The New York Marathon

After 18 months of anticipation, two trips to America, $600 in registration fees and more than 100 training runs, I finally crossed the finish line of the New York Marathon on Sunday.

But it wasn’t with the result I wanted. My time was 4:34 – nearly an hour slower than my best marathon. And so rather than feeling the elation that I was promised in the hype – “this is payback for all your training (in an American accent)” - I felt disappointed and even slightly embarrassed.

However, three days later I’m starting to feel a little better. I’m even taking some pride in finishing the marathon in such difficult circumstances and I’m looking back on parts of it fondly.

The disappointment hasn’t gone, that’s for sure. But I do want to remember how I feel now so I can savour my next marathon success, whenever that may be!

The journey to the start line

The journey to the start line began in mid-2012. I had entered the ballot for the New York marathon in the lead-up to my first marathon in Brighton. I was enjoying the training so much I thought I would enter the NY ballot, just on the 10-1 off chance.

But remarkably, I got in.

The training went well. Compared to Brighton, for which I only spent about 3 months training, I always seemed to be ahead of my plan. With six weeks to go I had done 22 miles. I just remember thinking about the marathon constantly in the weeks leading up to it.

I headed to New York in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy with my girlfriend and two friends. I was actually at the Expo picking up my number when the marathon was cancelled.

I was devastated. I went back to my apartment with the intention of lying in bed feeling sorry for myself. But I found myself looking for an immediate replacement. I signed-up to the Florence marathon that very night.

Florence was three weeks after New York. It was beautiful. And despite some asthma problems along the way I finished in 3:41- more than 20 mins faster than Brighton. New York would wait until next year.  

The journey to the start line – part 2

This year, my training was less structured. Having done it before, I decided I didn’t need a training plan and would just build up the miles as fast as I could.

Whereas before I had been disciplined in doing three runs a week supplemented by football, this time it was more difficult and I found myself doing fewer runs but with more middle distances.

It didn’t seem to have an effect on my overall fitness. The half marathons I did were all a few seconds faster than the year before and I felt good apart from a few stomach cramps on my last long run.

The race

The race started OK, if not a little fast. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is a lovely start and it was fantastic to hit the crowds and the bands in Brooklyn. But after about five miles I started to get stomach cramps and some pain up my left side. It wasn’t affecting my pace and I assumed it would pass as I warmed up. It was just uncomfortable.

However, at mile 8 and 9, it still hadn’t passed. So, ahead of pace, I decided to take a quick comfort break in the hope that would fix it. However, if anything, it got worse and I was finding it difficult to take on water. Gels were out of the question.

I passed the half way point in 1:47, slightly too fast especially considering the visit to the loo. But I was feeling awful. I just couldn’t shift the cramps and by mile 17 as I ran in to Manhattan it was getting difficult to run through the discomfort.

In mile 18, I took a walking break to have some water. It felt like maintaining my pace was going to be too difficult now, but I said to myself if I could finish the second half in 2:10 I would still come in under 4 hours which would be fine.

But things just seemed to get worse. From mile 18-22 I visited every set of portaloos, even turning back on myself once. I knew my hopes of a good marathon time were over and it was just a case of getting to the end. By this time, my legs had seized up too. I was in a bad place.

My stomach did improve slightly towards the end and I was able to run through Central Park for the last couple of miles, which was electric. But at the finish I was just shattered and so disappointed in what seemed like a crowd of thousands of ecstatic people. I just wanted to get away.

I was late meeting my girlfriend because it had taken so much longer than expected and I just headed back to my apartment alone where I ended up sitting outside for 20 mins because I didn’t have a key. It wasn’t the finish I imagined.

What have I learnt?

But like I said, I’m starting to feel a little different now. Although the marathon didn’t go as I expected, I want to feel proud that I finished and I’m desperate to remember New York as fondly as I do some of my other marathons, especially after everything I put into it. So here goes…

1)    I’m lucky to have done the New York marathon

The New York Marathon is the biggest road race in the world. Hundreds of thousands of people apply every year and don’t get in. I applied once and got a place. I’m incredibly lucky to have experienced the whole event – from the expo and build-up to the bands in Brooklyn and deafening noise in Central Park. The disappointment of not being able to do it last year was far greater than the disappointment of a bad race this year.

Also, you need to put it in perspective. Thousands of people lost their homes last year in Hurricane Sandy. My Dad died earlier this year. I’ve just had a lovely holiday in New York – my second in a year. It really isn’t that bad.

2)    One bad run doesn’t make me a bad runner

The New York marathon didn’t go as I had planned. But the Florence marathon did. As a result, l know I am capable of running a marathon well under 4 hours. Just because I didn’t run New York in this time doesn’t change this. If anything, I have greater appreciation for my run in Florence now and will cherish that memory more.

3)    Finishing is an achievement worthy of my medal

I’m quickly forgetting how awful I felt on the day. If it was a training run or maybe even another marathon I wouldn’t have continued past 8-9 miles. The thought of not finishing did cross my mind when I was at my worst, but I couldn’t bare the thought of not finishing after two years of build up.

So, although this was my slowest marathon by some distance, it was also the hardest one to finish. I want to remember that. It’s not like I didn’t earn my medal. In fact, I probably earned it more than I have some of the others.

4)    Don’t change things on race day

In my first couple of marathons, I got into a rigid regime for my training runs. I would eat the same breakfast, drink the same energy drinks and use the same gels. However, I wasn’t organised enough to do this, this time. In fact I barely used gels or energy drinks in any of my training.

This meant that when I was in New York I stocked-up on gels and energy drinks I had never used before. I drank more than a litre of Gatorade at the start line. Although I think I have some long standing stomach issues, I’m sure this didn’t help my cause.

Next time I will heed the advice – don’t make changes on race day!

5)    Don’t go off too fast

In hindsight, I also think I went off too fast. My first half would have been close to 1:45 without the toilet stop and I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to sustain this if I had carried on. I hadn’t timed any of my training runs and wasn’t used to running race pace.

When I next train for a marathon, I want to have a far better idea of my race pace going in to the race so I can plan it properly. I was too cavalier this time and a marathon will eat you up and spit you out if you don’t give it the respect it deserves.

What next?

I don’t know. I originally thought I would have a year break from marathons as I had found motivation for training so much more difficult this time. However, with wanting to avenge this run, my head has been turned by the Paris marathon early next year. I’m going to give myself a week to decide. If you have any suggestions on how best to react, I’m on andrewbenjaminwebster@gmail.com

Other than that, I want to try a Triathlon. I can’t swim any where near well enough to complete one at the moment, so that will be a completely different challenge in itself.