I RAN MY OWN NYC MARATHON! Reflections and advice

[dudesky1000]

Hello everyone! So, a dream that I've had for about a year and a half has slowly come to fruition: to run a marathon! Yep, a full 26.2 miles!

It's been a dream of mine since running a Half Marathon in The Bahamas in May 2011. Only problem was... the only Marathon in town is the NYC Marathon, and I, at the age of 17 was a year too young to enter 2011's race! I had pretty much quit running after that, only occasionally doing a petite 4.5 miler every couple of weeks, trying to do a little running here and there so I wouldn't completely drop the ball.

Luckily, and unluckily, I am a crohn's patient at Mt. Sinai hospital. Because of my increase in weight thanks to 6 months of crazy lifting and eating, I stopped starving to death and talk had begun about letting me run for the charity Team IBDKids (for Inflammatory Bowel Disease patients) in the future.

There was the NYC Half Marathon in March, and I was finally 18, but I was nowhere near prepared for such an undertaking. 4.5 mile runs weren't going to get me anywhere for a 13.1 mile showdown, and I had only been offered a spot about 3 weeks beforehand, so I graciously turned down the offer. So that was another pretty big blow.

...But then I got an e-mail around April from Team IBDKids saying they were wondering if I was interested, and prepared for the NYC Marathon next November. I told them to give me a couple of weeks to see if I could once again handle long runs in the dirty city air (I also have asthma, yeah I am a lucky duck lol). I began doing 7 miles in addition to 4.5 miles occasionally, and then I reported back saying... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

They so generously offered me to train with a bigger team with a more renowned coach, John Hirsch, a world class triathlete, who is a really, really cool and down to earth guy! The name of the team is Team Continuum and we run in Central Park, where I actually had never run in prior to this.

Well anyway, this is just about the most exciting thing that's been going on this summer for me, I couldn't help but write this because I wanted to share it with you all I love reading those topics where people post updates about their fitness goals and reaching them as the months go by, so I thought I'd have a little fun myself with one of these.

The Continuum meets are every Saturday, which are the super long runs. Last week we did 8-miles (I finished in 1:04:02) and this week we'll be doing 10 miles, the furthest I've done since May 2011! So that is going to be tricky for me!

Today I also did 7 miles in 52:12, which is great compared to my first 7-mile time but sadly, I was 12 seconds too late to finally reach my goal of 52 minutes

Stay tuned for alllll kinds of updates! Ask me questions, give me advice! Tell me I am slow or fast or out of my mind!! ;D

[dudesky1000]

Today was probably the best run I've had in a long time. As I said before, I was supposed to do 10, but somehow I missed a turn and ended up actually doing 10.5 or 11 miles by accident!!

My time? 1:17:21. That's probably thanks to the 67 degree weather this morning, a rarity! ;D

Next Saturday is 12 miles! This would have been extremely daunting to me but after today I dunno, I guess I'll be right at home!

[Philip]

Good luck at the NYC Marathon! ;D I actually started to run a lot like 2 weeks ago.

[Shuberb674]

Jesus Dudesky, that's like 3 hour marathon pace! Good on you!

[thatoneuser]

Way to go Dudesky! I've been trying to coast into running by doing a mile a week - it's not getting me very far right now, but I'll get there!

[dudesky1000]

Thanks guys

Philip, that's awesome! Let me know how that goes!

Kamran, hahaha one of the Team Continuum coaches said he thinks I will finish in 3 hours, I think he's crazy! I am not bad by any means, but I'm not that good! If I manage to finish in 3 hours I'll let out a good Kongu cry at the end! ;D

thatoneuser, thanks! A mile a week is great for just getting started. If you need any advice or anything as you coast into longer runs, let me know and I'll do my best to help! And hey, a mile is pretty far! Some people can't run at all! I used to have major asthma so even the 400m on the track used to be impossible for me.

[thatoneuser]

Yeah, it's still pretty brutal. The last time I ran a mile, I couldn't walk for the rest of the day. I usually end up dragging my feet by the last third.

[Oti]

I'm against long distance running personally, but I feel you should be able to run a mile in the morning and then go about the rest of your day with little/no trouble. A little conditioning doesn't hurt.

[dudesky1000]

Jul 21, 2012 23:45:03 GMT -5 Oti said:

I'm against long distance running personally, but I feel you should be able to run a mile in the morning and then go about the rest of your day with little/no trouble. A little conditioning doesn't hurt.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess

Today was supposed to be another long run. However, last night I was feeling horrible stomach pains, worse than any usual crohn's pains so I decided to head to the ER in case there was something more serious going on. I had two delightful doses of morphine, I felt much better today and just got home from the hospital now. So no running until Saturday, which will still be 12 miles!

[dudesky1000]

Well, today I learned how to NOT prepare for a run. Even though I've been doing this for a long time, I've been lucky enough to avoid getting 'bonked' or 'hitting the wall' as long as I've been running seriously.

