Apparently a humbling couple of months for the Wandzilak boys.  This past weekend I competed in the worst – best race of my life.  The New York City Marathon should be on every person’s bucket list.  Whether you are a runner, jogger, walker, or none of these things, this is one of the coolest experiences I can imagine in sports — that the general public can participate in.

My experience with marathon training is probably very similar to anyone else that has trained to run a specific time. I came up with a training plan that was around 3 months (not including base training) and executed the plan about as well as I could’ve hoped.  I stayed healthy, got all of my runs in (no easy feat with a 8-5) and was running predictive workouts that told me I was ready to run under 2:30 – my current marathon goal.  One of the most difficult parts about training for this race is the amount of time invested in to one day of competition where the competition is impossible to duplicate in practice.  When you are training for a 5k, or in the middle of track season, you should have a pretty good guess in how you are going to race based on how your practice times have been.  The marathon is completely different because of how far you are running.  You don’t know how your body will react that last 10k (or earlier for some of us). Sometimes it’s just not your day.  Basically you put in an enormous amount of work and hope that work pays off the day of your race.

Well, November 7th, 2010 just wasn’t my day.  Was it the training that failed me?  No.  Did it come down to me failing the “point of toughness”? No.  What it came down to were two ridiculous blisters that I got throughout the run.  The first came at mile 8 while the second came at mile 15.  At the halfway mark I was still within 3 minutes of my goal pace and with the second half of the run predicted faster than the first, I was setting myself to come close to accomplishing my goal – if I ran well.  Well, apparently blisters don’t get better as you hammer away mile after mile on them.  By mile 15 I was slowing down considerably, and by 18 it was pretty much over.  The pain was so bad that I was literally running on the sides of my feet and I recalculated my goals to A) try and finish the race B) try to enjoy the experience as much as possible C) do my best to make myself as comfortable as possible over those 8 remaining miles. All 3 goals accomplished (although “B” could be disputed).

While I don’t even come close to regretting doing the race, it should be noted that the New York Marathon is a very difficult race to earn a personal record.  Because there are 45,000 runners, we had to take buses to the starting line which we got to at 5:30 AM. My race started at 9:40 AM.  It was in the mid 30’s.  My hatred for the cold has not been made easier over the past 5 years living in southern california.  After sitting in a tent for about 3 hours, they escorted us to our “corrals” where we hung out for an additional 30 minutes. They then took us to the starting line in which we stood for another 30 minutes.  Standing around for an hour isn’t necessarily the best way to keep warm, and I figured I’d have to use the start of the race as my warm up….needless to say this didn’t go very well.  My first 2 miles and I’m already 1:30 behind the pace I’m supposed to be at.  After re-watching the tape, the pros were in the same boat – however, this caused my panic button to go off.  I got into form as fast as I could while passing the hundreds of people that started before me (not necessarily the most effective use of my energy).  I got into a pack and was running well when I turned on a corner and felt a like I had stepped on a tack where my toes meet the sole of my foot.  About a mile later, this pain was occurring with every step I took. By 12 it was pretty much unbearable but I knew my family cheering section was at 17 and basically focused on that.  Once I reached them, it was pretty much over.  Those last 9 miles might as well have been 109.  My finishing time:  2:56.  After running a 1:18:04 first half, I finished with a 1:34:30 second half.  This is slower than I have run on any given day of practice for this same distance – and there was nothing I could do about it.

Honestly, I was not 100% confident going into this race. I was shooting for a 10 minute PR, and as the x factors of the race unfolded, my confidence only got worse. I am to blame for that.  There is no doubt I will come back stronger for my next race, and will use this as motivation for future marathons.  While an experience like this could cause an individual to waiver in their passion to run as fast as possible, I will not let that happen.  As I look for my next race, I have no doubt I will meet my goals.

Tid bits from the race –

*As I said, I recommend this race to EVERYONE. The streets of NYC are open to you.  2 million people cheer for you throughout the 5 burrows.

*The 59th street bridge before mile 16 will give me nightmares for weeks to come.  Not being able to see the top of a hill after an hour and half of running doesn’t necessarily make you happy about your current situation.

*Bob Larsen (last year winner Meb Keflezighi attended a UCLA function I was at last night and he recounted in detail Meb’s race.  Very cool.  He reiterated what a difficult experience New York is and that Meb was extremely proud to be the first American again.

*Coming off the aforementioned 59th street bridge, you enter 1st avenue in Manhattan which has fans 4-6 people deep the entire way. Coming off the bridge, the amount of people screaming, combined with the tall buildings creates a wall of noise.  As we approach the turn, the guy next to me says, “I’ve been waiting for this moment my entire life.”  I’ll now remember it for my entire life.

*The starting bridge has 2 levels. Everyone got a chuckle as the PA announcer reminded us every 5 minutes (starting at 8:00 AM) that peeing off the top bridge is “unsanitary” and “gross.”