Note: This paragraph was last updated in 2005.

This year I'm tackling the NYC Marathon.

A marathon is 26.2 miles long.

If all goes my way, this will be the third marathon I have completed. In 2001, I ran the NYC Marathon in 3 hours, 53 minutes, 47 seconds (net). In 2003, I ran the NYC Marathon in 3 hours, 50 minutes, 24 seconds (net), besting my 2001 time by more than 3 minutes. That accomplishment was especially wonderful as in the prior year (2002), I had had arthroscopic knee surgery to remove a bone chip and torn meniscus that suddenly materialized as the result of a genetic condition known as osteochondritis dissecans. Though arthroscopies have led to people training again in as little as a few days, for me the recovery was a longer process, and I wasn't able to run post-surgery for four months.

This year I feel strong and healthy. I'm starting my training blog a little late (7/31/05), already a couple months into training. In June and much of July I'd been rather lax in my training as I jogged my 10K's without much huffing and puffing so I wasn't concerned. However, it was only until recently that it dawned on me that this marathon, as are all marathons, is a beast unto itself. I shouldn't just rely on the completion of two prior marathons as support for my being able to handle this marathon. Namely, my body today is not the same body I had in 2001 and 2003. For one, it is an older body if not superficially much different. So, I realized that I must train for this marathon and leave in the dust the successes of the past--those successes will get me nowhere on race day, and the deferrence to them won't likely help me best my 2003 time. For this year, I'm setting my goal time at 3 hours, 45 minutes--5 minutes faster than my prior marathons. I'm taking my training much more seriously now.

So far in training, I've only experienced one small problem after running 12.5 miles in early June. The following morning, I woke up with a distinct and somewhat scary popping sensation in my Achilles tendons when I walked. A little ice on those tendons alleviated the problem soon enough. But the lesson for me was pronounced: I had to physically prepare to run the distances I wanted to, not just be mentally prepared. My running 12.5 miles was mostly driven by my mind, which was ready for the distance; my body at the time was not. I realized I had to take the addition of my mileage much more gradually else other surprise injuries might materialize.

It seems that this year I hope to follow the NYC Marathon's competitive marathoner schedule. That schedule puts running mileage between 30 and 50 miles a week! I don't believe I ever ran that much a week for my prior marathons. Should I keep to that mileage, I hope it makes a sizeable difference in my finish time.

To qualify for the Boston Marathon, I would have to run the NYC Marathon in 3:10 or less. That goal seems still quite far from my abilities, but it's still to be seen how fast I can run for how long.

My 2003 Marathon Training Story:
If all goes my way, this will be the second marathon I have completed. In 2001, I ran the NYC Marathon in 3 hours, 53 minutes, 47 seconds (net). While training for the NYC Marathon 2002, a tear in the medial meniscus of my right knee and a bone chip led to arthroscopic surgery to repair the damage, knocking me out of the 2002 race and keeping me from any running until January of this year. (The doctor never told me the exact term for my condition, but I believe it was osteochondritis dissecans based on his explanation of what he saw in my knee.) While last year I wasn't as motivated during training because I'd already climbed the proverbial mountain, this year the marathon has renewed significance, as I hope to best my time despite the handicap of my right knee.

To best my time this year, I need to do a few things differently in my training than I did in 2001. For one, I need to taper my mileage much closer to the marathon than I did in 2001, when I ran a 19-mile peak run in late September. This year I need to taper about 3 weeks before the race with a 20-mile run. Also, I'd like to build my mileage up earlier and more, so I have more strength and endurance for this year's run. While I need to mind the safety of my right knee, my left knee--my good knee--seems to be acting a little suspiciously. I am hoping that building strength back by running and bicycling and doing adequate stretching will prevent injury to either knee.

My target for last year was to finish between 3:30 and 4:00 hours. I was able to do that. This year, I am aiming for a sub-3:30 finish. To qualify for the Boston Marathon, I would have to run the NYC Marathon in 3:10 or less. While I am not aiming for that time, that sure would be an accomplishment.

Aug 2: Injury! (continued)
--I saw a new doctor today after my physical therapy appointments ran out (because my health insurance changed).

I finally got a diagnosis with which I feel really comfortable (!!), given the stretch tests he performed on me. It seems that I have a strained sacrotuberous ligament. It may be interfering with the ilioinguinal nerve as well, given a certain pain I experience.

I have more PT on bat with this new doctor's place of work, something that seemed too good of an offer to pass up. I haven't been running--I've barely been exercising--though I hope to start adding running and working out more consistently into my life again. I have picked up some kinds of stretches that may be important for me given what they were having me do at PT.

