The 2022 NYC Marathon

The 2022 NYC marathon – if you followed along at all, you already know that it was a hot day for November in NYC. I think that would be the TL:DR for this race – “It was hot, we felt like death.”

But if you’ve found this race recap, you’re probably looking for something a little more long winded than that simple summary. Before I get into it, let me mention that this post is going to have less photos than my standard recaps, and I apologize in advance for that. Unfortunately, my phone wasn’t very cooperative during this race, as it wound up drenched in sweat, which made it damn near impossible to use.

Race morning started with an early morning alarm, and excitement as I rolled myself out of bed, despite the early hour. I got myself dressed, pulled an (ultimately unnecessary) throwaway layer of clothes over my marathon outfit, and ate breakfast as I waited for my friends to arrive – I had arranged an early morning uber for Mike, Katie, Darren and myself, that would take us to the hotel that our bus to Staten Island would leave from.

As my friends arrived, they were as sleepy and excited as I was, and we piled into the uber as soon as it pulled up to the house. I felt like I needed to pinch myself, race morning had finally arrived. It was about a 45 minute drive to the hotel for the bus, and then an hour of waiting around and taking advantage of real bathrooms before we headed to the land of the porter potty. The morning would basically just be a lot of waiting around, as mike and I weren’t scheduled to start the race until 11:30 – and we had left my house around 5 am.

We met up with a bunch of my friends from Landshark Endurance (formerly known as the Merrick Bicycles Tri Team), and loaded onto the Staten Island busses together, and once we got to the club tent, set up as circle as we organized ourselves before heading into the start village. Darren had hooked us up with folding chairs, which was honestly brilliant of him – I don’t know why I had never thought of it before! Most of the team headed into the start village before Mike, Darren and I, as they had earlier start times, and when we looked around and saw the club area had emptied out, we decided it was time for us to go through security and into the village as well, even though we had another hour and a half to kill before our start time.

The three of us hung out in the start village, grabbed dunkin hats – despite it being already too warm to wear them, and just waited for the booming announcement that the wave 3 corrals were closed. Once it finally boomed over the loud speakers, we headed towards the porter potties one final time before going towards the corrals. There was no line, but there was also no toilet paper. Thankfully another woman saw me checking various stalls and pulled out a roll of TP and offered me some. I love prepared runners.

Once we had all used the bathroom, we began our final preparations with gel placements in our belts and body glide applications. We walked from the orange village to the corrals and lined up at corral b waiting for them to open. I took this opportunity to use the bathroom one last time before starting – I had been drinking so much water in anticipation of the hot weather that I felt like I endlessly had to pee and was hoping I wouldn’t feel that way on course.

As soon as I was out we were able to head into the corral, which was hot with the body heat from all the runners. Around 11:15 they started moving us forward, and out onto the Verrazano for our 11:30 start. The air was electric with nervous energy, as all of the runners prepared to start their 26.2 mile journey. The national anthem was sung, a cannon went off, and the shuffle forward over the start began, as Frank Sinatra’s voice rang out singing “New York, New York.”

Mike, Darren, and I made it to the start line together, but we lost Darren pretty much immediately after that, as he took off across the bridge. Mike and I were all smiles as we took in the excitement of the moment, of finally making it to the start of the NYC marathon together.

The focus of the beginning of the race was to keep a steady pace – I was aiming for about an 11:30, hoping that we could start there and then progress the pace faster later, like we did for our 20 mile long run. It was congested on the bridge, which was a stark difference from the 2021 race, which had a smaller field. But the runners all seemed so happy, and as usual people were climbing up on the middle barriers for selfies, and workers in trucks were blasting music and dancing as runners went by. When we finally made it to the downhill of the bridge, I realized the 5 hour pacer was right near us, and we tucked into their group for a bit.

On the exit of the bridge, a runner directly in front of Mike and I snagged her foot on the road and went down. We stopped to make sure she was ok, and when she got up and kept moving, we did as well. I hope that she went on to have a good race, because it is a tough break to fall in a race, especially that early.

We had lost the pace group, but managed to catch up to them before mile 2…. Only to then loose them around the mile 3 aid station.

As we made our way through Brooklyn, I was glad that I had decided to carry my handheld water bottle for the beginning of the race. I had it filled with liquid IV, since Gatorade tends to bother my stomach, and I wanted to make sure I was taking in enough electrolytes for the warm weather. I still grabbed water at each aid station that we ran through, and Mike and I would split for a second as I ran through and he walked, but then he would pop up beside me again a minute later.

Mentally, I had broken the marathon down into blocks between my spectators. The planned sightings looked like this:

Mile 8 - Dennis (my husband), Jude (mike’s husband), Tommy (my brother) and Sophie.

Mile 8.5 – Michal with the Landshark Endurance team cheering squad

Mile 12 – Jennie and her bother Matt

Mile 14 – My parents

Mile 16 – Dennis, Jude, Tommy and Sophie again

Mile 19 – Carson

Mile 23 – Jennie again

Mile 25 – Tommy and Sophie

Finish line seating – Dennis and Jude

I was so thankful that we would have so much support on course and looked forward to seeing my people at every opportunity. I am 100% the kind of runner that is highly motivated by seeing her people on course.

The first 8 miles were warm, but I was feeling good as we turned onto Atlantic Avenue and started looking for the first group. The crowds were wild at that point, and it brought a smile to my face every time some spotted my shirt and yelled “Happy Birthday!” It really made me feel like the whole world was out there cheering me on.

