Marathon madness

NYC Marathon weekend was fun... almost as fun as running one.

There was a big group over from Aberdeen, Friends of Hazlehead, running the marathon and thanks to Mel and Myles Edwards they had a little presentation when they had their pasta dinner the night before with Katherine Switzer and her husband Roger Robinson.
We kindly accepted the invite and both of us turned up just in time to hear Katherine speak. It was good and also nice to see Mel and Myles along with hearing a load of Aberdonian voices!

I gave Myles and a couple of the supporters directions to Brooklyn and met them just after mile 5 on the Sunday. As well as me trying (and failing) to spot the few people I knew running we were looking out for their runners and managed to spot, cheer and speak to around 10 or 12 of their group as they passed by.

Having two Scottish flags on our little Scots corner also meant we attracted the numerous other Scots in the field, along with a couple of shouts from English runners and one Irish guy who shouted "close enough". We also traded shouts of support, which was basically shouting the name of the country on their top mainly with the French and Swedish.

Elite women

Elite men

Due to the nature of the wave starts around mile 5 you see increasing numbers of runners coming then the main lot where it is nearly impossible to spot people unless you've really planned it out beforehand then it slows down a little as it nears the back of that wave then quickly fills out across the road as the next wave catches up and so on.

4th Avenue is one long long road and it looks pretty cool both for spectators and runners as you look up and down the road.

 As well as the few in fancy dress there was one guy juggling three little balls and this guy:

The weather was so different to our DC one the week previous.
I heard the wind was pretty strong particularly over all the bridges and after 4 hours standing there I helped put Myles and the others back on the subway to Central Park then jog/walked the mile or so back home before spending 30mins in the shower regaining feeling in my fingers.

Then tried to spot us on the tv replay:

Mission Accomplished

Subtitle: It's not like that in training!

Warning: This might be a long and rambling post.
Got the bus down to DC on Friday morning. It was also our first try of AirBnB, the house rental site. It turned out to be a great location, 5 minute walk to the Metro which was about 4 or 5 stops from the marathon start. Good food and the iconic sights of DC within walking distance too. I've been there a couple of times before and I forget everything is so much closer in DC... and so much quieter than NY too, road traffic AND people. An awful lot of homeless people though.

The apartment was great. But it was a little weird that they didn't move ANY of their stuff. So it just looked like you had walked into someone's place and started staying there. Food in the fridge, no wardrobe or dresser space as it was full of their clothes, pictures on the wall, bathroom stuff out, etc. We were only there two nights and there was plenty space to leave our stuff in the living room etc but I kept saying to Heather, "It totally doesn't bother me.... but don't you think it's weird that....".
I'd totally stay there again though :-)

We hit the marathon expo late afternoon before it got too busy with after work people and I'm guessing Saturday was pretty busy. So there was no line at all to get in or get your number, they were queuing out the door to get in (through security) when we left. It was at the DC Armory, everything military has security.

Then we dropped close to $200 on some Brooks MCM gear t-shirts and glasses and some gels and little things. For a change the free race t-shirt you got was a Brooks thick winter mock neck top.... in brown. Good logos though.

Pizza and cheesecake for dinner. District of Pi pizza in DC serves really good pizza btw.

Saturday morning we did a very light 1.5M jog/walk to Wholefoods for breakfast.
Then we went to the National Archives Museum for a t-shirt for Heather's dad.

Once we found out it was free we had a little wander and got to see an exhibition based around autographs so lots of famous presidents and celebrity signatures on original letters to the President at the time. Then we fought past the numerous schoolchildren to get a glimpse of the Constitution, Bill Of Rights and Declaration of Independence.

The other thing Heather wanted to see was the new Martin Luther King memorial. Unfortunately this was all the way at the other end of the Mall and the weather was a lot sunnier then expected. Oh dear, sore feet already!

As there was no real public transport back to our flat we ended up walking the couple of miles back via the White House where I managed to get a photo off before everyone was shouted at to leave the area at the fence as it was now closed. You can almost make out the line up of black SUV's outside, maybe someone important was coming or going?

