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.
