It’s official, I am an NYC Marathon finisher! It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t fast, but it made my first trip to The Big Apple one I’ll never forget!
I left home on Thursday, November 2nd, and had a layover in Denver. In a vain attempt to amuse myself, I took a picture of the carpet and asked people on Facebook to guess what airport I was in. Kind of a “Where’s Waldo” of airport decor.
As we flew over God-knows-where…
…I saw my first nighttime thunderstorm from above. It was much cooler than this lame video.
Finally, we landed at La Guardia. We circled Manhattan at least once, so I got a decent shot.
I thought I might get to my hotel before midnight, but the lines at the cab station were really long (40-minute wait) and there was a ton of traffic due to construction going on at the airport. So, I got to my tiny hotel room (so tiny it didn’t even have a mini-fridge or coffee maker) around 1 a.m. and took a panorama to make it look bigger. Then I consulted the in-room magazine and my phone looking for a place to eat. I thought this wouldn’t be a problem in “the city that never sleeps,” but apparently that only covers construction. According to the internet, most restaurants were closed, so I decided to just walk around looking for something that was open. At bare minimum, I saw a CVS drug store on the cab ride in, so I knew I wouldn’t starve.
I didn’t have many touristy goals, but I did want to visit the 9/11 memorial, eat some street food and get a slice of NY pizza at a real hole-in-the-wall pizzeria. (Oh, and ride in a real NY taxi, so mission partially accomplished on the way in.) As I wandered around the city close to 2 a.m., the only thing that looked interesting was the food carts. So, after stopping at CVS for food and drinks that didn’t need refrigeration, I grabbed a Philly cheesesteak at the stand across the street and headed back to my hotel room. Mission even more partially accomplished, I guess. It was good, though!
Friday, November 3rd.
When I finally woke up, I ventured downstairs to look for more food and some coffee. There was a Starbucks and a coffee shop adjacent the hotel, so I didn’t even have to leave. But I wanted to walk around a little and see my new neighborhood in the daylight. It was cool, being in a new city, but I didn’t want to look too touristy, so I just tried to blend in with the crowd. I probably stood out like a sore thumb, but after a while, at least I got the flow of pedestrian traffic: streetlights don’t apply to you.
After walking around a bit, I decided to grab something for the room at the market across the street (snacks and cold-brew coffee in a can), then wandered into the hotel coffee shop and had some steak and eggs. I’m glad I saved up for this trip because it was about $25 without the tip. But I did save for it because I didn’t want to think about money while I was there.
I didn’t plan on visiting Grand Central Station, but it was the nearest full-service subway stop to my hotel—only about six blocks away—and I needed to go to the expo to pick up my race stuff.
Because I’m a nerd, I had to visit the Apple Store there. It was so crowded, I didn’t even bother going in. It’s not like I needed anything, so I just kept looking for my train.
I went to the ticket machines and kept looking for the Hudson line. None of them had it listed, so I kept checking my phone and the MTA website said that was the one I needed.
About an hour later, I broke down and asked the person at the info booth for help. Turns out there’s a difference between a subway and a train. ::smacks forehead::
Once I got that sorted, it was a short ride and a short walk to the expo. I knew which stop to get off at, and there were so many people wearing race gear that I didn’t bother asking for or looking up directions. I just went with the crowd and ended up at the expo.
Just a few days before the race, some deluded Muslim immigrant decided it would be a good idea to drive a rented truck into some people riding bike and running on a walkway in Manhattan. So, security was understandably tight all over the city. But once inside, getting my stuff and doing some shopping was easy.
Before I left for NYC, I asked all my friends for advice.
Carrie told me to look for these plastic pants at the expo because I’d be standing/sitting around at the starting area for hours before the race and they made a big difference in the wind and cold. By the time I got to this booth, they were sold out of my size, so I would need to return the next day if I was going to get a pair. I didn’t need the jacket because I finally remembered to bring my throw-away jacket from the Portland Marathon to this event.
So I left the expo and went back to my room to chill for a while. On the way, I grabbed my NY slice at 99 Cent Fresh Pizza: two slices and a bottled water for $2.75—such a deal!