Tommy, Dennis and Sophie brought out the cat signs that my Mom and I made for the 2021 race, and it made them easy to spot despite the crowds. We pulled to the side and said hello, Mike grabbed his traditional marathon shot off of the poster Jude was holding, I passed off the dunkin hats I had grabbed at ft. Wadsworth and my handheld water bottle, which was empty at that point.

After we left our spectators and started moving forward on the course again, Mike and I started to drift apart as we ran. I don’t wear glasses when I run, so it is often hard for me to identify a face in a crowd, but I was able to spot Mike thanks to the bright orange BibRave cap he had on. He was feeling dehydrated, as we headed into mile 9, which was unfortunately one of the three miles on course that did not have aid stations. I was already kicking myself for passing my handheld water bottle off to Dennis but knew from past experience that if I had kept it, my shoulder would be in pain by the end of the race.

Throughout mile 9 and into mile 10 I kept pulling ahead of Mike, and then struggling to find him in the crowd. Eventually I told him that if he saw me pulling ahead he should call out, or I was going to wind up losing him all together. I felt so relieved when I saw the mile 10 aid station…. But then I saw that there were no cups visible. I kept running further into the station, assuming that later tables would have some, but they never did. And then I realized that people were drinking from jugs of water and Gatorade that volunteers were pouring into runners’ hands or directly into their mouth… can someone please explain to me how on earth NYRR let this happen, on a 75 degree day, after we dealt with a 2+ year pandemic? Despite my disappointment and disgust at the circumstances of this aid stop, I put my hands out and thanked the volunteer that poured water into them. But it was not the aid station that we needed. I hoped that the mile 11 station would be better, but texted Jennie, who would be at mile 12, and asked if she could get us water bottles, just in case.

Mike was feeling even worse after the lackluster aid station, and the gap between the two of us got even bigger as the race went on. Unfortunately, the aid station at mile 11 was even worse than the one at mile 10, as all of the bottles were being poured directly into people’s mouths, and I just could not talk myself into that level of communal water. There was a medical tent taking the “pour into the hands” approach, so I did wind up getting a handful of water there (I mean, how ridiculous does that sound?!).

As we approached mile 12, I completely lost Mike. I sent him a text, and spent about 5 minutes slowly walking backwards, trying to spot that orange cap. But then a text came in from him, telling me to keep going without him. I felt bad, but we had discussed it before the race and agreed that it was okay if we needed to split up and run our own races. I also felt like I needed to keep moving forward, and get to Jennie, who had water for me. The humidity and heat were already starting to make the day hard, and I needed the water she had. It was such a tease as we ran by the crowded parts of Brooklyn, where the streets were lined with spectators at restaurants, all holding various drinks. I seriously contemplated stopping and asking for a cup, not sure if this would be an issue for the rest of the race.

I spotted Jennie and her brother, and she held up a giant string of cats wearing birthday hats, which made me smile so big. She was cheering as I approached and handed me the best birthday gift – a giant bottle of cold water! I thanked her, gave her a very sweaty hug, and headed towards the end of the Brooklyn part of the race, and onto the Ed Kotch bridge, which spit me out in Queens!

My parents had driven into queens to spectate, and I knew I would spot them between miles 13 and 14, just after the bridge. They were decked out with home-made signs, and I laughed when I saw Mom had even made a frosty the snowman one, to help the runners think cool thoughts. Dad was smiling and holding not one but two phones as I ran up to them, capturing my approach. I gave them hugs, complained about the weather, and kept trekking forward.

By this point in the race, I was soaked to the bone with sweat. Every article of clothing I was wearing was completely wet. I had opted for a sports bra that had a pocket for my phone, but even that was so wet that any time I took my phone out I had to let it air dry for several minutes before I could take a photo or answer a text. It made it a little complicated to update my spectators, but I did manage to send out a message to Den and ask him to fill my water bottle and add a tube of liquid IV, then pass it back to me at mile 16, where I would spot him next. After the messed-up water stations, I did not want to rely on the race to have hydration for the rest of the miles ahead.

I crossed from queens into Manhattan, and as usual it was eerily quiet on the Queensborough bridge. It is a mental game as you cross into Manhattan, because with no spectators and another uphill climb, it’s hard to talk yourself out of walking. I did all I could to keep moving forward and enjoyed watching the skyline off the side of the bridge. As I approached the end of the bridge I could hear the crowds on 1st avenue and knew in less than a mile I would see more of my people.

The crowds lining 1st avenue did not disappoint, and I soaked in the cheers as I made my way along. Before mile 17 I spotted Sophie perched on Tom’s shoulders, cheering, and holding up a giant cat head poster. When I got closer to them I saw Den and Jude. Den passed me my water bottle, freshly filled up, and I made my best attempt at taking a selfie of us all, despite my phone really fighting me in the process- It was wet, and I had wet hands, which are not the best combo for phone use.

From there they would split into 2 spectating teams – Den and Jude would head for the finish line, and Tommy and Sophie would head for a point during mile 25, on the last stretch of 5th avenue before the final turn into central park.

The day was only getting harder, and I was struggling to keep myself motivated to move forward. But getting some electrolytes in from the handheld water bottle helped. I would see my friend Carson around mile 19, just before heading into the Bronx, and two bridges later I would find Jennie on course again in central park. This was my 10th marathon, and I have never seen so many runners struggling at aid stations and medical tents. at one point, a runner ahead of me straight up started puking in the middle of the road. I was able to get my water bottle refilled as I ran out of water, and even took an extra gel.

