New York City Marathon Recap by Coach Chris Bailey

New York City Marathon Recap by Coach Chris Bailey

Several people have asked me to share more about my race and how I prepared for it. I decided to write a recap as a way to share my experience, but also so that I could remember the experience for years to come. I believe that reflecting on goal races and training cycles, whether you meet your goal(s) or not, is how we learn and adapt before we chase the next goal. After this race recap, I also plan to write about the lessons I learned training for the race, and how I apply those lessons in working with the athletes I coach.

The idea to run the New York City Marathon (NYCM) first entered my mind in October 2018. I was in New York for work and made plans to run the Staten Island Half Marathon with a friend. Since the race was organized by New York Road Runners (NYRR), I was notified after the race that I had earned a guaranteed entry to the 2019 NYCM based on my finish time. I was excited by the prospect of running New York, but I also knew that it was a challenging course and could be difficult logistically. After running a new marathon PR in December 2018, I decided that I wanted to focus on embracing the challenge of a hard race in 2019 rather than chasing a fast time. So when the application window for NYCM opened in January, I made it official! 

[Side note: If you’re planning to register for the 50th running of the New York City Marathon in 2020, the application window for runners with guaranteed entry is January 30–February 13, 2020]

While I did not want to make a specific finish time my focus, I always advocate for how important it is to establish measurable goal(s). I looked at previous NYCM results and landed on a goal that felt ambitious, but achievable on a solid day. I decided that the goal that would motivate my training, and perhaps scare me just a bit, would be to finish in the top 50 overall at the New York City Marathon. I made it a point to share my goal with others and on social media so that I couldn’t back down. Let’s see how it went…

As is common with larger races, the NYCM requires an early wake up call. To calm the paranoia that I might hit snooze on my cell phone alarm and oversleep, I enlisted the help of a hotel wake-up call and a friend that would call me on race morning. Luckily that wasn’t an issue. Thanks to the end of daylight saving time and an extra hour of sleep, I ended up waking up earlier than needed. I left my hotel at just after 5:30am and walked a block over to where four buses were lined up for the professional and sub-elite fields.

We spent almost two hours pre-race at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.

Part of what made my experience at the NYCM so memorable was that I was accepted to the sub-elite program. The NYRR designed the sub-elite program to provide benefits to competitive athletes who are not part of the professional field. The NYRR does not publish specific qualifying standards. Instead, they accept the fastest (roughly) 50 men and 50 women to participate. Benefits for the sub-elite program include separate transportation to the start, a warm-up and waiting area at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, a starting position at the front of the wave 1, separate baggage carry to the finish, and a post-finish recovery area. I can’t overstate how grateful I am that NYRR offers the sub-elite program and that I was accepted. 

The eventual women’s top five finishers warming up. From L to R: Aga, Kiprop, Keitany, Jepkosgei, Diver

After a police escort led our buses from Midtown Manhattan to Staten Island, we spread out at the Ocean Breeze indoor track. It was pretty surreal to be among so many impressive athletes like Geoffrey Kamworor, Mary Keitany, Des Linden, Lelisa Desisa, and Jared Ward. It was hard not to question why I was in the same room with them, but I certainly wasn’t going to complain. It was warm and dry and they had food set up, plenty of bathrooms, and a 200m track to warm up on. I even had a chance to get chiropractic treatment and active release therapy (ART) on race morning. That’s not something that I would necessarily recommend to anyone on race morning, but it’s something my body is already accustomed to. There were three practitioners and I noticed that one of them was performing manipulations similar to Dr. Jeremiah Jimerson who I see somewhat regularly in Charleston. 

When we left Ocean Breeze, we took a 10 min bus ride to the base of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The weather was just about perfect – upper 40s, sunny, and relatively light winds. The professional men headed to the blue start line and myself and the other sub-elite runners headed to the orange start line. NYCM has three starts (blue, orange, and green) that start separately on the bridge and merge later in Brooklyn. The cool thing about starting at the front of the orange start is that we started further up the bridge than the professional men since we would run extra on the other side of the bridge. A couple of minutes after the gun (cannon?) went off, I got to watch the professional men pass by me on the other side of a barrier on the bridge. Even more incredible than watching the pro field zoom by to my right was the Manhattan skyline to my left. I just tried not to think about how far away it looked and that we had to run there!

