This past Sunday, I fumbled in the darkness to lift the ringing receiver and placing it back into its cradle as quickly as possible as to keep your kids in their sleep state at 4:15am. Probably it disturbed their REM sleep, however not one of them paid any attention towards the awaken call commotion.
It is so vital that you get enough sleep in front of you race, especially a marathon, where you could be on the course not less than 2 to 3 hours for 13.1 miles or Three to six hours for 26.2 milles.
It seems that I have gotten use to prepping for race day, and also the nervous butterflies which use to bounce around during my belly have been trained to stay relaxed. Unceremoniously, I placed on my running gear donning my trusty Team for Kids Singlet, and new ASICS Nimbus Athletic shoes. Pecked everyone one the cheek, aside from Zachary who seemed to be tucked away on the other hand of the bed, and so i kissed me and transferred it to his cheek. Walked out the doorway and headed down to the lobby and waited for my brother in law, Raymond.
It is extremely vital that you be ready and lay all your gear the night before since you should not be searching for your running stuff that morning.
He pulled up in the rented Blue Honda Civic together with his fianc, Frances. Since he did not have a GPS, I lead him within the wrong direction for the first 5 minutes from the visit to the Jersey Shore. Make a mental note, you can not always depend on a GPS to help you get where you wish to go! By the way, where is that seat belt!
If you want to drive towards the start, a GPS will assure you receive there!
We reached Seven President Park, which was in regards to a mile north from the Start, and did good to obtain some additional shut eye, but that didn’t work. Therefore we just relaxed. It turned out that we parked right alongside Coach Vincent Corso from Team for children. This individual is such an inspiration from weighing 310 in 2006 to running a new personal record in Three hours and 12 minutes later that afternoon! What a positive results story! I will be running that fast soon!
Draw of other testimonials to help motivate you, especially throughout the training.
Finally, the time had come for Ray and Vinny to depart for their New Jersey Marathon Start. I stayed behind and rested a bit more with Frances who had been trying to watch a film of some sorts on her behalf phone. About a half an hour later it was my turn to head to the start as the Full Marathon began heading my way. The lot was adjacent to area of the course, and so i walked along and cheered about the runners as they ran towards me. I had been fortunate to see Coach Vinny wave and acknowledge me with a thumbs up. I searched for Ray, however i think the crowd engulfed him. I’ll catch him at the end. Some runners enjoy the acknowledgment and become gracious. While other runners might be indifferent especially for the 20 plus mile range, where most everyone looks haggard. Just keep cheering them on.
People need encouragement!
As I got nearer to the starting line, I saw many people jogging to warm up, so I did the same. Usually first 2 miles are miserable, because my legs take some warming up. Most races which i have participated in had corrals to separate the masses. With this particular race, it seemed that you could just dive in, so long as you had enough space to hop within the fence and squeeze near the other runners in this fenced off sardine can. Surprisingly, just another 20 feet stood the sandy Jersey Shore, however no spectators were able to cross to that particular side and cheer on the runners.
Warming up for any marathon is not as important as a brief run, since the first couple miles of the long run usually is the warm-up.
I sought out the 2:20 pace runner balloon and also got in line where someone had separated the fence. Eventually we started to move forward, with Bruce Springsteen blaring away in the PA system and the Race Announcer did his best to rally this very subdue crowd.
Simply mind boggling how music can excite an audience, and blaring “Born to Run” got the runners ready!
Finally up to and including slight jog across the start and off we go! Here if you have a running watch, just remind you to ultimately start the watch, as soon as you cross the start line, so you are aware your pace while you do the course. Going out too fast could be detrimental for your overall finish time. The course wrapped its way around the suburban streets of Long Branch, simple homes with a few neighbors out to cheer about the runners. Before Mile 4, at the very shallow Port Au Peck Bridge, a woman believed to her running mate, “I thought this race was suppose to flat.” I thought to myself, she’s no idea what hills are. It had been a joy to operate on the “flat” course!
Always check the elevation map as you train. You don’t want to train on flat roads when hills are required.
Just a little after mile 4, I noticed that I was getting closer to a pace runner. A few minutes later I had been very close to be able to see the time 2:15. I was like, “WOW!” which was unexpected. I opened up alongside her and stepped about the gas to pass her. I wondered if I could keep this speed up. The only real time I ran this fast previously was during much shorter 5k’s or 4 milers. It felt good and didn’t think back.
You need to ensure that you pace yourself otherwise you will forfeit steam after the race.
I continued taking a look at my Timex Global Trainer, which helped keep my pace under 10:00, and when I notice it above 10:00, I accelerated. The whole time, I continued saying “make up a while now in case I crash within the later miles”.
Also in this run, I held my way through. I past each porta potty and tree as well as repeated, “Do not go, Do not go, Don’t go!” Unlike the Disney Marathon, where there were trees everywhere and ladies would come out the woods after going for a break and men just stopped and smelled the Orlando air, there have been houses and neighbors everywhere. I am confident they wouldn’t appreciate the additional watering.
Relieving yourself, adds a lot of time for your race, especially if you wish to acquire a personal record.
At Mile 9, I was getting ready to give my kids some High 5′s so when I reached Mile 10, I type of threw in the towel looking for them and sped up. Then suddenly I hear, “Noah!” to my left. I looked over my shoulder for my blind spot and headed over. Only Zachary was close enough, and that he jumped up like Michael Jordan and reached for my hand. A mother sighed, “Awwwwwww” in the background. I was so pleased to see them!
It is extremely uplifting to determine a child smile after you slap their hand!
At Mile 12, I began to determine spots and the road appeared to be leaning, meaning that I had been running on empty or bonking. I said, “Just don’t fall on your face prior to the finish line!” and also the finish line could not came faster. My thoughts about Irene and the kids solved the problem get to the final yards. I’m so getting excited about all of us doing exactly the same race!
As soon as I saw that Green Gate, it put a little more spring within the step and I sprinted to ascertain if I possibly could cross before the clock said 02:17:00. I ended the checked out my watch showing 02:09:00. The brand new Jersey Half Marathon official time was 02:08:58.73, a 09:50 pace. My slowest was the final mile at 10:15 and also at mile 6 where there would be a slight incline from an overpass If only I started running and doing P90X quicker. Well, I’m able to state that about a lot of things!
Now my next stop will be on my Wedding Anniversary weekend at the end of the month. We will be celebrating at the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT. I’ll be running and Irene volunteered to give out food to the finishers. I believe we will be creating a pit visit Ben and Jerry’s when we’re there!
Again I would need to say my favorite big race still goes to the NYC Marathon with its crowds. Just a reminder to everyone, if you want to run the New York City Marathon, run it with Team for Kids and avoid obesity!