NYC Marthon – Postmortem

The marathon really shouldn’t have taken such a drastic turn for the worse as early as it did.  During my training, I completed eleven runs that were 15 miles or longer.  Three of those were 20 miles long.  And I was not in significant pain durning any of those.  I wasn’t even dramatically sore the day after!  So, the intense back pain I experienced beginning at mile 15 was completely unexpected. 

My initial reaction in the hours afterward was one of disappointment and frustration.  I told anyone who asked, that I had just run my LAST marathon.  I declared myself a half-marathon girl.  I told Andrew that I’d have to lose 20 pounds and get a whole hell of a lot faster before I’d even consider doing another marathon.

By the following day, I had started to appreciate my own determination.  While I didn’t even come close to my “A” goal of 4:30, I did meet my “C” goal of finishing in under five hours.  And I most definitely did perservere through adversity.  So, I am definitely proud of the effort.  Also, I realized that the marathon is much much more than a single day.  I worked hard for months leading up to it.  Realizing that made me much more gracious when people expressed amazement at my accomplishment.

I was also thrilled by how much the whole thing inspired my friends.  Jen announced that she wants to try a half-marathon.  Isaac signed up for the 2010 NYC Marathon lottery!  Andrew even said that HE wants to do it!  I love it when people find the joy and excitement of running.  I’m a total pusher in that way. 

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what went wrong on Sunday.  And I think I’ve figured it out.  On Friday night, I had a nightmare that jolted me from sleep quite suddenly.  I recoiled from whatever it was that scared me so violently that I twisted my hip pretty badly.  It hurt for the rest of that night, so much so that I didn’t sleep well.  On Saturday, it was still a little out of whack for most of the day, but by evening I’d forgotten about it.  And it felt fine on Sunday.  But I think that it must have changed my gait slightly, causing me to favor my right side and thus fatiguing my back.  Even now, when the muscle soreness has begun to fade, my left leg still hurts far more than my right . . . another clue that something was off-balance.  A stupid nightmare on Friday night ruined my marathon.

On Monday, my friend Michele, who has run the NYC marathon five times, told me that I’d change my mind about that being my last one.  I laughed at her.  But by Monday night, I was looking at training plans.  And by yesterday afternoon, I was sketching out a rough plan of a few weeks recovery, 35 mpw base building through the winter, spring speedwork, and the a brand new marathon training plan starting in July. 

I am officially a masochist.

NYC Marathon – The Second Half

We left Brooklyn, running over the Pulaski Bridge into Queens.  I was starting to grow tired.  

The Black Sabbath cover band made me laugh.  I may have been the last time I laughed.

The Queensboro Bridge was looming.  We started up the incline and my back started to hurt.  A lot.  Each step sent a shock of pain into my lower back.  A mile later, we finally hit the downhill side of the bridge.  I could hear the cheering from First Ave in Manhattan, but I couldn’t run faster.  The decline was even more painful to my back than the incline had been.

25K at 2:47.  Pace fell again to 10:44.

And the pain didn’t lessen.  I was at 59th St.  Andrew was supposed to be waiting at 96th.  I counted off the blocks but when I got to 96th, he was no where to be seen.  I checked my phone and saw a text from him saying that he wasn’t going to be there in time to see me.  It was a little demoralizing.

30K at 3:23.  Pace down to 10:52.

First Ave was basically a blur.  I wasn’t feeling encouraged by the spectators.  In fact, I was mostly just miserable and wallowing in my pain.  On the bridge into the Bronx, I texted Andrew, “I am falling apart.”

There was some salsa playing in the Bronx, I think.  My memory grows a bit hazy here.  Also, at this point, I started walking through the water stops, whether I was drinking or not.  The problem with this approach was that the transition from walking to running was excruciating.  I literally cried out in pain each time.  I tried pressing my hands into my back, HARD when I started running again, and that helped a bit.  There was a huge jumbotron screen in the Bronx that was sort of impressive just for the sheer size of the thing.  I couldn’t bring myself to wave.  Also, I got passed by the 5 hour pace group at that point.  It wasn’t looking good.

Over another bridge and back in to Manhattan.  The crowd was sparse that far up on 5th Ave, but I do remember another gospel singer.  I trudged on.

