11/6 marathon man

Foothill Scrambler: Today we talk to Mark after he's run his 15th marathon, this time doing New York City. Take us through your day, Mark.

Mark: The day started with a 4:30 AM wake up call, which I probably didn't need because it seemed like I barely slept a wink. Though I did feel very well rested. After getting up, I showered, put on the running gear, grabbed some food and other essentials and started working my way down to the NY public library, where the shuttles to Staten Island would be waiting. I ended up getting there by 5:30ish and was at Staten Island a little after 6. Again I was taken aback by the friendliness and enthusiasm of all of the marathon volunteers. They were excited to see the runners and one of them yelled out "There's no place like home, there's no place like home" to me in reference to my running shoes.

FS: I take it they're a nice ruby red.

M: Probably not ruby red, but definitely bright red. Quite a coincidence too, having just seen Wicked, which brings up those same ruby red shoes.

FS: So you're at your Staten Island and about ready to race.

M: Yes, but one of the early challenges was waiting for the race, which didn't start until 10:10.

FS: You were waiting for 4 hours?

M: Yeah. Pure torture...I ended up finding a curb, laying some plastic bags down on the wet grass and tried to take a nap. Maybe "Pure torture" overstates a bit, the time went faster than I thought it would and it didn't seem to long before they were lining us up in the shoot. Someone that I couldn't see sang the national anthem, mayor bloomberg said a few words and off went the gun or some explosion of some sort.

FS: Were people moving pretty well at the start?

M: Painfully slow actually, but I had read and heard several warnings about that happening. My first mile was about 10 minutes, which was halfway across the Verazzano bridge a beautiful crossing. There several boats in the bay firing water out of their hoses, some of the streams were colored. It was a pretty sight. Coming down the second half of the bridge, it started to open up a bit and I was able to run a sub 7. Towards the end of mile 3, it started to bottle neck again, though I was able to keep a decent pace at that time. What was kind of interesting about the race is that hey had 3 different shoots and it seemed that one of the shoots was running a slightly different course up until mile 8 or so, when we intersected. We were actually running side by side before that with their mile markers coming about a 200 yards past the ones I was running by.

FS: Did the course cover all 5 burroughs?

M: Yes, we crossed over into Brooklyn, then up into Queens, took the Queensboro bridge over to Manhatten, which was a delight because you come into the city seeing 100,000 spectactors and they're all going crazy. What was really awesome about this marathon, along with the support, was the different nationalities represented. There were lots of people from Italy, Mexico, England and there were people in the crowd shouting out "Italia" and "Me-jico". The biggest representation though was the orange of Holland. The crowd all brought whistles and I saw a sea of orange and different points in the race. It was a amazing. Rounding out the course, we crossed one bridge into the Bronx and another back into Manhatten. I can't think of the names.

FS: Did the crowd help you?

M: Yeah, definitely and it was probably is what saved me.

FS: You struggled.

M: Yes I did. 3:38 and change, which is my third slowest time. I'd like to say that I was doing the course for fun, but I crashed, big time.

FS: What happened?

M: The short answer is that I'm probably a little out of shape and probably carrying 10-15 more pounds of weight than I'm used to. I'm not surpised by the result.

FS: Disappointed?

M: Yes and no. I hate seeing my times regress like that. I don't think anyone would. I do have this dream of Boston and that seems to be becoming more and more of a dream than reality. But I have to give myself some credit for gutting it out. There was a time when I thought my chances of breaking 3:40 were gone and I thought, "This will be my second worst time ever, my first being my first marathon". That's the power of positive thinking (ha ha). I actually walked for a few minutes during a couple of my last 6 miles, which were brutal. The the crowd inspired me to push on and I was able to salvage the race a bit.

FS: Did there come a point where you felt like you were going to crash completely?

M: Yeah, it did cross my mind. I see running a marthon similar to being shot out of a cannon.

FS: That's a interesting analogy.

M: Not that I know what that feels like, but a marathon starts with being launched out onto the course and the intitial feeling is one of exhileration. Your adrenaline is high. You're fresh. It feels great. But then there comes a time when you feel exposed. You're out there, your momentum is fading and it hits you that you're going to have to land at some point. A lot of the time, you can see where you're going to land and your body is in position to do so. Today I hit mile 20 and felt like I was all tangled up in the air and couldn't see where I was a going. I saw several people along the way that looked a lot more fit than I am and they had crashed completely. I saw one guy about my age lying in the middle of the road with police and paramedics around him and something like an oxygen tank, or whatever that was, hooked up to him. I sit here wondering how close I was to being that guy because I was competely wasted by that point. I wish I could have seen how I was a running because my stride was gone and I was in "shuffle" mode.

FS: It's sounding like you didn't have a fun day.

M: No, that's not true. I did. The course was beautiful, the spectators were awesome and I just gutted it out the best I could. Another thing that really kept me going was seeing this team called "Achilles". It was this pairing of a runner with someone that had a severe disability. I saw blind people being led and others with a leg missing. These people were the true heroes of the marathon. None of them had less than a smile on their faces and I know that it was quite a challenge for a lot them to get through the course. They were running on pure pride. I couldn't let my heavy legs take me down if they were going to eke it out like that.

FS: Would you run this marathon again?

M: Yes, but I think I need company next time. I've loved my stay here in New York and have enjoyed the time alone, but it would be a lot more fun to share the city with people I know.

FS: Any post race activities?

M: Yes, I took a walk down to Times Square to get my legs moving a bit, then took the subway to Little Italy where I had dinner at a place called "The Peasant", which isn't as cheap as it sounds. They have Tuscan specialities and I wanted some sort of a treat.

FS: How was it?

M: Very good. I had some risotto along with a couple glasses of wine and suddenly I was full, which was a shame because they had this pear torte with hazlenut gelato, which would have been heavenly. I liked the atmosphere there and in Little Italy/Noho in general. It's nice to get away from the tourist scene at Time Square and get more of a local feel. There were lots of younger folks around and sime nice little shops, bars and restaurants. Very charming area.

FS: Would you live in New York?

M: Good question. I think I would for a small stretch. Given that I could have some sort of a social network, which isn't always that easy to build, at least for me, I could probably stay there for a couple of years. I'd probably end up missing the California outdoors after a while, but I do like the charm of New York and it seems like outside of Times Square/Broadway there are some areas worth exploring. I think the next time I'm here I'd like to branch out a bit.

FS: Sounds like the trip was successful.

M: Yes it was. I covered a lot of ground in the half week I was here, seeing a couple shows, going to a couple big art museums, exploring central park, running a marathon and getting to Little Italy. Not bad. I'm fortunate to be able to make a trip like this and enjoy a lot of what this city has to offer.

FS: Indeed.

M: And thus ends my tour of the big apple. Thanks to those who have read my ramblings. Cheers.