Running down the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in the 2nd mile of the race.

The Verrazano Narrows Bridge is the largest climb of the NYCM course. However, since it’s the first mile, the incline is almost imperceptible. I stuck with my plan to go out conservatively and was about 15-20 seconds slower than marathon pace for the first mile. Since the second mile is back down the bridge, I nearly made those seconds back up despite keeping my effort really relaxed. Miles 3-13 in Brooklyn were relatively uneventful. It was slightly breezy, but nothing that I felt was making the effort difficult. Brooklyn also had more rolling hills than I expected, but once again, nothing that made things too difficult. I think that I actually preferred that over it being pancake flat. Brooklyn was the only part of the course where I ran with other people. Compared to shorter races where I would prefer to run in a pack and have people to pull me along, I don’t mind running solo in a marathon. In fact, I found that the times where I was running with others at NYCM threw off my rhythm a bit.

Running with a pack of local runners in Brooklyn

The Pulaski Bridge marks the halfway point of the race and takes you from Brooklyn to Queens. My mental math is usually pretty good in the early stages of a race, but the half marathon mark is always a good check of what pace I’m actually running. I hit the half marathon in 1:13:35, which is almost exactly the same time I split in the two times I have finished in 2:28 (2014 Wrightsville Beach Marathon and 2018 Kiawah Island Marathon). Despite coming through halfway in the ballpark of where I hoped to be, this was the first time that I had any negative thoughts creep in. I felt like I was working pretty hard already and I knew that the second half of the NYCM course is much tougher. However, I realized that I was running uphill in that moment, so I was able to pretty quickly push those negative thoughts away as I started to cruise down the other side of the Pulaski Bridge. 

Entering Manhattan after the Queensboro Bridge

I don’t remember much about Queens beyond several quick turns and the anticipation of the climb up the Queensboro Bridge. As predicted, the Queensboro Bridge was eerily quiet. This was the first time that my GPS signal seemed to go awry, but I was manually splitting my watch, so it didn’t matter. I was pleased to see that I had only slowed down a bit in mile 15 (5:41) and mile 16 (5:40) from the 5:3Xs I was running in Brooklyn. As I descended into Manhattan, I made a mental note to soak in the energy on First Avenue, but to stay patient. The crowds were loud, but I’m not sure they were any louder than some parts of Brooklyn. As I ran up First Ave, I watched the street numbers go up. I was planning to see my friend Lina on her block (E 74th St) and nervous that I would miss her. Somehow I spotted her from a full block away which was a relief and a boost of excitement. The energy of the crowds and seeing Lina led me to run a bit quicker in mile 17 (5:29) and mile 18 (5:30).

Mile 19 (5:32) and mile 20 (5:34) is where things started to get difficult, but still manageable. My legs were very slowly starting to tighten up as I ran into the Bronx. Cramping felt imminent, but I just tried to shift my focus to my breathing and holding form together. This is the point where I had hoped that I could pick things up for an aggressive finish, but it soon became my goal to just avoid having my legs cramp up fully. The final 10k was probably the shift from enjoying the effort to wanting to get it over with. As was the case for most of the race, I was running solo as I ran down Fifth Ave. The Bronx and Harlem had incredible support that I really appreciated even though I probably did not show it outwardly. 

Finally made it into Central Park.

Once I got to the northeast corner of Central Park on 5th, I at least knew the end was close. I have run Central Park enough to have my bearings and I had prepared myself for a long, slow grind up for mile 24 before we entered the park. At 5:55 it was either my slowest mile of the race or second slowest after mile 1, but I was just glad it started with a ‘5’ and that it was done. I even got a great boost by seeing a familiar face in Cherry Kent (a runner from Charleston) as I made the climb. Seeing Cherry reminded me that I wanted to represent Charleston well with a strong finish and that I had teammates out on the course who were also putting in their best effort. At that point my legs were cramping slightly and felt on the verge of seizing up completely, but I tried to convince myself that I would hold things together.

