Race Day!!!! After 4 years of waiting and trying to get in, its finally here!
I woke up at 6am. I use that lightly b/c I didnt sleep the night before. It was like a musical in the room, b/c I had my phone, watch, ipad and my dads phone all going off on the off-chance 1 didnt go off. I got ready and was on my way about 6:30. The 1 thing I was really worried about was the whole eating thing, b/c my wave wasnt going off until 11 and running all day I knew Id need more than a bagel. Someone suggested to me some chicken or turkey, so I picked up a grilled breast at 1 of the markets and had a little bit of that on the way to the subway. It was a little hard to eat w/ my nerves, but I got about ½ of it down and I really do think that helped.
I got to the subway and went down to the bottom of Manhattan to catch the ferry to Staten Island. Once again, lucked out w/ the location ~ 2 blocks to the subway and ½ block to catch the ferry. I signed up for the 7:15 one, but there were so many people that I ended up on the 7:30 one. Those things are huge! And they can carry a ton of people! It was overcast and windy, so I sat inside, but close to a window b/c I heard the views were amazing. And it was so cool ~ we passed by Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, the whole skyline of the city and the Verrazano Bridge. It was beautiful. I am so glad that I opted for that route instead of the buses. If you ever run this race, you have to take the ferry. Its incredible. Inside the ferry, there were tons of seats for everyone, so I just took in the views and had 1 of my bagels. We got to Staten Island around 8am, and then we had shuttles to take us to the runners village/start line. It was so windy when we got outside; a little cold, and overcast. The line for the shuttles was about 15 min and then the shuttles themselves took about 15 min to get over to the village.
When we got off the shuttles, we were immediately wanded down by police. I thought they were going to search our bags as well, but they didnt. The ironic thing is that on Wed I read on a FB group that they werent even going to allow black garbage bags. So Thur morning I went to get some clear vinyl shower curtains to wrap around me to use instead and brought old race bags instead of grocery bags for my feet if it was wet. Turns out ~ the black bags wouldve been fine. But it was 1 of those things where if I brought the black bags, I wouldnt have been able to use them so it all worked out in the end.
B/c the race is so big; people are separated by color into Blue, Orange and Green. Each color has their own little village area w/ the trucks for bag drop, bagels and water, port-a-potties, etc. As you get into the beginning of the village, there were a ton of port-a-potties so I stopped and the lines were really short; and in my area I didnt even have to wait in line! I was a Green runner, so my area was underneath on the other side of the bridge. It was so wide open w/ tons of room, you never felt like you were on top of people. There was also a huge screen that would announce when the corrals were opening and closing and when it was time to drop your bags off at the trucks. It was so incredibly organized. My wave didnt start til 11 and I wanted to get there early so I didnt feel rushed and it couldnt have worked out more perfectly. I felt I had plenty of time to relax a tad, stretch out and get ready; I was really happy w/ that part. The 1st pic is before I got into my area and the 2nd is from my area.
I didnt hear the women go off, but I heard the 1st 2 waves. When each wave starts, they shoot a huge cannon, have a boat shooting up streams of water and play New York, New York by Sinatra and you could see the people running along the edge of the bridge. I started getting ready after the 1st; putting on my KT Tape and getting my running stuff together. About an hour before I was to go off, I took a gu and about 15 min before we walked into the start corrals I ate some Gatorade shots. When the people in the 3rd wave were told they could start lining up for the corals I started taking off my cover-ups. They had a bunch of bins to throw your clothes in and people walking around the village to collect what hadnt been thrown in them. After that, I went to the other side of the bridge to start getting ready to go in.
About 10:15 we could start lining up and getting into the corral area. Once again, there were tons of port-a-potties lining the walk to the base of the bridge. Like I mentioned above, there are the 3 colors and each represents where you line up. Blue and Orange are on top of the bridge and Green is on the lower level. We all have our separate sides and Green runs a little different course at the beginning and then we merge together in Brooklyn on 4th Ave. W/ the corrals, we lined up by number and then were let inside and could line up to the start how we felt. I dont think Ive ever seen so many clothes on the side of the road before; it was crazy.
Someone sang God Bless America and there was a countdown and then at 10:55 the cannons went off and it was time to start! It was still overcast which was good and in the low to mid-40s and windy.
