tcs nyc marathon

NYC Marathon Strategy: Two Guides and Thoughts

/ Jim McEvoy / 7 Comments

(Mentally prepare yourself for Jim’s comic overthinking of his race strategy for the NYC Marathon)

If you’ve checked out my Training Plan, you know that I break my running down into weeks, with each week starting on a Monday. As such, I’ve only done one workout this week because I’m tapering for the NYC Marathon on November 1, 2015. Because taper time is slow time, and because I want to keep writing about training and running, and finally because my brain is fixated on the NYC Marathon, I’m going to write about the preparation I’ve done in the time off my feet.

That preparation includes reviewing strategy guides discussing how to pace through the NYC Marathon. I haven’t run a marathon in approximately 11 years. I ran two in college (Ocean Drive in March of 2004 and the Marine Corps Marathon in October of 2004), and did not prepare with any particular plan for either. This time around, however, I have run and trained well, gotten stronger and faster throughout the year, and want to perform well on November 1. Hence, the analysis of race strategies prepared by people who have run the NYC Marathon before.

The first guide I reviewed comes from RunnersConnect. It breaks the race down into five sections: Miles 1-2, Miles 3-15, Miles 16-20, Miles 20-23, and the final 5k. It provides the following pacing suggestions for these sections of the course. I have inserted how these suggestions apply to my goal race pace of 6:30/mile (approximately 2:50 overall):

  1.  Miles 1-2: Go slow! The NYC Marathon begins on the Verrazano Bridge, and the first .8 miles are a steep, steady uphill. Run this mile anywhere from 60-90 seconds over your goal race pace. The final part of Mile 1 plus the entirety of Mile 2 is the downhill portion of the bridge, so run this portion 45-60 seconds faster than your goal race pace, but don’t push yourself too hard (save your energy for the last 10k). Thus, you should finish Mile 2 at about 10 seconds faster than your goal race pace.
    1. For me: I should be hitting Mile 3 at around 13:50 into the race, approximately 50 seconds off my cumulative goal race pace.
  2. Miles 3-15: These miles are mostly flat, so hold back and don’t push too hard through this section. Run these miles at about 10-15 seconds slower than your goal pace, and arrive at the Queensborough Bridge (right after Mile 15) about 60-90 seconds off your goal race pace.
    1. For me: For this stretch, I should be averaging 6:40/mile, which would bring me through Mile 15 in about 1:40.30, about a 6:42/mile pace overall.
  3. Miles 16-20: After the Queensborough Bridge (a tough uphill followed by the inevitable bridge downhill), you emerge on First Avenue, which is mostly downhill on your way to the Bronx. You can make up some time here by running 15-20 seconds faster than your goal race pace.
    1. For me: This brings me to Mile 20 in approximately 2:11:45, approximately a cumulative race pace of 6:35/mile.
  4. Miles 20-23: This section allegedly gets tricky because it involves two bridges and thin crowds. Running 20-30 seconds over goal race pace is OK here.
    1. For me: If I run this section in 20:30 (6:50/mile), I will hit the last 5k at 2:32.
  5. The last 5k: This includes the uphill on Fifth Avenue before the Park, and then the up and down run through the Park, across Central Park South, and then to the finish in the Park. If you’ve followed the strategy, you will apparently be able to run hard through this section, fighting through pain. The strategy guide provides no pace, but I imagine the idea is “as hard as you can still manage.”
    1. For me: If I can push hard, I’ll come through around 2:50, though maybe a couple of minutes behind.

