TCS New York City Marathon 2019

It is the first Sunday of November again, it's NYC Marathon time! This year, we have 53,508 runners, 50 in wheelchairs, and 69 in handcycles. As always, the course was filled with energy from more than 2 millions (est.) screaming spectators, with music, encouragements, and all things that are great about New York City.

2019 is my second year running NYCM, also my second marathon, thanks to its 9+1 program. I, once again, got injured (right IT band issue) early in the year (March). We then moved to Long Island, got busy and lazy. Training was interrupted, and minimal, if it's considered training at all. Although, I was still hopeful to do better than last year, since it was an abysmal display of fitness.

The TLDR is provided below. Otherwise, read on for detailed analysis.

Preparation

I started Saturday morning with a shake-out run with Pi, then spent most of the day chilling, taking things easy. I went to a local cinemas to see Terminator: Dark Fate in the afternoon (matinee ticket is only $5!), then took a nap. Carbo loading meals was on Friday dinner and Saturday lunch, pappardelle + Alfredo sauce. Saturday dinner was a bit lighter, it's some Chinese fried rice with flank steaks, reduced fat/oil (it's a real thing). I then went to bed at around 9:30pm. I got about 6 hours of sleep (+1 from Daylight Saving), was up at 2:50am.

The train leaves at around 4:30am so this gave me plenty of time for, you know, the morning routine, gearing up, having breakfast with Pi. I even gave him a quick walk before I left. Last year being my first NYCM, I was overdressed and was overheat towards the latter half of the run. I only wear compressed short-sleeved T-shirt + shorts, with the official long sleeves tech shirt outside this time around. Just enough for a run in 45-50F, as it turned out.

The outer layers were only to keep me warm during transit, they would be donated before the start of the race. I also wore compressed wraps for shin-splints protection, and used a few pieces of KT tape around my feet. It's nice to feel tight, I suppose.

I got everything prepared the previous night so I was in no rush and I was not anxious. However, being a bit neurotic, I still performed mental checks every little while so I could be quadruple sure. (Narrator: He still missed something important!) Off I went!

Transportation

Train was a tad late but I still got to Penn Station around 5:40am, not bad at all. I then walked over to 5th/42nd, the New York Public Library. Last year I took the SI Ferry so yes I was surprised to see how crowded it was. You could have told me it's Black Friday and I'd believe ya. Except that everyone was wearing nice running shoes. A lot of people have Nike shoes, the expensive ones, I wonder why?!? /s

I was finally able to get on one of the bus. I skipped the restroom (big mistake!) because I peed on the train just before arriving at Penn, and because the ride was going to be short (Maps said 30 mins...) Oh boy, it was an excruciating 90-min ride. I almost did not make it.

Start Villages

The bus arrived at Fort Wadsworth at around 8am. Runners were split into 3 villages: Blue (me), Green, and Orange. They would start the race from 3 different routes, only to fully merged around mile 3. Snack, water, Gatorade, Honey Stinger, even Therapy Dog and Interfaith services were provided at the tent. I found a sunny spot and sat down to conserve energy, also went to the loo regularly (lesson learned). About an hour and a half later at 10:10, my wave got the howitzer canon shot signal to start.

The Race

Mile 1-5: I have the experience now, technically. I wasn't nervous, didn't have the jitter. I enjoyed the "New York, New York" singing from the boomboxes and runners around me. It's a big question mark for me though, should I go 4:40 just to claim a marginally better time (comparing to last year), or should I go crazy again?

After all I am in better shape than I was in last year, not running specifically, but better overall fitness. My Staten Island result was surprisingly strong, relatively. I decided to go for it, took a big gamble and aimed for something in the low 4 hours. I hoped I wouldn't blow up like I did last year!

NYC Marathon is one of the tougher majors, the whole first mile is uphill on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. I ain't making the rookie mistake of going out too fast here, conservatively climbed it at around 9:40/mile. A bunch of people climbed on top of the divider to take photos. It is indeed breathtaking here, no matter which way you look. In front (or behind) of you are thousands of crazy runners on a huge suspension bridge. You only see it once a year, only around 55,000 people get in to see it, to LIVE it. To your left and right are different views of the Manhattan skyline.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/04/sports/new-york-city-marathon-preview.html

I saw someone familiar to my right. Last year, a French girl physically and mentally dragged me to finishing the marathon twice (24, then 25.5). Those were the highlights during my miserable miles (20-finish). I didn't even remember to ask for her name, just "Thank you for pushing me!" then I passed her. I don't even remember her face haha I went crazy too early in the race, not a great sign.

I thoroughly enjoyed the downhill, averaging around 8:29/mile. This is when you take back your mile 1 time. We arrived in Brooklyn and were greeted by the very first cheering spectators. Hi Brooklyn, how've you been?!

The three routes finally merged at around the 5K mark. My paces for miles 3, 4, and 5 were 8:50, 9:10, 9:06. On point for a 4:00 finish?!

Mile 6-10: This part went through the heart of Brooklyn. Three miles on 4th Ave it was roaring cheers and blasty music. Friendly and happy faces everywhere. This is also the part where I started to take some energy blocks.

I didn't work out a plan for nutrition/energy during the race. Though I stashed 4 gel packets and some blocks with me, but I didn't plan when I should take them. Since I had a Honey Stinger waffle a few mins before the race, I figured 45-60 mins in is the perfect time for some blocks, I so chewed some. I grabbed a cup of water from the table, it helped downing the chewy blocks. I also spent a min or two in line to pee. My pace for these miles were 9:07, 9:17, 10:56 (peed, remember?), 9:13, and 9:18. Looks like 4:00 is not gonna happen today hehe.