The bridge was crazy! The wind blowing through the levels was insane; peoples hats were blowing off. One thing I was grateful for was that I didnt get peed on. Yes, if you are on the lower level that is something that could happen, especially w/ the wind. It was funny, b/c I had read that b/c the bridge is a suspension bridge and w/ that many people running on it, you may actually feel it moving. I totally get that, but thought, Ok, Im from CA and have lived through tons of earthquakes. I wont feel it moving. Dead wrong! About ½ way through, I really did feel a little movement. That helped ease my nerves a little bit.
My foot had been really good the previous 2 days and wasnt hurting at all and I honestly did not walk a lot to preserve my legs and energy, but pretty much from the start, it was killing me and I knew a good run wasnt going to happen. It kinda feels like theres a sharp rock that Im stepping on. I also think part of it is that when I train, I run on the sidewalk, so aside from cracks, Im always on flat solid ground. When you run in the road, you have little potholes and stuff like that so I think didnt help much. The upside of it being a bad run was that I was able to take everything and anything in, and I think that was almost better than just running and not enjoying it.
Along the bridge, I tried to look out as much as possible and you could see Manhattan and Brooklyn. 1st up after the bridge is Brooklyn. There were people everywhere! They were along both sides of the street, on overpasses, anywhere you could be they were. I ran through a residential area and they were cheering you on w/ little pompoms, cowbells, horns; they put their stereos out in front to play music. There were people the entire way to 4th Ave; kids were yelling and screaming for you. You felt like a rock star. We were on 4th Ave for a long time and its a ginormous road; I think 4 or 5 lanes at least and mostly commercial. But there were people there too! If you had your name on you somewhere (I forgot that
) they were yelling out your name, the color of your outfits, your bib #. Tons and tons of cops out to along the course and they were cheering you on. The water stops were well stocked w/ water and Gatorade; port-a-potties and 1st Aid at each stop. Its so funny to go from a mid-size race like Disney to a race like that and you see the tables w/ 2 or 3 levels of water stocked up.
We stayed on 4th until just before or just after Mile 8. Then we turned onto Lafayette. That was my favorite part of the course. It was just brownstone after brownstone w/ tons of people on the steps yelling and cheering you on, music playing; it was unforgettable! We were there for awhile and then we ran into the Orthodox or Hasidic Jew part of Brooklyn. It was really quiet there, b/c for them its just a work day, but every now and then there would be a group of little kids on their way to/from school and theyd be watching you w/ smiles on their faces.
Shortly after that, we hit the Pulaski Bridge which was the ½ way point. We were now in Queens and it was a little more industrial and quiet, but there were still a few people cheering you on. After a few turns, it was time for the Queensboro/59th Street Bridge. We had gone over that bridge on our way to the hotel on Friday so I kinda knew what to expect, but it just seemed longer going over it. And the uphill is a lot longer than the downhill. I think what I liked about that bridge was that it was so quiet you could just get lost in the race and look out and see all the buildings in Manhattan.
As you come off the bridge, you do almost a 270 back under the bridge to the famous 1st Ave. When you read about the race, they always say that this is where you can lose the race, b/c there are so many people and you get that adrenaline rush you waste a lot of energy running up the Ave. The upside to my bad running was that I was so slow; it wasnt as crowded as it was earlier in the day, so I was able to maintain and not waste a lot of energy which was good. But there were still a lot of people when I got there yelling, similar to the beginning of Brooklyn and Lafayette. Everyone is cheering for you calling out your number and singling you out. Words just cant even begin to explain what its like. Ive been on Boylston along the finish for Boston cheering my dad on, and this is what he must feel like.
The downside of 1st Ave is that the wind picked up when I was there. Not only that, it was a strong headwind. Not fun at all. After mile 18, I was done. Part of it was the wall, although I had been fueling well, and part of it was that the wind just took everything out of me. Slowly but surely I made it over another bridge into the Bronx for a short while. Not a lot of people in the Bronx so that part seemed to drag on a bit. After that, another bridge and back into Manhattan and 5th Ave.
