Race Report: 2018 New York City Marathon

This post contains my race report for the 2018 New York City Marathon.  

Race information

• What? New York City Marathon
• When? 4 November 2018
• How far? 26.2 miles
• Where? New York City, New York, USA
• Website: http://www.tscnycmarathon.com/

Goals

Training

I began my road to the New York Marathon almost a year before the race.  After finishing both the London and Berlin Marathons in 2016, I took a slight break in my quest to become a Six Star Finisher; however, that didn’t stop me from planning my goal race dates and strategy.

I knew NYC was the race I wanted to run next.

Leading up to this marathon, I had one goal in mind – to PR – in NYC and I was well on my way to do so.  However, my goal to PR soon became a pipe dream.

My training for this marathon was quite erratic for a variety of personal reasons, but the headline issue was my first major injury.  I’ve been incredibly lucky in my previous training to only have a pull here or a slight pain there, which often sorted after a few days care and rest.

This was a bit of a different beast.

Injury

After waking up with a stiff neck one day, I learned I had a myofascial trigger point compression and a pinched nerve; this left me with pain in the right side of my neck, back of my shoulder, and down my arm (and to my finger tips on especially bad days).  Injury was new territory for me.

After months of chiropractor appointments, regular treatment, and smart running afforded me some room to remain active, but nothing near my usual training programme for a race.  A week or two before the race, self-doubt consumed me and I struggled to decide if I should even show up at the start line.

However, in speaking with my husband, I came to a resolute determination.  My shoulder was getting (mostly) better and, though I didn’t train as much as I had wanted, I had a good base of running and I also had experience on my side.

I could at least show up at the start line and safely run as much of the race that I could with the promise to myself that if I couldn’t do it, I would stop.

I scheduled my chiropractor appointments carefully leading up to the race and made sure to avoid carrying anything heavy with my right arm.  I carefully KT taped my back, shoulder, and neck to support it on race day.

Advertisement

Pre-race

Traveling to the start line in Staten Island from my hotel in Midtown Manhattan was a marathon unto itself.  Had I known how much traveling to the start would take it out of me, I would have chosen a different method of transportation.

I had originally wanted to take the Public Library buses and wish I had stuck with it, but the volunteers at the expo wanted me to have more sleep instead.  Multiple volunteers told me to take the 8:30am Staten Island Ferry.  I would have had to have been at the NY Public Library by 6:45am and I was starting at 11am in Wave 4, so the logic of it made sense.

However, I like to get to the race start early and relax – even if it’s somewhat cold – so I compromised and opted to take the 8:00am ferry ticket instead.  It turned out to be a good call on my part.

As impressive it was to ferry past the Statue of Liberty, the logistics to the start area were just too much.  This was my first marathon where the start and the finish weren’t in the relative same location.  I was used to rolling out of bed – and clearly, with 50,000 runners in the biggest marathon in the world, I never thought race logistics were going to be simple, but I don’t think I realised how much it was.

All in all, I spent way more time on my feet than I would have liked, especially waiting for the bus.

I left the hotel at 7am and took the metro to Whitechapel, waited for the 8am SI ferry, and waited for the bus to the start area.

By the time I arrived at the start area, I had about 10 minutes to get off the bus, use a porta potty, check my bag at bag check, and get into my corral by its 10:45am close.

Not relaxing in the slightest!  I luckily managed to catch a quick coffee and bagel with butter at the Staten Island Ferry station.

Miles 1 to 13

The starting corrals were bursting with energy and with the singing of the national anthem, the howitzer cannon, and a booming rendition of Sinatra’s New York, New York, our wave was off.  Half the wave started on the top of the bridge, the other half ran on the bottom.

I ran on the bottom deck and it was cold in the shade of the upper deck so I kept my extra layer until I was back in the sun again.  I tossed it as soon as I crossed the bridge.  (Later, I came to regret this decision.)

The first seven miles go quickly after you cross the bridge; I paced myself quite strictly the first half of the race, knowing that I was going to need every ounce of energy to cross that finish line.  I ran 4 minutes and walked 30 seconds, keeping about a respectable 13-14 minute pace.

The crowd and signs were amazing and many ended up being a blur; I high-fives kids who stood with their hands out and gave thumbs up to signs reminding me to vote.