 As I entered Central Park at around mile 24, I felt more confident that I could make it to the finish line smoothly. I mentioned before that my mental math is pretty good early in the race. Well, it’s a different story towards the end of a marathon. In the last couple of miles, one calculation led me to believe I would break 2:26 and another calculation led me to believe I wouldn’t break 2:30. I decided to stop worrying about splits and mental math and just RUN. I think that I passed a few runners in this stage, but it’s all a bit of a blur. I didn’t have the strong finish that I felt prepared for, but I was happy to hold onto 5:40 splits for miles 25 and 26. 

The finish line experience in New York is only rivaled by the experience at the Boston Marathon. It’s a somewhat cruel uphill finish, but I don’t remember the climb as much as I do the flags that lined the street or the grandstand with spectators. I didn’t see the finish clock until I rounded the final curve with about 150 meters to go and I was both elated and relieved to see 2:27:xx. I finished in 2:27:29, which was a 46-second PR. 

After I crossed the line I felt a bit disoriented and wobbly. The volunteers were supportive (literally) and helped me stay upright as I made my way to the finish area tent. This was one of the biggest perks of the sub-elite program since it was just a short walk from the finish line and they had our drop bags ready for us. In the tent I got to chat with Paula Pridgen, a runner I know from Charlotte who ran a PR to place in the top 20! It was nice to see familiar faces in Paula and Franklin and to chat about the race. We also walked back to our hotels together which were about a mile away and not as bad of a walk as I thought it might be post-marathon.

It wasn’t until that evening that I was able to find the overall results to see if I had met my goal of placing in the top 50 overall. I was close, but came in just a bit short at 53rd overall. There’s a small bit of disappointment in not achieving my goal, but that feeling is overwhelmed by how proud I am of the effort I put in during training and on race day. And more importantly, the experience of the New York City Marathon and everything that involves – boisterous crowds, demanding course, international flair, and blend of street party and serious competition – was the perfect reminder of how much I love the sport and want to continue to pursue it as long as my body and mind allow me.

Charleston Results Blog – April/May/June 2016

Charleston Results Blog – April/May/June 2016

It has been awhile since our last update from the Without Limits Charleston team, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t been busy! The team continues to grow with athletes targeting a wide range of goals and events. Some of our athletes are building a foundation with their running and fitness, some are tackling new events and distances, and others seek to PR, win overall and age group awards, or return to running fitness they haven’t achieved in many years.

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April 

April kicked off with the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k, one of the largest road races in America. A majority of our WOL Charleston athletes in action won Top 5% age group awards and several (including Jacci Patterson and Harry Gregorie) walked away with PRs on a tough course with warm conditions.

At the Race for Adela 5k, Greg Barratt, Harry, Anne Wulf, and Kevin Mizell took to the beach and represented well. Greg and Harry won their respective age groups and Anne placed second in hers. Not to be outdone by the others, Kevin was running this 5k the week after a team relay race where he ran his longest run ever.

Three WOL Charleston athletes competed in the 120th Boston Marathon. On a brutally hot day, Siobhan Maize and Christin Newman met their goals of re-qualifying for the next year’s race and Jacci ran sub-4 in her Boston debut, despite the fact that she spent some time in the medical tent (she’s tough).

Elsewhere, we had Cortez Gonzalez running PRs for 800m, 1600m, and 3200m on the track and Joe Kohut crewing and pacing at the Leatherwood 50 Miler.


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May

May and June is when the racing tends to slow down in the Charleston area as the weather heats up, but our athletes continued to push themselves in training and mix a few races in.

