Run Hard

Runner’s Log - 26.2 miles @ 8:49 (3:51 Finish!)

I ran the NYC marathon!  My goal was under four hours, and I achieved that.  I also achieved my fundraising goal, bringing in $5,075 for Camp Interactive.  I couldn’t ask for a better result after 4 months of training and fundraising.

This was one of the best and worst experiences of my life, honestly.  Doing this for Camp Interactive, along with my teammates and the support of friends and family, was humbling and inspiring.  Running alongside thousands of marathoners from all over the world, many of them running for loved ones, causes, or personal challenges, left me with an unbelievable feeling of solidarity.  Together we were changing the world.

On the other hand, I have never experienced such a battle between mind and body.  At mile 22.5, when I began physically breaking down (heart rate rose, knees/legs got weak, panic was setting in at thought of not finishing), mentally keeping it together and pushing through was one of the hardest things I’ve done.  And the physical pain that set in moments after crossing the finish line was absolutely tremendous.  

But nothing worth doing is easy, and I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.

Now I keep asking myself, what’s next?

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I fucking did it.

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Here we go.

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Almost game time.

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At the ing nyc marathon expo, gettin my bib.

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Runners log - 2.3,miles at 8:47

Last run before marathon. Feeling good. This is my look of determination. :)

Support Me On Race Day

There are a few ways you can support me or your favorite runner on race day without having to brave the elements (hopefully there won’t be too many elements).

First, the marathon will be televised and streamed on the web so you can catch all the action if you can’t be there in person.  For details, visit http://www.nycmarathon.org/broadcast_schedule.htm

There is also an official mobile spectator app which lets you to track your runner in real time.  It’s available for iphone and android by searching ‘ING New York City Marathon Mobile Spectator App’.

ASICS is sponsoring a Support Your Marathoner program (started last year) encouraging supporters to record videos, upload images, and share messages with their runners that are then displayed on giant screens during the race through RFID tracking of each of the runners.  It’s a really cool program and I’m hoping to see a few messages myself next weekend http://www.supportyourmarathoner.com/runners/796663

Runner’s Log - 9.2 miles @ 8:40 pace

Today was the last ‘long run’ of my training and I took it pretty easy.  I had hoped to partake in the ‘Last 10’ run yesterday so I could get a feel for the last 10 miles of the NYC course, but I was not strong enough to brave that slushy blizzard nightmare that rolled through here yesterday.

Overall I feel good.  I’m going to log a few miles here and there this week to stay loose before it’s time to see what I’m made of next Sunday.

On a side note,  I just hit $3,000 raised for Camp Interactive.  I’m so pumped.  Still a lot more work to do to hit my $5,000 goal, but $3k is a major milestone for me.  

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far.  I’m incredibly appreciative and humbled.  If you’d like to donate, visit http://www.crowdrise.com/patrickcourtney.

Changing Gears

Long distance running is completely new to me.  As I’ve mentioned before, a 5k is the longest race I had completed going into my marathon training.  Now I can say, at the very least, that I know what 22 miles feels like.  

And honestly, 22 miles feels a lot like what 10 miles felt like, or 14, or 18.  My body adapted to long distances early, with what felt like a downshift of my respiratory system’s gears.

As I start out on a run, I get winded quickly.  My breath gets shorter, heart rate rises, and I start sweating.  It doesn’t take long to get there.  However about mile 3-4 or so, everything shifts down.  My breaths get longer, heart rate stops rising, and I fall into a running groove.  

There’s probably a technical term for that, and maybe I’ll look it up sometime.  But that gearshift allows me to tackle seemingly any distance my legs will carry me.  From there on it’s about building up the endurance in my legs to prevent injury and having the psychological discipline to not panic at the thought of 26.2.

So, I think it’s true what they say - if you can can do 10 miles, you can do 26.2.  You just have to find your groove.

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Runner’s Log - 10 miles @ 8:12 per mile.

It was a great day in NYC and I was feeling charged this morning so I thought I’d push things a bit.  I did two laps around Prospect Park at a fast (for me) clip, about 30 seconds quicker than my pace time.  I started to feel a little strain around mile 8 but coming back down from Grand Army to Carroll Gardens is pretty much all downhill, so I was able to keep it going through the full 10 miles.

My tendonitis has been quiet lately as for the past month or so I’ve stuck with cross training during the week, and running only on weekends.  Now that I’m tapering I want to try and get some short runs in during the week, so we’ll see how my knees respond to that.