Running and the City also provides an NYC Marathon strategy guide full of useful information about pre-race preparations, how to handle the athlete’s village before the race, and some anecdotal insights about why it’s important to run the first half of the Marathon slower than you might think. She breaks the race down into more distinct parts than Runners Connect does. Here are her pacing strategies:

  1.  Miles 1-2: Run Mile 1 at about 1:30 slower than your goal race pace, and Mile 2 at about 20 seconds faster than goal race pace, bringing you into Brooklyn approximately one minute off your cumulative goal race pace.
    1. For me: I’ll enter Brooklyn at 14:10 into the race.
  2. Miles 3-15: Here, the stated goal is to arrive at the Queensborough Bridge feeling fresh and ready to go. You should run this section of the course at 5-10 seconds faster than your goal race pace. So, overall, this means that by the Queensborough Bridge, I should either be right at my goal pace or slightly ahead of it.
    1. For me: Running at a 6:25/mile pace, I would hit the Queensborough Bridge in approximately 1:36.50, slightly faster than under the RunnersConnect plan.
  3. Mile 16: The run across the Queensborough Bridge can feel tough, with no crowd and a steady uphill, so keep the effort constant while dropping pace to about 20 seconds slower than goal race pace.
  4. Miles 17-19: Here, she breaks it down as follows: Mile 17 at 30 seconds below goal race pace, Mile 18 at 10 seconds over, and Mile 19 at goal race pace.
    1. For me: I should average 6:30/mile for Miles 16-19, coming through at approximately 2:02.30
  5. Miles 20-23: The goal here is to stay at or 5 seconds below goal race pace, despite the bridges.
    1. For me: Averaging 6:25/mile for Miles 20-23 brings me to the Fifth Avenue hill in approximately 2:28.25.
  6. Mile 24: This mile includes the hill on Fifth Avenue, a hill many people have told me “comes out of nowhere and zaps your energy.” RaTC recommends a pace about 20-30 seconds slower than goal race pace.
  7. Miles 25-26.2: Mile 25 has a lot of downhill with some rolling uphill. Try to run it slightly under goal race pace (5 seconds or so). Mile 26 includes the uphill across Central Park South, which might put you at 5 seconds over goal race pace. The final .2 is the steepest uphill of the race, so plan to run it about 20-30 seconds slower than goal race pace.
    1. For me: If I were to follow this plan completely, I would cross the finish line in almost exactly 2:50.

As I’ve never run the NYC Marathon before, these suggestions sound great. I like that they advocate different approaches to the race: It reminds me that I ultimately have to listen to my body and adjust as I progress, and don’t fret if things don’t go my way. Despair invites the fastest path to a poor time.

However, both plans advocate running the first half even slower than you think necessary. The second half of the NYC Marathon is, I’ve heard, deceptively hilly, so every extra gram of glycogen you don’t burn on the first half pays dividends during the second. Both plans also discuss the adrenaline surge that the crowds inject into your running, and implore you to stay within yourself and your pace throughout the race. Ultimately, the goal is to conserve your energy while running a smooth race until the last 10k, when your body starts to feel the depletion of its glycogen and begins to break down.

Today, I’m resting my body. My left foot has a slight pain, so I’m going to let it chill even though I’d love to do a slow run around the Park. I’d rather be physically healthy on race day and slightly less fit than nervous about injuring myself and slightly more fit.

How’re you prepping your race strategy?

Happy running, everyone!

So Much To Catch Up On!

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

Wow. Sometimes you live your life and realize that it’s been DAYS since you last updated your blog. So, let’s do it! Four days of marathon training, condensed into one post.

10/15/2015: Morning Run, 6.2 Miles

After November Project NYC’s intense Wednesday session, Thursday morning’s run felt like a welcome return to form. Straightforward loop of Central Park. Not much to report. I also hit the gym at lunch to do some core and stretching work.

10/16/2015: Morning Run, 8 Miles

As this past week was my final week of high mileage before the marathon, I wanted to get in at least one additional long run before my final 22-miler. I really wanted to run 9, but the extra ten minutes I spent in bed before the run prevented that. No big deal. The weekend mileage more than made up for that one missed mile.

Later on this day, my girlfriend and I hosted a horror movie marathon for some friends. We curated a list of meta horror films, including “Scream,” “Murder Party,” “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil,” and “The Cabin in the Woods.” We scheduled five films in total (the fifth film, “Return of the Living Dead,” is not meta horror but amazing nonetheless) and, while we only made it through three, I applaud our friends for sticking around into the wee hours. In fact, both Melissa and I were shocked that anyone RSVP’d yes at all! We will have to do this again.

