NYC Half Marathon Race Re-cap

When my alarm went off at 5:45 this morning, I couldn’t really believe that race day had already arrived.

I’d been training for this since December, but as you know, have been suffering from ITBS syndrome, which caused me to experience sharp pain on the outside of my right knee every time I ran. I first started suffering from ITBS after the first (and only) 10k I ran back in October, and after visits to an orthopedic surgeon and a physical therapist, I thought all kinds of things were wrong with my body, from scoliosis to a torn meniscus. Luckily, research and sessions with a new physical therapist taught me the problem was mostly coming from a strain on my iliotibial band (the muscle fibers that run from your hip to your leg), which is usually caused by overpronation (which I do, and wear special sneakers to combat this) and overuse, and can be fixed by stretching, foam rolling, rest, and wearing an iliotibial band compression wrap. (Megan has a great post on soothing ITBS, which helped me a lot these past few days.) So, long story short: I went into this expecting to try my hardest, but not beat myself up if the pain was too great to go on. I’d also never run more than a 15K… and that was three months ago.

I made my usual pre-race breakfast: toasted Ezekiel English muffin with peanut & almond butter, cinnamon, honey and a cup of coffee.

I pinned on my number…

… and grabbed my phone (in case my knee hurt too much and I needed to be picked up), my iPod, and Clif Shot Blocks.

Game face!

My parents and I followed the runners to Central Park…

… and lined up according to my number.

There were 16,000 of us.

The crowd gave off so much excited energy!
  

Still, I was a Nervous Nelly.

That’s better!

My parents waited with me until the very end, but then I was on my own.

Last night while I was looking for music, I came across the hard drive I used in high school and the first year of college. If nothing else, I thought nostalgia and good songs might get me through it!

I made the playlist 3 hours long, in case it took me the maximum amount of time a runner is allowed to be on the street for the NYC Half.

I had so much adrenaline during the first few miles that I had to be careful to pace myself. I didn’t worry about who was passing me or who was around me (although I did crash into someone who cut across me…. whoops); I concentrated on keeping one foot moving in front of the other. After the first mile I started to feel the familiar knee pain creeping around my right knee. (As I told my dad this morning, I’m happy that I knew what kind of hurt I would feeling, that it wouldn’t be a surprise.) I kept going until mile 3, when I moved over to the side to do quickly stretch my ITB.

I stopped twice more, at miles 4 and 6, and stretched for about 10 seconds before joining the mass running party. I find that it hurts more to start and stop, but if I can compartmentalize the pain (and I am by no means suggesting that you should push through something if you know something is really wrong) and say, “Okay, it hurts… but it’s going to hurt the same amount tomorrow whether I run 5 miles or 10 miles” then I can just accept that I’m uncomfortable and move on. I moved on.

Except for the first “fluid station” where I had a sip of Gatorade Endurance (a bit too sweet for me), I stuck to a few sips of water at almost every station. I ate my first shot block at mile 7. The whole time I was thinking of how much progress I was making: “10% done… 20%… now if I can only get to mile 9, I might actually be able to finish this thing!”

After we made the 6 mile loop in the park, we ran down 7th avenue. Bands played, and so many people flocked to the sides of the street, cheering us on. It gave me a whole new surge of adrenaline. When we got to Times Square – which was blocked off- we made a right and crossed over to the river, running past Theater Row and then down the West Side Highway. 9 miles. 15 k. 10. I ate another Shot Block, and prepared myself: This was going to happen. I was going to finish the race.

Miles 11-13.1 were the hardest. My legs felt so heavy, my calves were sore and tight, my knee hurt. I was tempted to stop and walk, but I knew it would just be that much harder to get myself going again. I saw a lot of people on the side of the road doing the same ITB stretch, and I knew I wasn’t alone. Just two more miles.

When I saw the “400 Meters To Go” sign my heart leapt into my chest and I was filled with so much emotion. At “200 Meters To Go,” I thought I was going to burst into tears. Wouldn’t that make for a great finish photo! I always like to finish strong and pick up the pace, but I didn’t know my knee would be able to handle it. When I was about 30 meters away, I started sprinting. The adrenaline was back, and I raced to the finish line.

Garmin report: 13.69 miles, 2:14:19 time

NYRR report: 13.1 miles, 2:12:50 time (10:09 mile)

I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of myself than when I received my race medal and space blanket. I still couldn’t believe I’d done it! I stretched and found my parents, and couldn’t stop smiling.

I immediately dug into the apple in my post-race swag bag…

… then we headed to Bouley Market for recovery treats. I had a chocolate mini muffin (the size of my thumb!), a hot chocolate, and we all split a lemon poppyseed muffin.

This is my Cloud 9 Face

I was getting cold and needed a warm shower. On the way to the subway, we ran into Dori.  She ran the race on her birthday!

There were so many runners on the train that I didn’t look too out of place icing my knee. (One guy, not a runner, walked into our car and said, “Did people just run? I smell sweat!”)

When I got home I took a warm shower and tried not to fall asleep before I finished. I noticed before I got in that I had so much salt on my body, it felt like I’d gone to the beach! I wasn’t even sweating that much, but I guess it was there all the same. Pretty sexy.

Hunger hit me like a train, so we went to Sura Thai Kitchen for lunch. Hot Oolong tea was in order…

… as well as spicy calamari salad…

… as well as stir-fried eggplant with shrimp and rice. I ate half of each of these.

The meal came with coconut almond custard, which I devoured.

After lunch my dad and I went to Paragon to use the 20% off discount all runners received at the Expo. I was treated to the updated model of Asics Gel Kayanos (for overpronators); this is my third pair, and I’ve had a lot of luck with these shoes. I also got a new pair of heat-moldable inserts, which you bake in the oven and mold to your feet. I’ve had a lot of problems with arch support and plantar fasciitis (I have a hard time wearing flats), and haven’t suffered since I’ve used these insoles.

I also got an ITB compression wrap, which will hopefully reduce a little of the pain both in the next few days and when I start running again.

I was hungry again when I got home, so I had a little Vanilla Chobani with half an orange and half a grapefruit. Then I took a nap.

When I woke up, I had leftover peanut noodle salad with an egg and green beans.

I’m starting to feel hungry again, so I have a feeling I’m not done eating for the night!

It’s been a long, long day. I hope you’ve had wonderful weekends as well… I don’t know about you, but I sure could use one more day! I have a feeling I will sleep well.

Congratulations to Megan, Dori, Ashley, and Jen who also ran the race today. Check out their re-caps!