Travelling With Fit The New York City Marathon Part 5
Hey gang! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate (or don’t celebrate) and a totally buttkickin’ New Year! We are back with our continuing coverage of FIT’s awesome tales of victory at The New York City Marathon last November. Let’s dive right in with a recap from our good friend Ana:
NYC Marathon: A dream come true… and I don’t even know how!
Looking back on my life, thinking about running — not even a race or marathon just running — was something that never would happen.
I started a process of change when I turned 40. By working out and eating healthy, I was able to lose weight and stay in good shape. After spending 2 years at this lifestyle, my fitness coach invited me to run at Key Biscayne, just “to see if I could”. To my surprise, I could and liked it. So we decided to include it in our routine (with my husband Juan, who has accompanied me throughout this process and on each of these adventures) by running weekends and evenings during our daughter’s soccer practices or any other activities with our children. Time was passing and the miles increasing, until one day I told Juan, why don’t we try a 1/2 marathon? In December 2014 I ran my first half, and then Miami Half in January 2015 and I did fine, with no coach, no club…just internet plans and many friends.
But then I discovered the running clubs, and by looking and following our friend Rosatil Materan in Facebook we found FIT and the announcement of the first season in Weston — YEAH!!! Being that it was so close to home, we started with FIT in February 2015. At the same time we signed up for the NYC Marathon lottery, understanding that usually takes a few years before you can get in, so we would have the time to train and be ready. Butthe surprise was the day of the lottery when I get the email “Ana you are in” ….. my husband Juan didn’t get it. Oh well, I think I’m running my first full marathon.
This was the start of this adventure, together with Juan and my group of friends from FIT: planning the track training, short and medium runs during the week and long run on weekends, shared route and water coolers with Mare, Rosa, Debi and more FIT friends, other days just by myself and Juan always supporting every 2 miles to make sure I was safe and providing water, supplements and support. Without my wonderful husband this would not have been possible, waking up early, driving and supporting me on each of my long runs, tracks, etc. Even during vacation he organized routes to keep me on track with the training plan while he took care of the children, not to mention the nutrition plans and special strength workouts in the gym.
When I was going to my 2nd long run for 20 miles I was bored of the same route, running alone. I called FIT to seek help and of course Marcela says “My beautiful, I go with you”. It was a very nice run, with some interruptions because I did not feel well, but we got 17 miles down with her support, company and advice. It was a great morning. Thank you Marcela!!
During these months of training I learned to understand my pace and how to handle it. This was hard for me. I also ran many 5k and 10k Race, again, including holidays.
Well, after all this training, the long awaited weekend arrived. If two years ago someone would tell me that something like this would happen to me, running a full marathon and my first one being NY, I would swear No Way!! But I’m here. I enjoyed every day in NY with Juan and the FIT family.
Finally the day came, I found myself alone, Juan could not be there to take care of and support me. The poor guy did his own marathon around New York trying to catch me at several race points, meeting me at two and missing me at the other two.
When the race started running over the Verrazano bridge, I cried tears of joy & emotion, thinking of that vast and amazing city, and I was there! I was part of this unique moment, experiencing all the excitement with each band of musicians, dancers, and all the spectators screaming our names. I felt a surge of elation every time I reached each bridge and successfully ran over them. My first surprise was that I was able to do it with no problem, reaching 22 mile running fairly even without stopping… YEAH !!!
Then, perhaps under the emotion, I lost my concentration and forgot about the incline towards Central Park on 5th Ave, specially at mile 24 in Central Park with the ups and downs; those two miles were killers. The smile that I had throughout the race disappeared. Finally at mile 25 , I recovered my joy and happiness of being part of the race. So I finished strong, straight up, without pain, tired but happy, meeting up at the end with my husband as we had planned. And to my great happiness the next day, I woke up fine, strong, and with no major pains. Hard work pays off. Training with FIT and with my husband paid off!
And now this is just the beginning…
Thank you for sharing your story, Ana. Tune in for our next installment, coming soon!
Leave a Comment