But I am feeling a bit better. I'm definitely not well, but I'm better. I feel less intensity to the pain. It comes and goes, but it's certainly duller than before. Last week was when it started feel a little bit better.

The marathon this year is pretty much written off. If I do miraculously get in, I will probably delay it until the next year and then pursue my goals then. Right now, as I see it, given that I can't even run a 10K, I don't foresee my being able to qualify for Boston else running a serious risk to my health. But it will be a joy to do a 10K again comfortably. I miss it a lot.

Jul 1: Injury!
--On Thursday, June 21st, I believe 5 years and 1 day after I injured my right knee because of osteochondritis dissecans, I felt a pain in my groin area during a run. A run the next day led to more pain, such that come Saturday, I couldn't run but 90 feet before stopping. Last week I saw a sports medicine doctor, and it seems I have a case of something along the lines of osteitis pubis and/or piriformis syndrome.

So, I'm on anti-inflammatories, physical therapy, and for good measure, a cane, in the next month. My doctor said it was okay to do the elliptical (ha) as well as bike. I'm not sure given the pain--which is situated below my left buttcheek where the bone meets the socket--that I will be comfortable enough to bike. But the anti-inflammatories do seem to work a bit, making me forget I have a condition. However, it's still there, and I feel it mostly when I walk outside, go up an incline, ascend stairs, or get up from a chair. I probably could be tricked into running across the street, but I'd rather not risk it.

Still no word on the NYC Marathon, though hopes are not dashed. However, after running 50+ miles a week for a couple weeks and now moving to no running, I'm not sure I'd be able to have enough time to meet my goal of 3:09 in the NYC Marathon this year. If I do get running soon (I'm not allowed to run for a couple of weeks), it will be pretty tough I think. But we'll have to see!

Jun 12: Bummer!
--Well, it seems I wasn't drawn for the lottery this year, so I didn't make it into the 2007 ING NYC Marathon.

But I'm hopeful: I'm going to see if I can somehow still make it in. :) Stay tuned!

Plus, I'm going to continue to train...

May 22: New Marathon Tracker for 2007 Coming Soon!
--I'm currently training for both the NYC Marathon in 2007 and the Boston Marathon in 2008. At least in theory. For the NYC Marathon, I have to get in via the lottery. For the Boston Marathon, I have to run the NYC Marathon in 3:10 or less. I'm revamping my website and soon I'll be updating this page. So check back in June!

Nov 6: 26.2 miles in New York City (3:28:03 Net Time)
--I have completed my third NYC Marathon. Below are my unofficial times:

Let me say this: This proved to be an intensely emotional run. Not only did I beat my goal time, but I also beat my best expectations. I even earned a lapdance for my accomplishment! (I said if I beat 3:30, I deserve a lapdance.) I'm tremendously impressed with what I've accomplished this marathon. I beat my best NYC Marathon time by more than 20 minutes. Whoa.

The weather was rather perfect and generally matching the temperatures for the prior two marathons I ran. It got up to 68 degrees on race day. The only times the race felt warm was at the base of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (mile 2, when I noticed I was sweating) and coming up the Pulaski Bridge, which is unprotected from the sun. I believe there was a breeze to the run, one not too strong nor one too counteractive to my stride.

One major accomplishment for this run was that I didn't walk at all; I completed the marathon running the whole way. In 2001, I walked after mile 6 or 10K (ha), and in 2003 I walked after 18 miles.

As the race started, I was only 44 seconds behind the start line, not 10 minutes as it was for one of my past races. Most of the bridge I was actually free to run (rather than packed in as is often the case there). I strategized my position very well, to be along the side of the bridge where there's a raised curb much like a one-lane highway for faster runners. After I got past the first mile on the bridge, I believe I broke away from the clump who was also using the lane with me.

My run through Brooklyn went surprisingly fast. I accomplished a very respectable 10K pace (45:18), which would have been a slower but still very decent 10K pace had I done that in Central Park. I used many of the water stations starting around mile 4 or 5--though hyponatremia was a consideration, I generally felt thirsty for this run, but not bad.

When I was hitting Williamsburgh, I saw a runner in front of me whose body and stride was distinctive. Sure enough, it was the mysterious, kind-seeming runner in Central Park who gives the peace sign sometimes when I pass him from the other direction. I jogged up to him, asked, "Central Park?," he said yes, and I believe he recognized me though we've never met. Cool!