Scream the Movie

10/17/2015: Morning Workout: 180 Pushups, 180 Situps, 56 Burpees; Afternoon Run, 5.2 Miles

November Project NYC’s Friday workout involved no running. Instead, the Tribe performed 180 pushups, 180 situps, and 56 burpees. Ouch! When I saw that workout posted on Facebook, I thought, “Damn, I have to do that because #solidarity.”

This was a tough workout. It took me about half an hour to complete all the moves. I started by breaking it down into manageable chunks: sets of 20 pushups, 20 situps, and 6 burpees. After doing five sets like this, I changed the set to 10 pushups, 10 situps, 6 burpees, 10 situps, and 10 pushups. I picked a spot of grass near the 72nd Street entrance to Central Park, and people took pictures of me, cheered me on, laughed at me, and stared awkwardly. Sounds about right for NYC!

After depleting most of my glycogen, I ran 5.2 miles through the Park. This was a surprisingly good run on a gorgeous day, although it took me about 20 minutes to find a rhythm.

Later that evening, Melissa and I went to our friends’ CBGB’s-themed murder mystery party. My character was based on Billy Idol, so I spray-dyed my hair platinum blonde, painted my nails black, and wore tight pants and Doc Marten’s. Melissa was a Cyndi Lauper wannabe, so she wore lots of bright colors and turned her hair pink. I got so excited about the evening that I actually wrote the song that my character wrote based on his bio. Such a fun evening! We’re thinking about doing one of these mystery parties at our place. Just need a theme . . .

Murder Mystery Party

Melissa and Jim, a/k/a Anna Filaxis and Byeezus Idolatrus

10/18/2015: Morning Run, 22 Miles: The Hardest Run of the Training Season

So, not surprisingly, I only slept about six hours each night. I also failed to pick up GU packs for my long run. No worries, I thought as I threw on my running shorts on Sunday morning. I’ll replace the GU with a sandwich bag filled with candy corn! I also skimped on pre-run nutrition, eating only Greek yogurt and a spoonful of peanut butter before the run.

Because I’m running the NYRR 60k two weeks after the marathon, I wanted to use this run as both a final long run and a training session for that race.  For the marathon, I wanted to perform a training run that lasted about as long as I anticipate being on the marathon course. Dr. Maffetone talks about the benefits of this in his book The Big Book of Endurance Training, and other anecdotal evidence from friends who have run marathons supported this theory. So, as my goal time for the marathon is 2:55, I thought that 22 miles at my maximum aerobic heart rate pace of 7:45-8 minutes/mile would do the trick.

For the 60k, I wanted to preview the course, which involves a 5.2 mile loop of the Park plus eight 4-mile inner loops of the Park (72nd Street transverse to 102nd Street transverse). So, I figured that I’d run a 5.2 mile loop and four 4-mile loops to get to 21, and then finish it off with another mile. I thought it would be a good idea to get a sense of what it’s like to run Cat Hill five times.

A few things went wrong almost immediately out the door. First, the weather had dropped 10 degrees from the previous day, so I wore gloves for the first time this year. This made it more difficult to check my heart rate monitor during the run. Second, the annual breast cancer awareness walk happened to be that morning, so the Central Park loop was completely mobbed, despite the fact that the walk was supposed to be confined to a lane the size of an NYRR race. This made it difficult to get to water fountains and to maintain a steady pace. I had to duck through groups constantly, and wound up running on the grass every couple of minutes. Third, because of the crowds, I drank much less water than usual (once every four miles as opposed to once every two). And finally, candy corn, a/k/a pure high fructose corn syrup and food dye, provided no energy boost.

So, by mile 21, my legs were screaming. A combination of frustration at the crowds plus poor nutrition and water intake plus OK-but-not-great sleep plus the new angle of not being able to check my heart rate constantly added challenges to the run. It took a lot of willpower to fight through that final mile. I ran slightly harder than I wanted to as well, ending up with a 7:34 minute/mile pace (which included a jogged first mile). Maybe worse was the hardcore sugar craving I had after the run, which lasted most of the day and involved some sodas, Halloween candy, a mocha frappuccino, and a milkshake. That’s how you nail your pre-marathon nutrition plan!