As luck would have it, friends/former TNT coaches Adam and Meghan were in NYC on vacation (no running involved) and we hung out for the first time in a long time…probably since they “retired” from coaching. We ended up having dinner that night and the night before the race, too. On Friday night, we met a friend of theirs for drinks at Grand Central Station. The story is that one of the station’s board members was a guy named Campbell and he used to live there in an apartment. When they renovated it, they turned it into a swanky bar called…Campbell Apartment. And I thought NY was a creative town?
Anyway, we had a few drinks and appetizers and their friend Bill, who graciously picked up the check. He played football with Adam in college and that’s where he met Meghan, too. We had a great time, then he had to go home and Adam, Meghan and I went to dinner at some place I passed on my way to the train station: Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse. Like a lot of places in the city, they had a “marathon special,” which was a salad and any two pasta dishes from their prix fixe menu. I had the beet salad, mushroom gnocchi and pasta bolognese. It was awesome!
Saturday, November 4th.
More wake and walk. Got up, had my cold-brew coffee and headed to Grand Central to go back to the expo. I was supposed meet a TNT teammate and take a bus tour of the course—another recommendation from my marathoner friends—but when I got there, they said they were going to be late. While standing in line, I looked down and saw a little dead bird. I guess he flew into the huge glass building. It reminded my of the dying rat I saw before the Portland Marathon, so naturally, I had to take a picture of it. It was sad. Also, I must be weird to want to take pictures of dead/dying animals.
After seeing the poor, little dead bird, I talked to the tour guide. She said the tour was going to take about four hours. I was kind of freaked out because I didn’t want to be on a bus that long. For some reason, I figured it was just going to take maybe three hours to cover 26.2 miles, but I didn’t count on city traffic and getting out to Staten Island to start the route. Fortunately, my teammate and her friend were going to be so late, they’d miss the tour anyway, so we just met up and went shopping.
After that, we all met Meghan and Adam for dinner at a little ramen restaurant called Momosan, which is owned by and named after Iron Chef Morimoto. We had a bit of a wait because it’s too small to take reservations and I guess it’s super-popular. There isn’t even a good place to wait, so Adam and I just stood by the door acting as doormen for people entering and leaving so we wouldn’t get hit by the door every other minute. After checking that there was something that wouldn’t kill Adam, who’s allergic to seafood, we chowed down on some delicious ramen! Then, we said our goodbyes and I went back to my room to prepare for the race.
The TNT customary “dressed chair.”
Warm stuff to donate to Goodwill at the starting village.
The disposable outer layer.
I went to be nice and early because I knew I had a long day ahead of me.
Sunday, November 5th—race day!
I got some good sleep, but still didn’t need my alarm in the morning. I was probably up by 3:30 a.m. and needed to be at Grand Central by 6:15 to catch the 7 a.m. Staten Island ferry. It was amazing how quickly I got used to the subway system, and it really did make getting around a piece of cake.
Once on the ferry, I had some time to take touristy pics.
I knew there would be a lot of standing around, because my race corral wouldn’t even start until 11 a.m., but it took over an hour to go from the ferry building on Staten Island to the buses that would take us to the starting village. I’m sure that didn’t help my finish time!
Race motivation/propaganda.
For Paulie.
The marathon starts up there!
Ayyy, fahgettaboutit!
My Portland jacket doubles as urban camouflage. Also, I’m modeling my stylish, plastic pants.
In my starting corral, getting ready to line up on the bridge.
One of the tips I got was to either start on the top deck of the bridge or stand in the middle of the lower deck—because people pee off the top deck while waiting for their corrals to start the race. GROSS! I mean, it isn’t like there aren’t a TON of porta-potties at the start village!
Anyway, I made sure to start on the top deck.
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is the steepest, tallest hill on the course. Naturally, you start there when you have all that pent-up race energy! Fortunately, we attended a pre-race strategy talk given by two members of the New York Road Runners Club. They basically said, “Run this part if you want to have a bad race.” So, I walked it. It was hard watching everyone run past me, but I knew I wasn’t going to have a good finish time. I had been nursing a knee injury all season and wasn’t training fast, so I knew I wasn’t going to finish fast.
Welcome to Brooklyn, the second of the five boroughs!
The weather, as you can see, was overcast and drizzly. That made it perfect running weather, but I have a feeling it kept the crowds away. If I had to guess, I’d say that there were more spectators at the 2014 Chicago Marathon (the other “world major” I’d run). But that was fine with me. I just wanted enjoy my tour of NYC—and to finish the damn marathon.