I was so focused on running as I got closer to the Bronx that I almost missed Carson cheering on the side of the road – as I got closer to her, I saw she was holding a “Happy birthday” sign, and a “Go Mike!” sign, and I thought to myself, what a coincidence, that she’s cheering for someone with a birthday, and someone named Mike – and then I realized that the Birthday sign was for me, and it was my friend holding it. I may have been a little delusional at that point. But I was so happy to see her, and it gave me the boost of motivation I needed to get from Manhattan into the Bronx.

At this point in the race my pace had slowed considerably. My dad had started texting me encouragement. As I left the bridge and entered the Bronx, he sent me a text that read “The Bronx loves you” and you know what I saw after looking up from reading the text on my watch? A big sign, with a heart that said the exact same thing. I almost cried when I spotted it.

I had forgotten just how long the Bronx feels when you are this deep into the marathon. I was struggling to take in water because I had to pee so bad. But I knew that I had to keep hydrating, so I made the decision to stop at a porter-potty, which luckily still had toilet paper. I felt much better once I was back on the road, and soon after accepted a water bottle from a spectator who was kindly handing them out. I had to constantly push myself to keep running, I wanted to just walk so bad at this point in the race. I told myself that I could just get back to Manhattan running, then I could take a break. With every corner we turned in the Bronx I expected to see that last damn bridge, and every time it wasn’t there I questioned if I could make it to the bridge… until, finally, I could see it, and knew that I would make it back into Manhattan.

I had taken a few walk breaks up until this point, and each one was harder to talk myself into running again after. So while on the bridge I decided to set my watch to run/walk intervals, knowing that I could skip the walk portions if I felt good, but mainly hoping that having the intervals would up my mental game, and keep me from walking too much. I went with a 2 min run/30 second walk.

I made it across that last damn bridge, and back into Manhattan. Now I just had to make it to central park. The sun was starting to set, and I really wanted to make it to the finish before it got dark. Thankfully, the crowds were still out in full force cheering, and putting a smile on my face each and every time someone shouted at me with wishes of “Happy birthday!”

Finally, I saw the sign welcoming me into central park, and made the right turn onto the familiar roads of central parks, where I have spent plenty of weekend mornings logging miles at the smaller NYRR races. I kept up with running intervals as I made my way through the park, looking for Jennie and her brother as I went, knowing that they would be in the park to cheer me on. As I ran, I spotted Darren, who I hadn’t seen since the Verrazano. We chatted for a minute, and griped about how the race was going. He had lost his salt early on, and was as over the warm weather as I was. We ran together for about a half mile, but then he opted to walk a little longer when I was ready to go into another run interval, and we parted ways.

Soon after I spotted Jennie, around mile 24. As much as I had struggled to make it through this race, I couldn’t believe that it was almost over. I gave her a quick hug and she cheered me on as I rejoined the runners moving through central park. Even though there were only two miles left, I would still get to see Tommy and Sophie at mile 25.5 and Dennis and Jude at the finish line grandstands. I willed myself to keep moving forward, even though my body was tired.

At this point I basically could not use my phone for anything other than reading messages that got relayed to my watch, as it was too wet to be useful. Tommy started sending messages saying that him and Sophie were going to have to abandon their spot and head to the dinner reservation we had booked, and I was super bummed, as I was almost to the little span of 59th street that you pop out onto before making the final turn back into central park, where I knew they were waiting. I has resigned myself to not seeing them, when during a walk interval I heard Tom cheering for me, and Sophie yelling out as well. I almost cried happy tears when I saw them, and it was exactly the push that I needed to start running again, and get myself to that finish line (Tom later explained that he had checked find my friends, and when they saw I was so close opted to wait for me to run by before going to check in to the dinner reservation).

I was back in the park, and in the end of the final mile. There were signs up telling me I only had 800 m to go – two laps of the track, I could do that. I could hear the finish, and the sides of the course were lined with spectators. 400 m to go. It was the end of the marathon. I came up one final hill and around a corner, and could see the finish line at last, as lit up as the sun went down. The grandstands lined the finish, and I spotted Dennis and Jude holding up a giant cat head, and smiled as they cheered me to the finish.

I crossed the finish line, and felt like I was in a dream. It was over, the race was done. I followed the stream of runners, barely aware of my surroundings, but with a smile plastered on my face. I got a medal from a volunteer, and picked up a recovery bag that was filled with snacks and drinks. I had run with the NYPD team, so a volunteer directed me to a tent right at the finish, and I got to avoid the very very long walk out of central park, instead plopping my butt in a chair in the NYPD tent for a few minutes, while I collected myself.

I was able to dry off my phone, and checked the tracking to see where Mike was at on the course. It was going to be about 40 minutes before he was projected to cross the finish, so I decided to make my way to meet Tommy and Sophie at the restaurant for dinner, that way I could change into dry clothes. I collected my checked bag, and hobbled my way out of the park. When I got to the security exit, Tommy was waiting to escort me to the restaurant, which was about a block away. He offered me a piggy back ride, which made me laugh – I was pretty sure I would not be able to jump up onto him, and instead handed him the bags I was carrying and took his arm, shifting some of my body weight onto him.

