Race Recap: 12 Weeks To Go, 12 Miles To Run

9/9/2019

Considering how global warming has been affecting the tristate area this summer, I could not have asked for better weather conditions for one of the longer races I needed to complete for marathon training. I was so excited by its coolness, that I’m hoping November 3rd will be 64 degrees and 66% humidity as well. Those are quite specific conditions, but that’s the detail my MapMyRun app gave me for August 11, 2019. 

The race conditions were perfect, but there’s always a catch, isn’t there? I had trouble sleeping the night before the TCS NYC Marathon Training Series 12M. I was amped up and excited that my mileage volume has increased. I was thinking about how I wanted to beat my previous half marathon pace from 3 years prior. I had the courage to reach out to someone I don’t normally talk to because I needed to get out of my comfort zone. I had too many random ideas bouncing around my head like corn kernels in a kettle, but even writing them down on paper didn’t help calm the brain popcorn. 

When I woke up to my 4 a.m. alarm I set that day, it was rough to roll out of bed. Getting up at that hour on a Sunday morning to run 12 miles is not the same as getting up to go sit on an airplane. My clothes, race bib, and sneakers were set out in clear view just hours before so that I wouldn’t have to think about it. I grabbed my water bottles and a banana, and headed out the door.

It seemed like most people were aboard the tired boat that morning. Other runners walked silently to the race day center as quiet as in a funeral procession. When everyone was lined up in their corral, the announcer was trying to pep up the crowd. Unfortunately for her, the runners just wanted to conserve their energy for the mileage ahead and barely made a peep. After a few grumbles and groans, the tape was cut and we were all herded like sheep onto the road for two laps around Central Park.

My bluetooth headphones had died on me earlier in the week, so I had to use the wired ones just like old times. They weren’t too bad to listen to, but I definitely wanted to be free of potentially being caught and tangled up in wires. I needed the music for the lengthy distance and the announcements about pace from my MapMyRun app. 

I felt great throughout aerobically; I took my time climbing the brutal Harlem hills, and for most of the course I was within feet or eyesight of the 3:40 goal finishing time pacer. My goal is to complete the marathon within 4 hours, and based on this pacing alone, I would definitely be ahead of the curve. There were a few points where I felt like I could have gone faster, but my legs physically wouldn’t budge into the next gear. I told myself that this was still ok, that I have to be patient, especially since I was still 12 weeks away from the main event. What did help me speed up a little bit was taking a Cliff Block around mile 8 or 9 for a quick carbohydrate boost.

Although it was called a “training” run, I treated it as a race and kept up with a tempo pace throughout, and my favorite part was sprinting at the very end. I averaged 8:37 min/mile, which is perfect since I need 9:09 min/mile to complete the marathon in 4 hours. My real test will be to see if I can sustain this pace for the second half of the race on November 3rd.

So sweaty. I couldn't wait to chow down on my bagel.

So sweaty. I couldn't wait to chow down on my bagel.