NYC Marathon Race Report Pt. 3 (aftermath)

NYC Marathon Finish Area map. Central Park West.

So I crossed the finish line in Central Park 4 hours and almost 9 minutes after crossing the start line way back on the Verrazano Bridge in Staten Island. What happened next?

Well, the weather had been a chilly, misty drizzle pretty much the whole race, so maybe getting warm would have been on my immediate to-do list. First thing was get my finisher medal. So I was handed my medal. I looked around and most runners were being handed their medals. It would have been nice to have them ceremoniously placed around our necks, but I and everyone else were too wiped out to say anything. It is a beautiful medal, so I inspected it for a moment before putting it on myself. Let’s keep on walking.

My 2017 NYC Marathon finisher medal and race bib.

What I remember from the only other marathon I had ever run, Philadelphia in 2016, was that as soon as I stopped running, the cold enveloped me. It was a chilly, windy day that race, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Luckily enough, there was little to no breeze in Central Park at the current time. Plus, I was getting a post-race poncho anyway.

Since I was getting the post-race poncho, I bypassed the foil-sheet handout that was immediately after the finisher medal stations (I believe I was the only runner to do that) and proceeded to the goodie-bag tables. The goodie-bags being handed out were filled with: 1 bottle of water, 1 bottle of Gatorade, 1 apple, 1 bag of pretzels, and 1 Powerbar.

The water and Gatorade went down first. Followed by the bag of pretzels. Let the long, long walk continue….

The post-finish walk is, as I have mentioned, long. It is a good thing that it is lengthy, it forces you to keep moving. Last thing you should do after running 26.2 is curl up on the ground in the fetal position. Walk it out first, then curl up in the fetal position. Post-race poncho runners had to walk from the finish line at 67th St up to 77th St to exit the park and then get your poncho. I, as most of the other post-race poncho runners, were unaware that the slow slog 10 blocks uptown (which is easy on any other day but a painful, patience-tester on this day because of marathon legs and sheer masses all going in the same direction) would lead us to our ponchos.

Everyone making the post race walk was quiet. A sea of morose persons resembling the White Walkers marching south in “Game of Thrones” would be the best way to describe it. A sign would come up with an arrow to “Post-Race Ponchos”. Then a few of us would ask the next volunteer we saw about it and each would respond by pointing in the direction we were already walking with an unsure “that way”. Repeat that for about 3 or 4 more volunteers along the way and that sums up all of the action moving towards the poncho tables.

We kept walking for what seemed like eternity plus 1 day until we finally exited the park onto 77th st and Central Park West. There was a scanner there that logged everyone’s bib as we exited the park. This shows up on everyone’s splits sheet. Mine shows that I exited the park at 2:27pm, 22 minutes after I crossed the finish line.

We walked about a block more and found the ponchos! It was about time, because I was starting to get a bit cold (mental note for next time, take a foil sheet!). The volunteers at the poncho tables were more chipper than the ones at the medal station. They were putting ponchos on us and giving us a final, cheerful “Congratulations”. That was nice and worth the wait, I guess.

Now to meet family and leave. We all continued our zombie slog, now donned in fresh blue NYC Marathon Ponchos, down Central Park West for about 10 blocks to meet our families in the 60s.

Poncho Zombies. Not one word was said, and the walking was slow.

I finally met up with my wife and mother-in-law and took some pictures. Then we got out of there. I was sore going up and down stairs in the subway on the way home but not as bad as other runners I saw trying to navigate their way home.

Family meetup.

Ended up making it home and a hot (and cold) shower was in order. I am just realizing as I am writing that I did not stretch at all post race. Not that it matters now but I have a pretty thorough static stretch routine I follow post run. I forgot about it because it was over an hour after the race when we reached home and I was starving and thirsty for some beers.

The Monday after the race the New York Times has a special Marathon section reliving the highlights of the day and listing all of the finishers. Turns out most of the corner stores and grocery stores in my neighborhood do not sell the New York Times! I had to go to 4 places before I found a copy.

New York Times “Marathon” section printed the Monday after the Marathon.

There I am! I finished in 17,089th place. That is out of over 50,000 runners.

Since my legs were thrashed, I spent the next 7 days NOT running. I did walk about 2 miles a day which helped with active recovery. That week was also a good time to start going through my training journal and reflect on what I learned through this training cycle. I was in a better place in terms of more knowledge, wisdom and fitness going into this year’s marathon training than I was in 2016’s marathon training, but I learned so much more during the 2017 cycle that I can use this cumulative knowledge in my 2018 training cycles.

I feel that I have done pretty well on my own, without a coach. I know that a coach would probably help me achieve my goals quicker, but I am, at the moment, enjoying my own journey and being my own coach. Reading articles, watching videos from coaches on Youtube and listening to running podcasts have gotten me this far, so I don’t see why they couldn’t help me get over the hump.

Currently I am in my running “offseason.” I am not training for anything specific, just resting more to help my groin heal quicker and staying in running shape logging around 25 miles a week. My current focus is to slowly ramp up mileage and get a nice base laid out before I start training for a spring race.

I have two goal races in 2018, a half-marathon and a marathon. I haven’t decided which races, but I feel that they will be familiar……

Happy holidays everyone!