NYC 2013-Executing the plan

Sorry, but this is reeeaaallly long. 
 
When I was thinking about marathons to run this year, NYC wasn't really on the radar because I assumed after last year's cancellation that it would be nearly impossible to get selected for the lottery due to additional interest in the race.  I had planned to run Indy Monumental, but fortunately hadn't yet registered when I got the notification from NYRR that I was in fact in.
 
First off, a huge thanks to Michele for all the help with pre-race logistics, from where to stay and how to get out to Staten Island to her post in my blog about some of the strategy to use during the race, which proved to be invaluable.  This wasn't my fastest marathon, but between her help and the pace band I bought, this was without question my best executed marathon to date.    So, on to the report.
 
I woke up plenty early race morning and hopped in a cab to get to the library and catch a bus out to Staten Island.  I stayed in Manhattan, as Michele recommended, and that made all the race day logistics much easier.  The buses were slated to leave at 6:00 am, but when I got there at about 5:40, they were already loading and taking off, so we got on the road much earlier than 6:00 and I was out at Athlete's Village by 6:10.  I now had a 3 1/2 hour wait until the gun went off.  Tip: if you're not in the first wave, or even if you are, you can probably wait a bit longer on catching the bus.  Also, bring a pillow and blanket out to the start, because it's a long, cold wait if the weather isn't good.  I was fortunately bundled up enough that I was okay, and the stocking hat provided by Dunkin Donuts at the start was a nice touch.
 
I had some good company on the bus ride (some Canadians from right near Hamilton where Nick and Nancy ran) and a couple guys from California who were just out to have a good time on the course as part of a 50 states quest.  As I was eating my breakfast and discussing gels and racing strategies with them, I discovered there were no gels on course until mile 18 and I only had 3 with me, so I had to improvise.  I ended up saving one of my packages of mini muffins for my 5 minutes before the race snack and saved my gels for 5, 10 and 15 miles.  I left them at around 8:45 and headed off to the corral, which was fantastic because they had port-a-johns right in the corrals.
 
At about 9:10, we headed to the start area, which was probably a quarter to half mile walk.  The women started early and then they started introducing the elite men, and there was a huge cheer for Meb (who unfortunately had a disappointing day).  The gun finally went off after my loooooong wait.  The mass of humanity on three separate stretches of road for the first 5 miles of the race was quite a spectacle to see.  It was a slow start as expected due to the uphill on the Verrazano Narrows bridge but I hit it right around where I wanted to and got into a rhythm.  I was amazed at how quickly it felt like the first 5 miles or so went by, which I took as a really good sign since I was seemingly exerting so little effort at that point.  I heard a few interesting cheers as we got into Brooklyn, saw my girlfriend, who had come along to spectate, at around mile 6, and watched in amazement as the three lanes of traffic came together between miles 7 and 8.
 
The biggest challenge of this entire race was judging effort and pace with all the bridges, but using the pace band was really a huge help.  I was within 10 seconds on all but 5 miles and one of those was mile 25 when my legs were gone and I was just trying to keep moving at all.  The other were all a tad faster than they were supposed to be, with the exception of mile 4, which was 12 seconds slow, and I have no idea why other than I may have just lost a bit of focus (kind of like this race report!).  I just kept trucking along and felt great through the half, which according to my pace band I was supposed to hit at 1:42:04.  My actual split at the half: 1:42:04!
 
I had downed a couple of gels by this point and was feeling good.  Coming across the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan was unbelievable.  The crowds were 4 people deep for several miles and I experienced first hand what Michele had said about staying under control coming up First Ave.  My pace did get a bit faster through this section, but not so much that it caused a problem.  I got to the gel station and pocketed several since you never know what you may need.  After the gels and as I approached mile 19, I started doing some math in my head, which is not usually a good idea nearly 20 miles into a marathon.  I was feeling so good at that point that I started calculating what I'd need to run the rest of the way to go under 3:20.  I figured out it was going to be right around 7:20 pace the rest of the way, briefly considered it and then just decided to stick at the current pace an re-evaluate again in a mile or so. 
 