I'd kind of carbo loaded during the week. Not really anything different as I enjoy pasta anyway, but I had a couple of pasta dishes midweek. So Saturday night we had a spring roll, lettuce wraps, steak and chips with a side of mac n cheese, brussels sprouts and then a chocolate brownie sundae.

Probably my only bad decision of the weekend was to wear older trainers that have support and I left old Superfeet in them. Combined with the unexpected amount of walking we did I don't know if this was a factor in my calves being pretty tight that night. I was rubbing them against the restaurant chair and moaning how tight they were.

Onto the big day.
Up at 5am with the aim of leaving at 6am. Public transport to races here is funny as it's how most people get there I'm guessing. The stop after ours the train really filled up and by the time we got out at the Pentagon stop the platform and stairs were jammed. A slight flaw in the system as you have to swipe your card on exit in order for it to deduct the right amount in DC so there's a delay as everyone has to swipe through the barriers.

Then there was a 1/2 mile walk to the baggage area as the sun began to rise. We were both desperate for the toilet by now and then just as we caught sight of the port-a-loos we then saw the lines to get through security!

Everybody doing the I need to pee dance

By this time it was 7.30 and they were telling you that if you planned to run 3.30 or below you should really begin making your way to the start. So I had a little bit of a stressful time as after queuing to get into a toilet I had to strip off and arm myself with my gel flasks etc.

Of course, the start was another 1/2M up the road so I started jogging. Luckily it is on both sides of a freeway so there was plenty room on one side and actually plenty space to get into where you wanted.
Interestingly, maybe because they call this "the people's marathon" there is no pre-assigned corals, you can just go where you want. I think most people in a marathon are more honest with their abilities than say a 10K but I lined up ahead of the 3.25 pacer just to be sure of not getting caught up behind slow starters.

I ended up with nearly 10 minutes to calm myself down and watch the parachutists, with the largest American flag ever displayed in a parachute drop or something and then a quick flyover to get the patriotism bubbling over, ha ha.

This was the course profile and route. Everyone kept mentioning the hill at 26 miles up to the finish line at the Iwo Jima memorial!

I had plans to take a couple of scoofs of gel from my bottles roughly every 30 minutes as hopefully this would line up with the water stations so I could get some water to wash it down.
This worked out well enough for me and I encountered no problems whatsoever with energy. At nearly all the fluid stations I stopped and, well I didn't even walk, I stood still for 5seconds and drank gatorade then jogged forward and did the same for the water. I started pouring some in my cap towards the end. It started off around 12 degrees and got up to about 17. I read some people saying it was a lot warmer than expected but after training here through Summer I found it perfect.

Dodging a few people for the first mile and scared to go off too quickly I started with an 8.18 then the uphill lead to an 8.28. I decided I needed to quicken up so a combination of stopping for a pee (at the side of the road) but having some downhill lead to a 7.56. Uphill over the bridge 8.02, then with the 3.25 pacer and his balloons in the distance and a flatter course I settled down to the race proper.

7.49, 7.32, 7,46, 7.37, 7.39 (inc my second and final roadside pee-stop!), 7.35, 7.37, 7.50, 7.50 for a 1.42.44 half.
I missed about 6 of the mile markers along the whole way so my numbers might be slightly out.

In the areas where there wasn't much crowd like the little peninsula area through 9M, they had lots of roadside signs. Lots of humour that gave me something to read during this stretch.
I wish I could remember them all. Along with those and the supporter held ones there was at least 5 "If this was easy it would be called your mom" signs. "You're running better than congress" and a few references to runners stamina. Oh, and "1 in 4 runners poop themselves, are you the 1?".

With some high school bands & other music, there was enough along with the pace checking and looking out for the water stops to make me not miss wearing headphones and listening to music while racing.

Of course there was also a long stretch with fallen marine remembrance pictures and tonnes of military runners from all countries and people running in memory of marines, etc. A very patriotic feeling event for a lot of Americans.

From the pacing advice on the Runner's World marathon forum I was advised to run between 7.50 & 8.00 for 10M then 7.50 for the next 10M. Then drop to 7.45-ish for 3M and give it what you have left for the last 3M. I was advised playing slightly safe with this to avoid completely blowing up and ruining it all, ha ha. It was good that I had simple easy to remember numbers in my head and I appreciated that it was long enough that I could slow down or speed up at points and that I could let the 3.25 pacer get away and that I might catch them up later.