We were eating dinner at the Smith, and luckily the table was ready when we got there. We were a party of 8, Me, Tommy, Sophie, Carson and a friend of hers, plus Mike, Jude and Dennis, who would join us once Mike crossed the finish line. I was able to change into dry clothes and we ordered some apps while we waited for the rest of the group – I could probably write a whole blog post about the injustice of their bathroom being in the basement, but I’ll stop yammering on. Once everyone arrived, I ordered something bubbly for a group cheers, and did my best to eat a burger. It was delicious, but I struggle to eat after long races. It was a good call to eat before going home, as in past years I have felt delirious after making the hour plus trip home before eating post race.

We took the subway back to penn station, and the LIRR back home. It was a long, hard day, and there were moments that I wanted to quit, but I was proud of myself for continuing to show up and put one foot in front of the other.

I am also proud of Mike, who somehow managed to pull off a marathon PR despite the bad weather!

Week 13: Training for the NYC Marathon

I was so pooped after my long run Sunday, but despite an early bedtime the fatigue carried into Monday. I struggled and needed an afternoon cup of tea at work, just to make it through the day without feeling too sleepy. After work Mike and I met up and headed to a yoga class together, to get some movement and stretching in.

The rainy weather that started over the weekend persisted into Tuesday, and the rain was coming down hard that morning, so I opted to sleep in and get my run done after work, either on the treadmill or outside. When I got home from work it was windy and foggy, but the rain was a drizzle at most so I opted to head outside to run. I pulled on my “Run Visible” Brooks jacket, to make sure that I would be visible, despite the less than stellar weather. I only had 4 miles on my schedule, so I did a nice out and back rather than loops near my house. I took it easy, enjoying the chilly weather, and eventually warming up enough that I needed to peel the jacket off and wrap it around my waist (in that moment did I think about how the new version of this jacket has a feature where it can turn into a vest when you take it off? Yes. I will continue to try to resist buying it, as the one i have is perfectly functional). I knocked out my miles, feeling good overall. Once I was done with my run I headed to the gym with Sophie, and we got in a solid 45 mins of strength training.

The Wednesday morning forecast called for rain again, so I hoped that the weather would be better in the evening again. I slept in, and we had another day full of rain and even some thunderstorms. As I drove home from work the rain was in full force, but thankfully it slowed down, just as forecasted, right as I got home. I geared up and headed out for another solo run, this time 9 miles. I have been on an audiobook kick lately, and listened to “One of us is Next” as I ran and out and back and then loops around my neighborhood. It was a little drizzly still, but at least it wasn’t windy. As the sun went down both my light up gloves and vest started to die, and I hoped that they would last until I was finished, so that I wouldn’t wind up alone in the dark (thankfully, they just barely held on). I made a quick pit stop around mile 7.75 to chug some water, then did one final loop to finish out the 9 mile run. Even though I was tired and just wanted to shower and be lazy for the rest of the night (I am pretty sure only a runner would consider themselves “lazy” after running 9 miles….), I pulled open the peloton app and selected a 10 minute core class. My friend Katie and I agreed to keep each other accountable with our core work, and she tagged me when she got hers in earlier in the day after running, and I knew I spending the extra 10 minutes on a little strength would be worth it. I am still not sure if the class was really hard, or if I was just really fatigued.

On Thursday afternoon Sophie and I headed to the gym, and did a workout that focused on the upper body. This new gym that we started going to is often packed out in the weight room, making it hard to find space to use the dumbells, so we usually stick to the fixed machines, because it is just easier to find space that way. But tonight I finally felt comfortable enough to make space for myself to do the exercises I wanted to do, and it meant we wound up doing a good enough workout that I was sore for days after.

I had 5 more miles to squeeze in before the weekend, and when I got home from work on Friday Den was just finishing up power washing the house. I asked him if he would want to come on the first mile of my 5 mile run, and he surprisingly agreed! I slowed my pace to match his, and we did a one mile loop right by the house (he would spend the next three days limping around a little, as his muscles protested the fact that he moved them in an unfamiliar way – while he can handle himself on a bike, running is not really his wheelhouse). I continued on for the last 4 miles, challenging myself to get a little faster each mile, and pleased when I pulled off a progressive run.

That weekend I headed into the city to run the Staten island half with my friend carson. You can find my race recap HERE!

Week 11: training for the 2022 NYC Marathon

This is going to be a short one – it was an abbreviated week of running, that I built into my training plan when I made it earlier this year. I knew that I would be spending this week in vegas for work, spending 8 hours a day on the show floor at a convention. Combine the fatigue of standing all day with work dinners and a three-hour time difference, and I knew that there would not be much energy left over for running.

When I was packing I put three running outfits into my bag – in an ideal world I was hoping I would get in 2 four mile runs, and one 8 mile run, but knew that realistically with the time the gym opened every morning (6 am) and the time I needed to meet me team each day (8 am) plus getting myself ready every morning, it was unlikely that I would have time to get in 8 miles before having to head out one day. But I was confident that I could get in two mornings with 4 mile runs and save my long run for once I was back in NY.

Saturday was mostly a travel day, and Sunday was the first day on the show floor. By the time I got back to the hotel room those nights my body clock was screaming for bed – I am not good at time changes. But with the early bedtime on Sunday night, I managed to get up very early on Monday, and get to the gym right as it opened – I snagged the last treadmill that was available and watched some T.V. on my phone as I made my way through a 4 mile run. It was warm in the gym, and I was sweating by the time I was finished, but I was pleased with myself for getting up and making time to run. That night the whole team went out to dinner, and I indulged in some excellent fettuccine alfredo.

