NYC Marathon: Part 2 – The Race

Let me start by showing you the tshirts that I designed (aka ironed on the letters) for my sister, and I:

My T-shirt Front:

My T-shirt Back:

The Front of my sister’s t-shirt:

Now the Marathon Recap:

This was my first marathon and it was overwhelming. I thought with the screaming crowds and all the runners in fun costumes I wouldn’t get bored…but I definitely got bored at some points.

Marathon Morning:

I slept pretty well the night before. I only woke up once at 2:30 am to realize I still had 3 more hours of sleeeeep. Hooray! I was up at 5:30, and I cooked my small breakfast of oatmeal, chia seed, and banana. I brought a raw granola bar (from One Lucky Duck) to eat around 8:30 in Staten Island.

I met my Autism Speaks Team Bus at 6:15, about 5 blocks away from my apartment. It took us about an hour and a half to get to Staten Island. When the bus drops you off, you STILL have to walk a mile to the Marathon “village”. Then you are walking around the Marathon “Village” with 44,000 other runners trying to find your friends. Luckily, Julia and Jackie found me huddled under my blanket freezing by a tree. Yay for finding friends without a cell phone! The three of us were so lost in the “Village” that we must have walked around 3 more miles before we found our starting gate. (4 mile walk before the marathon? Really?!)

The Starting Gate:

(source)

Mile by Mile Recap:

Mile 1 – Mile 4: I ran my first four miles at a steady 10:00 pace with my friend, Julia. This was her fifth marathon so it was good to be running with a pro. I wasn’t trying to push it because it was windy and it was also the beginning of the race. It was fun to see all the international runners taking pictures on the bridge. They were so excited to be in NYC!

Mile 1 – Over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge…
(source)

 

Mile 4 – Mile 12: I was feeling really great! I kept a 10:00 pace. I drank a little Gatorade and some water at mile 5 and mile 8. I saw about 10 blind runners on the course, which I thought was amazing! They had a team running with them to make sure they stayed on the race path, but they were a huge inspiration! I also ran past a guy who was running with one leg and a crutch. Absolutely Amazing!

Mile 13 – Mile 15: I started having some GI issues. At Mile 13, I stopped at the restroom to see if they would help – I didn’t. My plan was to pick up my pace to around 9:30, but that was not going to happen because I started to run out of steam.  I knew I had to take in some more calories but I was also worried about my stomach issues. So, I drank half of my Cliff Shot Gel. I was still at a 10 minute pace even with my bathroom break, so I was happy with that!

Look at all the Runners:
(source)

Mile 15: Then, I hit my wall. AT MILE 15!?!!? This can’t be happening! I had run GREAT training runs. My 20 mile training run I finished at 3:09. I am not really sure what happened. Well, I was FREEZING for one thing. I don’t think I was prepared for it to be that cold going over bridges. I started to slow down my pace but I knew my mum was waiting at Mile 17, so I tried to hold on until there.

Mile 16 – Mile 17: My pace was slowing down, but I just wanted to get to my mom at Mile 17. At one point at Mile 16, I thought I saw my mum and I dashed to the other side of 1st Avenue screaming, “Audrey! Audrey! Audrey! Mum! Mum! Audrey!” As soon as I got there I realized it wasn’t my mom. It was super embarrassing and very disappointing. At Mile 17, I looked around for my mum forever but I couldn’t find her anywhere!  I held back the tears…  and I kept on trucking along…

Mile 18 – Mile 20:  Honestly I ran/walked most of mile 18 and 19.   I was upset I didn’t see my mom and  I was trying to catch my breath.  My lungs felt cold, and it was hard to breath in the cold air.  There were a couple of times when I almost was going to ask a spectator for their jacket. Dead serious. I took a restroom break at Mile 19, hoping to work on the GI issues – no luck.  After I started to pick up my running again.  I knew i was going to see one of my best friends, Jessa, at Mile 20 so I was excited for that!  At the 20 Mile mark, I couldn’t find Jessa anywhere.  This is when I almost started to cry.  A WHOLE marathon and I wasn’t going to see any of my friends or family! Just then at around 20.5 miles, I saw Jessa up ahead.  I started a FULL out sprint to her, screaming her name and jumping up and down!  I hugged her and she started running with me.  Seeing Jessa was the HIGHLIGHT of the entire marathon. She ran with me to Mile 21, giving me a motivation speech the whole time.  She told me that all my friends were texting her to see how I was doing….Love them!

Mile 21 – 24:  Leaving Jessa was hard, but I did feel a little more motivated. At mile 22, I started a walk/run pace because I NEEDED a bathroom (again) ASAP.  Finally at Mile 22, I found a bathroom.  BEST THING EVER.   I started running again, and I made friends with a guy,Robert from Knoxville, TN.  He hurt his leg during mile 1, and had been barely running since.  He told me that if I ran, he would run.  So I ran!  Very, very slowly.   He was great! We would run slowly for half a mile, then walk for a quarter of a mile from Mile 22 to 24.  At this point I was hurting.  I hardly had anything left in my tank.  I didn’t properly fuel because I was so worried about my stomach issues so I felt really weak.  I was also feeling disappointed because I knew I wasn’t going to finish with a time that I would be happy with…

Mile 25: Robert (my best marathon friend ever) and I promised each other we would run all of Mile 25.  We were both hurting but I knew the end wasn’t far.  I could barely lift up my feet.  THEN, I saw the Chilean runner!!  I thought that was pretty cool!  I passed him during Mile 25; it was neat to see him.

Mile 26 – Mile 26.2: As I ran past the 26 mile mark, I left Robert behind (and I thanked him so much!!) and I picked up my pace.  With .2 miles left, I just wanted this to end and I wanted to see my mum!   5:04:38 Finish!

I loved finishing and getting one of the foil blankets…but I was still shivering.

It was not the time I wanted to finish at, and I was sort disappointed, but I have to remember I just finished a MARATHON!!! Plus this gives me a building place for my next marathon….

Also, My sister KILLED it yesterday!!!  She did awesome and I am so proud of her!!  Her first marathon: 4:10:52! Insane!

 

Thank you to everyone for your support!!

Tagged as: Marathon, NYC