Since 2015, the New York City Marathon has signaled the end of my race season.
This year, it was the warm up race.
(Wait, what about the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot?)
That’s a five miler in Prospect Park, where I push my son in a stroller.
(In a turkey costume?)
Yup, so I’m not counting that race.
This year my end of season race was the NYC60K.
(How far is that?)
60k, 60 kilometers.
(How far is that for those of us who don’t speak math teacher?)
37 miles.
For me, this year’s New York City Marathon started as it has for the past four years; in the spring.
(The race is on the first Sunday in November. Did you hit your head on something?)
You cannot just show up on race morning with the other 52,000 people are running and register on the spot.
(Ok, I’m confused.)
The race starts for me six months before when I find out if I have won a lottery spot with the New York Road Runners Association.
(Who?)
These are the people who put on the New York City Marathon.
(You ran it, so you must have won the lottery)
No.
(No?)
No.
(Did the batteries in my hearing aid just die?)
There are three ways to get a spot at the New York City Marathon:
You can qualify by running fast at another one of their events.
(No, not you.)
You can win a spot out of luck in a lottery.
(Definitely not you.)
You can pledge a charity and donate.
(Sounds like you.)
Lottery winners are informed in April and that’s when I looked to a charity to secure my spot.
This year I ran with OHEL.
(So that is that when you started training for the marathon?)
No, by April I am already heavily into triathlon training.
(Which includes running?)
Which includes running. It is not until September that I start increasing my distance beyond the 13 miles of a Half Ironman Triathlon.
(Unless you are Ironman training that summer.)
In which case I am already marathon training.
(Do you ever get a break from running?)
No, it feels like I never stop, so when September arrives I just increase my distance.
(When is the marathon again?)
First Sunday in November.
The New York City Marathon started in 1970. One hundred and twenty seven competitors ran 26.2 miles in Central Park.
(Running four loops in Central Park sounds incredibly boring.)
The NYC60K Ultra Marathon is nine loops.
(How are you going to focus for nine loops?)
Before I could start worrying about the Ultra, I had to get through the five borough, 26.2 mile New York City Marathon.
Marathon race week is a coordinated series of events that start on Thursday.
(You do realize, the week starts on Sunday.)
Anyway…on Thursday I picked up my race bib at the Javits Center in Manhattan.
From there I went for a sushi dinner.
(Define “dinner.”)
I ordered a sushi boat for myself.
(For carbo loading?)
That and because I was about to burn off all those calories.
(How many hours did that take you to finish?)
Just 30 minutes.
(Were you sick afterwards?)
No, actually, I was still hungry.
On Saturday I had several servings of cholent at lunch followed by many cups of water.
(You mean like those people who walk around all day, drinking from a gallon of water like they were carrying an aquarium around?)
No, I sipped a couple bottles of water.
(Too much water can result in over-hydration.)
And that can lead to all types of troubles that will end your race day quickly.
(So what happened to you at the marathon this year?)
It’s like they say, “Hashem answers all prayers, just not always with the answer you were looking for.”
David Roher is a USAT certified marathon and triathlon coach. He is a multi-Ironman finisher and a veteran special education teacher. He can be reached at: [email protected]
