I Ran a FREAKING MARATHON

I ran a freaking MARATHON. Do you know how long that is??? 26.2 miles. I literally ran from Staten Island, through Brooklyn, into Queens, into Manhattan, into the Bronx, and then BACK into Manhattan. On my own two feet. And yes, I am pretty damn proud of myself. And the only thing that matters is that I FINISHED! And also I got a pretty SWEET medal shaped like an apple.

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When I ran my half marathon back in 2017, I took you mile by mile stream of consciousness through the course with me. Since this course was twice as long, I’m going to save that for a second installation. For this one, I want to tell you all about what went WRONG for this race. Then I will tell you guys what went RIGHT. And then next week, I will take you through my thoughts as I made my way from Staten Island, allllll the way back to my home borough.

I told you guys a little bit about my training back in mid-September, and after that day, things went a little downhill. Almost everyone who runs a marathon will tell you that they didn’t have the perfect training, so I wasn’t incredibly worried about it, but I was a little. Here’s what happened. First of all, I started traveling a lot. I traveled to Paris and had no problem keeping up with some training because my mileage was low then. But according to my training schedule, I was supposed to run 18 miles one Saturday while I was on vacation in Greece, and I just knew that wouldn’t happen. So instead, I shifted that run a week early, and hoped to do a 20-mile run when I came back from vacation. I successfully completed the 18-mile run in Central Park (BRUTAL), and in the process, I hurt my foot. I can’t say for sure what I did to it, because I was too scared to go to a doctor. I took my talents to WebMD, and I was convinced I had a stress fracture. So, I did what anyone does, I decided to take a week off from running, and just walk 20,000 steps/day in Greece. I’m sure that is what any doctor would have recommended…. NOT! Anyway, when I actually got back to the States, I decided not to run the 20-miler at all, and to instead focus on getting to the start line with healthy limbs. This was Strike 1 to my well-intentioned training plan. It meant that I’d have to find 8.2 additional miles within myself during the marathon to take me from my longest run of my life (18 miles) to the marathon finish line. However, I was feeling good, and my foot pain cleared up significantly to the point where I was still able to do a 10-mile training run 2 weeks before the race with the NY Flyers, which let me see the last 10 miles of the marathon course and try to internalize it. Everything was going semi-according to plan.

Strike 2 came the week before the marathon. I knew I had to travel to California for work during the Fall, but I was presented with only two options. Either the week before the marathon, or the day after. I knew that the worst possible thing for recovery was sitting still. And even worse, to be cramped in a small space (HELLOO LONGLEGSbigcity) for 6 hours. I thought I was being smart by picking to travel the week before the race. Unfortunately, this turned out to be a bad idea as well. Not only did it throw off my sleep schedule, you guessed it, as one does when they travel across the country and back within a 48 hour period, I got sick. Very sick. I actually made a doctor’s appointment from the airport in LA and went there directly after my flight. Ok, not directly, I showered first because I am not gross.

Anyway, I guess the travel and the sickness count as strikes 2 and 3. The good news was that I did not have strep, which is what I predicted. The bad news was that since it was not strep, there were no antibiotics to help me, and the doctor said it was likely to get worse before it got better. And it did. I spent the next 2 days trying to get better. I called out of work, overdosed on Mucinex, finished an entire bottle of airborne gummies, took multi-vitamins, went to Juice Generation and maxed out on fruits and veggies and ginger, and still yet, I woke up Sunday very sick. But not running was not an option, so I packed Dayquil in my race bag, and I headed to the start village anyway.

Now guys, I already started this blog by saying I RAN A FREAKING MARATHON, so obviously some things had to go right, right? Hell yea. A lot went right. First of all, I FINISHED THE FREAKING MARATHON!!!! Did I say that yet?

Another thing that went right were my friends in the start village. I was a little nervous and loopy from my Dayquil, and I took the ferry to Staten Island alone. I was afraid I wouldn’t find my friends, so I brought a magazine for my 3-hour wait until my start time, but soon enough, I found two of my friends who were in the same corral as me, and we hung out and chatted so my nerves couldn’t kick in. They kept me company in long port-o-potty lines, and we even went to the “therapy dog” section of the village to hang out with some doggies. I don’t love animals, but it was distracting and that’s all I needed. Of utmost importance – my friend’s friend brought extra body glide! I thanked him profusely later, as I watched person after person go to the med-tents for Vaseline popsicle sticks they were handing out for chafing purposes and I was a-o-k.

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Speaking of med tents – I didn’t need them AT ALL! I have been plagued with injury after injury for the past few years. Ankles, knees, hips – you name it, I had it. The fact that I did not have to stop once for help was a feat in and of itself. My left ankle flared up a bit and I sprayed it with some Biofreeze at mile 20, but it was definitely still runnable. I think my sickness was a blessing in disguise here. I was so distracted by my runny nose and debilitating cough that I was barely focusing on my legs at all!

