Marathon Weekend!!!

I'm writing this the day after the New York City Marathon.  This weekend has just been a whirlwind.  There's so much to report since my last post, but I will try to keep things short.

Saturday was the FRNY fun run followed by the Pancake Breakfast.  For those who are doing the marathon, we just do the last two miles of the marathon.  Apparently just moments before I arrived in the park, U.S. Olympic Marathoner Ryan Hall had run by.  I was so sad I missed it!  The 2-mile run itself was pretty uneventful.  I could tell I still had some issues with my feet, left calf and right butt, but I had already decided that these were just pre-marathon jitters that weren't going to seriously interfere with my race.

Otherwise, it was super exciting running those last two miles.  I love seeing the jumbotron they have set up at Columbus Circle--it makes me feel like a rockstar coming in.  I thought of the next day, when I would be running that last half mile in Central Park.  I remember my previous NYC Marathons, and the signs marking 400, 300, 200, 100 meters to go seemed to be spread out by miles.  But running that route on Saturday gave me the confidence to face the marathon on Sunday.

Back at the church, a large crowd had already gathered for the pancake breakfast.  One tradition Front Runners has at this breakfast is the "Marathon Game."  The game begins with everyone standing up if they had ever run a marathon.  Then, runners remain standing if they have run two marathons; those who have only run one sit down.  The numbers increase, and more people sit down, until this is just one runner remaining.  The winner this year was Dale, a visitor from (I think) Calfornia.  He had run *190* marathons total, including 30 just in 2009!  I actually met him in April when Dane and I ran the Big Sur Marathon.  I have to say that 190 sounds a little bit excessive to me, haha.

At the same time, there were only a few people still standing when the game had reached twelve marathons.  I was really proud of the fact that I've done twelve marathons.  But it also made me reflect... was I perhaps doing too many?  Considering that my legs were still sore from Chicago, I decided that 2009 was too intense of a year for me, with five marathons and the Reach the Beach Relay Ultra Team (where I ran 34 miles in a 24-hour period).  I made a mental note to myself that next year, I should maybe only do two of them.

I did very little on Saturday, preferring to rest before Sunday's race.  That also meant foregoing on Halloween festivities.  Instead, I went to my third pasta dinner in a row.  This time, it was at Cola's in Chelsea, which, since I first moved to NYC in 1998, has been my favorite non-fussy Italian place in the City.  It's a charming little space, with a very intimate ambiance.  It's a big change from the more trendy Italian places, especially around Chelsea.  And the pasta there is always good.

Most of the time I go to Cola's I get the linguini frutti di mare.  I suppose some people avoid shellfish and other "iffy" foods the night before marathon, but this is my favorite pasta dish.  Cola's piles on the calamari, clams and shrimp in their version of it, along with a hearty mound of linguini, making it a perfectly comforting meal for me before a big race. 

To be honest, I didn't really miss Halloween at all.  I sat by the window at Cola's, and saw all of crazy, chaotic Eighth Avenue prancing up and down the block--most in costumes, some already drunk.  I felt really serene being inside the cozy little restaurant, and looked forward to a restful evening at home.

The next morning, I woke up at 5 am.  I had gone to sleep around midnight, but with the time change, I got a full six hours and felt pretty refreshed and energized.  I had gotten to the subway at 5:45 in order to catch the 6:30 ferry to Staten Island.  Since I live on the edge of the West Village, the subway station was a delighful mix of marathoners and drunken partiers.  Gotta love New York.

It took 45 minutes for the subway to come.  This stressed me out so immensely.  Most of the Front Runners were planning on taking the 6:30 ferry, and it was the one I took last year.  I had no idea if anyone would be on the 7am ferry, if it would make me late for the marathon start, or if I would have to spend the next three hours stressing out by myself.  Fortunately, a 6:45 ferry was added to accomodate all of the people coming in on the subway, and I randomly ran into Patrick and Zander.  I was relieved to see some familiar faces.  And the moment we got to Ft. Wadsworth, I saw the rest of the FRNY crew, who had all been waiting in line at the porta potties.  (Random note: the toilet stalls on the Staten Island ferry do not have doors, and the person who is stuck using the very first one is on display for all the world to see.  That was lucky me.)

About a dozen of us were gathered together by the blue start village.  Someone had the forethought to bring a big plastic tarp, which was perfect for us to sit on since the ground was wet from the rain the night before.  Kieran and Darin were wearing plastic bags on their feet, which made me wish I had them too, since I had only brought my one pair of shoes and they were already getting really muddy.  Fortunately they didn't get wet. 

At around 9:00, we went to check our bags.  I separated from the group to use the porta potties one last time (very glad that I brought some toilet paper with me since by that time the porta potties were out).  When I finished, it dawned on me that I had no idea where the start was, and that the corrals were closing.  I started to freak out.