When I went through Williamsburgh, my speed really picked up. I was listening to the System of a Down song called "Revenga," and I was screaming "My Sweet Clementine!" as I passed the narrow corridor of onlookers. This year I didn't recognize anyone. In fact, I missed Frank, a friend of mine who said he was going to be in the Cheering Zone just about mile 8. I was looking hard for him on my right and I thought the Cheering Zone was going to be more designated than it was. Whatever the case, looking for him by concentrating on the crowd rather than on what was ahead of me slowed me down a bit--which means, if someone says he'll be along the course, I need as precise instructions as to the location as I can get! Frank, if you're reading this, thanks for coming out, and I'm sorry that I missed you: I was looking very hard for you!

In Greenpoint, I noticed a McDonald's on a turn and sure enough it was the McDonald's close to where my friend Irina lives. I knew she wasn't watching, but I took a glance behind me to note her place. I had no idea where her little pocket of Brooklyn was, and the run helped me put it in perspective. It's crazy how this city connects sometimes!

The Pulaski Bridge, at whose apex is the half-marathon mark (13.1 miles) is a really tough climb. I think it very well may be the steepest incline of the race. They even put up signs cautioning you to take it slow because of the incline. The sun also bears down on your back there and there's no escaping it. It's not fun, but I crossed the 13.1-mile mark at 1:34:48, which again is a respectable time for me.

Around these times, I was noticing something in the race that was remarkable. I was wearing a band around my arm that helped me gauge what my times at each mile translated into for a total time. I decided to audaciously wear a 3:30-pace band--audacious because I didn't think I'd actually accomplish that time. But along the race, I was 8 minutes ahead, then 9 minutes ahead, then 10, then 11(!), and I was like, "Huh?? I'm running this strongly?? I'm ahead of the 3:30 pace???" Sure enough, I was!

I tend to lose ground when I make it into Long Island City. That is, people start to pass me, and this year was no exception. However, I plodded along in the twisted course they plotted through LIC, and I made it to Queensboro Bridge. I was looking forward to the bridge. The climb is forever but I kept a nice, steady pace up it. I also kept a nice steady pace coming down it. It was on this bridge that I endured a stitch in my right abdomen that was very uncomfortable. It wasn't something to drop me from the race, but it really slowed me down and kept me from increasing my speed. I tried breathing into it. I think I also tried thinking to myself the word, "Courage." (I wrote that word in large letters in permanent marker on my arm.) I don't recall how or when the passed, but it eventually did at some point after I entered Manhattan.

It was in Manhattan I noticed a lot of runners passing me. It was strange, but again, perhaps my loss of speed was partially attributed to crowd-gazing: I was looking for my friend Wayne who was to be at 1st Ave. and 92nd St. I missed seeing him, too!

At the PowerGel station at mile 18, in the past I've longed for that point, given that there's food rather than liquid there, and at that mile I've been ravenously hungry. This year, I wasn't hungry, but that didn't stop me from grabbing not 1, not 2, but FIVE PowerGels to go! I collected so many because I wanted to ensure I got something fruity rather than the Chocolate flavor, which in 2003 brought down my energy with its dark taste. I consumed some fruit PowerGel, a Vanilla PowerGel, chucked two into the audience to catch, and put a Chocolate one in my pouch for later consumption near the end. Turns out, I never consumed it during the race.

Then I hit the SpongeBob Squarepants sponge station, and in drenching myself with water from the sponge, I torched my mp3 player. That was more comical than anything to me. It's to be seen if it will work again--I remember drenching my mp3 player during a powerful thunderstorm to the point it was dead, but it eventually dried out and came back to life.

The "wall" feeling is a change inside your body at which running is no longer easy to motivate. In fact, it feels like a stubborn resistance of your body to move forward. It is incredibly hard to power on when hitting a wall. For many runners, mile 20 (a bridge) is a wall. For me, it wasn't. In fact, for this run, I didn't really hit a wall! My pace was still spectacular. At mile 20, just inside the Bronx, my time was 2:31:36, and I started to do some math. I realized, With exactly 10K left, if I ran that in 45 minutes, I'd finish the marathon at 3:15... Of course, I didn't think that I could keep up a 45-minute pace for the rest of this, but I thought roughly 50 minutes was possible. Not that I really thought I'd finish at 3:20, but more, I thought it might be realistic that I finish at 3:30. Ooo!

I wound through the Bronx and back over another bridge, spying Yankee Stadium off some ways. Inside Marcus Garvey Park (I believe it's called) in Harlem, I hit 22 miles. 22 miles is the longest I've run this year in training (twice), and I hit 22 miles 2:49 into the race. Now this was getting interesting--2:49 was the same pace I'd run my October 1st 22-miler.