Tuesday morning was a wash, after being out with my team a little later because of the dinner. That night my employer treated us to a show, and we all went and saw the Beatles “Love” Cirque Du Solei show – the athleticism that the performers displayed was honestly amazing, and I could not believe how big the cast was when they came out for the curtain call at the end of the show. We all opted to walk back to our hotel after, which was a little over a mile away, so that we would get a chance to see the strip at least once.

I headed to bed right after the show, so was once again up early enough on Wednesday to get in a run. This time I thought to bring my iPad along, so that I had a bigger screen to watch T.V. on while I ran. The hotel gym was just as hot as the previous run, but thankfully not as crowded. I was able to get a treadmill again and tried to give a little progressive push as I made my way through the miles. When the distance rolled over the 4 mile mark I slowed down my treadmill, and headed back to my room to get ready for the last day of the convention – I work in the industrial baking industry, and it was a baking convention that I was attending, so I may have indulged in a few extra sweets during the week – I couldn’t resist when they were being made fresh on the show floor!

Thursday was a travel day again, and I was up bright and early to head to the airport. By the time I got home it was after 6 pm, thanks to the time change adding a few hours on to our travel. I was pooped after a busy week, and really happy to be back in my own bed.

When I got home, my cat Binx seemed to have picked up a little cold while I was away. I mention this because I always get nervous when he is sick, since he has had some health issues in the past. I kept an eye on it, and made him a vet appointment for the following Monday, the first slot our vet had available.

I still had to head to work on Friday, and I was wiped out between the time change and the busy week. It was a rest day because of that, and after work I took it easy. I headed to bed early, because Mike, Michal and I had signed up for the great south bay half marathon on Saturday morning – our training scheduled called for 13 miles anyway, so we figured we may as well do our training runs in a race setting, with aid stations and all to practice for the marathon.

Unfortunately, I did not get the relaxing night of sleep I was hoping for. Instead, I was woken up by my Binx sneezing in my face at 2 am, and then spent the next hour worrying over him as he was sneezing lots and clearly not feeling well. By 3 am I woke up my husband, and decided to take the cat to the emergency vet – I pay for pet insurance every month, so I may as well use it rather than stay up stressing with no solution in the middle of the night. Three hours later, after some blood work and examinations, they concluded that it was just a cold, and sent us home with some medicine for the little guy. We got home right as I my alarm went off around 5:15, the time I had been planning to get up for the race.

Mike was planning to pick me up at 6 am, and after some back and forth I decided to go to the race. Worst case I could walk or drop out of I felt too tired, but I felt ok, and figured I could just take a fat nap post-race. 

It was a chilly morning, and we found our friends Rob and Michal as we waited in line to pick up our race bibs. Once we had our numbers we headed back to the car, so we could keep warm as we waited for the race to start. The race was set to start at 7:30, and just after 7 I left my friends in the car and went to stand in the porter potty line. Mike and Michal found me near there, and the three of us headed to the start together.

We planned to just run by feel, and stick together throughout the race. The plan here was to use the race as a training run anyway, so no one was trying to PR or anything. The race started, and I struggled a little to get going. I set my watch to just show the time of day, and ignored it as it buzzed out with the pace for the first few miles, not talking much and just listening to Mike and Michal chat, glad that there were three of us so I could just hang out without contributing much. Eventually I settled in, and started to feel good – it was nice to finally have some “good” running weather, after a summer of hot and humid mornings. Somewhere around mile 4, Michal commented on our pace being good – I had been ignoring the pace, but gave into temptation and looked – low 10s, I was shocked. I dismissed the pace chatter, and told them I didn’t want to talk about it, as we plowed on.

Michal was carrying handheld water bottles, which is her plan for fall marathons, so she needed to stop to refill at an aid station. I felt like if I stopped running I would loose my groove, so when they walked to take care of a refill (and an untied shoe for Mike), I kept running and after a few minutes they caught up to me. The three of us kept chatting, and as we slipped into the later miles of the race, I was surprised at how good I felt. We kept that same rhythm of me running through aid stations and them catching up, until it happened around mile 10. I didn’t realize I was doing it at the time, but after a turnaround at an out and back, I realized that I had pulled further ahead than I expected to. I peeked at my watch, and saw that I was running a sub-10 minute mile…. And I felt good.

In the years that I have been running, I have always heard people talk about how the best way to “race” a half marathon is to keep a consistent pace for the first 10 miles, and then treat the last 3 miles like a 5k and leave it all out there. While I hadn’t meant to pick up the pace, I felt good – so I decided to go for it, and challenged myself to run the last three miles progressively faster. I ran my last three miles at a 9:49, a 9:28, and an 8:58. It wasn’t my fastest half, but I felt proud as I crossed the finish line – glad that I had shown up for the race and pushed myself at the end of it.

I waited by the finish for Mike and Michal to run through and learned that Mike even pulled off a PR that day! It was a good day for running all around.

It was a good morning for running, and then I went out with my husband, brother, and Sophie to celebrate Sophie’s birthday. The rest of the day was a bit of a wash, as I spent most of it napping after a hard effort that morning + a bad night of sleep the night before.

That half marathon was really a reminder of how much I love this sport, and it made me feel more like myself than I have in a long time.

Week 9: Training for the 2022 NYC Marathon

Well, week 9 means we are officially more than halfway through marathon training – yikes!