35K:  4:01.  Another drop in pace to 10:52.

As we went around Marcus Garvey Park, I started hearing people yell out “Blues Brothers!!!”  but I didn’t have the energy to turn around and look.  I later saw pictures.  Two guys in costume.  Cute.

Starting at 110th St, 5th Ave has a gradual incline all the way to where the race enters the park at 86th.  Perhaps the only positive aspect of my back pain was the fact that it greatly overshadowed the torture of that uphill stretch.  It also made the pain in my left ankle and left foot seem trivial.

I saw my crew again at 93rd.  I gave them a double thumbs down and said, “I hate this!”  Andrew put his arm around my shoulder and ran with me.  He said, “You’re going great!” Tears welled up in my eyes and I said, “I don’t know if I can keep going. My back hurts so much.”  He squeezed me and said, “Yes.  You can.  It’s three pussy miles.  You can run three miles.  You are almost done!!”  I thanked him, told him that I love him and kept moving.

The miles in the park seemed endless.  I kept looking at my watch in disbelief.  I couldn’t believe how long it was taking to get to each mile marker.

40K:  4:39; average pace: 11:14

I kept talking myself through each mile.  Breaking the distance down into familiar, easy chunks.  Like, “Two miles left.  That’s just to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and back.  You’ve done that a million times.  You can do it now.”  Or “One mile.  One fucking mile.  You can deal with this for another ten minutes.”, “Four hundred meters.  Two avenues.  Just two avenues!”

Then I could see the finish and a minute or so later, I was done.  I crossed the finish line and then I cried.  4:54:41.  Average pace:  11:15.

Someone gave me a medal and someone else handed me one of those weird silvery blankets and taped it closed.  I trudged forward.  I got my picture taken.  A bag of crappy food, water and gatorade was handed to me.

And still we moved forward.  Barely.  The finishers area was jam packed.  Standing still hurt my back.  Taking a step hurt my back.  My legs were shaky and weak.  I was shivering and cold and so tired.  But we couldn’t leave the park until 77th St, half a mile from the finish.

Finally, I hit the exit and I sort of shuffled another two block to the bar where Andrew and Jen were waiting for me, a bar that was below street level.  I laughed out loud when I saw the stairs leading down to the door.  No wonder that place wasn’t crowded.  At that point, stairs were my worst enemy.

At the bar, there were hugs and many kind words, delicious beer and loads of pretzels.

Every part of my body hurt.  My legs, my hips, MY BACK, my abs, my shoulders, my arms, my neck.  Seriously.  EVERYTHING.

Andrew said something about me running again next year and I laughed out loud, saying, “No fucking way.  That was my last marathon.”

NYC Marathon – The First Half

The day before the marathon, I packed a support bag for my husband to carry. He had a change of clothes for me, a jacket, a bunch of Gu, Advil, Body Glide, bandaids and my most comfortable flip-flops. In my own bag, I packed an old jacket, my arm-warmers, a headband, my running hat, a trash bag, another Body Glide, a few LaraBars and a bottle of water. I printed out a 4:30, incline-adjusted pace band and carefully wrapped it in clear packing tape. We ate spaghetti with marinara and garlic bread for dinner and I went to bed early.

In the morning, my alarm went off at 5:30. I hopped out of bed and dressed in my capris, and my blue sleeveless top. I put an old sweatshirt on over that. I ate a LaraBar, drank some water and messed around on the internet for a bit.

At 6:45, Andrew walked me to the subway. On the way there, I realized that I had forgotten my pace band. But I wasn’t terribly upset about it. I just figured I’d try to keep my pace between 10:15 and 10:20 and not really worry about it too much. The subway ride and the 7:30 ferry to Staten Island all went smoothly. As did the shuttle bus to the start area.

At the start, I gawked at the thousands and thousands of runners around me, all in various states of dress from shorts and tank tops, to multiple layers of old mismatched clothes. I got in line for the toilet and listened to the announcements telling Wave1 runners to go get into their corrals. (There were three waves. 9:40, 10:00 and 10:20.) I lubed up with a bit more glide and nibbled on a really crappy bagel. Then I tossed my bag and walked over to the corrals. It was a mass of chaos and confusion. I was supposed to be wave2 (10:00) green start (there were three colors), corral G (the last one). I entered the corral and was pretty sure I was in the right place. From the chatter around me, everyone else seemed to also be wave2, corral G.

