Post Marathon Reflections

It was fun, cold, windy, and I have no desire to ever run that far again!

The New York Marathon is one of the most iconic races in the world. You hear so much about the crowds and the atmosphere and hell, who wouldn't want to go to New York for holiday?!

There are some pro's of training for a marathon:

There's always someone to run with

The achievement of finishing a marathon is pretty special

The medal is awesome

You get to eat a lot of food

There are also a few con's:

You feel slow

It takes a while for the legs to recover

Concentration span after 20km seems somewhat blurry

It hurts. A lot.

42kms is a LONG way

To say you've done the New York Marathon is a pretty exciting thing though, and I am officially in celebration mode! What I will say is that despite it being such a memorable experience, I am very happy to have ticked the box and I am equally satisfied about moving onto something else. A lot of people have said I will do another one. If I ever think about doing another one, I only need to remember the pain in my legs from the 30km mark and realise that it is indeed a stupid idea!

My friend Teresa (www.thehealthwhisperer.com.au) and I trained for this race for about 20 weeks. We both agreed at the start that we would be doing this race purely for the enjoyment and the experience. I really wanted to enjoy the day, so aiming for a particularly fast time was definitely not on the cards. I figured if I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, then I could always go back and race it. Let's just say I won't be in a rush to do that anytime soon!

New York was FREAKING COLD! Having trained the last few months in our Australian summer, it certainly took some adjusting. The city was buzzing though and it was very cool to see them setting up the finish line in Central Park.

RACE MORNING

Hats off to the organisers of the New York Marathon. I can't even imagine what a logistical nightmare it must be to transport 50,000+ runners via ferry and bus to Staten Island (45-60 mins from NYC) at 6 o'clock in the morning. We were lucky enough to be a part of the Team for Kids charity and in hindsight, it was actually a genius idea. Not only did we have our own private buses to transport us to the start of the race but when we arrived, we had a huge Team for Kids tent with bagels, coffee and heaters. Just what you need when you're freezing your ass off and having to wait 3 hours before your wave start!

Race morning was about 7*C with killer head winds and side winds blowing everyone all over the course for the first 5 or so kilometres. The wind came in gusts throughout the day which made the race a lot more challenging (because apparently running 42kms isn't hard enough). Teresa had about 6 layers on at the start (including a plastic bag under her jumper) and I had about 3. We both ran with gloves on the entire way. I don't think I've ever worn that many clothes for a race ever. I just couldn't get warm.

THE MARATHON

It completely lived up to expectation. There were people EVERYWHERE! I'm talking complete strangers, standing on the side of the road, cheering their lungs out for people they didn't even know. It was like the City 2 Surf on steroids! The race itself required 10,000 volunteers, so you can imagine how electric the atmosphere was. That's on top of the entire city coming out to support the race. There were marching bands, rock bands, DJs, rappers, hip hop artists. You name it, we saw it. The first few kilometres, we danced, we cheered, we sang and we were so excited to be there. I even high-fived a bunch of NYPD cops who yelled, “Go The Fonginator!”

At 88^th St, I saw my friend Amy who is a New York native. We met about 10 years ago and we hadn't seen each other for about 3 years, so it was such a nice surprise to stop and have a photo together! Prior to that, I made Teresa stop and get a photo with the San Francisco Fire Department. HELLO FIREMAN!

Still plodding along, I started to get really wheezy and my body and lungs just couldn't warm-up. The sun started to disappear behind the clouds and the wind was picking up again. With 10km to go, Teresa and I made a pact to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and only walking when we went through an aid station. We didn't do a lot of talking at this point but I must say, having someone by my side the entire way certainly helped me mentally.

In the last stretch before entering Central Park, we were really feeling the pinch and before we had a chance to have a sookie-la-la moment, there they were – crowds and crowds of people, thousands of people, 10 deep behind the barricades, holding up motivational signs, yelling, clapping and cheering. All I heard was noise! It was very emotional and like nothing I had ever seen before.

We entered the park and this was it. 5km left and it was time to make this dream a reality.

We crossed the finish line with a hip bump, chest bump and a leap across the line, in true Teresa and Bel style! I need to find the footage of that somewhere...

After the elation of finishing, I was struggling to breathe - a mixture of asthma and the frigid weather conditions. Thank god we were able to get fleece ponchos at the end. I told Teresa to go and get some food, and I headed straight to the medical tent. After examination, I was put on oxygen for about 20 minutes. The nurses in there were amazing and there was no way I could have gone home without their help. There were some perks from being in the medical tent; we got transported by buggy down to 72nd St (about a 10 min hobble)! Unfortunately my asthma continued to play up for the next couple of days but we were at least able to walk around the city to get the legs moving and do some last minute shopping. It is now Friday and my legs and lungs are now starting to feel somewhat normal. 

I want to say another huge thank you to everyone who has supported Teresa and I over the last few months. We could not have done this race without people helping us raise vital funds for the Team for Kids charity. Whilst I don't recommend that anyone should ever run a marathon, I must say that New York was a pretty special place to do it. If you can, get a charity spot and do the race with someone. It's definitely a day I will never forget and it was way more enjoyable having someone to share it with.

I have put together a short clip of some video footage and photos I took in the lead up to, during and after race day. It includes our friend Jo who came along as support crew and team massage therapist, I hope you enjoy it!

Here's to the next adventure, whatever that may be!!

The Fonginator

Watch the clip here: https://vimeo.com/111184707

(photo courtesy of Amy Guerrera)