These are photos from when we arrived in NYC on November 1st. It was an hour long Uber ride from JFK into Manhattan where we spent our first night at the Westin New York Grand Central. Mara got to ride in her first NYC subway so we could go to the race expo at the Javits Center. I didn’t want to spend any more time at the expo than was necessary. I got my bib, my shirt, and we said hi to a couple friends and boogied out of there. The expo is crazy.
I didn’t realize it until I started combing through pictures, but I like the wide angle photo of the Javits Center where Mara is looking up. The building and the expo are pretty overwhelming.
On Saturday morning I admittedly bandited the Abbott Dash to the Finish 5k. I was in search of a shakeout run route. It was too far for me to walk to Central Park. Manhattan’s crazy and I don’t know the streets well. I started poking around Google and Instagram in search of something so I could get in my shakeout. Low and behold, there was a 5k that would be passing right in front of our hotel. So I decided I’d just hop in, run 1.5 miles, turn around and head back home. Well, as I exited our hotel, there were a bunch of runners walking to the start. So I just got on board and walked with everyone to the start. And I jumped in after the barricades and did the best job of being a non-impeding bandit as I could be. I got a little caught up in the energy and decided to run the entire 5k, all the way to the marathon finish line in the park. So my little shakeout wound up being 7 miles.
When I got home I made a donation to the New York Road Runners. It doesn’t make up for me banditing, but it was something.
Later that morning we stopped at Comfort Diner for breakfast. I carefully topped of glycogen stores. Then we humped it 15 blocks to our new accommodations. Elise made a friend on the way. They talked about life, politics, and women’s rights.
Terri & Craig arrived later that afternoon while Elise and Mara were out site seeing and getting their nails done. The night came early. Everyone was looking to me to decide on dinner since I had the big race in the morning. I settled on Greek. The cheaper and easier the better. Our concierge had us going to fancy places. I opted for the joint down the street so we could just salads, gyros, hummus, and a lot of pita.
I reviewed logistics, went over my plan, put my kit together, and went to bed at 9:00 p.m. Elise and Craig studied the map so while I was out running 26 miles, they could find the vantage points to see me.
I don’t know if I’d call it a ritual or a tradition, but I’ve written something on my thigh for my last few bigger races. What I write is something very special to me and gives me motivation and inspiration when the race starts to get hard. While training for and running NYC I thought about Maly a lot. My firstborn who couldn’t be at the race with us. She was a big reason why I started running. She moved 1,300 miles away to go to college while I was in this training block. There were lots of thoughts and tears shed on those runs.
I didn’t look at my leg until around mile 18. That’s when I needed it, and I’m glad it was there. I’d picked up the pace at mile 16 and I knew the last 10 miles where going to be tough. My my real A Goal was to run a negative split at the NYC Marathon, something that most people will tell you is very difficult to do on that course.
The goal was 3:09:30. I came in at 3:04:04 and I did run a negative split. It wasn’t a marathon PR (“personal record”). It was my 3rd fastest marathon, but it was, by far, my best executed marathon and my proudest marathon performance to date.
The rest of the afternoon called for a lot of walking. We went back to the hotel so I could shower and change, and then back out the door again for a much-needed Reuben sandwich at P.J. Clarke’s. Oh, we ordered pizza through Uber Eats.
Monday was Craig’s birthday so he and I went for a recovery run through the park.
Lots of walking the rest of the day. We toured and had lunch in Chelsea Market (that’s lobster poutine up there). Down to Battery Park and the High Line. We saw Lady Liberty and the 9/11 memorial and museum. I don’t remember what we did that night. I think the adults went to St. Regis for $63 martinis and Mara and I hung back and watched TV. It was getting late, folks were getting hangry, and decisions were not wanting to be made, so we went downstairs to street vendor for some horrible hot dogs and knishes.
Tuesday was a lot of walking too. And subway rides. We walked 5th Ave and Maddison. We tried to get some custom lacrosse shoes made at the Nike store. We went into Chinatown and had lunch and gelato in Little Italy. Then back to midtown so Elise and Mara could finally see and walk through the park. Mara walked back with Terri and Craig while Elise and I moseyed through the park and all the way down 5th Ave back to our place past some election day craziness.
For our final night we saw The Outsiders at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. I’m not a musical guy, but it was a great show (helped that I read the book for the first time a year ago). The family loved it. Terri, Elise, and Mara were all brought to tears.