2018 New York City Marathon – Race Recap

For three out of the last four years, the New York City Marathon has been without a doubt my favorite day of the year. It is a day filled with accomplishment, unity, strength, determination, excitement and so much more. Millions of people gather in the 5 boroughs to cheer on 50,000+ runners from all around the world who have spent the better part of the year training their a$$es off for one day. New York is my favorite city in the world and to having been able to experience this wonderful event for a third time, I feel truly blessed.

Training this year was so hard. The heat was debilitating. But in early October when that wave 2, orange corral assignment dropped…our excitement sky rocketed. This was the first year we had submitted a race time to get into a preferred corral. We submitted our sub-2 hour half marathon from February. And boy did it pay off – we got exactly what we wanted. Wave 2, Orange meant that we were going to be able to start our race at 10:15 am (the very next time slot after the elite men) and on the top of the bridge!

We landed in NYC early Friday morning (the race being Sunday) and headed to check in to our hotel. As superstitious as we are, we surprisingly did not chose to stay at our normal Downtown Brooklyn Aloft. At around $50 less a night, we chose to stay right next door. We immediately dropped our bags and headed into the city. We don’t like to tour quite so much as to try and not tire out our legs, but knowing that Saturday would be pretty sedentary, we were able to do a little bit of sightseeing. We met up with my parents around lunch time and grabbed a bite before heading to the expo.

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We were all running with Team For Kids this time around so we were able to all pick up our bibs at the same counter. I felt like the expo was really crowded. I was excited because I had my eye on a new singlet…New Balance was the sponsor of the race (as opposed to Asics in years past), so I was looking forward to a new round of gear. I loved the NB singlet that had been sent for our Team For Kids training, and that I would go on to wear on race day, but much to my disappointment, nothing at the expo had the same cut. Adam and I purchased a few little mementos but nothing crazy struck our eye.

After the expo we made our way to our favorite lounge spot at The Roosevelt Hotel in midtown. I love that hotel so much and it’s just a stone’s throw to our routine Friday night Italian dinner at Nino’s 46.

Saturday mooring rolled around and it came time for our last training run – an easy 2 miler at the hotel gym. We were up a little earlier so that we had time to make it to the NYC Clemson Club’s gathering for their noon kickoff football game. Pizza for lunch, grilled chicken salad for dinner and a textbook day-before-the-big-race.

Daylight savings is always on our side for this race. Though an “extra hour” doesn’t do too much when the excitement takes over the whole night. Dad was at our hotel by 6am and we were off. A quick subway ride and we were about to get on the Staten Island Ferry. One of our favorite parts of race day. Everyone is just so excited to finally be there and ready to see what they can make of weeks and months and years of training.

I have always said that I run to have fun. And I still very much hold true to that. However, this year was different for us. It had been two years since our last marathon and as you know, we spent 2017 training hard and racing for PRs. We were there to have a blast, but to crush our full marathon personal best.

The anticipated hour-long bus ride from the ferry to the start village really tries it’s best to get everyone down. We know now not to drink liquids that morning until we’re about 30 minutes into the bus ride and we just know it’s coming. BUT, we made it to the start village. When we ran Adam’s first New York in 2016, we had little to no time in the village. We were rushed to get into our corral after the bus and so we made it a goal of ours to get him there with a lot of time to spare. It’s part of race day. Being surrounded by runners from all walks of life ready to experience the greatest marathon in the world is something that cannot and should not be overlooked. We were able to see the elite women go off from the base of the bridge and our excitement and determination just continued to grow.

About 20 minutes before the corral start time, runners begin to move from the actual corral in the start village to the base of the Verrazano Bridge. Thousands of people moving so slow, cheering, taking selfies, nerves. I remember what song was playing when we got to the base of the Bridge – “Shake it Out” by Florence + The Machine. It was electrifying. They mayor of New York is there along with the president of the NYRR (New York Road Runners), the Grand Marshall and other notable marathon figures. They give us their pep talk and queue Frank Sinatra’s “New York”. I could relive that moment over and over again.