To be reflective for a moment, I think I am doing a really good job with my runs. So far, I have only missed 1 planned run in the last 9 weeks, which I feel is something to be proud of, On the other hand, while I was doing well with consistently strength training and cross training in the first month or so, I have not been doing a great job with it the last 2-3 weeks. So, my goal moving forward is to make sure that I am cross training at least twice a week, but hopefully a little more than that!

Monday was a travel day, as Den, Tommy and I made our way home from Atlanta. I really planned to run after work on Tuesday, but was so wiped out that I wound up going to bed before 8:30. After a full weekend of activities, my body was feeling the fatigue. I doubled down on Wednesday morning, telling myself that I was going to get up and run – and then it rained.

So, I texted Mike to see if he was around and free to run Wednesday night – lucky for me, he was planning to do his long run that night, as the weekend marked his husband’s birthday, and they had lots of celebrations planned that would keep him from having time to get it in then. So Mike ran 9 miles on his treadmill, and then met me at my house and we headed out for 7 miles together. It was getting darker by the minute by the minute, and I loaded up with lights, pulling on my flashing vest and my gloves with lights on them. I also pulled on a hat, since it was a little drizzly still.

I felt so stiff as we got moving and was reminded of alexi pappas’ quote about how when you are training you should feel great 1/3 of the time, ok 1/3 of the time, and crappy 1/3 of the time – this was definitely the crappy third. But at least I was with Mike, and we were able to chat to pass the time. It took 3 miles, but I eventually settled into the run and started to feel a bit better – not good per se, but not like I wanted to lay down on the floor and call the run done.

I reminded myself to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and to be thankful that I was capable of being out for a run. We talked about the tragic murder of Eliza Fletcher, and how she was killed while she was just out for a run, doing what she loved. Her death weighed heavy on both of our hearts, thinking about how she had young children, and how heartbroken her family must be.

By the time we finished our 7 miles, we were both dripping with sweat, and needed to chug some water. I got in from the run, ate some dinner, and went right to bed. It was a simple end to the night.

Even though I ran Wednesday night, I felt like I still wanted to get out Thursday morning and run a few miles. So I messaged Dad, and he agreed to accompany me on his bike. I got to his house and we went through our regular 3 mile loop, as the sun climbed higher into the sky. Soon, these runs are gonna be more dark than light. I felt good Thursday morning, and the weather was actually on the pleasant side. Dad even broke out his bike gloves so his hands wouldn’t get chilly.

That night I headed to the track with the merrick bicycle Tri Team – UCan was kind enough to send me a few boxes of their new pineapple gels to sample with the tri team, so Sami helped me organize a track night to hand them out. It was more on the informal side, and Mike and I opted to just run laps of the track rather than following a workout, pushing on the straights and recovering on the curves.

My next run was set for Saturday, and I had 16 miles on tap. All of my usual running crew was unavailable – Mike had done his run during the week, Katie and Michal had other plans, and my parents had headed to Hawaii for a two-week vacation, so I was on my own. I made the mistake of not setting an alarm, since I was going to be running solo anyway, and was shocked when I woke up around 10:30 am – my body had apparently decided I needed 12 hours of sleep! If it was colder, this would not have been an issue – but it was a hot day, with temps in the 80s and the sun high in the sky by the time I got outside. I really did not want to run 16 miles on the treadmill, so I decided to split my run in two – with 6.2 miles outside and 9.8 miles on the tread. I headed outside without water, figuring I would loop by my house at some point – but a little after mile 2 I ran by the local Starbucks and bought a water bottle, because I was so thirsty. Having the water bottle helped a lot though, and I was able to get through the rest of the outdoor miles without any issues – I even spotted my uncle along the way, out walking his dogs.

When I got back to the house, I set up a movie on the T.V. over my treadmill and got to work. The 10 miles on the tread were full struggle, to be honest. After waking up late and not eating much before starting my run, I was starting to get hungry as the day ticked into the afternoon, and after really having to push through every moment, I had to take a break at mile 13 and eat some real food – gels just weren’t cutting it at that point. I grabbed a bag of goldfish and wolfed them down, and immediately felt better after getting some food in my system. After that the last few miles weren’t necessarily “good,” but they were more manageable. I was very happy when I finally hit the 16-mile mark and got to abandon the treadmill.

I felt a bit disheartened when I finished the 16 mile run, but reminded myself that not every run can feel great – especially not every long run, and in this case I was dealing with less than ideal conditions, which were admittedly my own fault, since I decided to sleep in that morning and had to deal with the mid-day heat. But at the end of the day, I showed up, and got 16 miles underfoot – and that counts for something!

Sunday Mike and I headed into NYC for one of his favorite events – the 5th avenue mile. As the name implies, it is a one-mile race down 5th avenue in NYC. Since it starts later than most NYRR races, we opted to take the long island rail road into the city, instead of driving in, like we do for most races. We hopped on the train and then took a subway from Penn station to the MET, where Bib pickup was happening.
When we picked up our race numbers, they also gave us the race giveaway – a pair of shorts. We debated what to do with the shorts, and ultimately mike offered to run to the bag check at the finish like while I waited to use the porter potties, so that we would not have to come back to the bag check at the start after the race was over.

Mike and I were in the same corral, which was a deviation from the last time we ran this event – in the past even though we are the same age, we were split into the men and womens waves – but this time runners were split only by age, with no regards to gender, which meant we could start together.