Not knowing where I was heading, I ran in the direction that I saw most people heading.  I realized that everyone around me was in the second or third wave, and I was in the first.  Then I saw what appeared to be the first wave sectioned off by a six-foot tall fence.  I ran around in circles trying to find the opening in the fence to get through to my corral, but could could find neither an opening nor the "F" corral.  Others were jumping over the fence, so I decided I needed to do that too if I was going to start in the first wave.  Climbing the fence was easy.  But when I got to the top of it, I panicked.  I didn't want to jump down from that high, and couldn't figure out how to gradually lower myself onto the ground.  So like a big homosexual, I asked a random friendly looking runner if I could hold him, and manuevered my way onto the ground.  Crisis averted.

Moments after I got into the corral, it started moving towards the start line.  The wait at the start was relatively uneventful except at one point I felt something spraying my leg.  I turned around and saw the man next to me peeing on the side of one of the buses that sectioned off the start, and the pee was ricocheting off the bus directly onto my leg.  Gross.

I practically danced the first quarter mile.  It's such an emotional time for me at the start each year when they play "New York, New York," and this year, I really wanted to make sure to treat the marathon as a "fun run" without the pressure of a time goal.  Although I started off the race with a Nike pace bracelet, I ended up tossing it at mile two because it was making me push myself harder than I wanted to. 

Here are my splits, and what I remember from the race:

Mile 1:  8:36

Mile 2:  7:22

Mile 3:  7:55

Mile 4:  7:51

Mile 5:  7:49

Mile 6:  7:47

Mile 7:  7:48

Mile 8:  7:51

Mile 9:  7:51

Mile 10:  7:39

Mile 11:  7:50

Mile 12:  7:45

Mile 13:  8:21  (I made a quick bathroom break.  Even though I didn't reeeeally have to go, I thought to myself that if I wanted negative splits, I should really go in the first half, haha.)

Mile 14-15: 16:09  (I forgot to hit the lap button)

Mile 16:  8:18

Mile 17-18:  15:51 (Ugh, forgot again)  This is when I started feeling my butt issue.  It wasn't a sharp pain, but I could definitely feel that something was not right.  And whatever I felt seemed like it was going down to my right hamstring and up to my lower back.  I started slowing down a tiny bit.  Not significantly, but enough so that my foot strikes weren't as hard.  It was also around mile 17 that I really started running with Matt.  We had each passed each other a couple of times since about mile 10.  But on First Avenue we kind of paired off and worked off each other.  This was Matt's first marathon.  It was funny, at one point, hearing people call out "Go Dave!" he turned to me and asked "How does everyone here know you?"  He didn't see that my name was pinned in big letters to my singlet.  Later, one spectator, seeing that we were both Front Runners, shouted, "Go Dave!  Go Dave's Friend!")

Mile 19:  8:10

Mile 20:  8:23

Mile 21:  8:31  (By this point, any hopes of negative splits were way out the window.  I was actually getting kind of discouraged.  But then I saw two FRNY cheerleaders.  First was Kerstin.  She was cheering so loudly and exuberantly, it immediately gave me a boost.  Just a few seconds later, I saw John MacConnell cheering on the other side of the street.  I ran across a dozen runners to go and give him a hug.  It cost a few seconds, but I more than made up for it with my renewed energy over the next mile.)

Mile 22:  8:30

Mile 23:  8:16  (After about 5 miles of running together, Matt starts to pull ahead.  I let him go, and after a moment, I see Timmy.  I have to say, it's pretty comforting seeing so many other Front Runners all around me running this race.  Timmy asks me how I'm doing, and I say something like "Oh my god, I'm dying.")

Mile 24:  8:32  (This was the mile I was looking forward to.  The Front Runners are in charge of the mile 24 water station, and there were going to be dozens there cheering for me.  I took a moment to compose myself so I would look good running through.  It was great to see so many Front Runners out there cheering.  It was totally the boost that I needed.  I grabbed a cup of water from Sharon, and went on to finish off the race.)

Mile 25:  8:11

Mile 26:  8:04

Last 0.2:  1:35

Total:  3:31:05

In the end, I was almost 22 minutes slower than my Chicago Marathon time three weeks ago, and 15 minutes slower than last year's NYC Marathon.  It felt a lot more difficult than Chicago.  However, whereas I ended up walking much of the last 3-4 miles at last year's NYC, I didn't walk at all on this one (although I did take about a 15 second bathroom break).  I'm very pleased with how I did.  I stayed pretty strong until the finish, kept a good attitude the whole time, and was smart not to overdo it when my butt started acting up.

After the race, I had what has become my post-ING NYC Marathon tradition--a street cart vendor hotdog.  A group of us then went to a post-race party that Harlem United was throwing.  Harlem United provides services to people with HIV/AIDS, and was one of the charities that sent runners to and benefitted from the marathon.  FRNY's Koach Kelsey is the Deputy Director of Supportive Housing there.  It was great to sit down and get a cup of coffee.  They also had a big dinner spread for us.  Of course, it was pasta.  So four big pasta dinners on four successive days.  I'm ready to stop carbo loading for a while.  :-)

 

Peking Carbs

No running today.  But to make up for it I had two dinners (with runners).

