I've finished my Ironman sandwich
Well, I finished the New York Marathon last Sunday, arrived home Tuesday and have been busy recovering, working and being poorly for the rest of the week. I was knackered when I got home, it was a great overnight flight with some celebrations with other runners on the flight, not much sleep and then almost straight into work. I am now less tired just feeling sorry for myself as I cam back with a cough and cold and it is not going away.
The New York experience was phenomenal. I would recommend the experience to anyone. I felt really good going into the race and was sure I would have a good run and even going for a PB. The reality turned out a bit different.
I was on the 5am bus from Manhattan, arrived at the start on Staten Island before 6am - it was still dark and just above freezing. I had on what I thought would be enough clothes as I headed into the start area to get my breakfast - not much in way of real food and shelter. I had a bagel, a drink of hot water and then found a piece of cardboard to lie on in one of the tents set up for limited shelter and lay down. After an hour or so I was getting colder and really feeling it, but I was also really looking forward to the race, the start facilities were plentiful but also lots of people. Eventually I moved to the starting areas - more than an hour before. I met up with Simon Tootel from the club so it was good to have a chat and with the sun now shining it was getting a little warmer. The move to the start was a bit of a scramble but the mood was very good.
The start from the start of the Verazzano bridge and over it is spectacular and is really impressive. I soon got going and settled down into a steady pace. My plan was to run just under 8 min mile pace - eventually I was in a pattern of around 7.50 per mile and pretty much stayed with pace until the Queensboro bridge when I started to slow down, my legs didn't really recover once I had crossed the apex of the bridge and headed downhill. It seemed that my energy had all gone and I noticeably slowed down with the my pace getting closer to 9 min miling and then 10 min miling by the end.
The crowd was excellent, they offered encouragement all the way round. The race day weather was excellent, whilst it was cold to start with the sunshine, staying cool and only light winds at any time. I was set up for an excellent run.. I felt pretty awful for the last 7 or 8 miles, but when I reviewed the photos I looked a lot better than I felt. When I looked at my HR data, I saw I was running in my lower HR zones, mainly Z3 by this time which was a surprise.
I crossed the line in 3.54.32. I must admit I was pleased to have completed the marathon, but I was really disappointed with my time.
The post race trudge to recover my bag seemed to go on forever, but the support team were brilliant, offering encouragement all the time, checking you were OK and offering assistance. I collected my bag and got changed. Heading down to the subway was great, not easy on the legs but all the New Yorkers offering congratulations and good mood amongst the runners. Walking back to my hotel people were all offering congratulations. This continued the next day, people were really interested and applauded what you had done, it all seemed very genuine.
The New York experience was phenomenal. I would recommend the experience to anyone. I felt really good going into the race and was sure I would have a good run and even going for a PB. The reality turned out a bit different.
I was on the 5am bus from Manhattan, arrived at the start on Staten Island before 6am - it was still dark and just above freezing. I had on what I thought would be enough clothes as I headed into the start area to get my breakfast - not much in way of real food and shelter. I had a bagel, a drink of hot water and then found a piece of cardboard to lie on in one of the tents set up for limited shelter and lay down. After an hour or so I was getting colder and really feeling it, but I was also really looking forward to the race, the start facilities were plentiful but also lots of people. Eventually I moved to the starting areas - more than an hour before. I met up with Simon Tootel from the club so it was good to have a chat and with the sun now shining it was getting a little warmer. The move to the start was a bit of a scramble but the mood was very good.
The start from the start of the Verazzano bridge and over it is spectacular and is really impressive. I soon got going and settled down into a steady pace. My plan was to run just under 8 min mile pace - eventually I was in a pattern of around 7.50 per mile and pretty much stayed with pace until the Queensboro bridge when I started to slow down, my legs didn't really recover once I had crossed the apex of the bridge and headed downhill. It seemed that my energy had all gone and I noticeably slowed down with the my pace getting closer to 9 min miling and then 10 min miling by the end.
The crowd was excellent, they offered encouragement all the way round. The race day weather was excellent, whilst it was cold to start with the sunshine, staying cool and only light winds at any time. I was set up for an excellent run.. I felt pretty awful for the last 7 or 8 miles, but when I reviewed the photos I looked a lot better than I felt. When I looked at my HR data, I saw I was running in my lower HR zones, mainly Z3 by this time which was a surprise.
I crossed the line in 3.54.32. I must admit I was pleased to have completed the marathon, but I was really disappointed with my time.
The post race trudge to recover my bag seemed to go on forever, but the support team were brilliant, offering encouragement all the time, checking you were OK and offering assistance. I collected my bag and got changed. Heading down to the subway was great, not easy on the legs but all the New Yorkers offering congratulations and good mood amongst the runners. Walking back to my hotel people were all offering congratulations. This continued the next day, people were really interested and applauded what you had done, it all seemed very genuine.
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