So, at 9:40, the cannons went off and we saw the lead runners head over the bridge. We cheered and waved. I threw my sweatshirt off to the side and pulled on my arm warmers. The cannons for wave 2 went off right on time. And we didn’t move. The runners on the bridge dwindled down to nothing and we didn’t move. So, apparently, I was now in wave3. I texted Andrew to tell him that I’d be at least 20 minutes behind schedule for all of our planned meeting spots.

Finally, the cannons blasted for a third time and we made it across the starting line. The Verrazano Bridge was INCREDIBLY windy and really really cold. And sort of boring. I was on the lower level, so there really wasn’t much to see. I dodged around people walking three abreast (HATE THAT) and felt completely comfortable running at my planned pace.

I ran the first 5K(3.1 mi) in 32 minutes. A 10:16 mi/hr pace.

Just after mile three, we hit Fourth Ave and the crowd there was amazing. I’ve been a spectator at the marathon before, but seeing it from a runner’s perspective was really just awe-inspiring. There were thousands and thousands of people out there cheering and yelling out encouragement, waving signs and playing music and dancing and handing out paper towels and swedish fish and oranges and water. I was so blown away by the show of support from my neighbors. I have never ever felt such pride in my fellow new yorkers. It was really moving. I ate a Gu at mile 5 and continued smiling and laughing my way up Fourth Ave.

At 10K, my time was 1:04 and my pace had fallen a bit to 10:20. By that point, I wasn’t really paying any attention to my watch. I was too busy having a great time to care about it.

I came within a few blocks of my apartment at the 8 mile point. I looked around for Jeff, he had told me that he’d be out there, but I didn’t see him. We turned on to Lafayette Ave and headed through Clinton Hill, which, again, awed me with it’s incredibly party atmosphere. I passed a high school band that plays the Rocky theme song every year for FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT. And ran past a church with an entire gospel choir standing on the steps singing. I saw house parties and DJs and little kids holding their hands out hoping to high-five a runner. I saw blind runners and people in wheel chairs who do the whole course moving backwards and pushing off with their legs. There was a woman on crutches and an amputee who had one of those super cool running prosthesis. There were people dressed in costumes and people wearing shirts for many different countries. I was still in awe.

I hit 15K 1:37. Pace was down to 10:23.

We made a left on to Bedford Ave. Crowd support thinned a bit. I passed two guys watching from the side of the road. One yelled, “Welcome to Brooklyn!” The other said, “This isn’t Brooklyn. It’s the ‘hood. Welcome to the ‘hood!!” That made me chuckle. We passed rather quietly through the Hasidic neighborhood. Very few spectators there. I guess the Hasidim don’t like to watch the marathon. Probably because of the scantily clad women. The neighborhood transitioned into hipster williamsburg. I finally saw Andrew for the first time just before mile 12. My friend Jen was with him. She had come up from NJ to surprise me. I screamed and stopped to hug them. I told them all how much fun I was having. My face hurt from smiling so much. I applied more body glide, even to my groin where my underwear was chafing a bit. I have no shame. I got a few more packets of Gu from Andrew and continued on my way.

I passed 20K at 2:11 and the half-way point at 2:19.

The last few miles and winter plans

I dodged another prediction of rain on Sunday.  I had planned to tough it out and do my ten miles in the rain, but there was not a single drop.  I’m not complaining though.  I tried to run at an easy pace.  I tried.  But I finished 10 miles in 1:40:48 for a 10:05 pace.  So maybe that IS my easy pace now?

Yesterday, I did 6 quarter-mile intervals on the treadmill.

Tomorrow, I will do a REALLY EASY three-mile jog.  I’m going to watch my pace carefully to make sure I don’t go any faster than 10:30.

I’m also heading over to the marathon expo tomorrow to pick up my number.  I am giddy with excitement.  I really am.

I’ve been obsessing about the weather.  Predictions have gone from cold to warm to perfect to wind to rainy.  Really, as long as there isn’t steady rain, or an early downpour, I’ll be perfectly happy.

