My New York Marathon 2015 Experience

I was super excited about this marathon because not only am I running the biggest marathon in the world, I'm sharing this with part of my family and friends.  My husband Eddie, step-son Mason, my baby boy Noah and my mom.  My son Fabian couldn't make it due to his soccer, golf and homework.  That's okay, he will be there next year when I run it.  My other step-son Taylor just got promoted as store manager for The Vitamin Shop and super busy with that.  Some friends from work are also going and it's Hilda's big 40th birthday.  So lots to celebrate!  My mom and Noah have never flown on an airplane and besides Eddie and I, they have never been to New York City.  This was going to be an unforgettable trip.  It wasn't just about me running, it was about showing our family the Big Apple as much as we could while there.  I couldn't wait to see my mom and Noah's face when we first took off on the plan.  First thing Eddie did was tell our pilot that it was their first time to fly.  They got happy and told Noah to sit in his seat.  So, that was a great Kodak moment and I took their picture with the female pilot.  I took moms pic too of course.  It had been raining and we were expecting storms and hoped it wouldn't be a rough ride.  However, the turbulence was terrible and mom was praying the whole time and Noah said he felt like he was on a roller coaster.  I felt so bad for them to experience this for their first time.  I had never felt that bad of turbulence before myself and tried to keep calm, cool and reassured them it was going to be okay.  After about 40 minutes, it passed and the rest of the flight went smoother.

We Arrive at the Big Apple!!

Friday, Day 1:  As soon as we got there, we took cab to our apartment to unload and went to the apartment which was very clean and nice.  It was on the west side of Central Park that we could run to it and close to subway to get around.  It was also in walking distance to grocery store. Our room was on the 12th floor and it had an elevator to it.  Nothing like last year where we got to a room in Hells Kitchen and had to climb over 9 flights of stairs.  It really sucked going up/down after the marathon.

View from our room.

We went and grabbed some Ray's pizza for lunch mom stayed to take a nap.  She was tired from waking up at 4:00 a.m.  We all went to the expo together later.  It was huge and didn't spend a lot of time there because we wanted to show our family the city.  We meet our friends Hilda and Mike there and talked about meeting up tomorrow and went our separate ways.  Noah's wish was to go see the Empire State Building while there and that was what we did that evening.  He had been looking up on the internet the tallest buildings of the world and couldn't wait to see this one.  He was in awe and said,"My dream has come true." He was super cute and excited to be there.  At night the views looked amazing.  We also walked around Times Square for some dinner and showed them the M & M Store and Toys R Us store.  We walked by the Broadway Shows and ran into Rumor Willis and took a pic with her!  Great first day and walked a ton.

Saturday, Day 2:  Eddie and I wake up early to go run at Central Park.  I was scheduled to run 2 miles, but Eddie wanted to keep going.  So I ran a little over that, but not much.  The weather was cool and crisp and felt great.  They were setting up for the marathon and we took a couple of pictures taking it all in.  There was a 5K run going on so the park was packed with people.  

On our way back, we stopped by the grocery store to load up with breakfast food.  We ate, got ready and all took off to meet Hilda and Mike for the Statute of Liberty tour.  We took the ferry to see her and that was fun. They wouldn't  let us go all the way to the top of her because it was closed off and only went to the pedestal of her feet.  Once there you had a cool view of the whole NYC skyline at a distance.  

After that we went to go see the 911 Memorial.  That was very touching and unforgettable.  We decided to go to China Town for some shopping and Mike and Hilda took off to meet their other friends.  We didn't shop long because we wanted to get Noah ready for trick-or-treating in NYC.  He dressed up as Batman and took him to a fire station down the street from our apartment and they told us where to take him trick-or-treating.  We found the cops had blocked a couple of blocks of town homes and it was packed with kids/adults in costumes.  These people go all out decorating their homes and dressing up.  It was fun and they started running out of candy around 8:00 or so.  Mason wanted to go back to Times Square to see the crazy people, but it had been a long day and my feet were tired from all the walking and needed to get back to rest up for my marathon next day.  He understood and we all heading back and called it a night.

Sunday, Day 3- Marathon Day:  Today was marathon day and I had already made up my mind that this was not going to be a fast run, but one I would just do for fun.  My feet were already sore from all the walking and didn't want to end up injured.  Eddie woke up early and took cab to Staten Island to catch the ferry.  He even got on the ferry with me which I appreciated because it wasn't as fun doing the marathon this time without him and everyone else who was suppose to join us this year.  Eddie, Jason and Hilda all had to defer this marathon until next year.  Hilda injured her knee and had to have knee surgery.  Eddie didn't put in the training because his deer hunting got in the way.  Jason missed two weeks of training and wasn't able to get back into it.  Jason's friend Matt did go and ran it, but I don't know him.  He is a track running coach at Oklahoma University and was able to get some good advice on how to train after Chicago, but I never saw him. 

