner reservations and I needed to stop at the medical tent for some ice for my ankle.


The exit chute was the longest I've ever experienced. Normally, when you cross the finish line, there's a couple of hundred feet where it's only the finishers and the people trying to put medals on you and give you water and food. They blocked off the exit chute with some high walls and I must have walked 2 miles just to get from the finish line back out to the street. Seriously, we all just traversed 26 miles on our feet and we have another 2 to go? It was incredibly hard to get a cab and I ended up hopping on the subway to get closer to the hotel. I finally managed to get a cab as people were getting out and there was a woman who started walking towards it with her two kids as I was standing by the door. At that moment, my feet didn't work so well but I would have jumped her and wrestled her for the cab then and there because my feet were not going to take me the 10 blocks to get to the hotel.

Dinner was pushed back to 7:30 and I got a half rack of ribs. I wish the ribs were a little fattier but I can't complain because the thought of them did help me get through the end of the race.

It was a great race. New Yorkers throw a great party! Thanks for having us!

Awake for once

It's the first night since the marathon since I've been up past 10. I'm a little behind on the pictures.
Amber got me some spinnable fluff as a congrats you finished the marathon present. I need a picture of that. I also got some blue spinnable fluff from ebay. Need a picture of that too. I also (finally) finished the Somewhat Cowl. I need to block it and then take a finished picture. There are some "I still need to sew in ends" pictures but I'm going to wait until I'm finished. I've turned the heel on the second Anna sock. I've also got 4 Swarovski pearl necklaces to string up and a blue cabochon necklace to finish. I think I"m going to give my cousing the blue cab. I'm leaving in less than 2 weeks. Now that I've regained my energy, I need to stop sleeping so that I can finish all of this stuff. Plus, there has been some upheaval at work in the last couple of days so I've reprioritized and trying to get everything done and all the information I need before I leave on my trip. Yeah, cryptic, but I've been told that some people I work with check my blog to see if there's a picture of me, and they've been on holiday and I don't think they've been told of the news yet.
I knew I'd be working myself to death before I left. At least I don't have a marathon in the upcoming future to train for.


Speaking of which, I have started looking at marathons to do for next year. I mean, imagine what I could do if I trained properly! One is the New Yorkmarathon, but that's a lottery system since I can't run fast enough to qualify for a guaranteed entry. Another is the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon up in Ankorage, Alaska. You start running at midnight. So I'll worry about that stuff after I get back. Don't think I'll get back into a regular training pattern til January anyways.

I finished! And I'm alive!

And I finished on my own 2 feet! I was going to bring a disposable camera but I left it at home. Instead, I pulled out the trusty cell phone and took pictures at various mile markers. Now, we get to relive that exeperience here, while I'm lying motionless on my bed. Here's the course map in pdf format. Warning that it takes a while to load.
My actual thoughts in bold.

Here we are before the start. Reshma on the left, me on the right. Don't we look clean and not sweaty? Our start actually got delayed because after the first wave left, there was some "security" issue that had to be cleared up

While approaching mile 1: mmm...Chipotle. Hey Starbucks. The office is just 2 blocks up, I could go use the bathroom there

	Mile 2 up Lee Highway. This hill was a lot bigger than I had expected. The pack was still thinning out here. I didn't get to take a picture in Rosslyn cuz it was just too crowded.
	Spout Run, as we're headed to GW Parkway and the Key Bridge. Lots of wooded areas. Guys are lucky that they can just run off to the side and shield themselves if nature calls. Not so easy for women.
	Grr...hill. Almost into Georgetown. Almost into Georgetown where there are oranges.
	Georgetown and Mile 5. Where are those oranges???
	Need to take the long sleeves off. This is a good place. Must also pay attention to side of road for a hidden wooded area to use the facilities.
	Still in woods. Still no good places to run off into nature
	This means we're almost out of Rock Creek Park, right? Really must find some place to go because I can't go on the Mall
	This area had potential...some wooded area by the river. Yes, I went

So, I didn't take any pictures on the Mall cuz I was tired then. However, between miles 12 and 13, the high school marching bad was playing Rock 'n Roll part 2, so while most people are yelling "Hey!", I was yelling (and pointing) and doing the Cornell hockey version of: "da da da SIEVE! dada dada da da da da SIEVE! WE'RE GONNA BEAT THE HELL OUTTA YOU. F'em up! F'em up! Go CU! " That pepped me up. So around the mall and down Independence and back towards the Tidal Basin. My leg started to cramp up bit just before mile 15.

Welcome to Hell

Hain's Point and East Potomac Park is really awful because there really isn't much there. I had been running 2 lamp post lengths and walking 2 lamp post lengths. At mile 18 is the 'tortured look' of the Awakening. As many point out, it's appropriately fitting. It was sometime after this that my leg cramped up again after a little bit of running and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to finish. I decided that if I walked the rest of the way, I should be okay. I just kept moving, wasn't hard, legs were on autopilot at a brisk pace. They were also telling us that if we kept moving, we'd make it across the bridge before it was opened up to traffic. Now the goal was "Beat the Bridge". I was very tempting to stop at the medical tent and just stop. I think that was when I hit the wall. I also put my long sleeve back on just before exiting East Potomac Park. It was getting cold.

	THE BRIDGE! THE BRIDGE!
	Beat the Bridge, baby! This was the other side, on Virginia soil. I'm almost there and the first checkpoint is passed and if I can keep walking, I can finish. No Recovery Bus for me!
	Where are those Jelly Belly Sports Beans? Are they all out? Crystal City is so evil to be floating the smell of BBQ.
	mmm...Five Guys. It's just up the hill from the finish. mmm...grease...I want a little cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomatoe, fried onions, sauteed mushrooms. I can just smell that grease
	Mile 26. F-ing 2 tenths of a mile up a f-ing hill. I knew this was coming but still.
	I'M DONE! I'M DONE!

Post race, we stopped in the office to use the bathroom and went to Five Guys. I forgot to get ketchup and mustard. My legs are starting to stiffen up, but I'm alive. Supposedly, I finished 6 hours, 32 minutes and 42 seconds. And here's the "Don't try this at home" part. All summer, the most I had run was 20K, which is about 12.4 miles. I was trying not to do this whole "If I've done half the distance, the other half wouldn't be that hard" deal like I did last year with the VA Beach Rock N Roll Half marathon. Somehow, though, it did work out that way.

Marathon morning

I can't f*ing believe I'm doing this.