A few days after the marathon, I’ll be flying down to Dominica for a week-long scuba trip.  When I get home, it’ll be time to lace up the sneakers again.  So I’ve been trying to come up with a winter plan.  I’ll probably do a few races for fun.  Maybe I’ll PR at the Manhattan Half-Marathon.  But it might be super cold, and it’s a tough course, so maybe not.  I think I’ll stick to the three-days-of-running approach.  Varied lengths of intervals on the treadmill on Tuesday.  A 6-mile, outside if possible, on Thursday, maybe with some fast miles thrown in if I feel like it, and a long run of 10-15 miles on Saturday or Sunday.  Basically, I’m just looking to maintain my current speed.  When Spring rolls around, I’ll challenge myself a bit in the hopes of getting faster.

Tapering is tough.

I’m having a hard time with the taper.  I keep running much faster than I should.

Last weekend, I was supposed to run 13 miles at marathon pace, which is about 10:30, I guess.  Instead, I blazed through it, finishing in about 2:06.  Extrapolating just a bit to estimate the comparable time for 13.1 miles . . . I WOULD HAVE SET A NEW HALF-MARATHON PR!!!!  During a regular old training run!  This is amazing. 

But I must slow down because the real race is still a week and a half away.

That said, I’m beginning to think that perhaps my initial best-case-scenario time estimate is a bit conservative.  However, as my dad likes to tell me, not matter what I do on November 1st, it’ll be a personal record.  And I really do want to enjoy the race.  I don’t want to smash into the proverbial wall and I don’t want to feel as though I’d rather be dead.  So I’m not going to try to exceed a 10:30 pace.  It will be a challenge to stick to that in the early miles since I’m sure adrenaline will make me want to RUN, but I’m going to hold back.  And then, if by some miracle, I’m not totally wiped out at 20 miles, I’ll reconsider my pace.   If I want to run with a specific time goal, I can do so at some other marathon in the future.

The hard work is over.

Thursday’s run was great.  Just like on Tuesday, I felt strong.  And fast.  My plan told me to run 8 miles at marathon pace.  But I ended up coming much closer to my long-tempo pace instead.  I ran 8 miles in 1:16 with an average pace of about 9:30.  Not bad at all.

On Saturday, I did my last twenty-mile run of the season.  I ran down Fifth Ave, past Greenwood Cemetary, then over to Fourth Ave.  I followed the marathon course, through Brooklyn, Queens and Harlem.  The wind was intense on the bridges and it rained while I ran over the Pulaski Bridge.  When I hit 11oth St, I ran over to the park and continued along the marathon route to the finish line.  This actually turned out to be my slowest 20-miler.  Odd.  I ran for three hours and forty minutes.

I feel confident about race day.  I’m familiar with the course.  My hydration is good.  I’m comfortable eating vanilla Gu every 5 miles.  I know what I’m going to wear. I know where I’m going to see my husband.  I know what time I’m going to get up and what I’ll eat for breakfast.  I even feel like my “A” goal might be a real possibility.  I am so looking forward to this.

But the race is still three weeks away.  So now I taper.  Although, my taper really isn’t so dramatic.  It just means that my long runs get sorter for the next couple of weeks.  And honestly, I’ll be glad to be done with the four hour runs for now.

Good things

Saturdays run went well.  And it turned out to be far less painful than expected.  When I went to bed Friday night, the forecast said 90-100% chance of thunderstorms during the hours I’d be running.  I seriously considered delaying my run until Sunday (which was predicted to be a lovely day), but my husband convinced me to “tough it out” and run through the rain.  Thankfully, it turned out to be a non-issue.  The sidewalks were damp when I woke up, but it never rained during my run.  I ran from my part of Brooklyn, following the marathon route from Brooklyn, to Queens, into Manhattan and up 110th.  Then I did a loop around the lovely Harlem Meer in the park, and headed down the east side of the park to Houston St, where I go on the subway to head home.  I covered 18 miles in 3:12 for an average pace of 10:39.  That’s just 9 seconds off from my (secret) marathon goal pace!

