3 Weeks

Oh man! We're three weeks away from my third NYC Marathon. Can that really be right?

I finished my last scheduled long run yesterday and let me just say, I wanted to die. My previous long runs of 18 and 20 miles were fantastic and I expected this one to be the same but oh how wrong I was. I had signed up for Grete's Great Gallop, a half marathon in Central Park that started at 10:30 am so I figured I knock out 7 or 8 miles before and then toe the start line. I should have know that when I fell asleep on the couch while putting on my shoes that this was going to be tough.

Miraculously my mom called me 15 minutes later to tell me about something she pinned on pinterest. Why I needed to know about her new use for mason jars at 7:30 on a Sunday is beyond me but nonetheless it got me up off the couch.

I knew that the cool 50 degree temp was going to turn into 74 by the time I finished my run so I went with a short sleeve shirt and capris. I was chilling to start and hot at the end but I know any other outfit would have made me miserable. It was however perfect for my sunny one mile walk home at 1pm!

So my run...my plan was to start as usual with one lap of the reservoir and then get in a full loop of the park before getting into my corral at 10:15 for the 10:30 start of the race. That plan went out the window when I looked down and saw that I was 4 miles into my run and still doing loops of the reservoir, oops. Guess I was still asleep!

I finished my third lap with just over 5 miles under my belt and headed south toward to start. It was almost 10am so I weaved my way around the bridle path and somehow managed to hit exactly 7 miles at Tavern on the Green. Perfect! I could see the corrals and slipped into mine at 10:25. Not sure where the time went but as soon as I stepped under the rope we were started moving toward the start line.

The first mile of the race included parts of the last mile of the marathon and I was pumped to be retracing this part a total of three times during the race. A full loop of Central Park is just over 6 miles so we had to do two full loops plus a mile. In essence that first mile was also mile the 7th mile and the 13th. During my previous two NYC Marathons I had nothing left at this point and think I actually walked the last quarter mile of both :( This year I'm determined to run that portion even if I walk the rest! Just kidding but I really want to feel good about that final stretch. I always run the other direction when in the park so this was perfect.

As soon as we hit that first mile marker, I knew this wasn't going to be a walk in the park. I had to walk multiple times throughout the race and could shake the lead leg feeling. My garmin was showing ok times but my legs felt like they weren't moving. By the second lap, I was so tight behind my left leg that I kept doing butt kicks and stopping to stretch but it just would give. Needless to say that as a half marathon, my time was horrible. I was almost 30 minutes slower than at the Rock n' Roll Providence two months ago but I was still happy that I finished.

I was so disappointed with my time that as volunteers started saying things like, "You've just run 13 miles" or "You're still looking strong at mile 11" I actually corrected them and told them I was almost to 20! Not sure why I felt they needed to know but oh well.

Moral of the story:
Half Marathon time = bad
Finishing my last long run = excellent!

Now if only I can manage to not eat everything in sight today!