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Push start on the Garmin and we were off. The first two miles of this race take place on the Verrazano Bridge and against every race rule in the books, these were our fastest two miles of the day. The first mile because of pure excitement and the second mile because it’s the biggest downhill of the course. We stepped into Brooklyn around mile 2.5 and it was buzzing more than ever before. We were eager to get to 8 because that would be the first sight on our family. But when we got there, we were in awe at how fast it was going by. We spent the next hour gabbing, laughing at spectators’ signs, soaking up their energy, and simultaneously trying to PR but make time slow down because we were having too much fun for it to be over.

Brooklyn and Queens are just so full of life. The spectators all represent the different neighborhoods that we travel through. 2.5 hours and 15 miles later…we were climbing our third and toughest bridge of the day. But it’s the bridge that comes with the very best views. Mom and family were waiting for us on 1^st Avenue around mile 17. They had texted me where they were and thank goodness they did because 1^st Avenue was PACKED! Part of the reason we were so excited to start in the early wave was for the crowds, and boy did they show out. We traveled several miles up and before we knew it we were in the Bronx, our fifth borough, but we had to get back to Manhattan before the finish line. The Bronx is quick (only about a mile or two), but it’s spicy. It’s quieter, but it gave us time to prepare for what was coming. Though an amazing part of the race, the climb up 5^th Avenue after the Bronx is mentally tough. It’s a steady incline and mentally draining. But the crowds. THEY make the NY Marathon so great and they fueled nearly every step to that finish line.

Turning into Central Park near the end, we knew we were going to PR. We actually knew we were going to crush our PR. We had earned it and we had worked so hard for it. 50 minutes off of our previous time.

Our official finish time was 4:42:54.

We crossed with smiles across our faces and made the photographers take like a million pictures of us in all our glory (see below!). But let me tell you…I was hurting. The “Green Mile” as I call it – the walk through Central Park that you HAVE to take after finishing the marathon before being allowed to enter back into civilization. Let me just talk about it for a minute…

Ok, I get that logistically they have to do it and yes, it is good for everyone’s bodies to walk it out instead of just falling out after 26.2. But it is harder to manage than the race. Race volunteers do provide recovery bags. They were a little bit further than I would have liked this go around as I was so thirsty, but they were there shortly after the medals were handed out. They also hand out heat sheets which, for the third year in a row, I did not take and regretted it. TAKE THE HEAT SHEET! The walk is long and honestly took us about an hour to make it out to our family meeting area. After you make it out of the park, if you did not have to use baggage claim, you’re awarded a post-race poncho. You can literally walk up to the volunteer and they put it over your shoulders and wrap you up and make you all warm and cozy and even give you a congratulations hug if you want one. I wanted one. I needed one.

And now I pose the question of what is the point of running a full marathon if you cannot indulge in two dinners afterwards?? We headed back to Brooklyn for Mexican first dinner (chips and salsa and an adult bev) and then to Shake Shack for second dinner (shack burger and fries).

It was the perfect day filled with my favorite people together in my favorite city. I can say with confidence this will not be the last time I run the New York City Marathon. It may be a few years and I’d like to get a few other world majors under my belt first…but I we will be back. For now, it will always hold the most special place in my heart and I still am in awe that I am a three time marathoner.

Marathon Monday – 2018 New York City Marathon – 11/04/2018

Training for the 2018 New York City Marathon has officially kicked off (2 weeks ago!). We signed up the day of last year’s marathon (we had serious FOMO watching it on TV) so we’ve kind of been training since then. The last marathon I ran was the NYC Marathon in 2016 (see my recap here and Adam’s first time marathoner recap here); and we spent 2017 running all sorts of races around town and PR’ing like crazy.

So far this year, I we PR’d our half marathon with a sub-2 (13.1 miles of running in under 2 hours!) and have been doing a lot of speedwork and strength training. My first two marathon training programs focused mostly on distance and getting my milage up, and I sprinkled in a few cross training exercises a week (which for me was mostly walking, yoga or biking). This time around I will be incorporating weekly speed work and/or tempo runs and a good bit of strength training. 

I have been working to put together the perfect plan for myself (and Adam!) over the past couple of months and I am excited to share it.

My weeks go Monday – Sunday. The orange column is total running miles and the blue column is the week we’re on.

