Crossing the finish at 4:52:23!
I had 47 voice mails downloaded to my ipod to listen to when I hit "the wall" at mile 20 or so!! Since I never had a point of struggle while running on Sunday I didn't listen to my ipod until the morning after. I was so moved by the messages...many hilarious and many touching....folks shared scriptures that were so uplifting and meaningful, as well as quotes related to running and success. There was even a quote from Snoopy and an appearance from a Dolly Parton look-a-like and music to groove to. Thank goodness I DIDN'T listen to these messages while running...I would have cried my eyes out. Instead, they were the perfect cherry on top the morning after and I'm going to save them forever. They are some of the best gifts I've ever received. Thank you, Thank you.
Sunday was pretty much a perfect day. The weather was on our side. I was nervous on the bus to Staten Island...tapering the past couple weeks is really freaky...I was tired of training and so ready to taper and rest, but then I began to feel like I was getting out of shape and I had doubts that I'd be able to do it. It's hard to imagine doing 26.2 when the longest you've run is 20, especially when that was a month ago. I was nervous, but I kept telling myself to trust the tried and true training/tapering process.
I took a cab from my house at 5:30, told my Dominican cab driver all about the race in Spanish (I have been working on my marathon vocab!). He wished me buena suerte and dropped me off at the 20 Team for Kids buses in midtown. It was dark when I boarded the bus and I didn't know a soul, except for the coach checking people in. We had a police escort through Times Square and down FDR Drive, through Brooklyn and over the Verrazano Bridge. I texted a couple friends and concentrated--telling myself "this is just another training run" and trying to ignore the spectacle of it all.
Ignoring the spectacle was hard to do at the Start Village. Throngs of people laying down on the grass, announcements on speakers in English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, etc and helicopters hovering overhead. Team for Kids had our own private tent and private portapotties...to be shared by all 1500 of us. I found a couple friends, and we sat in the tent. I wrote my daughter's name on one quad and her Godmother's name on the other (she is an elite Ethiopian runner who cannot run right now due to a terrible accident. The marathon is her favorite event). We took our belongings to the UPS truck and then waited for the group warm up stretch. Making our way over to the start corrals I could see thousands of runners heading over the Verrazano...they were in waves before mine. I saw the Wheelchair winner cross the finish line on the jumbotron and the Elite runners racing down Brooklyn's 4th Ave (nice to have live TV at the start).
I used a last min. portapotty before we were herded into the corral. I was supposed to be in #58, but moved back to #66 to run with a friend. So glad I did! We heard the start cannon, and Sinatra's NY, NY as we began running across the bridge toward Brooklyn. European tourists with their faces painted like the French and Italian flags started doing crazy things like stopping to take pictures of the Statue of Liberty or climbing maintenance ladders on the bridge to get a better view.
I think I pretty much ran a perfect first marathon for someone like me. In spite of the fact I did not run quite as fast as I'd hoped (due to the crowds, but that was probably a blessing in disguise), I had an awesome experience. I ended up running quite conservatively (couldn't get around people...it was just so crowded! With over 47,000 runners I can't emphasize that enough!) at a pace of 11 mins a mile. I was aiming for 9:45-10 mins/mile...quite a difference. Actually, my Garmin died at mile 2...didn't charge properly the night before. I panicked a little but then just let go of my 4:29 goal and said "just be present, just enjoy the day." And that I did.
I ran with a teammate, Maren...it was her 30th birthday and she ran the whole way with a paper birthday hat on her head. It got lots of fun comments. On the Verrazano I saw Jay from last season's Biggest Loser. I wished him a great race (okay, full disclosure: Biggest Loser is a secret vice-I love that show!). He said thanks! Sadly, I checked the results and he dropped out with a 5k to go after about 6.5 hours of running. He was my only "celeb sighting."
