Pre-Marathon Photos

Today was a perfect day to go for a walk in the park and get myself pumped for Sunday. I was accompanied by my buddy Claire, who is also doing the race (her first marathon, too). We can't wait to toe the line and give it our best!

Final Countdown!

I never had the desire to run a marathon before, but 16 weeks ago, fresh out of surgery and wondering what the hell I was going to do, it became the obvious answer. It seems like just yesterday I was sneaking off to the treadmill, keeping my bandaged arm elevated while I ran to minimize the throbbing pain. I could get through a mile or two before I had to stop.

Ten days post-op, the healing was going well and I went into a removable brace instead of a cast. With that, I started running again in Central Park. Sure, I got some weird looks, but I was just happy to be out there. My days throughout July, August and September consisted mostly of training for the marathon and visiting the hand therapist. Not very exciting!

But here I am, less than a week to go, and I feel ready and excited for the day to finally arrive. My bib number is 9647 and I depart Staten Island in the first wave of runners at 9:40 am. My goal has been to run at a pace that will get me to the finish by around 1:00 pm. Athlete tracking, if you wish to do so, is available here: http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/athlete_alert.htm.

I can't wait!

A Successful Staten Island Recon Mission

Two weeks after the Cow Harbor 10k, I did the Staten Island 1/2 marathon. The race itself wasn't as important to me as taking a test trip downtown, to the ferry, across the river and to where the NYC Marathon will begin just weeks later. It was a reconnaissance mission of sorts. Of course, I wanted to get a good last-minute gauge of my fitness level as well.

Running through the closed Staten Island streets, not everyone was giving us a warm welcome. At the first turn, a woman who looked to be about 40 but was probably only 28 stood outside her car shouting, "you gotta be f-ing kidding me. You f-ing runners!" Awesome.

I started out at what I thought was a pace I wouldn't be able to hold for 13.1 miles, but as the miles ticked by, I felt good! My knee has been an issue for weeks, and I still felt it a little, but it wasn't terrible and the more I ran, the less it hurt. I think I did a really great job pacing myself, listening to my body and having fun while I was at it. I made sure I thanked the volunteers and even chatted a bit with a few fellow runners.

With three miles to go, I spotted a woman ahead and knew I could overtake her. I made my move as we cut around the inside of a turn and with that, she spit at me! Well, in my general direction making sure I heard her. Okay, maybe I cut her off. Whatever. She got her revenge. She ended up passing me, giving me a bit of a run for my money while she was at it, and went on to finish about 30 seconds before me. I thanked her after the race. I learned something from that experience. Well, a couple of things!

I finished 25th woman overall and 3rd in my division. I didn't stick around to find this out because I really just wanted to get back home, so I had to go to the New York Roadrunner headquarters to pick up my award later in the week. I should have looked at the award, but instead I just stuck it in my bag and walked home. I get home, take it out of my bag. Oh, that's nice. Wait. "Men - 35-39 - 3rd Place." Oh shit.