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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:

My brother Charles, who is in town with Mizuno to work the Marathon Expo, will be at the Reunion Area past the finish line. If you'd like to welcome me back to pedestrian status, please surprise me rather than tell me. The Reunion Area for me will be in the H's, located on Central Park West between 66th & 67th Sts. I'll be approaching from the North, wearing a heatsheet and a medal so as to resemble a superhero. Hopefully I will not be on crutches.

I'm suspecting I will finish the marathon at some time between 1pm and 2pm, and I will make it to the Reunion Area twenty minutes or so after my finish.

Oh, and if you plan on cheering at any place along the track, let me know to look for you! There is a Spectator's Guide on the marathon website, which you can access here. Along Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn I'll be along the right side of the street. From then on, I could be anywhere. So, if you'd like me to look for you, do me a favor and email me to say on which side of the street I should look for you--my right or my left--wherever along the course you may be. I'll be wearing a sleeveless orange running singlet, navy blue shorts, and I'll have a belt strapped around my midsection. My number will be across my chest, and I might have the word "COURAGE" written on my right forearm. Scream my name if you see me!

Wish me luck!
--Ben Hauck

P.S. Click here for a silly photo of me at the Marathon Expo, holding back an onslaught of tiny runners. I don't like my hair, but it does feel cool to be a giant runner.

P.P.S. Click here for an even sillier photo!

Nov 4: ~2 miles in Central Park (1 lower loop + some)
--This was it: My final run before the NYC Marathon on Sunday. To start off this morning's run, I ran along 59th Street. They had sprayed the blue course line on the asphalt, which gave me the idea to run with it. There is a semi-steep portion to the second half of 59th Street, so I'm glad I ran it today to prep for my encountering it on Sunday. I then ran the course to the finish line, past the finish line, along the 72nd Street Traverse (where I saw my co-worker Jono, who works for New York Road Runners, setting up something related to the marathon), and then around and down the feeder entrance to the place where I started my run. I didn't time it today. I didn't want to. I just wanted to enjoy this last day of running before the big race.

I experienced a little bit of a twinge in my left ankle for this run. The feeling is not unfamiliar, though I haven't had it in a while. Hopefully the sensation will pass by race today. I might want to consider taking some ibuprofen between now and the time I get up for the race Sunday morning.

I am just about to get my race number at the trade show, where I'll also see my brother working. After I get home, I'll update this blog with my race information, and I'll send out an email with my info as well. Hopefully all of this information will be up and out by 5pm today.

I have a little bit of a cough (more of a tickle) right now. I am hoping this is not the start of a cold. (I do not think it is.) The weather forecast for Sunday is a warmer one: upper 60's. I think that's just grand. What sounds interesting is that also forecasted is rain: 30-40% chance. That's not to come until the afternoon, though. I'm not scared. I think that will add excitement to the race.

If you're reading or have been reading this blog, thank you. Wish me luck. I'm doing this all for myself--it's been a hard thing to do. I hope to finish, and I hope to finish strong.

Cheers,
Ben

Nov 2: 3.8 miles in Central Park (2 lower loops + some)
--The temperature dropped off a bit, but it looks as if the weather for the marathon will be a great temperature, possibly around 65 degrees. Today's run was a little chilly (55 degrees with wind), but I still did it in shorts and a running singlet. The run was rather leisurely for me, and I did two lower loops plus two lengths of the feeder entrance making for 3.8 miles. I ran it in 30:04. I ran clockwise again for this run, in daylight hours fortunately, and got to see the finish line for the marathon all set up! I gauged that it's roughly 2 minutes from entering the park at Columbus Circle to the finish line, assuming a leisurely pace. I also gauged that the feeder entrance, down which I run just after getting my photo snapped at mile 25, is 2 minutes as well, and a fast 2 minutes at that.

One more scheduled run for me to go before the actual race. My brother's in town working at the trade show for the marathon--I may see him tonight, if not at the trade show on Friday. That's when I plan to pick up my number.

Wish me luck that I stay healthy, okay?? The last thing I need is a surprise injury or sickness at this stage in the game!