Yesterday was Marathon Day in New York City, and these folks know how to put on an event. From packet pick-up at the Javitz Center to bag retreival on Central Park West, the organization was evident and the execution was top notch.
As for my week leading up to the race, it all started with a business trip to Tampa on Tuesday. I snuck in an easy 5 mile run by my hotel on Tuesday and another 7 miler, with 2 miles at marathon pace, before my flight out on Wednesday. I did an easy 5 miler at home on Thursday and flew to New York on Friday. On Saturday morning, I had some pancakes and went for an easy 4 mile run in Central Park with a few thousand other folks.
Race day started at 4am on Sunday. I ate some cereal, had a banana, got dressed and stored my luggage with the hotel Bell Man. I wore a pair of sweats, a thermal shirt and a sweatshirt over my racing clothes. These items would later be discarded at the starting line. I also packed another pair of sweats into my clear UPS bag for pick-up after the race.
I hopped on the first marathon bus to the race venue at about 5:00am. Yes, I was one of the first in the prerace staging area. I grabbed some coffee, a bagel, dropped my clothes bag in the correct UPS truck and parked myself in front of the #5 orange corral loading gate. At 8:20am, they opened the corrals. Then, at about 9:10am they sent us up to the starting line. I was able to mix in with the #2 corral folks and position myself within 15 yards of the starting line.
At 9:40, the Mayor said that the streets of New York were ours and off we went. My goals on the bridge were to find a clear running path and get into a good rhythm. The path opened up within 2 minutes but my hamstring needed about 5 minutes to start working right. By the end of the bridge, I had partnered up with a guy named Randy that I had been talking to at the line. We were both looking to go out in about 6:30's and see where it took us.
For the next hour, that's what we did. The first three 5k splits were 20:03, 20:02, 20:09. I was having a blast. I tried to high-five every kid in Brooklyn during those first 9 miles. Somewhere between miles 9 and 10, I lost Randy as he accelerated on a downhill stretch. My fourth 5k was a little slower (20:28).
I passed the 13.1 mark in 1:25:13. And to me, that's where the New York Marathon starts. Just after the halfway point is the Pulaski bridge. It's the runners first real test. Soon thereafter comes the Queensboro Bridge. That's where I started to see people crack. At about the apex of the bridge, I passed Randy and he wished me luck. In his defense, he had just done a 2:54 marathon a couple of weeks ago and wasn't to going to push this race.
Somewhere on first Avenue, I began my slow and steady decline. My fifth and sixth 5k's were 21:09 and 21:35. I felt good enough through Mile 21, but the rest of the way was a real fight for me. I really crashed and burned here in 1995, so I told myself to maintain my pace as best I could and get to the line. My seventh and eighth 5k's were 22:05 and 23:01.
I finished in 2:57:26. 856th place overall. 809th male. 60th in my AG.
Despite my steady decline, I had a great day. It was perfect weather, perfect crowds and I even had some family members out there cheering me along the way. After the race, we all went out to a fun Brunch at PJ Clarkes.
Of my three tiered goal; break three hours, hit 2:57 and PB at 2:53:46, I hit 2 out of three. I'm very happy with the result. It's funny, I hit the McMillian calculater time, but I'm sure he would not recommend doing it that way.
What I do:
http://app.strava.com/athletes/345699