Dinner No. 1 was at the Front Runners New York annual pre-marathon pasta dinner.  Like it does every year, the club went all out, bring in a bunch of different pastas and meat dishes.  Because I had other dinner plans, I just "sampled" some of the italian sausage and chicken.  And a stuffed shell too, haha.  Fortunately, I got pulled away before I had a chance to turn to the dessert table, which was looking pretty tasty.

Dane has family in town to watch him run his first NYC Marathon.  Dane's mom Diane generously offered to take out me and Ryan to dinner with Dane, his brother and his cousin.  I had suggested the Peking Duck House in Chinatown.  It's pretty much universally agreed that their Peking duck is the best in the City. 

I've actually never eaten there, but I've had their Peking duck before. I've been told that although their duck is amazing, the rest of their food is a bit underwhelming.  On a few occasions, my friend Jacky, who is the epitome of class, has bought a duck here for take-out, and taken it right over to another Chinatown restaurant to eat it with that other restuarant's food.  Jacky can get away with it because he knows everyone in Chinatown.  Anyways, after today's meal, I could understand wanting to do that. 

The Peking duck was excellent.  The skin was deliciously crisp and sweet.  The meat was tender and juicy.  For those of you who don't know about the preparation of Peking duck, it is a laborious process that fine restaurants raise to an art form.  Air is pumped underneath the skin to separate it from the meat.  After a dunk in boiling water, the bird is left to air dry.  The skin is glazed with a sweet syrup to give it its delicious taste and texture.  After drying for 24 hours, the duck is roasted until it turns a deep shiny brown.  It is best carved at the table, cut into thin slices on the bias so that each slice gets a lot of the crispy skin, and served in a pancake with hoisin sauce, cucumbers and scallions.  I feel like my mouth is watering as I type this, that was how good this Peking duck was. 

This rest of the meal was so-so.  Included with the Peking duck dinner was our choice of three entrees from a rather limited list of boring Chinese food.  (General Tso's Chicken, Chicken with Broccoli, Beef with Broccoli, you get the picture).  We tried to get the three most exciting dishes on the list.  We ended up ordering string beans with minced pork (not nearly as good as my long beans with pork); a beef and scallop dish; and a chicken/pork/shrimp dish.  The last two dishes were literally the exact same thing except for the different proteins.  Kind of a disappointment.

One bonus about this dinner was that when the waiter was carving our duck, I asked to take the carcass home.  He happily obliged and wrapped it up for me.  Someone's gonna have duck soup next week!  (The bummer is that it is one of those Chinatown ducks-with-their-heads-still-on, which gives me the heebie-jeebies.  If someone would do me a favor and decapitate it for me, I would be very grateful.)

When I got home tonight, I was pleased to see a small package from my mom.  My parents moved about a year ago to San Jose, California.  Their new house has a number of fruit trees, including lemon, apricot, plum and persimmon.  It looks like the persimmon tree is ready to harvest.  :-)

Carbs, Carbs, Carbs!!!

OK, now I'm starting to get excited.  Marathon weekend is in full swing, and carbo loading has begun!

Yesterday I went to the marathon expo.  To be honest, before yesterday, I didn't even know what corral I was in... all of my pre-race energies focused on Chicago, and until recently my participation in NYC was still up in the air.  But when I picked up my bib, it all started to sink in.  I suddenly rememered why I love the NYC marathon so much--running through the city I call home, feeling like a rockstar with millions of spectators cheering for me, and seeing my friends along the course and the Front Runners handing out water at mile 24.  When I saw my name on the monitor at the D-tag check, an feeling of excitement came over me, and I felt ready to take on the greatest race in the world.

And to further get me pumped up about the race, I randomly saw John and Mike.  Yay!!!

I had planned beforehand not to stay at the expo long, thinking maybe it would stress me out.  I also vowed not to buy any marathon paraphernalia branded "2009" ING NYC Marathon, since I was having some sort of irrational fear that buying any would jinx me and force me to drop out and then get stuck with all this marathon gear for a race I didn't finish.  Besides, I'm saving my money so I can buy an entire wardrobe of "2010 Boston" running clothes.  :-P

So I left the expo early, and went to the first of what is going to be three pasta dinners in a row.  Yesterday's dinner was at Le Zie in Chelsea.  They claim to have the "Best Spaghetti and Meat Balls in Manhattan."  I've had it before and it was quite good.  Last night, though, I opted for the Mezzemaniche with Sausage and Fennel in a Light Tomato Sauce.  I had to ask what mezzemaniche was since I wasn't familiar with it.  Turns out it's short tube with ridges, kind of like a rigatoni cut in half. 

It was really tasty.  I love fennel and I love sausage, and the two of them are a natural combination together.  For some reason, I've only cooked with fennel once in my life (and that wasn't even on purpose; I didn't have any star anise on hand but wanted to make Chinese beef noodle soup, so I improvised).  Anyways, this meal inspired me make something with fennel.  Stay tuned.

OK, off to pasta dinner #2!