This turned out to be a good decision because, while I held on pretty well through mile 23, the hills of Central Park made me their bitch in mile 24 and 25.  My 2 slowest splits of the day, outside of the intentionally slow first mile, at 8:24 and 8:15.  As I crested the hill coming in to Central Park just before the 24 mile marker, my right hip and left IT band were both about to give out on me and the down hill came just when I needed it to get a little recovery.  I fought through mile 25 as best I could, highlighted by 2 different women spilling their guts all over the course right near me, and figured I needed to hit the mark by 3:15:20 on my watch to have a chance to go under 3:25.  I hit it at 3:15:14 and needed to average right at 8:00 pace the last 1.2 to get there.  Legs feeling like lead weights and every muscle burning, I managed to get to mile 26 in 8:00 flat and left everything I had out there for a 1:39 last .2 to cross the line in 3:24:53.
 
This is a great race and experience, and while not the fastest one out there, you can still run a pretty solid time.  I think I may have been able to pull off something in the 3:20-22 range on a course like Chicago, so there's definitely a difference.  The goodies you get from this race are pretty sweet, the coolest being a football style cold weather poncho that you got after finishing and walking about 5 miles through Central Park.  Which is my final point: be prepared for a long stroll after finishing if you ever run this race.  It took me a half hour to get from the finish line to the family reunion area because the distance is so far and the walk was so painful on exhausted legs.
 
Here's the splits:
 
Mile                  Goal                 Actual
1                      8:42                 8:30                 
2                      7:46                 7:33
3                      7:51                 7:45
4                      7:39                 7:51
5                      7:34                 7:42
6                      7:50                 7:46
7                      7:37                 7:38
8                      7:58                 7:50
9                      7:50                 7:50
10                    7:37                 7:35
11                    7:43                 7:49
12                    7:33                 7:37
13                    7:35                 7:38
14                    7:41                 7:39
15                    7:49                 7:54
16                    8:05                 7:41
17                    7:30                 7:34
18                    7:43                 7:36
19                    7:35                 7:27
20                    7:48                 7:56
21                    7:49                 7:47
22                    7:50                 7:48
23                    7:57                 7:58
24                    8:18                 8:24
25                    7:56                 8:15
26                    8:00                 8:01
Finish                1:45                 1:40

Nice job,Jim. I plan to be there next year.

Looks like a well run race to me Jim.  Plus, an awesome racing experience.  NYC is definitely on my bucket list of races.  Thanks for sharing!!

Well done, Jim - excellent splits as well!  I told you that NY can be a good course and I actually prefer it over a real flat course like Chicago.  I was actually glad that Indy had some roll, although not much, but still enough to get your legs moving in different ways.

The New York Marathon experience is like no other to me as it is different from Boston and very special in its own way.  I forgot to tell you about the looooooooooooooonnnnnnnngggggggggggg walk after the finish.  I actually stayed in Times Square back in 2011 and my family saw me at 17 and 23 and then headed for the hotel.  I walked what seemed like a billion miles back to Times Square after the race and it seemed endless to leave the park and Columbus Circle.

I'm glad my little race prep helped and I wish that I had someone give me more tips on the course before I raced it in 2011.  Funny thing is that I ran it in 2005, but for fun, so I didn't remember the nuances except for the Verrazano Bridge.  I think I need one of those pace bands for Boston as they seem to really take in the nature of the course.

Congrats on a successful NYCM, what an experience!

Congrats Jim.  Looks like good pacing and good job handling the logistics.  Recover well.

That is some seriously impressive execution! If that's not a confidence boost heading into whatever is next, I don't know what is.  Very nicely done. 

Now, drink up.

Very nicely paced, Jim.  Really impressive.  And I didn't think the report was too long, but that's coming from the person who thinks he's getting paid by the word.

I enjoyed that report Jim, I too would like to run this race one day. Congrats on the race, recover well.

I've always been intimidated by the logistics of this race but it sounds like you got solid advice and that seemed to take a lot of stress out of the race, as if there isn't enough already.  Awesome job on the pacing!  Congratulations on an excellent race...thanks for the report.

Just read your report (not sure how I missed it, but I saw what you had done on FB).  I had a very similar experience with feeling good, hanging back and then being thankful that I did! You bled off almost no time - no experience with hilly courses at all, but it seems like you were very wise with your pacing throughout.  Great job again!  What are your future plans btw?  Albany marathon is really really flat and fast - just sayin;) ...

Just saw this, Congratulations JIM!

Like Jerry, I hope to be there next year.

The logistics look daunting, so will probably ask for some advice later in the year.