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I cannot believe that tens of thousands of people ran the NYC marathon this morning. It's not just that the marathon distance (26.2 miles) does not compute to me (it doesn't, but that's for a future post). I'm more amazed that people spent so many hours running the course while facing 20-40 MPH winds. I will admit that those conditions were too much for me to deal with this morning. Feeling like I was running into an invisible wall wore me out and I ended up cutting my run short.
The unrelenting sound of wind whipping through the trees prompted me to dress warmer than I normally would for 46°. Things started out well and I had high hopes for getting in my planned distance. I decided to first run the perimeter of my neighborhood that includes Jericho Turnpike and South Oyster Bay Road. I briefly considered crossing one of those main streets to open up my route to different options.
I ended up staying on South Oyster Bay Road and enduring the cracked and buckled sidewalk that was especially scary because it had a layer of leaves that hid potential tripping points. I made sure I kept my step high to avoid any mishaps. By the time I re-entered the neighborhood from the south, I started to get frustrated with the wind that reminded me of the miserable experience I had at last year's Long Beach Turkey Trot.
I struggled to make it to the mid point of my neighborhood and planned to make a beeline home. Along the way I saw a yellow recycling bin being blown across multiple yards, trash cascading from containers and leaves flying in every direction. Despite that, I decided to take a detour that added another half mile to my distance. I was disappointed to fall far short of today's goal, but I didn't see the sense in battling the wind monster any further.
As I ran, I thought about friends who were waiting on Staten Island for their wave to be called. The news showed thousands of people patiently huddling under makeshift blankets trying to remain warm. Once they were able to go, they faced the same conditions that I did, but would need to run over seven times the distance that I covered today.
Congratulations to my friends who braved the weather and the marathon course. You are probably very tired, but you did an amazing thing. Even under perfect conditions, this would be a tough race. I hope the celebrations will far exceed the pain.
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You guys were brave last year in Long Beach. Conditions were much worse that day than this past marathon Sunday.
ReplyDeleteLong Beach traumatized me! I'm looking for a more sedate TurkeyTrot for 2014.
DeleteYou should have done your turkey trot in May or September.
DeleteNext time we run together remind me to explain what a Turkey Trot is.
DeleteMuch like dealing with the treadmill, you have to embrace the bad weather. I ran in the pouring rain on Saturday and did my long run in the wind storm Sunday morning. Makes me feel young, carefree and kind of badass (and a little dumbass as well). Reminds me of going outside to play tackle football whenever it snowed when I was in high school and college. During my twenty miler on Sunday, I only saw one other runner the entire time, and we gave each other a very enthusiastic high five when we passed. I did the Holiday Half in Brooklyn last December during a snowstorm, and that was an absolute blast. Just roll with it, man. How often do we get to act like kids and play outside despite the weather?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and I think a runner can manage in any type of weather as long as they wear the right gear. I also ran in the rain on Saturday too and didn't love it, but liked feeling. It's like when I used to run in the dark at 4:00 AM every morning. I'd say, "who else is out doing this but me?"
Delete"remind me to explain what a turkey trot is".. You guys always crack me up.
ReplyDeleteI kind of embraced running in the rain. Two times out in it now.. it's really not so bad.
Depending on circumstances, running in rain can actually be pleasant. My objection to it comes when my vision is obscured from rain (glasses) and if my feet get wet (yuck!).
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