Remember those tight calves? Well, around halfway they totally tightened up. The tightest calf muscles I've ever had. Fortunately they didn't get much worse but they stayed tight the rest of the way. So I'm not sure how that affected my pace, I could keep going, I wasn't in bother aerobically just no sudden movements were possible.... no jumping!

After running a 7.34 at the 14th mile I realised I was going too fast as I was just past halfway and there was a long way to go especially with that unknown last 6M to come. I'd read too many scare stories so I slowed down but still tried to maintain the initial goal pacing: 7.45, 7.45, 8.05, 7.52, 7.45, 7.45 through 20M's.

By this point it really felt like the run to the finish. You leave central DC and the National Mall and all the Smithsonian museums and monuments behind and head away from the crowds out over a big open wide bridge and freeway back into Virginia.
This was the worst part, desolate, like running down the A90 with only runners for company.
It was a little windy and this was the area the wind hit you. Anybody who was struggling was really feeling it now. I was surprised how many people were walking at this point and how many were stopped, mainly stretching their legs on the road barrier.

Apart form my calves, I felt good and the benefit of good pacing meant I was now passing so many people which gave me a boost. I really felt I was running so much faster than nearly everybody else.
I ran a 7.40, 7.36, 7.36 and 7.37 before you round a little area of apartments and shops called Crystal City where there were was a lot of race supporters out and hey, here was the 3.25 balloon guy with his little band of merry men (& women) crowded around him.

I think this picture was near here where I took my last bit of gel, so I am trying to breathe after taking the gel and also I'm knackered!

Catching the pace guy helped keep me going as I breezed past them and rounded the Pentagon and original baggage area heading for home, 7.37, 7.44 and the surprise-ish hill up to the line (1.42). It was actually really short, just 30m or so but it was pretty steep for an end of marathon and would've definitely stopped some people in their tracks despite the crowds lining the entire finish area and all the marines that line up to the finish high5-ing runners.

During the last 2miles I started to be around people who were now running similar paces to me. With the 26M marker in sight I looked at my watch and seen 3.23.50-ish so I gave it my all up the hill and crossed the line in 3.24.30! Overall 7.47 pace and 596th place, 93rd age grouper.

As soon as I stopped, I "walked" up the kerb onto the grass to get my medal. Wow, I could barely walk, my calves and my left hip were so sore and now that I had stopped, my quads joined in with the pain party.

Chunky chunky medals

This was my official timing. I'm super pleased with the way I paced it. When I seen a guy stuck in the middle of the road hands on knees with a 1/2 mile to go I'm so glad I was able to complete it and save the not being able to move properly until after I crossed the line.

I waited in the after race area for Heather and I ate basically everything I had taken and everything they gave out. Sweets, 1/2 bottle dr pepper, a can of cherry cola, a bottle of water, a protein shake, 2 bananas, packets of little snacks, a chocolate bar and probably more.

Then we headed back to the house. We grabbed food for the bus and caught a taxi to the bus station and then endured the ride back with me constantly moving my legs as there was no room to stretch out. One of the biggest hurdles we faced was the step down off the bus onto the pavement when we got back in to NYC. Got home at 11pm and was glad I had taken Monday off work. It took until Thursday before I felt nearly back to full mobility.

kerr-ching

The final countdown

Week 13 was the last hard week, including 10M during the week, 10M at 7.27 pace on the Saturday and my 2nd 20M run on the Sunday. The weather was perfect for this, I ran it in 2 hours 50 mins and finished with the last 5M at 7.46 pace.

After that 12M the following Sunday feels nice and easy. We really got perfect running weather the last few weeks before the race. Kind of warm for October but 15-17 degrees was great, I could sleep in a little longer at the weekend, not having to beat the sun!

Then the final tapering. My legs felt sluggish and heavy but doing just 3M runs was great.

