Oh the Wind… TCS New York Marathon in the Books
Hi!!!!!!!!
Obviously a full recap will be on the way because there is just way too much to tell you about the TCS New York Marathon.
But, we made it (yeah, you and me because you take this journey with me you know).
I had a few doubts when we started getting high wind advisory emails in the middle of the night and contemplated deferring my race until next year, but I decided it was time to face fears. Just like CocoaVia (the official sponsor for this trip) says:
I fear a lot of things. Running in the wind is one of them. I don’t do wind, I do most of my mileage on a treadmill for goodness sakes so my “wind” is the fan. I knew I was in for it today.
I was by myself a lot this morning at the starting village since my friends were assigned to different areas and everything. It was a good character building experience in so many ways.
It was cold. It was especially cold while we were waiting around for over two hours to actually start the race. Oh man. I did my best to keep it classy though.
Um, and yeah, you know that when you’re actually inside the port-a potty and can still feel the wind that the wind chill is truly an issue.
I actually ended up running the entire race without music or looking at my GPS. It wasn’t planned, but I didn’t want my phone to die and knew I wanted it at the finish for pictures and in case of emergencies or anything. I did run with my new earphone in one ear, but it was all for show. I also lost the other one that was tucked in my shirt in the wind. Lovely.
I did manage a couple pictures right at the start and even a video for you though.
This was taken just minutes before I was fearing for my life because of the wind. Oh my goodness, it was insane and I seriously thought it might throw me over the bridge. Definitely not my favorite.
Besides not being able to feel my fingers or my toes and the whole wind thing, I really felt great the first 20 miles of the race. I just couldn’t stop smiling and wanted to pinch myself, but my fingers were numb and not cooperating. Ha.
I stopped three times- once to turn my phone off and put it away, once to take my pants off (A nice policeman had to help me by the way) and once to take off my jacket.
The last 6 miles were a tough struggle mentally and physically. I was prepared for that since this has been just one heck of a tough couple of months and my training has been all over the place.
But, I truly felt I gave it what I had left in me.
Holy dream come true.
My body and my head are ready for a break and this marathon was the best way ever to turn over a new leaf and take some time to really figure out some life stuff.
After the race I got a taste of one of the most frightening (and expensive) petty cab rides ever.
So much more to come friends, but I have a limited amount of time in New York to see and do everything possible, so that’s what I’m off to do at the moment.
My finish time today was 3:31:44. I was definitely hoping for a little better, but given the conditions and everything else going on I’m okay with it.
It gives me some extra motivation for true rest and some bigger goals for next year.
One deep thought before I go.
Face your fears and do what scares you and challenges you.
I hate the wind and the cold and avoid both like the plague. I had no choice but to face them today and heck no it wasn’t fun, but it’s over and in hindsight it wasn’t THAT bad. Everyone out there tackled it head on.
Just do hard things friends. You CAN do them. Go for it. Face your fears.
Yes? Yes.
Okay.
Time to hit up the town. I’ve got to find a cool place to have a martini Sex in the City style like Kim suggested. Ha ha.