Feeling good at the 10km mark. Still well aware that there are 20 more miles to go!
I also decided to walk the Ed Koch Queensboro/59th Street Bridge. It was just slightly longer than its name. Once you descend this bridge, you’re on Manhattan and there is supposed to be this huge crowd cheering you on. Well, the rain must’ve kept some of them away and the fact that it took me so long to get there meant they were all cheered-out. But a woman in front of me urged them on, waving her arms toward the crowd like a football player who’d just made a big play. That got them going!
One of the weird things about this race is that the 11 a.m. start means slowpokes like me finish in the dark. I took these as I was entering Central Park and everything was already lit up.
One of the best parts of the race was inside Central Park. Adam and Meghan were going to a show and during dinner, we did the math and found out they might have a window of opportunity to look for me. Sure enough, just as I was running out of gas and was wondering when this damned race was going to end, I heard, “WARREN!!!!!” and saw them waving at me.
Here’s Adam walking next to me as I try to finish this race at, like, a 14:30 min/mile pace.
Running through Central Park was kind of cool. What wasn’t cool was how the course makes several turns, so you never really know where the finish line is until you’re almost there.
Al…most…there!
I’m known around TNT (and elsewhere) for my potty mouth. Someone wanted to know if I had any profanity for this race, so I had my phone out near the end so I could capture my unfiltered thoughts right after I crossed the finish line. And here’s what I said:
Rated R: Children under 17—and prudes—must be accompanied by an adult.
But, as painful as it was, it was like every other marathon I’ve done. WORTH IT!
Here’s a closeup taken after a long shower and a nice meal at the hotel coffee shop.
After the race, you have to go through what is known as “the 27th Mile.” Basically, it’s dangerous to stop moving after a marathon. The sudden drop in blood pressure can make you pass out. There may be other reasons, too, but that’s why they keep you moving. And moving. And moving. They give you a mylar “heat sheet” as soon as you cross the finish line, but you have to walk about .75 of a mile to get all of your post-race food and drinks and get out of the park. Then, if you ordered a sweet post-race poncho like I did, you have to walk more to get it. And if you thought it would be easier to check a gear bag, you have to walk the same distance the other direction to get your stuff. All in all, I walked almost an extra two miles after the race.
I was really, really tired, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to get a cab or Lyft right outside Central Park. Your race bib gets you free passage on the subway, so I figured I’d just get away from there and catch a ride to my hotel wherever I got off. I had a vague idea where I needed to go, but when I got off at the Times Square station, I accidentally exited the station. Not wanting to deal with anymore stairs than I absolutely had to, I decided to pay a little more and hail a ride right there.
After the race, we were all texting each other, but we were too tired to meet up. I showered and had a big plate of chicken and pasta with Alfredo sauce, and a Lagunitas, to celebrate. Then I went to bed without a post-race scotch.
Monday, November 6th
I slept great, which isn’t always the case after these things. I guess my slowest-ever marathon time of 6 hours, 11 minutes and 19 seconds didn’t take as much out of me as other marathons had.
After looking for food, I found a nice Irish pub, Blackwell’s, and ordered a nice corned beef sandwich and a pint of something…probably a Guinness. As I was finishing, I got a text from Sara and Todd, who wanted to meet up with me before I left. I told her that I was done eating but would love to have a drink with them. So, I waited around. At a table near me was an old lady apparently named Frances, who was complaining about the air conditioning and her food not being ready fast enough. I know her name was Frances because the waitress said, “Oh Frances, stop complaining. You know it always takes this long. It’ll be out in a minute.” I kind of laughed to myself because it was the kind of scene you’d expect in a movie shot in an Irish pub in New York.
On my way to the airport, I took another taxi. We drove by the Queensboro Bridge, so I took another shot of it. I swear, the cabbies drive like it’s a video game. I guess that’s what inspired the inspiration for the Grand Theft Auto video game series.
Thanks for a great time, New York! I’ll be back someday, but not for the marathon. I think I’m fairly comfortable with doing six. Since I’m not getting faster, and don’t want to do the kind of work necessary to GET faster, I’m at the end of my marathon chapter of my life. I never say “never,” but I don’t think I’ll do another one. The training is too much and the pain is too great. I’ll just have to do more half marathons!