Brooklyn was awesome. I passed my defunct Garmin (which weighs like 5 lbs) off to friend Roseanne on 4th Ave in Bklyn. She had the most awesome sign. Then I saw Farron a few blocks later, jumping up and down screaming--so fun. We turned off 4th and headed over to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Ft Greene/Clinton Hill crowds were off the hook! So fun to see Mia, Laura and Jenny O. Thank goodness Mia reached out to me and said "Laura" as I was passing by, or I would have missed them because I was so tuned into the gospel choir they were standing beside! We turned onto Bedford Ave, heading toward my neighborhood. The Hasidic Jewish section was dead. It's controversial that the race even runs through there b/c of the short shorts and tank tops and it showed. There were very few spectators and only Jewish women and children out. But I knew as I rounded the corner I'd see my husband Bearden and gang just before mile 11. I saw Phil first b/c he's the tallest and I'll never forget Daniel going crazy with those blow up stick things and Natty G. jumping up and down like mad. I have a vague recollection of the Walkers and David S...it just went by so fast b/c I was trying to make a bee-line for Konjit and Bearden. I was surprised to see my sister in law and her friend...I'd forgotten they were meeting Bearden there (my brother in law came from Arkansas to run and he was just a few minutes behind me, but I didn't see him on the course). So so fun. Just a few blocks more and I saw Jordan, Caroline and Sarah looking chic on the Northside of Williamsburg.
We turned off Bedford and headed through Greenpoint where we saw two more friends who had some hearty jumps and cheers for us. Heading over the Pulaski bridge (our 2nd bridge in the race), I saw my neighbor Tony who works in the bridgehouse. Very fun. Whew! We'd made it to the 1/2 way point and to Queens. I thought to myself, "man, Brooklyn took forever" and I was ready to head into my negative split (run the 2nd 1/2 faster than the first, which I did)!
The Queensboro Bridge (our 3rd bridge and the biggest/hardest at mile 15) was pretty quiet, just like they say...no spectators allowed. A lot of people were walking by this point. We owned it. Our hill training was so worth it. We passed tons of people. And then my greatest disappointment of the day was heading onto 1st Ave. I'd been warned we'd be hit with a roar and a wall of noise after the quiet of the Queensboro--I anticipated being filled with emotion and having to break down and cry at the glory of it all and angels singing and Christ emerging from the clouds, but nope. sure enough the street was packed with people, but no one was cheering. It was so weird. And so quiet. I got a little miffed and started yelling, "Come on! Come on!" and waving my arms at the crowd. That elicited a few cheers from people, but it wasn't what I had been told about or read about. Oh well. Lame.
We'd made it to Manhattan, the 3rd borough on our journey. Heading north, 1st Ave greeted us with the sun beating down on our backs (I got sunburned) and volunteers handing out wet sponges. There was one point where I thought, "I've been running for 3 hours. Why I am running for 3 hours?" A moment of the surreal. The street was so wide. The bars were packed. Maren's boyfriend had climbed a light pole. We ran in the middle of the street, following the painted blue line that the Elite's follow because the streets are bowed...they are the most flat in the middle and very rounded on the sides...not good for running...making one leg shorter than the other. Every now and then Maren would say, "let's go get some love" and we run closer to the sides so people would call our names and wish her a happy birthday. Sadly, I missed seeing my favorite boss, Mary on 1st Ave. I completely blanked that she'd be there around mile 18.
Then we hit the Willis Ave bridge (4th of the 5) and we'd made it to the Boogie-down Bronx.
Mile 20. The WALL.
However, another unexpected: I never hit the fabled wall. I felt great the whole time. I even pulled a Jen Goodson and yelled, "whoo! we've got this" running over the bridge. A teammate we passed said, "Laura, you're on fire!" I was! Screw the wall!! :) I felt like we were flying. The fans in the Bronx were great. And there were awesome banners of Buzunesh (our Ethiopian friend who finished 2nd) on every corner.
You're only in the Bronx for a blip...then we were over the Madison Ave bridge (our last! & where I saw someone throwing up) and into Harlem. There I saw my two favorite Team for Kids coaches on the course. We ran around Marcus Garvey Park and I saw Coach Sid (age 72 and won the 5th Ave mile this year). He didn't see us, so I called "Sid! Sid!" He jumped in and ran with us, saying, "I knew it! Now run around that corner, get you some Gatoraid and then go get your medal!" It was incredible. We were still flying. We headed south on 5th Ave toward Central Park...a steady climb of a hill at mile 23 (I was so worried about this hill! We'd run it during our training run of the last 10 miles of the course a few weeks before) where we saw Roseanne (again! Holla!) and dear Frances blowing her horn.