Now about the MOST important thing that went right: the spectators!! I had heard that from many runners throughout my years, that the NYC Marathon is like no other because the crowds are great, and everyone absolutely proved it to me. The main thing I knew I wanted to do from my years of cheering for the marathon, was to put my name on my shirt. So I got my iron-on letters from the same Etsy shop where I ordered my iron-on for the half marathon (for that race, I put “I Hate Running”) and I put EMILY emblazoned on the front, and “Braid in Manhattan” on the back. The crowd delivered. From the second I stepped foot in Brooklyn, I heard “WELCOME TO BROOKLYN EMILY!” And for the next 25 miles, people cheered me on when I needed it the most. The spectators were electrifying, and they were there the ENTIRE time. (Except for the Chasidic community in Brooklyn, but that’s for the next post.) By mile 25, every time someone said “Emily, you are SO CLOSE!” I knew I could pick it up to a jog again and bring it home. I actually increased my speed the last two miles because of the morale boost from the random strangers! It was awesome.

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And last but CERTAINLY not least, extra shout-outs go to the spectators I actually DID know – my friends and family. Starting at mile 4, I knew people along the racecourse at almost every other mile. It gave me something to look forward to, an excuse to stop for selfies (and cough breaks), and in some cases, a running buddy. At mile 4, I saw my first coworker. In an office of only 10 full-time employees, 3 of them came out to cheer separately! At miles 4, 8 and 25, I had the support of my office. And I know Brooklyn is meant to have great crowds and energy, but the energy you get from people you actually know is different. I was so lucky that my crew from the gym where I teach came out to cheer for me, as well! I saw 4 different people from my spin classes, and I was able to stop and say hi before I was on my way again. It was the first time I was thankful to teach in a different borough from where I lived. And then as I was about to go into Queens, I had a group with my sister, her husband, his brother, and they were cheering and screaming and even got a short video of me running up to them!

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When I hit Manhattan, it felt like I knew people every other block. First there was a group of 17 people (SEVENTEEN!!!) at 64^th street. They had signs and they were cheering so loud, I heard people near them asking if I was a celebrity! And my sweet boyfriend brought a shirt for me to change into, which I originally planned to do, but decided I was too exhausted. Then 4 blocks later, I saw more friends and my sister AGAIN! The MTA clearly travels faster than my feet. It was so awesome to see my sister two times. I saw some other spectators multiple times, as well! It helped my morale because I was thinking… if these people are so dedicated to cheer me on throughout this race, then I better give them what they’re looking for and keep chugging along!

10 blocks later, I saw another friend and her baby out to cheer for me some more. And 10 blocks later, there was a huge University of Florida Gotham Gators cheer squad with a sign for me! I stopped for a few chomps and then kept chugging along. I won’t take you mile by mile, because I already promised that would be another post entirely, but I do want to mention my final push, helped specifically by another friend of mine. I saw her at mile 19, and she told me she’d catch me again at mile 22. She didn’t know at the time how important that would be for me. By mile 20, I was coughing a LOT. It was taking so much energy for me just to breathe that running was getting extra tough. When I saw my friend at 22, I was on the struggle bus FOR REAL. I didn’t even try to pretend I was running when I saw her. I solely walked up to her, coughing all the while. She saw my struggle and hopped right into the racecourse, holding her neon pink poster board and everything. She literally ran the entire mile 22 with me, stopping to walk when I needed coughing breaks, and joking with me to keep me laughing. She even turned on Instagram Live at one point, joking with me about the bleeding-nipple-chafing she had witnessed, which kept me laughing through the coughs. Once we hit mile 23 and I knew I had “only” a 5K to go, she told me to run like I trained and that she knew I could finish strong. I don’t know how I would have gotten through that mile without her!

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The energy and support I received all day was just unbelievable. I had people tracking me from Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and even Singapore. By the time I turned my phone on (it died at the finish line), I had 78 text messages, 3 Facebook messages, and 26 Instagram DMs. I was BLOWN away. When I got home, my sweet boyfriend presented me with flowers, and even more romantically, with 2 bags of ice. He helped me into an ice bath and brought me water and more meds while I sat in it.

When I saw my friend the night of the marathon, she asked me if I loved it. The answer is pretty simple: no. I don’t love running and running 26.2 miles is absolutely torturous. HOWEVER, I feel incredibly accomplished and I’m so happy I did it. People keep asking me if I plan on running it again and the truth is, I think once is enough for me. But there is a small part of me that wonders what I could have done if I had gotten to 20 miles in training, and if I hadn’t traveled the week before, and if I hadn’t been incredibly sick. And as the days pass and my legs feel normal again… I am thinking maybe I could try again??? I am currently signed up for the lottery for the 2020 marathon. I have lost the lottery 5 times before but if it’s meant to be…

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