I am not going to write a full recap right now but I promise I’ll get to it. (I have a 8 hour drive tomorrow) First thank you for all of your support whether we have met or not. It really means a lot to me. Second, I am 100% pleased with my time. The weather temperature was perfect (roughly 50 degrees). It was pretty windy the whole day which was the only rough part.
I didn’t do my research on the NYCM course like I probably should have. I knew it was a “hilly” and challenging course but I didn’t anticipate how hilly or challenging. I ran this watchless. My watch broke the day before the race completely then the new one I purchased wasn’t working correctly so I had no other choice.
Here is a brief outline of the race.
Before the race I was utterly freezing. I had disposable clothing, drank coffee and hot water but it didn’t seem to help. The wind was piercing through my jacket. Next time I plan to wear multiple layers because waiting around for 2 hours chilled me to the bone. That was my first lesson learned.
Once we started I took into account what everyone told me. Make the first mile your absolute slowest, don’t waste time and energy weaving through people. So I didn’t and didn’t weave. I think I hit my first mile around 9 minutes. (That is what the pace clock said)
Please forgive me that I am not good with names of bridges, streets or anything to do with New York City. The first two miles were over the Verrazano Bridge. They felt challenging and all I could think about was what did I get myself into.
From miles 2-8, I focused on getting to the first Oiselle team site. Seeing them lifted my spirits honestly more then they will ever know. I started crying afterwords. I’m sure there are race photos.
Mile 8-13 I was just focused on making it halfway. I took a gel at mile 8 and felt some energy over some gradual and painful uphills. I hit the halfway in 1:35.23 (clock time, I think roughly 1:33 my time).
After mile 13 I had nothing to think about except a bridge and taking my gel at mile 14.
Mile 15 went over the Queensboro Bridge and I can say this is where the wheels started to fall apart. My quads and inner thighs were on fire. I thought to myself again, how the hell will I get through 11 more miles. From 16 until the end my quads were on fire. That was the only thing that bothered me throughout the entire race. By bothered I mean I mumbled every word under my breath about it the rest of the time. I haven’t been doing any hill work after leaving Oswego so I felt and suffered through it.
Miles 16 through 19 I focused on just getting to mile 19. For some reason having 7 miles left equated to having an hour left. So I wanted to think in that regard.
At mile 20, I started my quest for the bathroom. (I also took another gel around mile 20). Since I didn’t see a single girl using the restroom on the side of the bridge at the beginning I didn’t want to be that girl. So around mile 21 I decided it was time to find an open bathroom. Lucky for me I was in and out in about 1 minute and I felt like the wall had been lifted for a mile.
At mile 22 I really started to hit the wall. My pace slowed and I just felt like dog meat. I will say and I truly believe my lack of speed work is what played the role in that. So there I was mile 22 through the end with painful quads and hitting a wall. Lucky for me it was when I saw the most amount of people (well most amount of people not hitting this wall and passing me) but most amount of people watching and cheering. Seeing the whole #GranatoRacingteam made me smile to the power of 10,000 suns (both times!) as well as seeing Laura, Heather, my dad and brother did. I tried to muster up the energy and wave and it was hard.
After seeing the ½ mile to go and thinking it was the 26 mile marker…I cringed. Then seeing the 26 mile marker and thinking it was the end…I also cringed.
Then I finally crossed the finish line and had absolutely no energy. I can say the race was hard but the 2 mile walk to find my family and friends was harder. I was in rough shape. I choked down 2 power bars, water and began to shuffle to the end.
I will have a longer race report sometime later in the week. But cliff notes version is this:
The NYCM course was a lot harder than I ever dreamed. Marathons are a lot harder than I ever dreamed. I am 100% happy with my time and regret nothing. I can see that not doing enough speed work as well as hill workouts left me ill prepared and the wall came sooner than later. I honestly cannot thank everyone enough for your support.
Then I took the paintrain to my hotel…where I’ve been sitting for 3 hours.
The question that multiple people have asked me. I fully enjoyed the marathon distance but I still enjoy halves better. I will be doing another marathon eventually but I have no interest in signing up now. Right now I plan to take 2 FULL WEEKS off from running. I’ll probably do light cross training eventually.
I have a move to do…well I have a move to spectate while Tim does, lord knows I can’t move right now.