Maren and I turned into Central Park. The crowd was raucous! We ran a bit and then she gave me the nod and I kicked it...I had gas in the tank and decided I was ready to get to the last .2 to see my mom, dad and Bearden who were waiting at the finish line in the bleachers (I "won" finish line seats via my fundraising). I felt like I was still flying. I was passing people left and right. It was awesome. I exited the park and turned right on to Central Park South. It was awesome--teeming with spectators and noise--and then I turned back into the park at Columbus Circle. I high fived one of my coaches who was waiting at the entrance on the way in, strangers were calling my name. I saw a sign that said 800 meters left. I almost choked up a couple times, but kept it together. Then I saw Bearden in his bright Ethiopian track jacket and my mom and dad waving from the bleachers. I waved back, full of energy and elated, smiled for the cameras, and crossed the finish with enough gas in my tank that I could have run 27.2 if they'd asked me to! I got my medal, said hi to some Ethiopian friends who work for Road Runners, got my picture taken, got my foil blanket, was interviewed for a few quotes by one of the Team for Kids staff, and then started to get a little cold/my legs started cramping up-but not too badly. I headed to the Team for Kids VIP section avoiding the 1 mile death march everyone else has to endure. Got my stuff (it was getting hard to bend over at that point) and met up with Bearden and Jami (sis in law) on Central Park West still feeling awesome.
The past 2 days my quads have been royaly sore. I've had to navigate my stairs backwards (thanks to Kim Swain for that advice!) Other than that my body feels totally normal. Didn't even get a blister. My final time was 4:52. I was surprised to find my name in the NY Times on Monday....I thought the cut off for that was 4:29 (my original goal). I had my medal engraved with my name and my time and I took it to Konjit's preschool for her to share during circle time. All the other 2 year olds had the chance to put it on. :)
a couple things I learned:
+ running is an examination of self. i am still processing the journey from running 1 block without stopping to running 26.2 miles without stopping. it is such a rich journey: it's hard, it hurts, there are set backs and negative thinking, you get stronger, you go further, you feel awesome. and the positives carry over into other areas of your life. it has changed me. Almost 40 is the new 18, right Darcey?!
+ run major races like 1/2 marathons and marathons with a buddy if you can. talking with Maren was a real help in terms of enjoyment and distraction. we could laugh together along the way about the things we saw, we supported each other checking in around how we were feeling and we worked together. she followed me, i followed her. we were in synch. it was cool. i may never see her again, but i'll remember her for the rest of my life!
+ i will not waste all the time and effort i have put into coming this far. i have a 4 mile race in late Nov and a 1/2 marathon in late Jan. and I'm looking into volunteering as a guide with the Achilles team as well as started a weekly running group at a women's shelter.
+ hill training works wonders for the body, the mind, and the butt.
+ a steady pace will get you to the finish in one piece. who needs a Garmin?!
+ I can hold my pee for 21 miles. Even with a last min. portapotty stop before the start, I had to pee around mile 5. I refused to stop. I couldn't bear to break my groove.
+ just run. even if it's 1/4 of a mile. do it. the next day you'll be able to go 1/2 mile. i promise.
+ new yorkers LOVE marathoners. i mean LOVE them. Wow. Run NY and feel like a rockstar. some out of towners on the subway assured me that nothing compares to running NY. Over 100 bands were along the route. I'll never forget the guy singing U2 in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. He looked like he might have been an overweight plumber, but he had a voice of gold, just like Bono. There were gospel choirs, rappers, accordian players...everything you could imagine. Strangers passed out Kleenex, bananas, candy all along the route. Everyone knew my name. The volunteers always had the Gatoraid and water ready and waiting. It was just the best. New York City rules.
That's way more than you wanted to know about my first marathon, huh? Obviously, I'm still living the dream! The secret to this wonderful day was training 2-3x a week with a team. I was cared for and mentored. It gave me confidence. I felt like I was flying the whole way through the marathon. I never had a pain or a negative thought. I never once said to myself, "I'm not sure I can do this." I was totally unfazed by the bridges and the many hills. I only walked when I had to drink b/c otherwise the water would go up my nose. I fueled right and hydrated right. I didn't push it, but stayed steady. I finished feeling great and like I could run more. Plus, our team raised more than 4 million dollars! I'm already looking forward to next year.
I'll be running the Miami 1/2 marathon at the end of January. There is plenty of time to train for it, if anyone would like to join me. :)
Thanks again for being such a big part of my journey.
Love, love, LOVE,
Laura
(above: me, baby girlfriend, husband, and dear friend aunt rosie)
