Run 109 My Fake Marathon

Getty Images/Mario Tama/Andrew Burton

As you probably already know, the marathon was cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy.  I have mixed feeling about the marathon being cancelled.  On one hand I understand that it needed to be cancelled because the NY area was a serious crisis.  On the other hand I had been preparing for this event for months and it was the perfect way to end the blog, so I was really disappointed that I wasn’t going to be able to participate.  My body was gearing up for this event.  I had been training and training hard.  My body was ready to run a marathon.  I was perfectly prepared and ready to go.  When the marathon was cancelled many of the runners scrambled, found and registered for other marathons in the surrounding areas.  I had travel plans and wasn’t able to find one that worked for me.  My body was confused.  It was expecting to run.  So a week after the cancelled marathon, I decided to run my own marathon.  I made a route that, for the most part, circled the island of Manhattan.  I knew it wasn’t going to be the same experience as the real marathon would have been, but I needed to do something.  I was looking forward to the experience of running through the crowds, hearing them cheer, see the signs, feeling the excitement. The morning I ran my fake marathon, no one knew I was doing it.  There were no crowds, no signs, no excitement, no water stations, and no competitors. 

I took off running and felt pretty good.  The first 5 miles were a breeze, but then I hit my first wall at mile 6.  I slowed down some, but nothing to worry about I was able to pick the pace back up.  Until I hit my 16.  From there everything went down hill and I don't mean I was running down hill, that would have been great.  I mean I lost the race mentally.  Without a support system, crowds, competitors, etc I just couldn't keep going.  This is the point where I stopped and started walking.  I would have never walked during the real marathon.  I went from a 6-7 mile/min pace to a 10-11 mile/min pace for the next 3 miles.  I was able to muster up some energy and drive and pick up the pace for mile 19.  I had heard a rumor that mile 19 was a tough one and I couldn't imagine it be worse than the past few miles.  I knew if it was, I wasn't going to make it.  My new found energy didn't last long.. and I slowed down again for the next 2 miles..  even walking some..  I was getting to a point where I was ready to stop and give up.  I knew I was already way slower than my goal pace and I didn't see any point in continuing.  Some how, deep with in me there was something that wouldn't let me give up.  I recommitted and knew I had to finish this race.   I was able to pick up the pace for miles 22-24. The last two miles were rough..  but I wasn't stopping at this point.  I struggled  through. Slowly creeping along, but somehow finished my fake marathon.  I was extremely disappointed with my time, but it was something I had to do.  Some thing I had get out of my system.  I will run the NYC Marathon next year and hopefully it will be a much better experience than this.  :( 

Time: 1pm
Distance: 26.2 miles
Time: 3:53:01
Music: shuffle