NYC Marathon 2008

This was my 3rd NYC Marathon, 17th overall since 2000.

The weather was great marathon weather: 47ºF and sunny.

My original goal was to beat 3 hours but various training injuries and maladies led me to ratchet down my expectations. I was still clinging to the hope of besting my previous PR of 3:06 but events would determine otherwise.

The NYC Marathon has marathoners from every country and language, an amazing number and variety of fans, and a plethora of sites and sounds as you cross through every borough.

I was fortunate to be in the first wave, within a hundred feet of the starting line. When the gun went off, it was a shuffle to the starting line, and then some awkward evasions and near tripping moments as I climbed up the bridge.

Mile 1 is all uphill at the steepest gradient of the course, which combines well with the de-tangling of runners. You might as well incur all your delays in Mile 1. I recall thinking that it felt like a hard run until I reached the apex of the bridge and the first mile marker. The downhill was liberating and I made up for the lost time.

I recall the subsequent miles were run at a better than the pace needed for sub 3 hours (6:53) and thought maybe I could pull it off. It didn't feel like it was such a difficult pace to maintain. Most of the early miles I was running faster than that and I told myself to Slow Down.

When I got to the halfway point (13.1 miles) I saw that I had a minute plus cushion for beating 3 hours. However, at Mile 18 I noticed a twinge in my right calf muscle. This is a telltale sign of full blown leg cramps within a couple of miles. I tried to adjust my pace downward to see if that would ward them off but to no avail. At Mile 20 the cramps hit my right calf hard, as well as my left hamstring. I had to walk. I was running very slowly (10+ minute pace) for the next four miles.

I saw my wife, son and daughter at Mile 24, and stopped to give them a hug. From there I was able to pick up my pace a bit and finish stronger.

Though the last 6 miles were grueling it was still a good time. It was my best NYC Marathon by 8 minutes and I continue my streak of continuous Boston qualifying times since 2006: 7 consecutive marathons now.

The NYC Marathon is always a rich, vibrant event.


NYC Marathon Personal Statistics
========================================
age: 46
chip time: 3:24:23
overall: 3184/37,899
sex place: 2821/25,072
45-49 div place: 420/3773
pace: 7:48
half: 1:28:48

mile    elev    pace  net pace
---- ---------- ----- --------
(each * counts as 50 feet in elevation)

m0  .**         -
m1  .*****      7:13
m2  .*          6:04   6:39
m3  .**         6:29   6:35
m4  .**         6:40   6:37
m5  .*          6:38   6:37
m6  .*          6:37   6:37
m7  .*          6:49   6:39
m8  .*          6:55   6:41
m9  .**         6:52   6:42
m10 .           6:43   6:42
m11 .*          7:12   6:45
m12 .           6:50   6:45
m13 .           6:54   6:46
m14 .           6:57   6:47
m15 .*          7:17   6:49
m16 .**         7:32   6:52
m17 .*          6:53   6:52
m18 .           7:14   6:53
m19 .           8:01   6:57
m20 .*         10:08   7:06
m21 .          10:30   7:16
m22 .          10:22   7:24
m23 .*         11:01   7:34
m24 .**        11:50   7:44
m25 .**         9:06   7:48
m26 .**         7:35~  7:48
end .**         1:31~  7:48     3:24:23

Boston Marathon - Apr 21, 2008

This was my 2nd Boston Marathon, 16th overall in 8 years.

Boston. So much: top notch competition, the roaring crowds, the tradition, the history.

The weather was pretty ideal at the start. Around 50º and sunny. It warmed up a bit as the day went on, perhaps reaching 70º around Newton, but it was tolerable.

Originally, I aspired for a PR at Boston but in the past couple of weeks it was clear this would not be in the cards. My left calf muscle, which had bothered me since the National Marathon a few weeks earlier, caused me to stop running for the entire week prior to the Boston Marathon. This resulted in what can only be described as a sluggish run for the BM.

I did avoid the classic BM mistake, which cost me dearly last year, of starting out too fast. My pace was measured, starting out conservatively. I remember hitting the halfway mark and thinking that I was on track for a 3:10 pace, which I would have been extremely pleased with.

However, my pace started to slide and then declined precipitously from the hills of Newton through Heartbreak Hill (miles 16-21). I may have been playing it too conservative, hoping to get a final burst of speed in the last 5 miles. No luck. I could only muster a 7:21 pace for the first of the last 5 miles. I couldn't sustain even that relatively meager pace; it steadily declined to 7:55 for the final mile. Definitely not a strong finish.

While the performance difference in comparison to the National Marathon, I'll just console myself with a better BM time from the prior year with plenty of room for improvement.

