1 week … 1 week from today I will be finished running the NYCM.
Manhattan – my favorite borough.
Unlike many of my friends I CAN believe it is this close. I have been training for what feels like forever and I’m itching to run this marathon. So much so that I spent yesterday morning running the last 10 Miles of the course with a few other lovely ladies.
NYCM Class of 2012
I had 12 miles on my schedule, so I woke up a little extra early and ran 2 miles to 59th and 1st Ave where I was meeting the group.
Clearly I was not the only one who thought running the last 10 was a good idea, 1st avenue was a sea of runners … all of us with that same anxious look in our eyes. ”is it Nov 4th yet??!”
My plan was to run the entire 12 at Marathon Pace. (Sorry Meggie, I kinda forgot to tell you that plan!) I knew that Jess and Lora would be running at about the same pace, so I would be able to stick with them and not obsess over the pace on my Garmin.
The run went up 1st avenue, through the Bronx and down 5th Avenue into Central Park.
My primary reason to run these last 10 miles was to conquer the 5th Avenue climb. The ING New York Marathon site describes this portion of the course as:
very scenic as runners climb what is arguably the toughest hill on the course along this tree-lined and shady stretch. Mansions and world-famous museums (such as the Guggenheim, El Museo del Barrio, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Jewish Museum), living repositories of the city¹s cultural life and history, create a passage up to the Engineer’s Gate to Central Park. Leaders in the professional race often try to break their competition on this deceptively hard climb.
Last year I remember loosing steam on 5th Ave. Everything is exaggerated at mile 23 of a marathon, but last year I felt like I was climbing the Alps for miles. Yesterday I saw the reality of the situation. Its a 1 mile uphill lasting from 109th to 90th street … its not easy, but its 1 mile (Mile 23). After logging thousands of miles, I feel like I can do anything for 1 mile. There is no telling what will happen during the marathon but yesterday eased my fears of 5th Avenue. I plan to conquer that hill and coast the remaining 2.2 miles (Miles 24-26.2) through Central Park to the finish line.
Entering the lower loop of Central Park … this will be mile 25ish
The only downfall to this run was that my Garmin was a disaster. Kept losing satellites and flashing amazing speeds like 4:10/mile (thanks for the confidence boost Garm, I guess I will be WINNING this marathon) However the run went like this:
12 miles, 1:37:02 – 8:05/mile average pace.
BOOM. Success.
I am so ready for November 4th. Bring it on … This week I will be living and breathing NYCM 2012. Nails and all.
Essie – Butler Please Blue and Fear or Desire Orange
Well let me correct myself. I will be living and breathing NYCM while figuring out what to do with toddlers in a Hurricane. First order of business was making sure we had the correct rain gear …
My fashionista
Tomorrow we will be playing various indoor games, building couch forts, carving our Halloween pumpkins, playing tag in the hallways and hopefully not resorting to desperate measures such as count the raindrops on the window and “lets play the quiet game”. Wish me luck 
I cannot wait to hear how the marathon goes. I’m sure you will do awesome!
I love reading how excited everyone is to run their marathons!
Jessica recently posted..MIA and Successful Studying
You are so close! You can do this! You have trained and your body is ready to rock this race! Best of luck!!
Emily recently posted..A Wicked Good Race
I am so glad I am continuing to be compliant to all secret plans! ha! Even though I didn’t feel wonderful, it was also a big confidence boost for me ie thinking, “ok, if I can do this 10 miles at a good pace even when I feel sort of off and not good, I can do it next week.” Hey, if I can just get to mile 16 feeling ok and just a tad tired, it will be “just a 10 mile run like last week.”
I got butterflies just writing that!
Anyways, thanks for pushing me this training cycle and can’t wait to take the city by STORM on Sunday! I wouldn’t be as confident if you hadn’t pushed me during these long runs (knowingly and unknowingly – ha!) Should we wear sparkle skirts?
Meggie recently posted..10, 9, 8…
You will do great!!! I always get marathon nail polish as well, it makes me feel strong
Christine recently posted..Race Report: Wild Mile