Week 13: 56
Week 14: 39
Week 15: 26

Week 12 - Bronx 10M

I had sore shins after my trail half marathon but other than general tiredness I was pretty pleased with how I felt. I took Monday off, had a couple of steady runs during the week then had a good 800m on/off session on the Westside on Friday before a nice dinner with Heather's Hawaiian neighbours who were visiting for the week on a holiday tour.
Saturday was DIY day (with some help from other friends) and I decided to rest from running that day so I could be ready for the following week as it is the last hard week of the plan.
Sunday was the Bronx 10M!

I kinda wished I hadn't entered so I could concentrate on sticking to the training plan but as the Bronx was a borough I'd never run on the roads in, I first decided to run, then I decided to try my damn hardest to resist racing and just run it at the pace I have been doing the marathon pace sessions at, around 7.45-ish.

Again, it was funny when I switched trains in midtown Manhattan around 7am to see the train completely fill up with runners. I didn't bother with a bag as it was around 18 degrees at 6am so just went ready to "race". When I got there, I tried to do a light jog of around 1.5M's to warm up and also so I could add that to my total for the day as it was supposed to be a 12M run that day.

Despite trying and feeling that I was going slow and comfortable from the gun, I was too fast for the first couple of miles (naturally). But I manged to slow to down and averaged about 7.40 pace for the rest of the run! I even managed to hold myself back from picking the pace up for the last mile which was probably the hardest as what roadside support there was were shouting at all the runners to go for it in the last mile.

It was quite weird to do a race and not give 100%. My brain seemed to have too much information and thoughts as I had more time to take in what was going on around me, ha ha. It got more enjoyable as the race went on though and I finished and felt great. Grabbed a bagel a drink and a banana and I was off home on the train.

As a side note, around mile 6 I caught up with and finished the race alongside Mary Wittenberg who is the CEO of NYRR. I had seen her shed her tee and jump into the race after giving her pre-race speech so recognised her from behind when I caught up. She was getting a few shouts of support along the course including a "good job Mary" from some officers inside a parked NYPD car.

So it's going well. I'm not really putting in a high high mileage but keeping regular runs during the week, one longer run then making sure I get the Saturday longer run or pace run in followed up the next day by the long slow run.
This week is the last hard week ending with a 10M pace run followed by my last 20M run. I feel I need to do that now as it feels like a few weeks since I last ran a long run.

Incidentally my new post-run food are now ricotta/lemon pancakes with some scoops of protein powder and sliced bananas along with toppings!

Week 12: 31M

Paine to Paine

Last year one of the races that we ventured out of town to do was a trail half marathon up in New Rochelle, about 45mins north of the city. Well, 45mins going there at 7am and about 2 hours coming home in the afternoon!

It wasn't a race I really enjoyed last time as it was constantly undulating without being hilly and I ended up running most of it all on my own AND the weather was humid so it fogged my glasses in among the trees.

But another REI store was one of the sponsors so I enquired and received a free entry so I had to go! It was going to be good training for the marathon anyway and with all that running I thought I could go quicker. Last year I was 5th in the 40-49 age group so maybe there was a slim chance I could get into the top 3.

It is a really nice location and the finishing area with the cheerleaders and running track and all the free food and a hot shower afterwards also make it a good event.

Unfortunately after a couple of weeks of cooler weather (20-25 degrees but with fresh air rather than humidity) we woke up to find the forecast was correct and it was humid.

The updates from the race organiser were pretty humorous. For example:

4.   Number transfers are not permitted. Veteran P2Pers will remember that if you transfer a number, a kitten will die. And it will be your fault.

I also just read this on his post-race report:
"Was this year’s edition of Paine to Pain hard with the 200% humidity? Well I didn’t run it this year, I watched you. But 2x Badwater champ Pam Reed came up to me after the race. “That was hard.”
It made me smile. We didn’t call this the Buttercup Classic, after all."

Badwater is a 130+mile Ultra marathon through Death Valley.
Hey, at least it wasn't sunny!! I would've really struggled with that. And of course the weather has gone straight back down to regular Autumn weather for the rest of this week.