 

If you haven’t been following me for a while, here are the basics for how I build my marathon plan (also discussed here and here):

• I make a plan based off of three week blocks: two weeks of build and one week of recovery where I decrease my mileage so my legs can recover.
• I need to have at least one day off a week. For mental sanity, physical recovery, etc. For me, it’s usually the day before my long run but not always (usually Fridays with a long run Saturday). I also think that recovery will be extra important this go-around because I will be pushing myself harder than before.
• My favorite cross train activities are walking, cycling and yoga. I am also trying to do at least two strength classes a week as well, such as barre or Pilates.
• I run a shakeout after most of my long runs. I think it’s important to run on tired legs to get your body used to it, but I do this run slow and usually on the treadmill to control speed.
• I take my recovery weeks seriously. This plan has worked for me in the past and I know that my body needs those weeks to cut back and realign..I do not lose fitness during those weeks!
• I try to do one or two races during training. This time, we will probably run a half marathon the weekend that I have slated for 14 miles. Running a race in the middle of training reminds you how fun racing is, it keeps you focused, and it reminds you why you put in the work.
• I have three weeks of taper…the dreaded taper! Again, I’m not losing fitness. I am just giving my body time to recover and prepare for the 26.2.

 

I love the marathon. Honestly, if it wasn’t so expensive to do them, I would probably do more. (But let’s face it… race fees, shoes, gear, nutrition, travel, etc. will add up quick!) I just love being a distance runner. I am a true supporter of the statement that fall PR’s are made in the heat of the summer. Training for any marathon is extremely difficult but since New York is always the first Sunday in November, the peak of training always falls during the hottest time of the year for those of us here in the Southeast. It is daunting but I know the hard training will make us better and it will make race day that much sweeter.

Here are some of my favorite pics from my last two New York Marathons:

First NYC Marathon Expo – Javits Center

Mile 8 Selfie

Mile 14 Selfie

Mile 16 Selfie on the Queensboro Bridge

FINISHER!

My rock and biggest support through the whole training experience.

So excited for the 2016 journey together

Mile 16 Selfie on the Queensboro Bridge

Dab.

 

Run long. Run hard. But never outrun your joy of running.

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Mountains To Main Half Marathon – Race Recap

If this camera man didn’t catch such an epic finish….I don’t know her but I think we’d be fast friends!

 

This past weekend was mine and Adam’s last long race of the season (we’ll probably do some 5k’s over the summer but nothing over that). The fact that I had just run the Diva’s Half two weekends ago and that it was going to be literally so so hot, we threw the goal of a PR out the window and set out to just have a good time.

There were 400 runners, which is a relatively small half. I believe this was only the second year of this race. There was a triathlon on Sunday as well for this event, but I heard it was cancelled due to rain.

 

The Expo:

The expo was Friday from 2-6 (though I think you could pick up your bib race morning), which was kind of inconvenient. I like to usually go during my lunch hour and spend some time perusing the vendors. However, I just popped over at 2 to grab our numbers and shirts. Let me just say I LOVE the shirts we got.

There were a lot of vendors set up outside of where packet pickup was, but since it was pushing 90 degrees that afternoon, I skirted out pretty quickly. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before.

 

The Race:

The course itself was nothing we hadn’t seen before. It started in Travelers Rest and did about a two mile loop before heading down the Swamp Rabbit Trail towards downtown Greenville. The only difference between this course and the Swamp Rabbit Half we did back in February was the beginning loop and this race did a loop around the Furman Lake, which included a massive hill but it was a nice change of pace from the Trail. Otherwise, it was a pretty familiar run for Adam and I. It was no surprise around mile 11 when we ran head on into a snake making its way across the trail. They are out in full force right now so I was half expecting it. Luckily there were a handful of people around and it was right by an aid station so I felt better than if it were just Adam and I. It was probably just a harmless black snake but honestly we didn’t stick around to find out. Adam handled it like a champ (despite snakes being his biggest fear) and led a group of lady runners across the threshold. He picked up the pace a little after that ;).

We gel’d twice, once at mile 5.5 and then we split a gel at mile 9.5. There were also aid stations about every mile/mile and a half. I think there may have been more setup than the race website originally said, which was good for the heat. They also served gatorade and water at everyone and the website said there would only be water. We got water at every stop to make sure we didn’t dehydrate and like I said, we weren’t going for time.  