At the Run to Momma (Trail) 15k, our ultra/trail guy Jon Barrows placed 3rd overall and 1st Masters. In the Run for Change 5k, Cortez placed 2nd in his AG. At the MUSC Heart Health 5k, Joe Cristaldi gave us our first overall race win of the month. Lastly, Greg (2nd) and Anne (3rd) won age group awards at the Run Forest Run Riverdogs 5k.


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June

June kicked off with the Floppin Flounder, a classic race hosted by the Charleston Running Club. The WOL Charleston team came away with lots of hardware as Jacci won the Female Masters division (and ran a PR!), and Chris Coghlan (2nd), Brittani Barratt (1st), and Greg (2nd) all won AG awards.

Rounding out the month, Jonathan Strader won his AG at Race the Landing 5k and Cortez won his age group in the 5k and mile at the Charleston TormenTour races at James Island County Park.

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Without Limits Challenge – Week #12 (Charleston)

Without Limits Challenge – Week #12 (Charleston)

The #WithoutLimitsChallenge is complete! On Saturday, Siobhan and Tara toed the line at the 39th Annual Cooper River Bridge Run. The race was a culmination of their 12-week journey as a Without Limits team member. Follow the links below to see how they documented each week of their challenge.

Below Siobhan and Tara reflect on the last 12 weeks and discuss their thoughts before they tackled the Bridge Run. We are so proud of how they performed and thankful for letting us take a sneak peek into their training.


Siobhan Maize

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Looking back to the first week of practice I really can’t believe how far I’ve come in terms of both speed and endurance! At the start of the challenge I was only running for 5 minutes at a time, at a moderate pace. Now I’m able to go on a long run of over two hours and do speed work once a week. I’ve also learned to love group speed-work sessions. I enjoy the camaraderie and the guided coached workouts. I have also made a lot of friends over the weeks. It’s great working together each week to reach our goals. It’s amazing how quickly improvement can come with consistent work!

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Tara Marlowe

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Looking back to Day 1 of my training, I have come a long way thanks to the #WithoutLimitsChallenge. When I first started the challenge in January, I had fallen off track when it came to my training. I hadn’t really done much since the November Rock n Roll Marathon in Savannah. I was down in the dumps because I was unhappy with my finish in Savannah, and I had just kind of pushed my training to the back burner. The Without Limits Team, this Challenge, and my coach Chris, have really helped to get me back on track with my training. I have learned so much over the past 12 weeks. I have learned more about technique, proper warm-up, and most importantly, proper recovery.

With the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k this Saturday, I am coming to the end of this challenge, and I am super blessed to have been chosen to be a part of this. I am very excited for the race this weekend, and also nervous at the same time. I am ready to give it my all and hopefully finish the race in a respectable time. No matter what, I will always be thankful for this challenge, and for my coach Chris for dedicating so much time and working with me over the past 12 weeks.

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Charleston Results Blog – March 2016

Charleston Results Blog – March 2016

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The Without Limits Charleston team only competed in a few events in March, but at each of those events we had multiple teammates in action.

At Peyton’s Wild and Wacky 5k Ultra, we had three teammates participate in a 50k relay. Jacci Patterson, Siobhan Maize, and Tara Marlowe battled heat, mud (lots of it!), and tired legs to support a great cause and get some quality training in. Tara made a full day of endurance events by also competing in a Spartan Race earlier in the day! Other teammates volunteered at the race to support the various race charities and cheer on all of the athletes.

 

The Quintiles Wrightsville Beach Marathon Madness Weekend was a featured event for our team. We enjoyed traveling to North 10411310_3068717042231_789469687477921530_nCarolina to join WOL teammates from Wilmington and Greenville. We had athletes in action in the 5k, half marathon, and marathon.

In the Susan G. Komen on Saturday, Cortez Gonzalez got us off to a great start by placing 5th in the 13-19 age group. This month Cortez, who is running in his first season of track, dropped his 1600m and 3200m PRs down to 5:40 and 12:45. Although he is only in 8th grade, Cortez competes for his high school and looks to qualify for the state track and field meet in May.