We arrive and it's time to unload.  Eddie kissed me goodbye, wished me luck and off I went.  I tried to remember what our friend Ernesto did last year as to where to go after we unload to catch the bus and walked fast.  I was able to get on the first bus.  The ride to the corrals seemed like forever and nerves were starting set in.  I get there and eat a whole bagel and drink some water and wait and wait. There are photographers everywhere and take my picture.  I go to the bathroom 2 times and go into my corral as soon as they open it.  I think the worst part is the the wait time before you actually start because you are out in the cold the whole time.  There are runners that bring sleeping blankets, their own food and some even sleep while they wait.  They had a coffee, water, hot tea, bagels, donuts, power bars and bananas to fuel up with.  They even passed out knit hat beanies to keep warm. 

 I met a lady from California and a young girl from New York and we walked together to the start line.  The weather was in our favor and not windy like last year.  It started at 55 degrees and by the time I finished it was in the 60's.  I wore gloves to start, but took them off pretty quick cause it got warm.  The first bridge we crossed was super crowded so I didn't bother trying to pass people.  I took pictures and listened to my favorite tunes.  As soon as I got to a crowded area, I would turn my music down and listen to the bands playing.  There were a lot of bands and it is a huge block party marathon!  I tried to take some pics but it was worthless.  Runners in the way and I didn't want to stop. My legs were more tried than usual and tried to just coast it and listen to my body.  I wondered if I would get pushed again this year while running.  This is the only marathon I've done where people actually push you out of their way.  It happened to me last year twice while going around corners and this year I got pushed again by a man while he got water.  Geez!  I just turned around and told me not to push me and kept going.  The best part of the marathon was when I see my family at mile 16 screaming my name and that brought a big smile to my face.  I felt like it gave me a little more energy.  My pace is comfortable and at mile 20 the 3:35 PACER guy catches up to me.  So, I decide to let him pace me.  Again, my right hamstring wants to cramp towards the end so I slow down.  I feel better and pick it up again and pass the pacer.  We finish in Central Park and that last mile goes on forever.  My phone runs out of battery the last .5 miles and thought to my myself, "oh crap"  I hope I can find Eddie.  I cross the finish line thankful to finish injury free.  I get my metal, take the finisher picture and they herd all the runners into two separate directions.  I had to show my wristband showing that I didn't have a checked-in bag and choose the poncho instead.  By choosing the poncho option you get a really cool NYC Marathon logo poncho that is rainproof and has cloth material inside to keep you warm.  It's a good thing because you have to walk like a mile to exit the park and meet your family.  Eddie had told me where to meet him after the race in case my phone died, but they kept us moving and he couldn't get to that location.  One of the volunteers must of seen my tired, confused face and started walking with me talking about how my phone died and hoped to see my family.  Right then, I hear my name being yelled by a female voice and looked to my right and it was Hilda with my mom, Noah, Mason, Wendy and Jennifer.  I was so happy to see them and relieved I didn't have to figure out my way back to the apartment by myself.  I finish at 3:34:21 and very happy with that.  Especially, after running Chicago 3 weeks earlier and walking a ton last two day with my family all over NYC.  

First thing I craved was a frozen hot chocolate from Serindipity followed by celebration dinner with family and friends. 

Hilda tells me about how our iPhone has a built-in app named "Health" that keeps track of how many miles/steps you walk in a day.  So after coming home I looked it up and it showed that I walked 9.7 miles on Friday, 8.1 miles on Saturday the day before the marathon.  No wonder my legs were tired.  On Monday we walked 7.68 miles.  I somehow had the energy to wake up super early to go to the Today Show thinking Brad Pitt would be there.  But when we got there they told us it was prerecorded.  It was still a lot of fun to be on T.V. and then we all went shopping in Chinatown before heading back home that evening.  This was a fun trip and one I'll always cherish.  I now know that I am capable of running multiple marathons close together.  The best part, I did it without getting injured!  I also didn't feel as sore the second time around.  The only thing that happened was that I got six black toe nails..yuck!  Oh well, I'm glad my hubby isn't a pretty feet kind of guy...LOL!