Tuesday, October 27, 2015

New York City Marathon

I can't say it is a dream come true to run the New York City marathon this coming Sunday because frankly even once I decided to run a marathon I still had no desire to do NYC. While training for my first marathon in 2013 I ran through Central Park and happened to go right by where the finish line was being set up.  I was completely overcome with emotions I had never felt before and decided that perhaps I did in fact want to run NYC. There was something about seeing the finish line set up on the same road I had run countless times before that made me feel the urge to cross the line.

Getting into the NYCM is no ease feat, in fact one might surmise it is actually easier to just run a marathon than qualify for NYC. As an inhabitant of this fair city I had the ability to join the New York Road Runners, run 9 races, volunteer once and get guaranteed entry into the marathon.  I will admit this is perhaps easier than applying for a lottery and being denied, however running 9 races while juggling triathlons and a broken foot proved very challenging. I do wish they would update their policy that if you register and pay for a race but have a doctors note it counts towards your 9 races, instead they give no leeway which resulted in my wearing a walking boot to the start of a half marathon, walking the half marathon and then putting my walking boot back on.

This race is one of the big iconic marathons and while I was really excited to qualify it fell into the backseat compared to my Ironman goals this year so my training has been slackerish at best. I mean I ran a marathon about 4 weeks ago after swimming and biking so surely I can manage a marathon this coming weekend.  It certainly won't be a personal best but I can enjoy the experience of running in New York City streets and bridges, taking in all the scenery of my home turf and I know the crowds will be excellent. I'm really just in it for the experience but in reality isn't that why every marathoner runs except the pros.

I can't help feeling a little annoyed at the amount of waiting that shall commence before hand in Staten Island as my wave doesn't get started until 10:40 but my bus leaves midtown at 7am.  Plenty of time for a swim and bike before hand but I can't seem to find the course maps ;-)

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