The sky stayed pretty overcast most of the race but by mile 11.5 the sun was out in full force. We pushed through the last leg. At the finish shoot we saw a couple in front of us and I looked at Adam and said “let’s beat ‘em!”. So we ran ahead and the woman decided she didn’t want to go out without a fight so she kicked it into gear also. We raced across the line neck and neck hearing the crowd cheer us on. We crossed with huge smiles on our faces, laughing and gave a big high five and congratulations. That is why we run.

 

Post Race:

Post race was awesome. They handed out waters at the finish line along with our medals and then it was just a short step over to the fuel tent. There were plenty of post-race recovery options, along with a ton of food and BEER! Each runner had a food ticket and a drink ticket and everything was also available for sale for spectators. We didn’t use our food ticket because we had planned to eat afterwards but we used our drink ticket!

 

I think we’d be interested in doing this one again next year. As long as you’re prepared for the heat, it’s a fun run and it was well supported (logistically, not so much crowds). But that’s the good thing about running with Adam. We don’t necessarily need the crowd support because we have each other. This was my 8th half marathon and my 6th medal this year #irunforthebling. It was a great finish to the season, especially after starting the year not really knowing where running was going to take us. I am proud of how much we’ve accomplished already this year and am excited to find out what miles are next!

 

Cruising to the finish!

 

Adam’s 5th half!

 

My 8th half!

 

My 2017

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Divas Half Marathon N. Myrtle Beach – Race Recap

This weekend was one for the books. I love this race so much, and I would definitely love to experience some of their other event locations at some point. Maybe wine country of DC or Puerto Rico! Regardless, this event is about women supporting other women, achieving an amazing goal, and having fun! It is full of pink and tutus and I hope that me and my mother can do it again sometime sooner rather than later.

Mom had a bit of a confidence struggle mid-race, which we knew she would. Hopefully I talked her off the ledge when she was feeling down on herself. She was afraid she would disappoint us, even though we all told her that she got to the start line so no matter how the race went, she was NOT a disappointment. I am so proud of how she persevered. She’s had so much going on the past few weeks and it would have been easy to call a quits. I know it wasn’t easy on her having to get up and run, work a full day and then run across town to the hospital for a visit. But she put in the miles and we all knew that. We had no doubt that she’d finish, and she did and she did it running across that finish line!

In terms of weather, I couldn’t have asked for a better morning. The race starts at 7am which helps when it comes to the May beach heat. But it was mid-50s and breezy when we started and I don’t think it really got above 60.

 

The Expo

The expo was pretty big, as I remember it was two years ago. It was not well marked in terms of bibs were at the back of one room, and shirt pickup was in a different room. But there was a lot of merchandise to look at vendors so visit. I ended up buying a singlet for BOGO, so mom got one too. The one I bought two years ago is one of my favorite running tops to wear so it’s wearing thin and I needed a new one. Plus you really can’t beat $11 for a tank. Other than the shirt I bought, I didn’t see a whole lot of “Divas” merch that I loved. A lot of their stuff seemed to be heavier, cotton-type material that I do not prefer to run in.

There was a Fleet Feet table set up and we were able to buy our Huma gels at buy 3, get 1 so we stocked up since they are so hard to find. We snapped a few pics but really didn’t stay too long.

 

The Event

Parking was easy. The race sends out acceptable parking lots and we were able to find one just a few blocks from the start and finish with an easy exit to the interstate. There was a buzz before we started and everyone seemed genuinely excited to be out on such a beautiful day.

The 5k event went off at 7am and the half started shortly after at 7:10. There are no corrals but there are pacers and timing markers at the start line.There were ample water and aid stations and the course was pretty well supported.

This race was pretty easy for me in terms of actually running the miles. By the end of it, I honestly felt like I could have done it again. It was a confidence boost in terms of my physical fitness and for next week’s half that I have mentioned before, the one where Adam is really hoping for a PR…I love the fact that I can go out and run 13 miles while barely breaking a sweat ;). I loved that I got to wear my tutu the whole race. I thought to myself that if there was ever a time, that was it. It was so fun to just be carefree and enjoy the moment. My dad and Adam said they had a great time and they were awesome support. We saw them at the start and finish and then three other times throughout the race. It was nice to have extra encouragement out on the course. 

We came in at 2:31:53…two seconds off from our time two years ago. If that isn’t a testament to my mom that she can do it, then I don’t know what is! I am so proud and will cherish these memories forever!

TBT: April 2015 to mom’s first half and our first Divas experience!