The start is uphill on the road for 1/4 mile lined by the school cheerleaders and then it's into the woods, up and down, 750ft of ascent and 750ft of descent, no major hills just constantly rolling terrain which is probably worse. There are only 3 mile markers, all of which say "-ish" after the number but having done it last year I at least had that finish time to go on.

I started quite strong, then had a mid race slowdown where I got fed up running with 4 or 5 guys in a small group so eased off a little. Then after running on my own for a couple of miles and taking my gel and water at the 8M mark I picked the pace up and slowly reeled in all but one of them. The marathon training really gives you a strong finish even if its just a little bit of a mental boost.

I love the finish where you pop out of the woods, down the road between the cheerleaders and onto the running track for a 300m lap to the finish. I finished in just over 1hour 32mins (7.03 pace), knocking 2mins off last years time in the near identical conditions.

As I came down the home straight the race commentator said my name and informed me I was in 10th place! I was 20th last year so that was a big whoop when I heard that.

Heather didn't really enjoy the race, if you hadn't run it before the course and weather conditions made it tough, much as I found it last year.

I waited for the prize giving as there were prizes for first 3 in each age group and I was 5th last year. There was one guy in the 40-49 that finished 3rd overall and then when they read out the 20-29 age group I was ticking them off when all 3 were faster than me. Then I was really pleased when he read the 3rd place and 2nd place and then I was 1st!!

Big glass tankard

Afterwards we took our hire car to the same supermarket in the suburbs as last year and got a big pastrami sandwich for lunch, some ice cream and then looked at the animals they had outside, ha ha.

The only downside was that weekend was supposed to be my second 20M training run but the half was a good test of where I'm at. This week is a recovery week then I'll try a 20M the following week.

Week 11: 44M

Training Weeks 9 & 10

My week 9 plan looked like it would be pretty tough when I glanced at it out of the corner of my eye a few weeks ago. The 20M Sunday run looked so much further than 19M for some reason! It must be because so many times you read how hitting 20M in training is the benchmark for marathon training.

I've pretty much managed to stick to the plan throughout the weeks so I'm now going into these runs actually looking forward to them! As long as you have the time to do them AND the time to spend the rest of the day recovering then I've really been enjoying the challenge of running further than I've ever ran before, visiting areas I've never been and I guess also trying out the different nutrition aspects.

The harder runs to do have been either the midweek longer run such as the 10M run before work on the Tuesday and the longer faster (supposed) marathon pace runs.

I managed an easy 10M on the Saturday in cloudy humid weather. Then thankfully after the late Saturday rain Sunday was a really nice 24 degrees and had relatively cool air for a change, so I felt really good!

I had varied my route ever so slightly from the other long runs I've done in order to do the shadeless part first and also to avoid the century event bike riders that were out and about on the shore pathway.

Of course I went slightly the wrong way a couple of times so I knew I would be hitting the 20M mark before I got all the way home.
It was the first time I have tried mixing the energy gels with water in the little flask. It seemed to work good except I only did one so I think I need both flasks for that kind of distance.  I averaged about 8.30 pace although I stopped frequently for water top-ups and toilet stops. I had planned to speed up for the last 5M depending on how I felt and I averaged 7.40 for them, finishing with a 7.22 mile which was pleasing.

What wasn't so good was reaching 20.M and being at the bottom of the park with a 1.5M uphill walk to home. I was mentally finished by then as I'd obviously set out with 20M in mind so I bought a drink and strolled home.

During this week I heard something hit the window and fall onto the air conditioning unit. I looked out and there was this massive cicada just sitting there. Never really seen them before, you just hear them in the trees on a hot summer night.

Week 10 was a recovery week and next week I am doing a half marathon trail race, the same one I did last year (and didn't enjoy that much). So although the time won't mean much at least I can compare times and how I'm feeling. I just have to work out how to adjust my plan as that was supposed to be my next 20M weekend.

On 9/11 we stuck our heads out our window to see the light display they had again. Like the bat symbol!

This week also seemed to really signal the change from Summer to Autumn. You know it's cooler when I started the run in the sun instead of the shade and I've put on socks in the house for the first time since April I think. It should help the running though, it might be easier to do some of the after work running.

Week 9: 56M
Week 10: 38M