I have decided not to do any more intervals between now and the race.  I think that’s the thing that is most likely to cause injury and, well, I don’t want to be injured.  So no more intervals.  I’m still going to try to run fast on those days though.  So today, instead of 10 x 400m, I ran 5 miles.  Originally, I just wanted to do them at marathon pace, but I felt good and strong so I pushed harder.  I did an out-and-back to prospect park . . . 5 miles in 46:55.  That’s a 9:21 average pace.  Not bad considering that I ran the first mile rather slowly.  My last three miles were 9:07, 9:06, 9:05.  Yay me!

Thursday is 8-miles at marathon pace.  Should be easy.  And then Saturday will be my last 20-miler.  Of course, the forecast is looking ugly right now, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll change.  And if not, well, then I’ll just have to toughen up and learn to deal with the rain.

I bought a bunch of goodies from RunningWarehouse.com last week.  New shoes (the same-old-same-old, but on sale for cheap!), a whole box of Gu so I don’t have to buy them by the fist-full anymore, light-weight arm-warmers, a marathon stick , a $10 hoodie that I’ll wear to the marathon start then toss away, some Wrightsocks SLX running socks, and capris.

I wore the arm-warmers on a cool morning last week.  I liked them!  The pulled the sweat away from my skin and kept my arms really comfortable.  My husband scoffed at the marathon stick, but I used on him and now he’s a believer.  That thing works SO WELL on my sore quads and the tough-to-get spot that always gets sore down near my knee.  The SLX socks are awesome.  I wore them on Saturday and didn’t feel a single hot-spot during my run.  The capris however were a disaster.  They made me look like a seal:  fat, black and shiny.  It was not good.  I will be returning those.

 I need to decide what I’m going to wear to the marathon.  I think I’m gonna go with my Nike shorts, my blue Nike t-shirt and the SLX socks.  Still haven’t decided on a sports bra yet, but I’m leaning towards my old Adidas one.  It seems to chafe the least.  And, I’m thinking that I’ll probably go without my heart rate monitor.  I love to have that information for training purposes, but I don’t need it during my first marathon.  Plus, sometimes the strap starts to bug me during long runs.

Less than one month to go!

Fifteen

My run Saturday was painless.  My pace was good.  My leg felt fine.  The only problem was the boredom that I suffer when running Prospect Park loops.  But I had wanted to stay close to home, just in case the calf did start acting up.  I felt a little stiff on Saturday afternoon, but by Sunday I was back to normal.

This weekend, I’m planning to do 18.  The following week, I’ll do one more 20-miler (for a total of 3, instead of my originally planned 5 twenty-mile runs), then I taper.  And before I know it, it’ll be marathon day!!

I’m starting to get excited!

Optimistic

Two laps around the park today before work for a total of 10 miles in about 1:45.  My average pace was 10:36, but I ran that last mile in 8:45.  Go me!

My calf did act up a bit at the 3.5 mile point.  In one stride it was fine and in the next, I felt it tighten up.  It’s the inner lobe of me left calf that’s bugging me.  When it cramped up, I ran a few more steps and noted that with each one it became more painful.  So I stopped.  I was right by a water fountain, so I had a drink and just stood there for a minute, trying to recall which subway stop was closest.  Because I was pretty sure that my run was over.  I didn’t bother stretching.  I stretched A LOT when it was bothering me during that last long run and it didn’t seem to help at all.  So this time I didn’t bother.

Then I noticed that it felt fine.  I touched it and the muscle didn’t seem tight or sore at all.  So I took a few tentative steps.  Nothing seemed to be amiss.  So I ran.  I ran 6.5 more miles and it was fine the whole time.

I’m not really sure what to make of that.  It seems odd, but, well . . . I’ll take it.

I’m planning to do 15 miles on Saturday.  I’m cautiously optimistic about it.  And really hoping to get back to the regularly scheduled program next week.

Tentative

Ran five miles on the treadmill this morning.  At a very easy 10:40 pace.  No pain! 

My plan for this week is to continue to get the miles in, slowly, but lay off the cross training.  So, on Thursday, I’m going to try 10 miles on the street.  And if THAT is also painless, I’ll do 15 on Saturday.

Fingers-crossed!!