Today that luck was broken, thanks to horrible preparation on my part. Apparently the secret ingredient to a good 12-mile run is not 5 hours of sleep, no breakfast and a low-carb, high-protein dinner. I have to say, I was really shocked... no matter how much will power I had, I couldn't keep even a slow pace for even 3 minutes once I hit the 10-mile mark. I had to resort to walking.

My first lap (and I'm sure this didn't help either) was the best 6-mile lap I've ever done on this particular course, 46 minutes. Rookie mistake: That's not nearly my best (on other courses I've scored 42 minutes), and I felt very comfortable for the beginning of the second lap, but I really had no business going THAT hard for the first half of a mostly uphill 12-mile run. Maybe if I had settled for 52 minutes on the first lap, I would have been able to finish without walking.

Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed with my performance. Next Saturday happens to actually be a rest day, followed by another 12-miles two Saturdays from now. So I'll have my shot at redemption then, and compare tactics and preparation.

My time: 1:50:53 (12.45 miles)
My Half-Marathon Personal Best: 1:43:10 (13.1 miles)

[dudesky1000]

I've got a great update today. ;D

So as I wrote in my last post, Saturday was a huge disappointment for me and a big piece of humble pie. Finished 12 miles in over 2 hours (if you add the time I had my watch stopped every friggen time I needed to sit down). Thats over a mile less than a half-marathon, and more than 20 minutes slower than my Half-Marathon time of 1:43:10.

Traditionally I run twice or three times a week... a 7-mile run on Wednesdays, and a long run on Saturdays with the team. Sometimes I throw in 4.5 miles on Monday to try to see if I can post a sub-30 minute finish, my first goal when I started running in April.

However, the Katsumi Yamada in me didn't want to accept defeat or even wait until Saturday. I took a little roll of the dice and decided I would do 11.5 miles today instead of 7, with some changes in preparation. I needed to prove to myself that I could handle these long distances before they got TOO long.

For any aspiring runners out there who would one day like to run 5, 12, or 38 miles, I give you my best advice:

1. Get 8 hours of sleep. Or more than 5 at least!
2. Eat a granola bar, even one of those kelloggs or quaker oats bars a half hour before the run. This will keep you from hitting the wall!
3. Take it slow for the start. And by start, I don't even mean 20 minutes. Keep a slow, steady pace for at least 30 minutes. At the end of this update series, I'll elaborate once I understand this point better, but it WORKS!!!

After the Marathon I'll post my best advice I would have for anyone else trying to run their first marathon.

Why 11.5 miles? Because I couldn't really figure out exactly how to map out 12... I just kinda combined my 7 and 4.5 mile runs, did a lap of 7 then a lap of 4.5... when the milage gets really high I don't know how exactly I'll do this

Anyway, I took 31 minutes to reach the 3.5 mile mark, the turn around for my 7 mile run. Just to compare, on one of my 7 mile runs I can usually get there in 27-28 minutes. What a difference those 4-5 minutes make by going a little bit slower throughout. I felt very relaxed, very in control of myself and when I needed to kick into gear, I was basically running on a FULL TANK. I couldn't believe how such a simple change could have such a dramatic impact on my physical state.

From that point onward, I didn't just suddenly run faster... it was a very gradual acceleration, from perhaps a 10 minute mile to a 9 1/2 minute mile, then after a little bit an 8 minute mile, all the way down to a 7-minute mile. Because I had used the first 30 minutes to warm up, this transition felt so organic, it took such little effort compared to every run in my past, where I had suddenly looked at my watch, in fear of falling behind my time, and abruptly speeding up.

I kept this up all the way back to my starting line, at the 7-mile mark, at exactly 59 minutes. My PR for 7 miles is 52:12, so I figured I could never really use this technique for breaking that record, but if only I knew what I would be capable of in the next half hour!

To make a long story short, I took a minute (1:00 exactly) to rest, and then I suddenly felt extremely powerful and proceeded to break my 4.5 mile record, finishing the final lap in 29 minutes. Saturday I bonked out at 7 miles, today, I never felt so good. ;D

Final Time: 1:29:38

What's next? No idea, my 'training plan' says this Sat is 'rest', so maybe I will do another run on my own... maybe 12 miles? Maybe I will be daring to do a Half Marathon? NEXT Saturday is 12 miles again, so what do you think... get ahead of the game by doing more than this week or should I stick with where I'm at now and work on this distance?

[Oti]

In response to the mapping, I've always used Google Earth to map out the lengths of my blocks. That way if I run around the block or in my alley or something, I know the distance. It's worked pretty well for me, and I imagine it would still work for longer distances.

[dudesky1000]

Aug 1, 2012 19:29:03 GMT -5 Oti said:

In response to the mapping, I've always used Google Earth to map out the lengths of my blocks. That way if I run around the block or in my alley or something, I know the distance. It's worked pretty well for me, and I imagine it would still work for longer distances.

