Race Recap: Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff

A year ago today at this very time I was waiting with Grace and hundreds of other runners at the Staten Island Ferry on our way to Fort Wadsworth and the start of the 40th New York City Marathon! The next day, I posted this.

Yesterday was the official start of Marathon Week here in New York City. It's a crazy time filled with an influx of out of town runners and families, runners filled with excitement and anxiety walking carefully around town, long days for event staff, and party prep for millions of NYCers.

Part of me wishes that I was running it again this year, but obviously, it was not meant to be. Maybe I'll do it again sometime, but for now I am very happy to be looking forward to being a spectator and cheering on the runners during the last few minutes of their journey.

Back to yesterday. I like the Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff race because it is an exciting day with thousands of runners, some of whom are running the marathon and many who are not. This year was a little more fun than usual due to the runners in costume; The Joker was next to me in the porta-pottie line, I was passed by two Waldo's, and ran alongside Juno and Paulie for about half a mile.

As this was only the third time I've had to travel from the Financial District to Central Park for a race, I was a little nervous about it. The MTA was working on 17 subway lines again over the weekend, so who knows how long it will take to get anywhere in the city! The alarm went off at 6:30am and I left just after 7am. There were several other runners on the train with me and we all made it in time. I checked my bag, used the porta-pottie, and had a few minutes to warm up before getting in my corral. There were tons of people and the buzz of excitement was crazy! The weather was beautiful and actually a little warmer than I was expecting.

The National Anthem was sung, Peter ChaCha gave the final race instructions, and the gun went off! It took a good minute and a half for me to cross the start line and people were moving fast. Runners seemed a bit more aggressive, throughout the entire race, than normal. And several didn't care to announce themselves when they were passing others by slipping in between people. I really don't know what was up with that today. The first mile was pretty good. The course went clockwise around the park, opposite of the normal flow, but I've done it enough times to know what was ahead. My foot was feeling great and my legs okay, but I hadn't had enough water to drink before the start. I had to take a detour at the first water stop, which I hate doing on such a short race.

I lost a few seconds but got back on pace. I picked it up a bit for the second mile but the hills were already getting to me. This is annoying because I used to be a master of the CP hills. It was at this point that I made a promise to myself to run in Central Park at least once a month from now on. The rest of the race was pretty good, but my lack of hill work was really keeping me from picking up the pace. As soon as I saw the finish line, like always, I dug deep and gave all I had left to cross the finish line.

Overall, it was a pretty good race. I know I did my best but I wish my best was just a little faster. I have a lot of work to do to get my pace back where I want it. It was a beautiful day, a fun time and a great learning experience. Can't really ask for more, right?

Mineral Springs

my post race disheveled self

How did you spend Halloween?

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today's workout -
10.25mile bike
3x10 bicep curl
3x10 hammer curl
3x10 weighted squats
1x40sec plank
stretching