Around mile 9, some roadside DJ turned on "Seven Nation Army", the crowd went wild. God damn, it is a really pumpy song. Dun dun da dun dun dun dun... gave me bit of a boost.

Mile 11-15: Just more of Brooklyn. Actually, we passed a Hasidic neighborhood somewhere on miles 11-12. It's a totally different vibe here, as in everyone looking disinterested in the thousands of runners disturbing their Sunday morning, as in nobody is giving a shit about your non-sense Sunday jog. That's why we all love New York City.

I made it to the half way point (on Pulaski bridge) relatively okay. Though I feel every mile was taking more effort now. My paces were: 9:17, 9:15, 9:35, 9:57, and 9:40. I was definitely slowing down. I wasn't in pain or anything but the lack of long runs was definitely biting my ass here. Legs started to feel heavy. Oh well, too late to turn back now. I used my first gel around mile 12 with lotsa water then pushed on! Oh we got into Queens by the way!

Mile 16-20: Mile 16 was dead quiet because we were huffing and puffing scaling the scary Queensboro Bridge. Man it took a lot out of me here. This was the part I started having doubt about the whole thing. I thought about last year and couldn't help thinking it's gonna happen again. That the wall was waiting for me at mile 19...

My paces for these miles were 10:20, 9:46, 9:23, 9:27, and 10:55. The climb was tough, that's why I went over 10. The wall of sound (another wall) on 1st Ave (into Manhattan!) helped carry me thru miles 18, 19 a bit better than the last few mile average. Mile 20's slowness was because of another bridge, into the Bronx. All in all, just a soft wall this time around. I popped another gel around Mile 17, just because. This was also my last gel of the day...

It's funny around mile 17-18 on 1st Ave, I heard "ALEX!!!" Snapped out of the tunnel vision that only showed 10 feet in front of me, I was like "ey I am Alex". I turned and saw my Lifion colleagues screaming my name. Took me a split second to recognize her, then who's the blond standing next to her also screaming my name?! Turned out it was my team mate's girlfriend. I didn't even see him standing next to them haha. I'm excused because I was at mile 18!!!

I was longing for some bananas. I remembered last year they handed out bananas. Where are my bananas? Miracle does happen and it happened to me around mile 19 here. A female spectator was handing out bananas, 3 to be exact. Got my banana, I didn't forget to yell "Thank you so much you saved me!"

Mile 21-25: We're in the Bronx now. This was the hardest part of the race, and it was probably among the hardest 10K I have ever done. I kept telling myself there was no wall, just keep pushing 1 mile at a time.

I saw another colleague here holding a sign that read "Chafe now, Beer Later!" Took a good second for us to recognize and wave at each other. My paces around these miles were 10:20, 9:56, 9:39, 9:58, and 9:40. First slow mile must be explained by my stopping briefly at a Biofreeze spray station. Other than that I thought I was hanging on for maybe a 4:15 finish, not too shabby! Mile 25 had us turn into Central Park.

Homestretch: Just 1.2 miles to go. The spectators were now finally meaning it when they yell "You're almost there!" This is Central Park, I have run here countless of times. Just a bit more and I'm home free. I'm feeling a lot better now, must be the second wind. Legs were a bit sore but no pain.

I turned into Central Park South, got my cellphone ready. Just 800m to go! I started recording. Screw it I was not gonna make 4:15, so I might as well just waste a few seconds more to record this awesome moments with spectators screaming encouraging words while I run for the finish line. I made it in 4:16:22, a 30-min plus improvement from last year on top of essentially no training. I'll take it!

Analysis

It is fair to say that I did not train for this race. My 16 weeks of 'training' (from mid July) mileage leading up to race week are (averaging 12 miles/week)

This is hardly a proper marathon training plan. With the longest long run of 13.1, it was worst than what I had prior to last year race (I did the 12-15-18 training series). So I am more than happy to have had finished with 4:16:42.

I kept telling myself to not go out too fast (most important tip given at Marathon Expo), but I still did. It was such a gamble because even though I know my cardio had improved, I didn't have the long runs to back it up. But how could one go slow at NYC Marathon!?

The following graphs show my splits from both years. I positive split both times. In 2018 race though, we can clearly see when I hit the wall (M19-25). A soft wall can be seen in 2019 race around miles 20-21 (did stop here for Biofreeze spray and a stretch), but I pushed through it quickly and regained average pace. Mile 8 was when I stopped to pee, definitely not a wall.

My heart rate throughout was quite stable between 155-165, with an average of 160. It sit well in the Tempo zone, or Z3. Last year I spent over an hour in Z4 with a lower average pace. I think my cross training helped my cardio tremendously, a bit less in the muscle development department. It was my legs that couldn't endure the stress of maintaining my preferred pace (9:09/mile).

What now?

I got entry to the United Airlines New York City Half Marathon in March (3/15/2020) so a half-marathon training plan starting Nov 11 is what I'm doing next. After two failed attempts (because of injuries + other things), I think I have learned a few things.

• The most important thing is to sleep more. Recovery is probably the important part of training. It also helps avoid injury.
• Consistency is more important than huge workouts with increased risk of injury
• 'Less is more' so that I don't get sidelined by injury
• Cross train regularly, I have starting cycling and spinning a lot more. I have also started swimming regularly. This is to prepare for my first 70.3 on 5/31/2020 in Connecticut. Cross train will help develop other muscle groups which also help when you run. I started training with light weights from time to time as well
• Lose a few pounds. I'm not gonna starve myself because I'm not crazy and I don't get paid to run. But I should eat better, that means no (or once every two weeks) junk food, no sugary drinks. I want to get down to around 135lbs (from 141-145 now), that's a 'free' gain of almost 7%!
• Get a pair of Nike Vaporfly 4% ZoomX

My NYC HM 2020 A+ time goal is 1:45:00.

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