Yeah, that's how I've been doing it so far, luckily I live next to the East River where I never have to stop for traffic or anything. I can't believe how some people can tolerate running in city blocks! I'd be so frustrated having to stop every 30 seconds

The only trouble with this is that once it goes past a certain distance on the road I'm running, it breaks up into several bike paths so I'm unsure which one I'll be choosing, and which landmarks I'll keep track of to mark each distance. It's annoying at first and takes some getting used to, so for consistency sake I may just add laps of 7 and 4.5 to do 15, 18.5, etc. You're right though, I'd be so lost without google maps!

[Oti]

I've always just run around the block. I already push a prowler in my alley. Ain't no one gonna complain about me running without that grinding chunk of metal on concrete.

[dudesky1000]

This morning was a nice comfortable 8 miles. I'll admit it was a really nice break from the long stuff. Finished in 1:06:49, which is pretty good considering I wasn't trying to break a record or anything. Next week is right on back to 12!

[dudesky1000]

Tonight's run was blazing! Wasn't too hot outside, only about 80 degrees but we did intervals, which will basically kill you if you're inbetween really fast and moderate like me. I also got a new pair of sneakers... rather they were generously given to me by one of the coaches on Team Continuum. They are notably heavier than the pair I was using before, which he says will help give me a little more leg strength (my lower legs are really slim) in my step. ALSO, I was told that with the sneakers I was currently using (cheapest things I could find at Payless), I was on a quick trip to injury city and a hip replacement early in life.

We ran on the dirt path today (friendlier to your joints but can be brutal toward your speed and strength. We did a brisk warm up mile in about 9 minutes, and off we went, as hard as we could for a quarter mile. Then, a quarter mile 'break' at a slower pace. Then a hard half mile. Then another quarter mile break. We were supposed to do 3/4ths of a mile as hard as we could next, but somehow we forgot about that and went straight for a whole mile. After another quarter mile recovery it was another hard mile. Then the glorious cool down! ;D

Final time was 44:46, which when you think about the easy miles on both ends of the run (the warm up and cool down) is pretty darn good!

So pretty much, I felt really good. Saturday is 12 miles like I said before, and after that a half marathon! Wish me luck as I continue!

[arsenette]

Good luck It's in November right? Nice to see the progress though!

[dudesky1000]

Aug 8, 2012 20:28:42 GMT -5 arsenette said:

Good luck It's in November right? Nice to see the progress though!

Yep, my death sentence lets me live until November 4th thanks!

[dudesky1000]

So today was a big day. At first, it was a shot at redemption... my last 12 mile run was a disaster. I hit the wall, sat on the ground, walked aimlessly until I finally reached home base tired, frustrated, and confused with what went wrong. After that mess I changed some of my tactics, and since then I had some good runs, but today was the day I was waiting for. 12 miles, again.

I do not like running in the streets at all because of traffic... no serious runner does their long runs on city blocks. However, today for some special reason, Park Avenue was closed down to cars and open for bikers and runners to bike and run to their heart's content! I was thrilled!!! ;D

I ran 4 miles downtown, extra slow style (got there in about 35 minutes), and did the 4 miles back in a speedier 25 minutes. Then something really funny happened. I decided to run back a different way than I was supposed to, so I missed a turn where I'd be able to complete the last 4 miles of my run. Lo and behold, I ended up running over 5 miles back.

That's right, I accidentally ran a Half Marathon!! Maybe even 14 miles, I am still trying to figure out what exactly the distance was!

I felt great throughout, never stopped, never walked, and for the final stretch I got that last rush I needed to get me through.

Final time: 1:46:27
Past Half Marathon Time: 1:46:10 (yeah I know I blew it by 17 seconds , but to be fair I didn't even know I ran a HM until I finished )
Total Distance: 13-14 miles, probably closer to 14.

Next week is supposed to be 13 miles (lol) but I will actually have to miss that run because of an NYU overnight orientation thing. The week after will be the next best thing, 14 miles!

It'll be the longest I have ever run EVER, so this is where things get really dicey. How will I do?

[dudesky1000]

Well, because of the ANW weekend, I'll be missing this week's 14 mile run.

Also, as embarrassing as it may sound, I have injured myself by lunging too quickly in a PING PONG tournament. I can barely lift my right leg up to 75 degrees. If I go much further it feels like something is going to snap. So I'm resting, resting, RESTING.

As it stands, as long as I don't injure myself further during the ANW weekend, my next run will be 8 miles the following saturday. The week after that, will be a horrifying 16 miles.

In fact, allow me to post the running schedule for the next 5 saturdays:

8//25: 14 miles (I will miss this because I'll be at ANW weekend)
9/1: 8 miles (thank goodness! lol)
9/8: 16 miles (I'm afraid)
9/15: 18 miles (I'm seriously afraid)
9/22: 20 miles! (This will suck balls)