Hello!
Looking for some inspiration?
Our run of the month isn’t happening until November 2nd…the TCS NYC Marathon!
Come out and cheer for the 50,000 crazy people hitting the streets in Staten Island –
I’ll be one of them.
I thought I’d point out a bit about the course, in case you’re thinking about where to watch, or if you want to run a bit of it before the big Sunday!
If you’re not in New York, then read along and feel a part of it anyway.
Here is the link to the course.
The shlep factor.
Bringing
throw-away clothes and
something to read and toss, leaving with hours
to get there, and having a phone so you can find your friends: all important.
Otherwise, you may be cold, hungryn and alone.
Apropos, since the toilet lines are the next big challenge.
Lines, lines, lines!
Gun goes off, planes fly overhead, you’ve heard instructions in French, Japanese, Spanish, German, and possibly
English.
Excitement ensues!
There are amazing views and lots of adrenaline, and before you know it, you’re running 30 seconds faster per mile than you should.
Be careful!
All the micro-neighborhoods you run through, some established, some burgeoning, all full of cheering fans.
Fun music along the way, including one of my early favorites, which I believe is a band attached to a Korean church.
Lots of horns.
Always happy, and fun.
Traffic.
As you head straight on, you may find yourself getting annoyed with the number of people running abreast and try to weave around them.
Don’t do it.
It’s counterproductive!
Just wait for your holes, and run through them.
But don’t aggravate yourself!
Be warned.
It’s annoying.
I remember the first marathon I watched as a spectator, in 2005.
My friend was running his first marathon, and conditions were beautiful
for a spectator – though probably a little too warm for him.
70 degrees, sunny, with hundreds of people out.
If you’re one of the spectators in Williamsburg – yes, you with the beard and the coffee (or beer) on Bedford – please try not to crowd the road.
Thanks!
There is great music in Clinton Hill, a fair number of blank stares as you run through Chasidic Williamsburg,
and lots of fun, smiling fans along the course, as you careen like a pinball through Greenpoint.
You’ve reached the midpoint at the Pulaski Bridge.
And we’re at challenge NUMBER FIVE:
Gatorade.
You don’t want to grab too many, since they are at every mile, but you SHOULD!!
Just don’t drink too much at each stop.
But it will help you for those later miles.
Also, if you’ve done a good job of pacing then you will be at the half point ready to start pushing the pace.
Challenge
NUMBER
SIX: Saving some gas in the tank for 1st Avenue and beyond.
When you cruise into Long Island City, the truth is that while the real estate is booming, the crowds thin out, and it can be a let down.
Follow that up with challenge
NUMBER SEVEN:
The silence of the 59th Street Bridge.
Unless you have your music blaring, it gets a little lonely and quiet up there, and your head can play games with you!
You’ve gotten into Manhattan, for the last 10 miles.
You’ve managed to stay inside your race, and the crowds really are out cheering!
If you can survive challenge
NUMBER EIGHT, the rolling hills of 1st Avenue, you’ll be in great shape!
The goal is to be smiling at mile 18, and also at mile 22.
To get there, smile, wave at some kids, and drink Gatorade!!
Alas, challenge
NUMBER NINE can be a real killer for people, as many have complained.
The Bronx.
While I run in the Bronx during the year to see what’s going on with construction – I believe that South Bronx, at least where there are areas to convert older commercial buildings and areas to residential, has the potential to be something special as a neighborhood with upside – at this point in the marathon, where you hit mile 20, and you want to be feeling excited, and then this turns out
to be the time when the crowds are almost non-existent – you must be prepared for the vacuum.
Fill it with focus!
You leave after a mile to come back South on 5th Avenue, and if you have made it past the crocodiles, the quicksand, the dragons, the dreaded Gollum, the undead, the traffic in Brooklyn, the urge to run too fast, and the urge to forget to drink enough Gatorade, all you have to do is run a 10k and wrap this sucker up!
Assuming you don’t have any surprise challenges, like cramps or massive pain, the last challenge is a combination of mental and physical:
CHALLENGE
TEN is the hill from 110th Street to 93rd Street heading Downtown.
It’s a slight uphill that, when done on its own, feels like nothing.
However, at mile 22 it feels like a mountain.
We run it the week before to remind ourselves that it’s only 17 blocks.
One block at a time! But on race day is it a doozy.
If you get past that hill, you enter Central Park, and the rest is gravy.
You’ve got your tunes, your finish line in a couple of miles, and plenty of time to celebrate!
We train all year long on sections of the race, but nothing substitutes for the real thing.
I can’t wait to run it in two weeks!
Hope to see you on November 2nd.
Email me where you’ll be and I’ll look for you!
-Scott