The dreaded incline up 5th Ave. to the park was forthcoming. As I was approaching, I heard from the crowd, "Is that Ben? BEN!!!" and I turned to find my friend Roben cheering me on. I screamed his name back and powered on. It was a surprise to see him, as I'd forgotten he'd be along the track!

I very slowly made it up 5th Ave. It was along this stretch past 22 miles that my body was none too happy, nor has it ever really been at this point in the race. It's almost totally "mind" at this point that's powering you. I was getting a little envious of people who had their names on their bodies getting all the attention, with me floating by the crowded anonymously. Perhaps I should consider writing my name on my body next time, though I thought at this point it would be annoying to hear my name screamed for me to go. Generally speaking, it's just my body and I for this race. And that's the way I like it.

Inside Central Park, it's also pretty difficult. You know that the race is nearly finished, and the park is familiar territory for me, but still it's very, very hard to motivate yourself. It was oddly quiet in the park as we went by the crowds--probably because the crowds were some distance from the runners. I snaked my way through the park, and this time there wasn't a photographer at mile 25--the photographers I think must have been those on the cranes I'd seen.

As I exited the park and entered 59th St., there was a very loud crowd and a very large surge in noise from then. It was a trip. I started to cry. It was just this amazing feeling inside my body, almost as if the cheers were coming from deep inside me and radiating out. I lost some speed because of the recurrence of the stitch. I also started to lose time before 7th Ave. as I tried scouring the crowd for my brother on the left--but he later told me he ended up on the right! Dude!! I told him stay to the left!! If he'd have seen me, I probably would have heard him, but again, I lost time looking at the crowd rather than what was ahead of me. No biggie, though. I realized that even if I ran my last mile in 10 minutes (which seems to have happened in my last two marathons), I'd finish in 3:28.

And I did. For the last stretch of the run inside Central Park, I kept my pace. It wasn't until I believe the "100 Yards To Go" sign that I turned on the final speed. I could see the clock, and I could see that I might be able to cross the finish line before it ticks over to 3:28. I bolted through the finish line with my arms up looking to the photographers, and it was over. Just like that. I was a little astounded. The marathon ended so anticlimactically for me. In 2001, it ended in extreme pain and my saying aloud to myself, "NEVER AGAIN!" In 2003, I felt elated. This year, I was just myself, alhough I was a little wobbly. A volunteer medical woman came up to me, put her hand on my back, and walked with me for a bit to make sure I was okay walking as she didn't want me to collapse. I was fine, but it was really nice to have the escort. In 2003, just having passed the finish line, I saw my co-worker Jono beaming, which was just so cool. (Jono also works for New York Road Runners.) But I didn't see him this year! That was a bummer.

In walking down the path past the finish line, they give you a medal, and they give you a heat sheet cape, and then you get water and a bag of food and you're off your way to the UPS trucks to get your stuff. It was on this trek that I was breaking down emotionally. It felt odd, it felt a little embarrassing, but overall it felt good. The feeling was that I accomplished this amazing feat all by my freakin' self. I think what I wanted was a little support and a hug given what I'd accomplished. This is what I'm guessing it must feel like to have a nervous breakdown--you're challenged without any support and you just start crying uncontrollably for the lack of it. It wasn't uncontrollable for me by any means, but it was cathartic. I wonder if other people cry after marathons. After my first one in 2001, after I saw my friend Catherine at the Reunion Area, I broke down in tears for a moment. As I was talking to my dad on the phone after I picked up my stuff this year, I told him that I impressed myself with my 3:28 time, and again, I started to tear up. There was something to me about the accomplishment that was so overwhelming to me. 3:28. I ran a marathon in 3:28. And I had thought that 3:50 was awesome...

If you've been following along in my training blog, thank you. It's not the most exciting read, nor did I want it to be. It serves as a document for myself of my progress, my aches and pains, etc. It's been a very helpful tool in training for this year's NYC Marathon.

I'm really happy with how this race went. I'm writing this update the morning after the race: My legs feel pretty good! They're a little sore, but they're not as bad as after the 2001 race. Then, I practically needed a cane to navigate the city, I was so stiff!

Cheers,
Ben

Nov 4: 2005 ING NYC Marathon Information!
--My third NYC Marathon starts for me at 10:10am and finishes for all intents and purposes when I do.

On race day, the ING NYC Marathon website will have tools for tracking my progress in the race. You'll be able to note my split times with the Race Tracker that will be on the site, plus you'll be able to figure out my unofficial finish time. This is probably the only information you'll need to know come Sunday Morning: