NYC Marathon 2010 Recap Part 2

Saturday 11-6-10

Woke up early again just to get as much of  NYC has to offer, and this time I decided to to check out the Empire State Building, They open at 8am so I went to the McDonald's right across the street from it and get myself some breakfast, coffee, free WiFi so I can update my facebook statue on my iPhone before I head to the building.

When I walked in the building, there were already a few people lining up by the escalator to go to the top, they were mostly tourist, as so was I . I waited for around 10mins before they let us go up to the escalator, then to the  security check point before we even get to the ticket booth, it was $21 for just the 86th floor, but for extra $15, you will get to go up to the 102nd floor for a even higher view, I only went for the 86th floor this time. So after I bought my ticket, the guy lead me to an elevator and told me the elevator will take me to 80th floor, then after that I will have to take a 2nd elevator to get to 86th floor, I was pretty much the first one to get in the elevator since the people infront of me were making a stop at the restroom. So when I stepped out of the elevator on the 86th, the guy told me that I was the first one to the top, I didnt get anything special for that but it was nice to know. It was really cold early morning once I walked to the observatory deck, it was like around 40 degree, I was glad I bought my gloves at the expo or my hands will be freezen.

The view from the top was unbelieveble, I could see miles and miles from there, I walked around the building a few time and make sure I took enough pictures before leave.

I held on to my bib so it doesnt get blown away

I stayed up there for almost 2 hours before I had to go and get ready to go back to the expo and meet Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall around noon. So I walked back to the hotel, changed a little bit and take the shuttle bus to the expo.

I was glad to get to meet Deena Kastor and Ryan Hall again, plus Greta Waitz, 9 times winner of the NYC Marathon. I had all of them signed my bib also.

Pre Race Dinner

I met up with my Maniac buddy "Kino", who happens to lives in NY, and few of his friend for dinner at this little Italian restaurant nearby the Central Park, Their food and service was OK, nothing special to write about, no wonder they received a letter "C" for the health and safety inspection grade. After the dinner we all headed home and called it a night and get ready for the race in the morning.

Us four at the dinner, but only 3 of us were running the race the next day.

Race Day 11-7-10

Woke up at 4am, left our hotel by 5am, walked to the New York Public Library to get on the shuttle bus to the start. Got to the villages in Staten Island before 6am. I was suppose to go to my BLUE village, but my friend starts in ORANGE village, so I just stayed with her for awhile before I headed to my BLUE village.

Inside the Orange village, they have coffee, water, gatorade, baegals and powerbar for us to keep us warm and fed. Some even brought their sleeping bag to keep themselves warm since they wont start for another 3 hours!!! Some other were stay inside one huge tent, aka "refugee camp". We just sat outside on the grass by the light pole, the sun started to peak early morning.

View of the Verrazano-Narrow Bridge early morning

By 7am, I started to head to my BLUE village to get ready since I have to check my gear by 8:10am. I saw even more runners hanging out while I was on my way there, some even brought their tents!! I went to check my bag early so I wont have to deal with it later on, so all I had on me was my race outfit, plus a t-shirt and my sweatpant to discard when the race starts. I figured those will keep me warm until then.

Runner gathers around hours before the start

Runners inside the "Refugee Camp" before the race, looks like they just finished a marathon.

This runner even brought his tent with him.

About 8:45am, I got into my Corral since they will close at 8:55am, the race starts at 9:40am. Then around 9:15am, they open our corrals and let us make our way down to the entrance of the  Verazano-Narrow bridge and wait for the start, people started to throw away their clothes on the side while they were making their way there, some were even taking a pit stop by the bushes.

The race started around 9:40am, it was a thrill running on the bridge will thousands of runners, I can't help but kept taking pictures of the bridge and the runners infront and behind me, I can feel the vibration of the bridge with so many people running on it. I told myself I will stop taking picture after the first mile, then I will just concentrate on the race, hopefully I could PR. I tried to run on the right side of the road just in case I need to stop and take pictures. The view from the bridge was amazing, I wish I could just stop and admire the beauty of the view, but I gotta keep going. I was going a very good pace, maybe faster than 4 hour pace, I was suppose to run at a 9min pace, but I think I was running a 8min pace, I didnt want to slow down cuz I was feeling good and comfortable at that pace, at least for awhile. Below are my mile by mile split time.

Mile 1 - 10:15      

Mile 2 -7:13

Mile 3 - 7:56

Mile 4 - 8:04

Mile 5 - 7:59

Mile 6 - 8:00

Mile 7 - 8:08

Mile 8 - 8:21

Mile 9 - 8:25

Mile 10 - 8:24

Mile 11 - 8:50

Mile 12 - 8:37

Mile 13 - 8:41 ( had to run up this hill at this point.)

Finished in 1:50.35 at halfway point

Mile 14 - 9:05

Mile 15 - 10:27

Mile 16 - 11:40 (had to use the restroom after coming off the Queensborough Bridge.)

Mile 17 - 10:48 ( feeling really tired and sleepy from this point on.)

Mile 18 - 12:06

Mile 19 - 15:10

Mile 20 - 11:28

Mile 21 - 11:50

Mile 22 - 10:37 (start running inside Central Park, crowds were everywhere!)

Mile 23 - 11:56 (3 more miles to go, I was almost done!!)

Mile 24 - 11:51

Mile 25 - 11:50

Mile 26 - 10:23 (start giving high fiving to people on the side. =-))

.2 Mile -  3.17

I finished in 4:21.11, my goal was to go Sub 4, but with all those little hills here and there, I will accept my time, plus I had a lot of fun, I didnt want to finish when I crossed the finish line. 

After we finished, we still had to walk forever just to get out of the park, runner with high bib number get to get their gear earlier than us with a lower numbers, so I had to walk pretty much ALL the way to the end to get my bag since my bib number was 4083. AND after I got my bag I STILL have to walk for a long time to get to the subway, but I didnt end up getting on it, I just kept walking back to the hotel, plus I did pick up some food on the way.

Overall I really enjoyed NYC Marathon, the aid stations were awesome, none of them were more than a mile apart so I didnt have to carry my own bottle. The crowds were also amazing, I havent seen so many crowds since Chicago Marathon. I will definately want to run this one again whenever I got in the lottery again.

Next Race......................Malibu International Marathon, 11-1-2010