After the pasta dinner and loaf of bread, we were going to go to bed early. It took me a while to get everything all situated and I just kept getting more nervous. Especially with the time change. Do we really have to do daylight savings? I just kept thinking how horrible it would be if I missed the ferry and bus and start of the marathon just because of the dumb time change. So we set alarms on both of our phones and didnt' know if they would change automatically or not. My alarm went off at 4:30 AM. We had 4 clocks in the room and they all said something different so I really didn't know which one was right. Finally I just called down to the front desk, so we went back to sleep for a while. I had to leave at 7 so I could get breakfast and be ready for the Staten Island ferry by 8 AM.
I don't know why I get so nervous, but I do. And it all goes to my stomache. I felt so sick I was gagging and dry heaving just brushing my teeth. I wasn't sure how all this food stuff was going to work because I didn't even start the race until 10:20 AM and I have developed my eating plan that works for me over the years. I choked down the oatmeal and bagel on the ferry. After the ferry we had to wait for the buses to ship us to Fort Wadsworth (whatever that is). Once I got there I had to figure out the maze of people and where in the world I was supposed to go. We had to put all of our belongings on the UPS truck by 9:30 AM. I didn't have long pants on and it was cold, but not as cold as I expected it to be. Because there were over 40,000 runners they had everyone lined up in corrals according to colors and waves, etc. It was organized pretty well for such a big race. Once we finally got up to the start time they had music blasting and there were so many people. It was exciting and got me pumped up.
The first mile was very much uphill on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (connects Staten Island to Brooklyn). It was sooo windy and cold. My nose was running and my hat flew off, but at least I was able to grab it without being trampled. Once we got into Brooklyn there were tons of people lined up on the streets cheering us on. We ran up 4th Avenue for what seemed like forever (about 7 miles). I try not to think of the race being 26 miles, so I would tell myself that at mile 5 I am 1/5 done and that was exciting to me. I was 3 minutes ahead of my usual time after 5 miles and that was also awesome. My good friend Jeni went with John to a couple of places during the race to meet me. It was fun seeing them at miles 5 and 8, especially because I was feeling good then. I don't really remember a lot after that until mile 13. I was a few minutes behind my half marathon time and was very disappointed. I thought for sure I would be able to do better. The back of my right leg and knee was hurting so bad that I stopped at the medical tent to see if they had any muscle rub. They said they didn't have any, but I could lay down on the cot and they would massage it for me. So I layed down and oh wow, it hurt. I was squeezing my eyes closed trying not to scream, then when I opened them I had salty sweat in my eyes. It took me a few seconds to be able to see, but my legs felt quite a bit better so off I went.
I stopped at the lovely port-a-potties a little while later and then realized my sunglasses had broken and fallen off my waist strap. Good thing it wasn't sunny yet. Right after mile 13 is the Pulaski Bridge (connects Brooklyn to Queens). I was grateful not be in Brooklyn anymore just because I felt like I'd been there forever. The bridge was really hard because my legs were cramping up again. I was walking a lot more by then. Next was the Queensboro bridge- taking me into Manhattan. This was very much uphill and I walked the majority of it but so did everyone else. The worst part was I could look back and see the police car that stayed with the last runner. They were at least 1/2 mile back, but still, I did not want to be the person that came in last place. John was waiting for me just after mile 16. I remember walking up to him and telling him I'm going to die. He laughed along with all the other people around him. They told me to keep going. I really wanted to cry because in front of me I could see runners for miles ahead and it was slightly uphill.
We went along 1st Avenue in Manhattan for a while, from 59th street to 127th street. My legs and feet were so painful that I walked more than I ran starting at mile 18. The next bridge was the Willis avenue bridge from Manhattan to the Bronx. I only remember pain for a while. The last bridge went from the Bronx back to Manhattan (Madison Ave. Bridge). Mile 21 was right after the last bridge and John was waiting for me there. I was fighting back tears and the urge to quit since mile 14, but I had to keep going. It was like I had the devil and an angel on each shoulder- the devil telling me to quit and the angel telling me to give it my all and finish. I truly was angry at this point too because I felt like my legs had failed me. Yes, I know I didn't put as much training in as I should have but it was only the bottom half of me that was causing all the problems. I never felt out of breath and I never felt like I "hit the wall".