But the best part of the marathon was the setting of New York City.

Miles 14 to 17

This is where I made a bad decision.  I mistakenly tried to run with a large pace group who met up with me and were running close to my slow race strategy; this worked for a couple of miles, but around mile 16, I dropped back when I became a bit woozy and felt a bit overheated.  I walked for a bit and recovered, berated myself for my silly decision, and resumed my previous strategy.

Running over the Queensboro Bridge, I walked up it to conserve energy and tried to run down it; however, my left knee started tweaking and didn’t like running on the slight downhill, so I continued to walk until the ground evened out.  My knee remained quiet for the rest of the marathon.

Miles 18 to 22

The best part of the race was spotting my husband in the crowd – once at mile 18 and again near Central Park at Mile 22; seeing him both times gave me boosts of energy and, looking back on my splits, were some of my fastest miles in the race!

Around Mile 19 or 20, the sun began to set and the chill began to seep into my bones. I regretted throwing off the layer at the beginning of the race, wishing I had instead tied it about my waist.  I actually started to examine discarded race clothes to see if there was anything to help keep my hands warm, but I found nothing.  I bedded down and kept focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and kept moving my hands to try to warm them up, which now felt like ice blocks.

When we reached Central Park, the road was quiet and oddly dark, all the runners shuffling together in the night toward our common goal.  I used the energy and the quiet determination to move me forward and, after walking for a spell again, began my final stretch to the finish line.

Miles 23 to 26.2

When I reached Mile 23, I kept telling myself it was just a park run to the finish line.  It was dark.  It was late.  I was tired and cold.  My feet ached.  The running field was thinning out.  But I knew it was getting close to the end.

Just a Park Run.  That became my mantra.  Just a Saturday Park Run.  I ignored the fact that this was a Park Run preceded by 23 miles.

This psychology worked for me; I ticked off the miles in my head and my Garmin watch; by this time, allowed myself to walk as much as I liked, but with the aim to run as much as possible.  For these miles, it was actually easier to run slowly than to walk.

My times had shifted slower to 15 mins+ range at this point, but I didn’t think about that; my goal had always been to just show up at the start line.  To finish, regardless of time, would be amazing.

When I reached the final turn in Central Park, the music and announcer spurred me on; I made my way down the home stretch, the finish line lit up like an ethereal portal at the end of the black roads of Central Park, and crossed the finish line.

Advertisement

Post-race

I received my medal with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face.  It was my worst marathon finish with my worst time in all twelve previous races, but I was just as proud for finishing – if not prouder – than the race where I PRed.

I did it.  Against all odds, with an injury I just couldn’t shake, I did it.  Four stars of my six stars now completed.

The finisher’s shoot, with its limited amount of runners coming through, was practically deserted after I claimed my medal and potato foil save for the medical and race volunteers.  The recovery bag was absolutely amazing – a clear plastic drawstring backpack filled with water, Powerade, a chocolate protein shake, a protein bar, apple – was a very welcome sight.

And oh my god, there were Snyder’s Pretzels.  I love Snyder’s Pretzels so much.  They are my go-to recovery food after long runs and I can’t imagine running without them.  So much so I checked a bag at the start solely so I could bring my own Snyder’s Pretzels in case they didn’t have them!

It was a bit of a mission to retrieve my checked bag – I think they were working on moving the bags closer to the finish line – and it was a bit like waiting to order at a crowded bar.  I managed to get my bag and then I then shuffled out at 76th street and made my way, very slowly, to meet my husband at 65th at the family reunion area.

My feet were aching, my legs tired, as we made our way back to the hotel for a well-deserved New York style pizza to celebrate.

Next few days

Sight seeing, eating lots of food, and had a wonderful massage I had pre-booked at Body Balance Massage Therapy NYC.  Highly recommended – one of the best sports massages I’ve ever had!  Hands down.

My shoulder surprisingly felt fine after the marathon and after the massage.

What’s next?

2019 Tokyo Marathon with, hopefully, a semblance of normal training.

Credit: This post layout was generated using the new race reportr, a tool built by reddit user /u/BBQLays for making organised, easy-to-read, and beautiful race reports.  I adapted it to html for this blog post.