Jumping straight to 100 miles this week, will I survive?

jot quill wrote:

> TCS New York City Marathon - 2:36:23 (5:58/mi)

Official 5K splits:

17:58 (5:45/mi), 36:09 (5:58/mi),

54:29 (5:47/mi), 1:12:54 (6:04/mi), 1:17:01 (half, 6:03/mi),

1:31:45 (6:22/mi), 1:50:12 (6:00/mi),

2:08:56 (6:01/mi), 2:28:05 (5:59/mi), 2:36:23 (finish, 6:03/mi)

Mile splits (watch):

6:10, 5:14, 5:48, 5:49, 5:49,

5:47, 5:51, 5:54, 5:54, 5:48,

6:01, 5:51, 5:59, 5:57, 6:06,

6:09, 5:58, 6:00, 5:58, 6:06,

6:02, 6:01, 6:07, 6:22, 6:02

6:03, 6:03/mi (0.2)

Goals:

Gave myself a range of 5:55-6:05/mi. Main target was 2:37, B goal was sub 2:40 (2019 goal), and stretch was whatever I could muster beyond that!

Pre-race:

Everything here went smoothly and according to plan, notables were that time in village actually passed by pretty quick, between resting and trying to get in bathroom breaks. After I left for the commute at around 5:30, I ate absolutely nothing aside from a gel 30 minutes before and maybe 2 sips of water. Thankful that this worked well! A huge difference from having way too much pre-race at Boston and ending up with GI issues. Jogged maybe 5 minutes and then immediately tried to get a good spot as the corral started moving toward the bridge. I was about 10 rows of people behind the front, and ended up taking just ~20 seconds to cross the line. Nice!

Miles 1-10:

Weather temps were pretty much perfect, mid 40s - low 50s throughout. Wind was no higher than 7mph, roughly W and N, there were a few stretches where the wind was a little annoying, but nothing to complain about. Had standard half tights and tank, with some throwaway gloves.

First mile definitely had some elbowing and zig zagging, but very quickly had enough space to run freely. My initial plan was to budget 6:20-6:30 for the first mile up the bridge, and ended up at 6:10 so a bit quicker, but I was feeling good (general theme of this first section…). Okay so the downhill mile next was definitely tough to control. I just tried to let gravity do the work and roll down, which netted me a 5:14. I constantly repeated “relaxed is fast” here and throughout the race, and the next 8 miles went by uneventfully. I kept running by feel and every time I checked the splits they were way ahead of schedule. Started getting the idea here that I might be able to pull something wild like 2:33-2:35, but I was also cautious because I knew it was going to be harder later in the race. Still, it felt so nice that in my mind I was still holding back for the rest of the race. Definitely not what really happened, but that’s the adrenaline and energy of the streets getting to me! Gels were planned and executed every 5 miles, so 5 and 10 here.

Miles 11-16:

These splits were now shifting more toward the high 5:5x and 6:0x, which is what I was expecting pre-race, so I let them roll by, knowing if I still had faster miles in me, they should be saved for later. I know mile 16 is over the Queensboro bridge and into Manhattan, so I focus on getting there. This is also where my girlfriend planned to catch me, so I was extra excited! Unfortunately I completely missed her in the huge crowds, and kept searching for a good mile into 17 before I realized it was a lost cause. Rats!

Miles 17-20:

Was nice to be off one of the big bridges so clicked off a few miles averaging around 6:00. Was really excited to hit mile 20, daydreaming that I might have it in me to pick up the pace from there (maybe next time…). Focus was certainly getting a bit hazy, but I felt pretty confident here if I didn’t completely fall over, I had a really solid shot at my main target still.

Miles 21-24:

OOF yeah picking it up absolutely did not happen. My legs felt way slower than I was actually going, and I was actually amazed that I was still more or less clicking off low/mid 6:00s here. At this point I was now very convinced I wouldn’t be pulling any superhero finishes. Mile 24 was very much a slog up the final boss hill and I started to get intermittent twitches of cramping in various parts of the leg. Here I was thinking to myself: yikes, here’s the boomerang back for the aggressive start. Still, I make it through and now all that’s left is some rolling hills in Central Park. Should be easy right?? I’ve run in this park a bajillion times.

Miles 25-finish:

Oddly enough, the park felt absolutely alien going clockwise (I always run the park counter, as do most others). Although it was rolling, it was one of those states where it always felt like uphill. I actually do believe I had the ability to start pushing the pace, but also knew my legs might give if I did. There were about 4-5 instances where I there jerky movement steps where I would cramp for a split second. Just hold it together! I kept telling myself. All I had to do was not seize up and roughly hold the current pace and 2:36:xx was 100% possible. So I boringly ran steadily for two miles, trying to keep form together and stepping a little awkwardly here and there. Caught sight of my girlfriend at the finish which was really awesome! Mustered a smile and a few arm raises (which nearly cramped my arms haha) but crossed the line feeling extremely satisfied! Everything somehow worked out in the end, despite racing pretty recklessly. Nearly 10 minute PR and a huge pace milestone that I was hoping really hard that I would hit! YAY. Time to defer my CIM registration to next year and take a much needed break!

Post-race:

Okay NYCM is definitely a logistical spectacle, but holy cow, the final 1 mile march from finish line to re-union point was nearly second marathon on its own. I really ran to my limits there at the end and if I had to run another mile I would have dropped to the floor. Greatest perk was definitely getting to go immediately home in the city and order some timeless delivery pizza.