I was hoping that the headwind I had going up 1st would turn into a tailwind on 5th since we were going the opposite way, but no. It was mostly a side wind, which is better than a headwind, but still a wind and not fun. I finally hit the edge of the park around Mile 22½ and I was finally starting to feel the temp drop. I had gone off in capris, a short sleeve shirt w/ a pullover and throw away gloves. I never took off the pullover; pulled up the sleeves a couple of times, and thankfully keep my gloves the whole way. When I hit the park though, I was just done; everything hurt from my back to my feet. There were some people lined up along the sidewalks still and cheering me on, which helped tremendously. At Mile 24, we turned slightly in the park and just before 25, I saw the ice-skating rink which was kinda neat. We finally hit Central Park South and turned right to go along the bottom of the park. I ran w/ my belt, so I only took water twice along the course just in case, but the water stops were still stocked and the volunteers were incredible in the park. They were telling us if we wanted something yell it out and they would come out to us so we wouldnt have to go over to the side; just amazing. Once we got to the other end of the park, we turned back into the park for the last .2 of the race. They have all the different flags from different countries out, stands for people to sit in. It was awesome.
Then I saw that beautiful finish line! I had never been so happy to see something before. There were still tons of volunteers. As soon as you crossed the finish line, you got your medal and mylar. The girl who was handing them out had her back to me and didnt see me cross so another volunteer ran over and grabbed one from her to put around me. They were asking me if I was okay or needed anything. You walk a little bit further and they gave you a drawstring backpack w/ water, Gatorade, an apple and some nuts. I walked a little bit further and there was the photo stop if you wanted a finishers pic w/ your medal and after that were the parkas if you didnt drop a bag. Those are so nice!! And they were free if you didnt do a bag drop!! They went down to below your calves and were fleece on the inside and orange almost waterproof on the outside. They also have a hood and Velcro on one side to stay attached.
Once youre done getting your stuff, you leave the park and then go on your merry little way. The plan was for me to walk about 8 blocks down to Columbus Circle to catch the bus back to the hotel. However, I was walking well and some guy told me I could cut up to Broadway to catch the subway where it was warmer. When I got to Broadway, there was a stop for the bus I was going to take at the corner. There were also taxis! The problem was that it was now about ½ an hour after I crossed the finish and the temps were dropping fast. I started getting cold and shaking so bad. So a wonderful random stranger gave me her scarf and wrapped it around me. I finally got a taxi before the bus came. It was so warm; but it didnt matter. Hypothermia kicked in. I finally got back to my room and was so happy that my dad came w/ me. He literally laid on top of me for about 20 mins to get me warm again. Everything was shaking ~ my legs, my hands, my lips were chattering. Not a pretty way to end the day, but it was over and I finished thats all that matters.
So while I didnt have a good run, the race was awesome. Words just cant even begin to explain how great it was. It was so well organized, stops were well stocked, a lot of volunteers and the crowds were unbelievable. And what really got me was that while I was running, people were thanking me for running!
Thanking me!! I have to run it again before I die. Hopefully lottery chances increase a little bit w/ the elimination of the guaranteed entry in the next couple of years.
Can't wait to hear your report.
I just can't think outside of the race right now, but nice thing is that I know there'll be something no matter which part of the city we explore. 
Tiffanys also had a booth so I got to pre-drool a little bit before my trip there on Mon. The one thing I really wanted but didnt get was a sweaty band. I love those and wear them all the time, but the 2 booths that had them or a version of them, I didnt see a NY one w/ just NYC Marathon 13 on it. I probably missed it but a little bummed. I saw 1 that had NYC on it but also freedom and liberty a bit too much and there was 1 at another booth that was orange and blue glitter band, but no writing. Maybe Ill look on the site and theyll have one. I did see Disney there and the medals for Tink and GSC. Love them!!! All in all, we were at the expo for about 2 hours or so. 
My dad had a veal chop, not my thing but he said it was also very good, but he got a little polenta square w/ it; hes not a fan so I got to eat it. It was crusty and crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside and the seasoning was so good. I was in heaven. 
:
You're done w/ X-mas shopping! I haven't even thought about that yet. Although all the commercials that started over the weekend and stuff in the stores is definitely pushing you.
......how about the Statue Of Liberty?? That way you can bring a little bit of NY back to the West Coast. And the color is sort of green so it ties with Tink.
Is it wrong that I'm already getting excited about Tink! Well, probably more going to the parks than running. 
And the weird thing is that I have been craving nothing than sugar, which is weird and new. I've never had that before. 
Slowly we walked over to the store, but I made it. 
