NYC marathon race recap

I’ll break this into pre-race 5 hours journey, what happened during the race, what I think went wrong, what I would do differently, and my plans going forward (because I am not done with marathons!)

Due to time change, I had an extra hour in the morning which I didn’t need but well, I ate my oatmeal and read my last Paris marathon recap

I wore my outfit with 3 additional tops and 2 additional bottoms, left the hotel 6:10am

first I took the train to the ferry station. I got there and it was full of runners waiting to get to the ferry filled by 99.9% runners. I was surprised to see many young runners, those in their 20s and early 30s. I thought marathon was for older runners, well, it seems not the case anymore. They were all dressed, makeup on, full look ready to post/be taken pic. i was hoping to see the liberty status but I didn’t and there is no deck for outside seating

next was a long way to walk until bus line. more runners, lots of volunteers and cheerful transport guide

Finally got to the start villege around 8:40, again full of runners all setting up a comfy spot. I brought a blanket to lie down too

1.5 hours later, I got ready to start IT! family back in brasilia already finished their lunch.

I was so eager to start moving.

I walked to the start corral and saw the emotional support puppies

lots of bagels

and box after box of donation clothes! Everyone came with extra cloth, mostly new, and gave out for donation.

the cannon went off and we walked a bit more to the start line

What happened:

I started with the largest incline well easing into the pace, patient to get to the flow. After 3 miles I settled into 9:05 pace, feeling 6/10 RPE but good. I took my first gel at mile 5 with the LMNT water I brought with me. Somehow I felt it didn’t sit well, but not too noticeable. I settled into a good pace the next 3 miles which was straight and flat (only time of the race). Mile 8 came I ate half packet of caffeinated gel, then another half at 8.5 with LMNT drink. And then BANG, the stomach cramp on my upper left stomach felt noticeable this time as something got stuck there and would not move down. It happened few times during training, usually settle down after a while, so I kept on. For the next 10 miles I was suffering, I felt thirst so I took water from water station, hoping it helps with the cramp. Nope. Not happening. then I tried gatorade as I was scared of taking another gel. Not helping either, the cramp still there and getting progressively worse. By mile 18, I stopped at the medical tent asking something for my cramp. They offered water so I took, then ice which I took, but 5 min later I started to feel cold so I went back moving. I would jog for few minutes, stop and feeling dizzy, try again, stop, dizzy. And then I started feeling the urge to spit liquid, bitter orange liquid started to come back. Every time I started to jog, I would feel the urge to spit, and needed to hold on it until I could find a place with no people. Whatever little liquid I took went all out. I started seeing pacers pacing me one by one. by then I knew that the lack of fueling both calorie and liquid is biting me, making me nauseas, weak, dizzy. But i was determined to finish no matter what. I continued jogging/walking, mostly walking, until mile 25.5 when the urge to vomit came stronger and I vomited more of the same liquid. After that, the stomach cramp went away but I was too weak to finish strong, so I jogged to finish to my best ability. I don’t know how I got the energy to ask for a foto to this iconic charater from china

the race was not finished until I got back to the hotel. After one crosses the finish line, one needs to walk A LOT!!!! until the exit of central park. What a suffering journey. Then it was another few blocks to find a metro station which was packed from entrance.

I finally got to my room by 6pm. I took out my phone for the first time and saw lots of message from friends and family but only answered to few before falling in bed, trying to take a breath and slept for 90 min. Then I showered and started sipping on water trying to see if I could hold onto it. During those 16 miles I craved one thing only, plain water, but couldn’t hold on to it. Yet, my body was so dehydrated that I got a headache. Fortunately I am familiar with this type of headache so I knew what to do. Hydrate, slowly, consistently. Then I made myself a bowl of oatmeal despite lack of appetite, to make sure I have some food in me.

What went wrong?

Few things that contributed to this. I don’t like carb loading, especially the lunch the day before, it was too tasty/MSG like, i didn’t feel good afterward. Then I didn’t have water from 6am to 11am. When I started having liquid it was water with a bit too concentrated electrolyte, and combined with carb from the gel, somehow my stomach couldn’t handle it at mile 8. Once it started, I couldn’t stop it. Maybe if I walked 10 min when it first started it could have settled down, maybe not. But the continued 10 miles pounding on that cramp only made it worse. By mile 18 the lack of carb and liquid was just not sustainable.

It felt like a rookie mistake to eat non-familiar food before the race, to not hydrated well during those 5 hours, to bring only LMNT drink instead of plain water.

But it happens to all of us. It could have avoided, or maybe not. I would never know.

The good news is that my skeleton held on well. Nothing particular hurt, a bit lower back, a bit hamstring, almost none on my knees, it’s just the stomach that I didn’t train well enough.

12 hrs later, I could say this is the quickest marathon to recover from. My overnight HR was at baseline!!! Clearly it was not taxing to my cardio as it would be if I raced it properly. Muscle soreness is minimal too, and fatigue the same level as after a long run. So I guess I was well prepared to race it, but I didn’t train my stomach well enough. I did have few MP workout lasting 75 min but maybe that wasn’t long enough to test stomach tolerance.

What would I do differently?

I would do 2 days of carb-centered familiar meal. No venturing out EVER again. Not forcing to achieve a certain target.

I would hydrate better before the race.

I would schedule stomach training during peak training weeks.

If I would do NYC again, I’d put earplugs, the cheering was nice but too loud and too constant. I couldn’t take them after 3 hours. I would also sign up for earlier waves and arrive late so the wait time is not too long.

I will always bring family to a race. I know if someone will be waiting me at certain point, I will feel so much more motivated. My best racing experience is Paris for this reason.

What’s next?

This was my return from injury race, 2.5 years after Paris. It didn’t go as I hope but I enjoyed it regardless. So many thoughts came to mind and I got so much more to do to shut them up. This race humbled me. It made me realize I am less strong (mentally) as I thought. During those final miles, I remember Sally racing without fuel for 80 miles, I remember the runner who won the race with a broken achilles. These are inspiring women I aspire to be one day.

Meanwhile, I will find another marathon to chase. Somewhere with a crowd but not too loud as it was NY. Somewhere I could wake up and go to race, not having to wait for 5 hours. Somewhere I could take the family to and do touristic sight afterward.

I will continue to chase my BQ dream as an excuse to continue training, to learn about my weakness and overcome it through hard work.

I am deciding to do a marathon or continue for the 50k in patagonia and then a marathon in fall. What it is decided that one marathon per year is BACK! I know that 50k Patagonia race will be scenic and epic, but it’s not the same as a road marathon. So will ponder a bit longer. I am eager to get back to training, can you tell?

Oh.. I will enter to next year NY marathon. If I get in, then it’s sign that it would be my redemption race. If not, one day I’ll come back to run this race properly.

Thanks for all of you who commented before and after the race. I feel so grateful to have this online community that is so supportive. Glad to share this journey with you all.