-Emery

Boston Marathon Personal Statistics
========================================
age: 45
chip time: 3:19:25
overall: 4171/22375
sex place: 3753/13263
45-49 div place: 1238/3762
pace: 7:37
mile 6: 0:43:16
mile 10: 1:11:54
mile 13: 1:33:40
half: 1:35:25
mile 19: 2:21:31
mile 21: 2:39:29

mile    elev    pace  net pace
---- ---------- ----- --------
(each * counts as 50 feet in elevation)

m0  .*********  -
m1  .*******    7:35  
m2  .******     7:17   7:26
m3  .*****      7:13   7:22
m4  .****       7:07   7:18
m5  .*****      7:13   7:17
m6  .***        7:01   7:14 42:86 43:16
m7  .***        6:55   7:12
m8  .***        7:12   7:12
m9  .***        7:08   7:11
m10 .***        7:23   7:12 28:38  1:11:54
m11 .****       7:28   7:14
m12 .***        7:25   7:15
m13 .***        7:39   7:17 21:46  1:33:40
m14 .***        7:36   7:18
m15 .***        7:39   7:19
m16 .*          7:30   7:20
m17 .**         8:22~  
m18 .***        8:22~        
m19 .**         8:22~  7:30   47:51  2:21:31
m20 .***        8:58   7:34
m21 .*****      9:00   7:38   17:58  2:39:29
m22 .***        7:21   7:38
m23 .**         7:25   7:37
m24 .*          7:28   7:37
m25 .           7:42   7:37
m26 .           7:55~ 
end .           1:35~  7:37

National Marathon - Mar 29, 2008 (PR)

This was my 2nd National Marathon, 15th overall in 8 years. It was a sunny but cool day with temperatures in the upper 30's and ending in the lower '40s.

I woke up at 4:30am, ate a couple of pancakes and made sure everything was ready. Got out of the house at just after 6:00am and arrived at RFK stadium at 6:25am, consuming a banana and Hooah bar along the way.

My training has been more consistent and intense than before any previous marathon, though perhaps with fewer miles. This marathon was really intended more as a long run in advance of my return to the Boston Marathon in a few weeks, hopefully as a confidence builder. I had three goals in mind: either beat 3 hours, beat 7 minutes per mile pace, or beat my previous PR of 3:12. Pretty ambitious for a "long run" but they seemed reachable.

The course had substantially changed since the previous year. This year it looped back at RFK at the halfway point, then crossed over the Anacostia back to RFK. I was a little disappointed in that I recalled fondly the challenge of the "Calvert climb". Man, that was a steep hill.

The race got off to a good start. I was trying to be conscious of my time, to make sure I wasn't going too fast. Plus, though this was a relatively small marathon, there was a density of runners (marathoners and half marathoners) early that seemed to slow me down. I missed the mile 1 marker but at mile 2 I noticed that 13:27 had elapsed. I had a better than 6:44 pace so far! At first, I thought I must have been going too fast but my legs felt easy, so I thought I'd try to sustain a 6:50 pace.

The couple of miles of Connecticut Avenue and Columbia Road were the hilliest parts of the race. My legs still felt good though they slowed a little to give gravity its due.

The half marathoners split off at the halfway point, back at RFK. At the 13.1 mark, I checked my watch and noticed that it read 1:29:36. I was on track for my loftiest goal. I could beat 3 hours.

I pretty much sustained a 6:50-6:55 pace until around mile 20. After that, my calves had run out of steam. It reminded me of times in marathons past where they had spasmed and caused me to limp haggardly the last few miles. I slowed to prevent this and reminded myself that this was a "long run" and that I should still be on track to easily best my PR of 3:12.

These last 6 miles were also very solitary with very few runners and few spectators cheering you on. The couple of miles along the Anacostia had a sustained cool breeze coming right at me. Starting at mile 23 my pace had deteriorated to 8+ minutes.

At around mile 25, my left calf had it's first sharp spasm. I consoled myself by recalling that this first spasm was usually a one mile warning before spasms become debilitating. I just had a little more than a mile to go!

I finally got across the Anacostia and, with RFK in sight, was able to accelerate a bit. It was very satisfying to push through the finish line at 3:06:49 with a 6 minute improvement on my previous best time!

Afterwards, I recalled the contrast with the prior year's National Marathon. Then, I ran conservatively the first 20 miles, and really turned up the speed in the last 6 miles, gaining a PR of 3:18. This year, running more aggressively the first 20 miles and dogging the last 6 miles, still gaining a PR.

Breaking 3 hours at Boston now seems attainable but for the calf question. What measures can be taken to prevent calf spasms? S-caps? Plyometrics? More miles? This is something I will try to answer in time for Boston.

-Em

National Marathon Personal Statistics
========================================
age: 45
chip time: 3:06:49
overall: 58/1387
sex place: -/-
45-49 div place: 6/129
pace: 7:08
mile 6: 0:41:16
mile 10: 1:08:29
mile 13: 1:28:56
half: 1:29:36
mile 19: 2:10:42
mile 21: 2:25:04

mile elev   pace  net pace
---- ------ ----- --------
(each * counts as 50 feet in elevation)

m0  .*      -
m1  .**     6:43~
m2  .*      6:44~  6:44
m3  .       6:46~
m4  .       6:46~  6:45
m5  .*      7:08~
m6  .***    7:08~  6:52
m7  .****   7:18   6:56
m8  .***    6:38   6:55
m9  .**     6:43   6:53
m10 .*      6:31   6:51
m11 .*      6:49   6:50
m12 .**     7:03   6:52
m13 .       6:34   6:50
m14 .**     7:02~
m15 .***    7:03~  6:52
m16 .*      6:38   6:51
m17 .       6:58~
m18 .       6:59~  6:52
m19 .       7:04   6:53
m20 .*      7:11~ 
m21 .       7:10~  6:54
m22 .       7:39   6:57
m23 .       8:09~
m24 .*      8:10~  7:03
m25 .*      8:17   7:05
m26 .       7:54~
end .*      1:36   7:08