Looking back it was probably the fact that we walked and stood so much the 2 days before that it was like doing 2 marathons in 3 days. Not the best idea. I also wish I would have trained more, but that's kind of hard to do when you work 50-60 hours a week and have a new husband you want to spend time with. Oh well, anyway, back to the race.
John walked with me from mile 21 to mile 25.5. It was great that there were still tons of people out on the sidelines cheering me on. At 25.5 John couldn't be on the course anymore, so we split up. I ran my hardest until the finish and passed a lot of people on the way. Finally, the finish!!! I had a lot of mixed emotions because I was happy that it was over but soo disappointed in myself and mad at my legs/feet. Right before I finished there was a guy that proposed to his girlfriend as she was crossing the finish line.
During the race there were tons of people dressed up, such as : rabbit, bride (she had just gotten married), Eiffel tower, Uncle Sam, 2 guys in speedos, etc. There were a few celebrities that ran also such as Edward Norton, Alanis Morissette, Anthony Edwards, and Chrisopher Reeve's son. It was really inspiring to see all the people that ran for charities. They had the name of someone on the back of their shirt that they were running for. I have never seen so many people peeing before that day. They were all men who wouldn't stop and wait in line for the port-a-potties so they just peed on the side of the road. Apparantly that's a problem because in my race book it says, "Please refrain from urinating on the bridge- it is extremely unpleasant and dangerous (electrical equipment is housed on the bridge) to you and your fellow runners. NYRR reserves the right to disqualify anyone who does not use a portable toilet".
Reading the newspapers the next day, I didn't realize that this course was so difficult. Nobody does this race hoping to set a record. The world records are several minutes faster than the fastest anyone has every run the NYC marathon. I'm glad I didn't read that before the race.
It's also interesting to note that there were 43, 741 people running on Sunday (the biggest in the USA and also the most this marathon has ever seen). My dad sent me an article from USA Today that says since the first NYC marathon in 1970- there have been 818,790 starters and 787,887 finishers. It feels kind of good to know that I am one of only 700,000 people to finish and I'm just really glad I was not in last place. I placed 42, 075.
My finishing time was almost 60 minutes slower than what I wanted. I am quite embarrased with my time and refuse to write in on here. Let's just say the winner could have done 3 marathons in the same amount of time it took me to run 1. I know it's an accomplishment just to have finished, but it certainly doesn't feel good right now. I think I will stick with half marathons for a while and improve my time. I won't say I'm never going to do a marathon again, but at least not for a long time.
Two days later I am still very sore. I noticed 3 blisters on my foot this morning and realized my feet are still swollen. Hopefully that goes away soon.
Here are some interesting facts about the NYC marathon:
-100,000 people applied for 42,000 spots
-The course crosses 5 bridges and goes through all of NYC's boroughs (Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Manhattan)
-There are about 2 million spectators along the course
-$21 million was raised for charity through the runners
-The combined prize money for the winners was $800,000
-The budget for the entire event of 2009 was $22.8 million
-You can already sign up for the lottery for the next race- November 7, 2010
And here are some pictures:
Still smiling at mile 5. I'm feeling great that I'm about 1/5 done.
About mile 8- still feeling good but slowing down a bit. You can see the ground looks wet like it rained. But it was wet like that at every water/gatorade station from all the people throwing the water cups.
This was after mile 16 and I'm not too happy. I had just crossed the Queensboro Bridge that connects Queens to Manhattan. I used to shop at the Bed Bath and Beyond store that is right behind me.
Around mile 21. As you can clearly see by my face, I was seriously miserable. John walked/jogged with me until mile 25.5.
John had to get off the course so I ran as fast as I could the last 1/2 mile or so. I passed about 50 people.
My marathon shirt. It lists all the major areas in order of the marathon starting in Staten Island and finishing at Central Park. The finisher medal is huge and very heavy.