On Sunday, Without Limits Charleston athletes competed in the half and full marathon. Christin Newman ran a new PR of 1:28 to place second in her age group. Christin hopes to carry 998970_3068716082207_2465508770186295739_nthis momentum into April where she aims break 3:10 at the Boston Marathon. Adam Rose ran 1:30 to place 8th our of 102 in his age group despite racing on limited training. Andrea Rose had one of the strongest performances of the weekend in her first race since October. Andrea ran 1:37 to place 11th in one of the deepest age groups (with 210 finishers). Andrea looks towards the Boston Marathon in April with new confidence.

While the half marathoners enjoyed close to ideal racing conditions, the full marathon had tough conditions from the 2-hour mark beyond with heavy rain and wind. Despite the challenging weather, both of our athletes ran PRs. Ricardo San Pedro ran 3:14 to take over two minutes off of his PR and run under his 3:15 Boston Marathon qualifying standard. He placed 10940418_3068718002255_1061041377510478834_n15th out of 50 in his age group and showed a lot of mental toughness in the final miles. Anne Wulf was running in her second marathon after completing her first in Kiawah in December. Anne knocked about 18 minutes off of her previous best to run 3:53! This placed her in the top third of her age group. It almost seemed like she enjoyed running in the rain!

March was certainly a successful month of training and racing for our team. Now we have our eyes set on April, a month that includes the Cooper River Bridge Run 10k, the Blind Pig 100 Miler, some action on the track, the Boston Marathon, and a few other races here and there. Stay tuned for updates!

Without Limits Challenge – Week #11 (Charleston)

Without Limits Challenge – Week #11 (Charleston)

In comparison to other sports, running doesn’t require a lot of gear. With that said, there are certainly lots of products out there that make it more enjoyable, keep you comfortable, or promote recovery. This week we asked our Without Limits challengers Siobhan and Tara about their favorite running gear.


Siobhan Maize

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I was asked about my favorite run gear this week of the Without Limits Challenge. That is a really hard question for me to answer because I have a whole list of favorite run gear! There are several things I don’t think I could do without, but I was able to narrow it down to one thing that I couldn’t run without….my running skirt. Let me preface it by saying that I’m not a girlie girl. I never, ever thought I’d ‘convert to skirt’ before I tried out my first running skirt. Now I can’t live without the comfort and convenience of a running skirt. It has the comfort of compression shorts with the added ‘coverage’ of the skirt over the shorts. It also has just enough pockets to hold gels, keys, my iPod, and even my phone! I love that I don’t have to carry any other case in order to run a marathon and have all of my nutrition with me. My favorite brand is Skirt Sports (and I’m a brand ambassador now)–but I really can’t say enough good things about a running skirt. A gear must have for me!


Tara Marlowe

favorite gear

When it comes to running and training gear, I do have some items that have become my favorites. When the weather is cooler out, I always turn to my NikePro Running tights. I have the standard colors, but when it comes to running tights, I say the brighter the better. I love the funky colors, and I find that these particular tights stay put when I am running, no matter the distance or pace. My running shoes for the past 5 years have always been Asics, Asics Gel Noosa Tri to be exact. I try to keep 3-4 pair of these running shoes on hand at a time so that I can alternate them on runs. However, I do have a favorite pair out of those four that I tend to turn to for races. I absolutely love these shoes!! And when it comes to socks, I must say that the only running sock I wear are my Balegas. I absolutely love them. When I first started really running I used to think that I didn’t need to spend money on running socks. I thought any sock would do just fine. Boy was I wrong. When you really start to up your miles in training you need to have good socks that are not only comfortable, but will also help proctect your feet, and my Balegas never let me down!

When it comes to running, it is funny how each runner has their own favorites; their own little quirks. The smallest thing can sometimes throw a runner off when it comes to raceday, and sometimes that little thing can be their gear. As a runner, when you find a particular piece of gear that you love, whether it be shoes, socks, or even a headband, it is hard to think about wearing something else. Especially on the day of a race.