While I was disappointed in how I performed on this run, I am so glad that it happened now and not on November 1. It just reinforces things I already know: 1) sleep properly; 2) relax in the crowds; 3) eat and drink properly; and 4) when you perform poorly, your body gets out of whack, which inspires additional poor nutrition choices. I’m probably being too hard on myself, but hey!  want to rock the marathon.

Here are the route and mile splits from the run. That last mile was a real pain.

Central Park Run22 Mile Run Splits

I finished up Sunday watching the Rangers lose to the Devils with my friend Sam at MSG. We talked all things training and marathon and Rangers hockey as my legs recovered, and my emerging favorite player Oscar Lindberg notched his fifth point in six games as a rookie. As Sam said, no one has told Lindy that he’s not supposed to be this good yet, and that’s a good thing. I then got dinner with my friend Nick, who is back in NYC from San Francisco.

New York Rangers Oscar Lindberg

LGR!

All in all, a good training bloc, and an even better bloc of fun and good times with good people. It’s taper time, so I’m envisioning about 20 miles this week plus lots of time in the gym to stretch and do core work.

NYC Marathon in less than two weeks!

Happy running, everyone!

10/14/2015: Morning Workout, November Project NYC, 5:28 a.m.: Climb all the Mountains, Burp all the Ees

/ Jim McEvoy / Leave a comment

Yesterday’s Training

After a well-earned day off following the Staten Island Half, I ran 6.2 miles in Central Park and hit the gym for leg day, doing leg press, abduction, adduction, glute press, hamstring curls, and kettlebell squats. I also stretched for 25 minutes, and even after that I still felt some tightness in my hips. Running takes a toll on those hip flexors!

Today’s NP_NYC Insanity

I wanted an easy workout this morning. Really. A few laps around Carl Schurz Park with some pushups sounded lovely. But, as I continually write about NP_NYC workouts, alas.

The workout: The group ran a warm-up lap and, based on where each member finished, picked a partner of equal speed. The workout then unfolded in three parts:

  1. Partner 1 ran a short stairs loop while Partner 2 did as many mountain climbers as he could. When Partner 1 finished the loop, the partners switched.
  2. Once both partners had completed Part 1, they jogged together down the Wagner Walk toward the Mayor’s house and then back to the starting area. This was considered “rest.”
  3. Partner 1 then ran down the Wagner Walk in the opposite direction, touched the gate, and sprinted back to the start. Partner 2 did burpees until Partner 1 returned. Switch.

Repeat the cycle for 35 minutes.

I partnered with Raul, who threw down like nobody’s business. He comes ready to push every morning, and by the end of the workout he was throwing in extra sets of pushups. Hardcore, bro.

November Project NYC

In the midst of a burpee.

I won’t say this workout hurt, but I won’t say that I breezed through it, either. Even though each partner would take 2-3 minutes to run each loop (which seems like a short time), the other partner could fit so many mountain climbers and burpees in that period that you started to wonder whether you would ever not be doing mountain climbers or burpees again in your life. Thank the NP_NYC playlist for Warren G and Nate Dogg’s “Regulators” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” for keeping my spirits high.

By the end, everyone looked beat up, but the high fives stayed strong and primal screams echoed across the Harlem River. I’d wager every Tribe member climbed hundreds of mountains and burped hundreds of Ees. Good stuff, fellas!

Marathon season is taking its toll! Despite the workload, though, this past weekend saw a lot of NP_NYC success, with Paul and Chris PRing by eons at the Chicago Marathon, and many others either crushing the Staten Island Half or logging a final long run in preparation for the NYC Marathon. Just a few more weeks, guys! We got this.

Might head out for a run tonight as I log my final heavy mileage week before the NYC Marathon. The weather is just too nice to stay inside all day.

Happy running, everyone!