Race Recap: NYCM

[brooke77]

TLDR: NYC is amazing! Sign up!

NYC Marathon was my 4th marathon. It was my slowest at 4:44, but probably one of my favorites! I headed down to NYC from Boston on Friday night with my DH and DS. We hit the expo on Saturday. The expo is HUGE! I wish I had given myself more time to spend at the expo, but I was meeting up with friends in the early afternoon so I ended up only having about an hour.  I got my bib, shirt, and GU and had to leave.  I'm bummed because now all the gear is sold out online.  Oh well.  DH and DS headed off to NJ to spend the night with friends so I could spend the night alone in NYC with my friends and also spend race-night alone in the hotel. 

I woke up around 6:00 am race morning (plus an extra hour due to daylight savings!).  I ate a bagel and coffee, got dressed, and walked a block or so to take the 6:30 am bus to Staten Island.  My bus got lost on the way.  We ended up getting to SI at around 8:30.  I wasn't starting until 10:40, but a lot of people on my bus missed their waves =(  I stood in line for the port-a-potties (grossest experience ever).  Ate a banana.  And before I knew, it, my 10:40, corral opened and we were lining up.  The excitement and energy was really amazing.  The canons went off and we started.

I was in the orange corral so we started on top of the bridge.  I knew this wasn't a PR race for me, so I stopped and took pictures.  I paid zero attention to pacing/speed.  I was just soaking it all in.  It was really so amazing.  Those first few miles just flew by (I was doing a 9ish miles pace - so really just letting myself make all the marathon mistakes).  The whole marathon was really great.  The crowds never really let up and I really loved that.  I guess the tracking app was off though because I was supposed to see friends at 4 different areas and missed them all =(  Luckily I noticed my son and husband as I was running by them in central park near the end!  I would have been devastated if I missed them. 

The course was really challenging, but I really loved it.  My biggest issue was with the start time.  In retrospect, I was way dehydrated/underfueled.  I didn't pee at all during the marathon (which is really unusual for me) or after.  The first time I peed was the next morning.  I started really cramping during around mile 18 of the race and got really sick/neauseas/dryheaving as soon as I finished (which made the walk to the exit sooooooooo sucky --- there were tears).  In retrospect, I'm used starting marathons at 7 and finishing in 4ish hours, so around 11/11:15 - and this one I was starting around 11 - so I did not adjust my fueling technique properly!  My stomach was grumbling as I was starting!  Despite getting sick though, I would definitely recommend NYCM!  It was such a great race and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to run it! 

[cinco]

Sounds like a great experience! Congrats!

[hurricanedrunk]

Congrats on your finish! Sounds like you got a chance to really enjoy it. That sucks about fueling being a challenge with the different start times and all the waiting.

[mrshandy]

Congrats on a solid race despite your troubles!

Midday races can definitely be challenging, I felt that way during Boston a few years ago. Your body is just not used to running in the middle of meal times.

[starburst604]

Congrats on a great race, sorry you felt so lousy at the end! The exit suuuuucked even feeling ok.  I saw runners stopping to take pics, there were really some great photo opportunities. I also wish we could have done more at the Expo but with my friend's ankle we didn't want to walk around too much. I did buy the finishers jacket though - hopefully they'll come out with some more!

Also, yes I think the tracking was off, my friend's H missed us at one point and my H said while he was tracking us from home at one point it looked like my friend was a mile ahead of me but we were side by side the entire time. He got all worried that something happened to me since she was the injured one but seemed to be moving faster!

[shauni27]

you are awesome! I am so glad you had a good race experience! Congrats

[brooke77]

Nov 7, 2018 14:34:47 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Congrats on a great race, sorry you felt so lousy at the end! The exit suuuuucked even feeling ok.  I saw runners stopping to take pics, there were really some great photo opportunities. I also wish we could have done more at the Expo but with my friend's ankle we didn't want to walk around too much. I did buy the finishers jacket though - hopefully they'll come out with some more!

Also, yes I think the tracking was off, my friend's H missed us at one point and my H said while he was tracking us from home at one point it looked like my friend was a mile ahead of me but we were side by side the entire time. He got all worried that something happened to me since she was the injured one but seemed to be moving faster!

Yeah, our hotel was only a little over a mile from the finish but it took me 2 hours to get back. I kept calling my husband and crying and telling him I was just going to stay there and die. Not my finest moment =)

[sadlebred]

Congratulations!!!

[goldengirlz]

Congratulations! So glad you had fun!

[oswin]

Congrats!

[emilyj]

Sounds like a great time! Glad you had such a good experience.

[starburst604]

Nov 7, 2018 15:51:39 GMT -5 brooke77 said:

Nov 7, 2018 14:34:47 GMT -5 starburst604 said:

Congrats on a great race, sorry you felt so lousy at the end! The exit suuuuucked even feeling ok.  I saw runners stopping to take pics, there were really some great photo opportunities. I also wish we could have done more at the Expo but with my friend's ankle we didn't want to walk around too much. I did buy the finishers jacket though - hopefully they'll come out with some more!

Also, yes I think the tracking was off, my friend's H missed us at one point and my H said while he was tracking us from home at one point it looked like my friend was a mile ahead of me but we were side by side the entire time. He got all worried that something happened to me since she was the injured one but seemed to be moving faster!

Yeah, our hotel was only a little over a mile from the finish but it took me 2 hours to get back. I kept calling my husband and crying and telling him I was just going to stay there and die. Not my finest moment =)

Lol!! I can totally picture me doing the same. I think a lot of people were having similar convos. I just wanted OUT of those damn barricades!!

[wawa]

This is awesome! And now NYCM is on my bucket list...

[irene adler]

Congrats! I"m glad it was such a great experience.

[bostonmichelle]

Congratulations!!

[moreace01]

Congrats!! Sorry to hear about the fueling issues - glad to hear it didn't prevent you from finishing.

[labbie]

Congratulations!! This race is on my bucket list. Sorry about the fueling challenges, it's so tricky with unusual start times. Glad you had a great experience.

[thom]

Congratulations! NYC marathon truly sounds like nothing else. Glad you didn’t miss your wave and had a good weather day. I really hope to do this race (on the illusive) someday!