New York Marathon 2009

Hi!

I'm in, so thought I'd introduce myself.

An Englishman living in Stockholm, I started running a few years ago.

I've only done one marathon, Copenhagen last year, 3:33. I tried the Essex marathon this year, which was a big mistake. A niggle that I'd had for a few weeks blew up after 15 km in, and I didn't finish. Otherwise I've done several 10 kms and half-marathons.

I've booked a central hotel, and will be interested in learning from all of you experienced folk about how to organise the various practicalities!

This'll be my first visit to NY, so I'll be doing some touristing around while I'm there.

Really looking forward to NY now. From those of you who have done it before, what is the weather usually like? How do you find the time difference?

 Tricia

Flight and hotel now booked. I decided the expense of a hotel in Manhattan was just too much so, following the advice of some random person on the USA RunnersWorld forum I'm staying in Jersey. I fly into Newark so it works out quite well and the hotel is 5 mins from a train station that takes you into Manhattan for $1.50. I plan to get the ferry to Staten Island rather than the bus (I got the bus in '07 and had to spend a whopping 5 hours waiting on Staten Island) so would need to get the subway anyway.

 I know I advised getting a hotel near the finish (and I still think it'd be best for tired legs) but from what I remember last time my main problems were

a) I had a nightmare run and was hobbling and in severe distress and

b) The crowds at the finish were so big that I couldn't find a subway to get downtown (and there were no empty taxis).

Really excited now but hoping like hell nothing goes wrong as both the flight and hotel are non-refundable. Total cost (excluding race entry) is approx £530.

hi tortie

how long are you staying for?

we're staying at a bed and breakfast in the east village for 8 days (making a holiday of it)

Just 3 nights for me. I did the touristy stuff on a trip in 2002 and again a couple of years ago so I don't feel the need (nor can I afford!) to stay longer. I tried to convince my husband to bring the kids and make a trip out of it but it'd mean them missing 2 days of school so he wouldn't and so I am going alone.

Welcome Hudds Dave and Tiptree.

Glad to hear this is the happening NY 2009 marathon thread (although I didn't know there was any competition). Please do share here any top tips you have or find, no matter what the source.

So, here is the revised list of people who are "in" so far, as far as I can tell:

• Champagne
• Chowster
• Hudds Dave
• Kiwidave
• L’ardvark
• NotCat
• Tiptree
• Tony Hodge 6
• Tortie T
• Tricia Hurst

So what times are people aiming for and what training plans will you follow? 

I’ve done the RW sub 3:45 plan twice and did a hybrid of sub 3:45 and sub 3:30 for my last marathon. I started the P&D 70mpw schedule in December but got injured after a few weeks (not surprising considering the massive jump in mileage) so abandoned that marathon. I’m going to stick with P&D this time; I have the 70mpw schedule drawn up but will probably lower the mileage slightly, maybe to a max of 60 depending on how things go.

My goal is 3:30 – the holy grail! I’ve spent the last 5 months building up a solid base of 35-40 miles each week which is what I maxed out on in all my other marathon schedules so hopefully I’ll be able to churn out some high mileage weeks over the summer. This will be my 4th marathon so, based on previous experience, I’m going to try and fit in a few mega long runs which take at least the expected race time.  

Tricia – the time difference works in our favour as we need to get up early for the race. The weather was perfect when I last did it, about 12 degrees which a touch of sunshine.

Tricia the weather was great in 2004 - sunny autumnal.

For time difference,do you mean due to jet lag, or the difference between running a marathon on the flat and running NY with its bridges? For the former, I never really adapted and woke up at about 3 am every morning. For the latter,when I did 4.04, I think that was probably worth about 10 to 15 minutes less on a flat course.

We're looking at renting a flat in Brooklyn, as Manhatan hotels rooms look very expensive - plus there are six of us, so it'd mean getting two rooms.

Okay, Tortie, I'll play. I hope to get a PB, despite the hills, based on continued improvement from doing 2 marathons a year recently plus adding core conditioning and improved stretching this time round. Who knows, I might even also lose some weight over the summer. However, I shall give the course the respect it deserves and save my sub-3 ambitions for London next spring.

                                               Goal 

• Champagne
• Chowster
• Hudds Dave
• Kiwidave
• L’ardvark                 3:05
• NotCat
• Tiptree
• Tony Hodge 6
• Tortie T                    3:30
• Tricia Hurst

I can't see me doing any better than my 3.22 in Berlin, so I'd be very pleased with 3.30 (or just under ), but I'm just going to enjoy it and don't want to put any pressure on myself as regards times,after having tried and failed several times to do a sub 3.20 that would have qualified me for Boston.

I've got a summer geared towards long fell races coming up, so if I manage to keep injury-free, that should stand me in good stead.

I also tried the P&D advanced marathoning book schedule when training for Paris (April this year), and also got injured in the process. I can't blame it on the schedule though, as the injury might have happened anyway. I might make my own up this time.

Unless you tell me different, Champagne, I'm going to take that as an I-don't-need-no-pressure-on 3:30. Good luck with the fell races - and especially good luck (to you and indeed all of us) in staying injury-free.

                                               Goal 

• Champagne           3:30
• Chowster
• Hudds Dave
• Kiwidave
• L’ardvark                 3:05
• NotCat
• Tiptree
• Tony Hodge 6
• Tortie T                    3:30
• Tricia Hurst

I'll go for the easy option and will be happy with a sub 3:30.  Did 3:55 in NYC 2007 straight after an injury and was just happy to complete the course.  I hopefully will have just done a sub 3 (or close to it) in Berlin 6 weeks beforehand so won't be aiming to go too quick!

2007 weather was spot on as well - bright sunny day around 10 degrees.

Hi all,

I've arranged through 2:09 events, staying at the Crowne Plaza. completed last year in 3:30, hope to beat that this year! Did Blackpool in 3:23, doing Edinburgh then San Fran in July (26th).

Good luck to all

Welcome djwolf! Unless and until you tell me different, I'm going to interpret both you and kiwidave conservatively:

                                                Goal 

• Champagne          3:30
• Chowster
• Djwolf                      3:29
• Hudds Dave
• Kiwidave                 3:29
• L’ardvark                 3:05
• NotCat
• Tiptree
• Tony Hodge 6
• Tortie T                    3:30
• Tricia Hurst

Wow - bit of a high-power group! Nobody over 3:30, yet.

Bit early for me to set anything in stone.

I did 3:33 in Copenhagen but will not be looking to improve on that in NY. I'm just looking forward to the experience and enjoying myself. Put me down for a 3:45 (which I may revise up or down depending on form and other factors nearer the time).

Thank you L'ardvark,

tiptree, New york is a hard course (bridges especially the iron one at about 17 mile, though they do put a thin carpet over the iron, are really tough), and you can can carried away with the crowd etc. I would begrudgingly, put the crowd support better than London

However I did love the event and am back again this year

Thank you for the injection of some realism, Tiptree! We certainly needed a better spread of projected times than we'd managed so far. And I suspect many of us will be amending our projected times at least once during the next 6 months!

On a completely unrelated note: Lurkers - please come out and play. (No one has to give a projected time if they don't want to!) Literally the more the merrier.

                                              Goal 

• Champagne          3:30
• Chowster
• Djwolf                      3:29
• Hudds Dave
• Kiwidave                 3:29
• L’ardvark                 3:05
• NotCat
• Tiptree                     3:45
• Tony Hodge 6
• Tortie T                    3:30
• Tricia Hurst