NYC Marathon- Disappointments and Triumphs
Congratulations to everyone who ran the New York City Marathon on Sunday! It looked like an incredible day, and I can’t wait to read race recaps. Of course it made me think back to my own experiences- I ran the NYC Marathon in 1993 and 1996. I was living in New York at the time, and it wasn’t very hard to get into the race. There was a waiting list and a lottery, but it seemed that pretty much everyone who wanted to run it, could do so. As I wrote about in this post, my first marathon was Chicago in 1990. The NYC Marathon in 1993 was my second one. Not a lot had changed in my running over those three years- I had a little more experience, but was running around the same pace. I planned to run the marathon at a ten minute mile pace, and for the most part succeeded. Because of the crowds and usual slowdowns, my finish time was 4:36. I was fine with that. I’m so glad I had that experience! I enjoyed running over the Verrazzano Bridge, and experienced the thrill of coming off the Queensboro Bridge to the roar of crowds on First Avenue. Those miles through the Bronx were difficult, but I didn’t slow down too much, and finished happy. It’s so funny to look at now, when medals are big and colorful and have moving parts, but here’s the medal from that marathon: Between 1993 and 1996 I discovered this thing called “speed work.” I started going to a track once a week and running quarter mile intervals. Regular people didn’t have coaches back then, and although my workouts were primitive, it was better than nothing and I had success lowering my 5k and 10k times. For the marathon in 1996, I had my heart set on a sub-4 hour finish. How did I know I could do this? Well, I ran all my long runs at a 9:00 mile pace. Yes- my training plan left a lot to be desired but still… I was stoked for that sub-4. Does anyone else remember racing in the dark ages BEFORE TIMING CHIPS??? So prehistoric! If several minutes elapsed between the gun going off and you crossing the start line, those minutes were just added to your time. In this case, the start was so slow and so crowded, eleven minutes had elapsed before I even got to the starting line! I started to panic. There was no way I could run a nine minute mile pace and finish under four hours now. I know- I could have run my pace and just mentally subtracted eleven minutes, knowing that was my actual time. But I didn’t want to do that- I had my heart set on seeing 3:xx as I crossed the finish line. I tried to run a little faster than my planned pace, but it was still so crowded that I just couldn’t get through. I ran slowly, getting more and more frustrated, until mile 6 when the runners finally thinned out a little. By that point, I knew my time goal was impossible. I was devastated- I had wanted it so badly. So… I made a decision. Starting at mile 6, instead of settling into a 9:00 pace, I decided to run my 10k pace, which was 8:00 minute miles. Even with my limited knowledge, I was pretty sure that was a bad idea. But what was the worst that could happen- I would fail to meet my goal? I was already going to fail at that anyway! I figured it was a “go big or go home” moment, and I went for it. Things went great! After the slow walk to the start, and then the slow first six miles, it felt good to run fast. I ran through Brooklyn… Queens… over the bridge onto First Avenue… and up the east side. I felt so good that I started to think maybe… just maybe… I could squeeze out my sub-4 after all? Nope! When I got past mile 20 and into the Bronx, things fell apart in an epic manner. I hadn’t walked at all in my first two marathons, but now I walked. The last five miles were a very, very painful walk/shuffle. You know how, when you cross the finish line of a marathon, you have that triumphant “I did it!” feeling? Well, as I crossed this finish line my first thought was “I didn’t do it.” The funny thing was, my time was 4:14. If you subtract the eleven minutes it took to get to the start line, my time was 4:03- incredible under the circumstances. But I was bitterly disappointed. So, where did I go wrong? Should I have had an A goal, a B goal and a C goal, so when my A goal went out the window I could have still salvaged the situation and run a smart race? Surprisingly, my answer in this situation is… no. I stand by my decision to go for it, despite the disastrous outcome. I was going to be disappointed with my finish time no matter what. Sometimes you just have to go for it and see what happens. I definitely learned a valuable lesson! There might be magic on marathon day, but not that much magic. If you have a big goal that really, really matters, you might reach it and be ecstatic. Or you might end up really disappointed. If the risk for disappointment isn’t there, then your goal isn’t big enough. And guess what- it’s okay to be disappointed sometimes. It won’t kill you. In my case, I was so dissatisfied with that marathon, I looked for another one right away. And look what happened that spring… My form may not look great in the picture, but I like how the photographer caught me “flying,” both feet off the ground. And smiling… definitely smiling that day. Do you like having A,B, and