I went into this year's marathon with very low expectations of myself. My training had been pretty rocky, and I again had a couple of niggly injuries. Nothing serious, but certainly a less than pefect build up. I took the pressure off by not setting any sort of time goal other than aiming to run negative splits (the second half of the race quicker than the first). Last year I lost a bunch of time from mile 20 onwards, something that is very common for first time marathoners, so this year I was going to be happy with myself if I managed to improve on that.
My alarm went off at 5am, and I headed down to the bottom of manhattan to grab the SI ferry:
Last year my mom came over from Europe to watch me, but as she wasn't able to come this year, I decided to run in Irish shorts in her honor. Very special shorts indeed.... 'short' being the operative word. What you can't see in this shot is that the slits on the side go up about four inches.... borderline indecent.
I got to Ford Wadsworth nice and early Sunday morning, and found a quiet corner to get ready. I used the time before the race to think about the last time I was in Staten Island, for the SI Half. That day I ran step by step with my friend Lauren, and absolutely loved every minute of it. If I could some anywhere close to that feeling on marathon sunday, I would be more than happy!
An hour of Rage Against The Machine at full volume got me nicely pumped, and when the gun went off I was as cool, calm and collected as I've ever been at the start of a race. The difference a year makes is just incredible: I felt like an old hand.
The first few miles just flew by: before I knew it I was eight miles in and feeling fresh as a daisy. I bumped into a few BK friends along the way (Steve & Judy, Antony, Bari) and missed a few others in the crowds (Felicia, Alison). In any case, I hadn't really been paying much attention to my splits, but a little bit of on the fly math told me that I was making really good time. Half marathon PR time, actually. I got a little anxious about going out too quickly and blowing up, but at around mile 10 I remember making a concious decision to listen to my body over my garmin, meaning that as I continued to feel pretty comfortable, I should keep on trucking instead of trying to hold myself back.
I hit the 13.1 mark in 1.50, quicker than my fastest ever half, the Bronx last year, and almost eight minutes quicker than my fastest half this year. I was feeling great.
Katy Perry's Last Friday Night (don't judge) took me over the bridge and into a strangely subdued Manhattan. It was weird, but the famous 'wall of noise' that's supposed to hit you just didn't appear for me this year. Odd.
In true ADD style, I made myself a little list of all the folks I was going to try and say hi to on the course. First ave was Nicole and Allison, both of whom I missed, and Veronica and Michel, who were waiting at 71st for me with a banana, some Gu and some salt. Bless them!
Heading on up 1st avenue, I had the lovely surprise of bumping into Rossanna in East Harlem, who totally surprised me with an awesome sign! Still can't quite believe that I spotted her, given all the madness!
My legs were still feeling great at this point, and though I was a little surprised, I definitely wasn't complaining as I powered into the Bronx. I made a point of giving the VCTC folks a shout out as I passed them, and they errupted with an extraordinary explosion of noise, it was absolutely awesome. I also spotted an Irish flag on the far other side of the road, probably 200 feet to the right of me. Of course I veered all the way over there to give them a high five, then instantly regretted it as my legs started to burn a little. Still, it made their day so I'm glad I did it really :)
Coming down 5th avenue was the first time I started to feel a little tired (maybe 'cos of the high five?), but I dealt with it by breaking the last 6 miles into smaller and smaller distances. First a 10k, then a 4 mile, a 5k, then a couple of miles. It really helped, as did bumping into Mark and Leah with about 4 miles to go, around 125th street. A quick stop 'n chat, and I was off again.
By now I was pretty certain that I was going to get a PR, barring something awful happening in the last few miles. I was way, way ahead of my pace from last year, and still feeling pretty good. At the same spot last year I was feeling truly awful... the difference was pretty incredible.
I crossed the finish line in 3.48, an improvement of 28 minutes over last year. I set a 13.1 PR and a 26.2 PR in the same race. Seconds after crossing the emotion of it all hit me like a truck, and I burst into tears. Once I'd got my stuff, the first thing I did was call my mom back home in Europe. More tears, obviously :)
It goes without saying that I am very, very happy with how the race went. Pretty much the perfect day as far as I'm concerned: consistant splits, two PRs and I felt good pretty much throughout. Most importantly though, I way exceeded my expectations. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would run a 3.48 without training my ass off. It gives me hope that 3.30 is within reach, and that a BQ isn't out of the question.
The consistency of my pace throughout is almost more satisfying to me than the PR:
Afterwards I headed over to celebrate with the awesome Hash House Harriers and the Team Sasquatch crews on the east side. In the process I rescued a lost Irish runner who had not managed to meet up with his wife after finishing the race, and was stuck on the West side, phoneless and rather irritated. What are the chances that the guy I randomly offered help to was from Dublin? Life is too strange! sometimes.
I'm so excited to be running again. This event is just incredible, as are the two million people of New York City who line the streets in support. Brooklyn deserves a special shout out too: absolutely incredible, again. By far the most enthusiastic borough. Brooklyn Loves You indeed!
Just an absolutely perfect day.