After feeling like I had blown up during my long run the day before, I told Mike to leave me behind and run his own race, because I was nervous about going all out for a mile. The last time I ran this race I had pulled off a 6:53 – but this morning I was hoping to be able to go sub-8. Based off my current fitness, I felt like that was a realistic goal.

The race announcer counted down, and our corral was off. Mike jetted away, and I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, trying not to get swept up in the excitement and take off too fast. I set a pace alert on my watch to let me know if I ran faster than a 7 min/mi or slower than an 8 min/mi, and was resolved to not look at it as long as it was not yelling at me, and to run by feel.

There are course markers every quarter mile, and then every few hundred yards in the last quarter mile. 5th avenue is a sneaky uphill climb, where your legs start to feel tired even though you don’t necessarily see a hill. But I could feel when we shifted from uphill to downhill, and geared up my pace as much as I could. I was relieved when the finish line was finally in sight, and glided through with the last bit of effort I could muster – pulling off a 7:44 mile. My fastest mile in quite some time. At some point in the race I passed Mike, which I realized while looking around after crossing the finish line and spotting him behind me.

We headed right home after, since we had plans to go out to brunch for Mike’s husbands birthday. It was only a mile race, but getting to go to brunch after felt like a reward for a job well done.

Week 8: Training for the NYC marathon

This week was a bit different than the rest of my training for two reasons – first, I was heading to Atlanta for labor day weekend to visit my cousin, so I had re-arranged my long run schedule so that I would only have a 10-miler to do, and I planned to do it Thursday night instead of Saturday or Sunday. Second, my mom was sick, so my morning run support was more limited than usual.

Because of the travel I had planned, my calendar for the week looked like this:

Monday: 3 miles

Tuesday: 7 miles

Wednesday: Cross train

Thursday: 10 miles

Friday: 4 miles

I planned to run after work on Monday, to give my body a little extra time to recover after Sunday’s long run before getting back into things. I wound up with a giant blister on my big toe after Sunday’s long run, and that was my biggest concern when I headed out to run Monday night. I had it wrapped up with a blister band-aid, but still spent most of the run nervous that it had popped. It was a humid night, and I was drenched with sweat by the time that I finished my short three-mile run (remember in week one, where three miles felt like a lot? We have apparently made it to the point in marathon training when I can call three miles short again).

Tuesday Mike and I coordinated for an evening run, and I headed from my house to his house on foot, as he ran towards me. We found each other around the half-way point and continued local loops as the sun began to set. We chatted as we ran by the local library and the highschool, and l clicked on my light up vest as it got darker. We passed my house at mile 6.5, so I continued with Mike for ¼ mile as he started to head back to his house. With the little out and back at the end of the run, I managed to get in a even 7 miles.

I wasn’t really planning to run on Wednesday morning, but dad pushed me to get out there again. I worried that my legs would be tired after Tuesday night’s run, but the weather was mild Wednesday morning, and I rolled myself out of bed and drove over to my parent’s house. I just wanted to get in 3 miles, and dad and I took off on our usual 3 mile loop, chatting as we went. In September my parents will be travelling and unable to meet me for morning runs, so I wanted to take full advantage of having morning run company while I could. 

My original plan for the week was to do my long run Thursday night, but Dad offered to get up super early with me on Friday morning, so that I could run 10 miles before work. Since I knew I would have company Friday, I opted to take a rest day on Thursday, which gave me the time I needed to pack and prepare for my weekend trip to Atlanta.

10 miles before work meant a very early morning on Friday – My alarm clock went off at 4:30 am, and I was at my parent’s house before 5 am. Dad and I got out on the road just after 5, and since we were keeping it local, we began the first of many loops around his neighborhood. I wore my light up vest, as it was pitch dark when we started running, and the headlight on his bike blinked brightly. Eventually the sun started to come up, and I pulled on my sunglasses as to not be blinded any time we ran east. Slowly but surely I made it through the 10 miles, taking in a some U can before and about half-way through the run to stay fueled. I felt good, although a little tired, when I finished the run. I did have a reward waiting for myself at home – a delicious duck donut, as a little prize for getting up and putting in the work.

Mike had gotten in his long run on the treadmill Thursday night after I went to bed, and we were surprised when we learned that even though we did not run together, and I did not know his pace while I was running Friday morning, we had covered the same distance (which was planned) at the EXACT SAME PACE. I guess that bodes well for our plan of running the marathon together in November.

 After work on Friday Mike drove Dennis and I to the airport, and we met my brother Tommy there. The three of us flew into Atlanta together, and Jen was waiting for us at the airport with her husband Will to pick us up when we landed. We had such an amazing weekend together, between just hanging out and chatting, going into the city to explore restaurants on the beltline and heading north to some vineyards. It was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time, and I was glad that I got all of my runs in earlier in the week so that I felt comfortable just going with the flow, and not worrying about trying to squeeze a run in.

Enjoying a much needed break in Atlanta with my brother Tommy and my cousin Jen!

Week 7: Training for the 2022 NYC Marathon

It has been the kind of week where I really have to think about what I did on Monday as I sit down to write this – I have been so busy that one day has just flowed into the other, and the only common thread has been that I would like to go to bed early.

I was feeling good on Monday morning, it turns out that prioritizing recovery really does have an impact on your body after a long run! I slept in that morning, and after work I walked over to the pool and got in 30 minutes of laps. We have reached the point in the summer where people seem to have forgotten that the public pools exist, so despite warm temps, I was literally the only person in the pool for 90% of my swim. But that meant that I was able to snag the longest lap lane, so I was happy. When I got home after den had made pasta to go with the leftover sauce that we used to make pizza on Sunday, and it was delicious.

