by Monica on October 31, 2009
A commemorative post from last years NY Marathon…Go bold pace runners!!
I have always been a “zen” runner, no watch, just taking the miles as they come. In the NY Marathon I lost my center and I went out too fast and I didn’t even realize it until mile 15. Then I spent the next 11.2 miles suffering. I had to come up with some solid reasons to keep running:
1. that darn e-mail message going to my husband on his blackberry every mile while at my son’s soccer game. I talked to him every time I crossed that pad…”i am hating it honey“…it helped.
2. that woman at mile 20 that said to me “ You got it girl- keep it going“ (remember to go to a race and yell for someone)
3. a double tall soy latte when I finish
4. three weeks off from running and sleeping in late (6:30am).
5. family and friends following online…I am trying here…
6. the wheelchair competitor that passed me on mile 23.
7. the woman runner next to me on miles 24 through 26 who was also hurting…and was still pushing
8. thinking of my “long distance” friends who are so tough
9. believing it will be better next time. I will use a watch and monitor every mile
10. thinking that if I gave up every speech I have ever given to my children about quitting would be null and void.
Finished! 3:23:47
by Monica on October 31, 2008
Training for a marathon with someone is little like going through boot camp together. You learn alot about each other in a way it takes years with most friends. You learn how tough they are and about their temperment. You learn their running habits…like how often they require the restroom, fuel on a long run, and pre-race rituals. You know everything there is to know about their husbands, kids, and parents. Long runs have brought out unhappy marriages and childhood stories that would otherwise have gone untold, just because there was time. And like therapy, “what is said on the road, stays on the road”. It’s a wonderful byproduct of training–distance makes the heart grow stronger.
When we race, we all love to have our family and friends come to see us run. But there is something special about having your “long distance” friends there. It shows support and solidarity for the effort. They know the pain. They have been where you have been and the support comes from an entirely different place. They know you may need “goo” or your own special beverage at mile 20. They know where your low points may be. If you are lucky, sometimes they accompany you to a race (like me:to the NY Marathon). They remind you to change your clock, borrow their sister’s GPS system so they can make sure we don’t get lost, and they keep reminding you that you are “ready and strong” and “it’s going to be a beautiful day”! And afterward no matter how good or how bad it was, they tell you…”you did great!” and they take you to Starbucks for a double tall soy latte….because they know that’s what makes you happy after a long run! (thank you Jamie and Jean ).
by Monica on October 27, 2008
I plan to run the NY Marathon in only a few days. It requires a long pre-race wait for runners, as many marathons do, in line for the porta potty or deciding if you really need that bagel. I received my number registration card that requires a degree to read. They have developed a new “wave start” this year to avoid congestion with the up 39000 runners who have registered.
Mine Reads: Wave 1 (indicated by a white background, wave 2 yellow, wave 3 blue), Orange village (there are three different villages), Corral C (A-F).
I cannot even imagine the man hours it took to devise and implement this new system. I was able to find a key on the website that clearly explains all the variables possible for one runner. So of course, I begin to wonder if perhaps each of these villages is equally equipped with all the pre-race amenities or will there be some obvious breakdown of runners and times. Do we all get bagels and Dunkin Donuts Coffee? Will the “elite athleles” in the blue village be hanging ipod to ipod with the other villagers. Will the porta potties be coded by wave as well? Because actually a white background should trump a yellow or blue in line…but who is going to police this? And if a runner with an orange bib with a white background with an “A corral” isn’t smart enough to get in line with enough time to spare, isn’t it their problem? When Besides, they will have first access to them out on the course. So I am interested to see how it will all go down and hoping that the orange village is the one with the Starbucks!