Tuesday morning I had three miles to get done, and as usual I headed to my parent’s house to run. Dad was having some technical difficulties with strava as we got going, and then I looked at my watch and saw my garmin was having issues too, reporting a completely inaccurate and impossibly fast pace – so I threw out the first 5 minutes of the run, and restarted my watch.

I felt really good that morning, despite the humidity. There were thunderstorms predicted for later that day, and the air was heavy in anticipation of them. As I made my way through the second mile I thought about how my brother, Tom, had been hitting the treadmill lately with the goal of 10-minute miles, and decided that for mile 3 I was going to push the pace, just to see how it would feel and what I could manage, without too much discomfort. By the end of the mile I was breathing heavy, and my heart rate was up, but my mile buzzer went off with a 9 minute mile, and given that I was struggling to run a 12 minute mile two months ago, I was freaking proud of that 9. After the run I took a 10-minute core class on the peloton app, and then a 5-minute post-run stretch.

I had to skip a run on Wednesday morning, to attend an annual memorial mass that my family has for my Grandma. My initial plan was to run after work, but during the day I while chatting with my running buddies, we decided to do our long run on Sunday instead of Saturday, so instead I decided I would run Thursday and Friday morning, since I would have Saturday to recover before my long run. I still fit some movement in on Wednesday and headed to a yoga class with my friend Nicole that night.

I got up even earlier than normal on Thursday, so that I would have time to get in 6 miles before work. I headed to my parents’ house, and we got outside while it was still dark. I ran along as the sun came up, keeping the pace easy, and just kept moving forward to get through the miles. Dad even made me breakfast when we got back to his house.

After work I met up with some members of the tri-team for a “bootcamp” style HIIT class. It was a “lower body” day, and we spend 45 minutes doing dynamic movements, banded exercises, and lots of squats. I was dripping with sweat by the end of the class, and proud that I had made it through 45 mins of intense strength training. I knew I was going to feel it the next day.

Remember how I said I was going to run Friday morning? Well, I had a failure to launch. After the HIIT class on Thursday night, my body was tired. I told myself that I would just run after work – which also turned out to be a lie. By the time I got home from work Friday night the muscle soreness had fully set into my legs, and I could not talk myself into going for a run. Instead I had an early bedtime, so that my early morning on Saturday would feel a little more tolerable.

In a rare occurrence, the early Saturday was not so that I could run, but instead so I could volunteer at a NYRR race with Mike! We headed into central park and helped man the bag check for the morning’s race. We had a good time helping runners out, and both agreed that if it wasn’t such a pain to get into central park we would do this more often. Once we got home from the race I spent the rest of the day relaxing, feeling a little stressed about the 15 miler we had planned for the next day.

It was another weekend of meeting up with Mike and Michal to get in our long runs together, and Michal and I were determined to do a better job with our salt experiment this time around. Michal set an alarm on her watch to remind us to take salt every 20 minutes as we ran along, and it really helped. I also managed to not drop my salt after the first use, so that was a plus as well.

I decided to run with my hydration vest, since it would just be the three of us out there with no support. In addition to water in the bladder, I popped a handheld water bottle filled with liquid IV into one of the front pouches, because I really did not want a repeat of the fatigue I felt after last weekend’s humid long run, and I felt like better fueling would help with that. I was also stocked up with Ucan and Huma gels (I didn’t have enough of one brand to get me through the whole run, so it was a bit of the mix and match game), which I planned to take every three miles. In the past I have typically done gels every 4-5 miles, but with the slower paces I am running these days plus the humid weather, I decided to fuel a little more frequently this week. I packed my knee strap in my vest, but hoped I would be able to get through the run without needing it.

After a slight morning delay, we still managed to get out onto the Bethpage trail before 7 am. We started our run heading north, with a plan to go out for 4.5 miles and then turn around, so that Mike and Michal could refill their waters at the car at mile 9, plus a stop at a local hotel for a water fountain refill around mile 5. We chatted as we made our way through the gentle rolling hills, and groaned in unison as we slogged through the two hills that really felt like climbs on this part of the run. We kept the pace conversational, and cheered our salt containers together when the alarm went off reminding us to take more.

We took turns talking about our lives, and I was reminded how thankful I am for my running friends – there is just something about suffering through a long run together that really bonds you together, and I don’t know how I would have survived the last year if it were not for the people that running has brought me together with.

It was humid, but the sky gave us cloud coverage that was amazing compared to the sunny skies of the previous weekend. We all felt good when we got to mile 9, happy that we just had to do 6 more to reach our goal of 15. This time we headed south on the trail, doing 3 miles before turning back, with a bathroom pit stop around mile 10. When we reached our turn around point at mile 12, I started to feel like I was getting a blister on my foot but tried not to think about it too much. The cloud coverage held, and while we were all tired as we approached mile 15, we agreed that we felt good! I was so happy when we reached the end of this run and could not stop telling Mike and Michal exactly that. It was the running confidence boost that I needed after the prior weekend’s difficult 12 miler.

We stretched together for a minute before loading into our cars and heading home, and when I peeled off my shoe I did discover a giant blister on the side of my big toe. Welp. At least it didn’t pop. But my runs were done for week 7, and I was happy with how the week had gone.