looking (way) ahead

[ilanarama]

I seem to have tripped and accidentally registered for the New York City Marathon in early November. Oops?

Okay, there's actually a longer story here. The NYCM is a mega-big race with a lottery entry in which only about 10% of entrants get in (although if you come from overseas you can get in automatically through a package deal), however, there are various ways to get a guaranteed entry. One is through a qualifying time which is actually more stringent than Boston's; for 40-49 women it is a sub-3:38 marathon or 1:44 half, so my 3:29 at Houston gets me in. Actually, my 1:43:xx at The Other Half in October qualified me, and I started thinking about it then.

That's because, beginning next year, the qualifying standards are tightening significantly across the board. For me, I'd need a sub-3:21 marathon or a sub-1:34 half; the latter is certainly a goal of mine, but I've still got a long way to go. A lot of my friends who qualified under the old standards won't make it under the new either, and many of them who had not run NYCM before decided this was their last chance, and signed up. My frequent race roomie Karah (tiredmamarunning) qualified the year before, and then decided to defer, so she's running in 2012. I thought about it hard, and decided that I just wasn't up for an expensive megamarathon, and told all my friends to have a good time in New York without me.

Unfortunately, I rapidly wilt under the combined pressure of deadline and friends (which is why I signed up for Houston last year), and Monday was, as every freakin' runner on my Facebook page let me know, the OMG LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR NEW YORK!!1!one!

...so I did.

Comments

[blnchflr]

a sub-3:21 marathon or a sub-1:34 half
Wow, that's stringent O_O

And YAY! NYCM must be a great experience :) !

[ilanarama]

And that's for old ladies like me! For men 18-39 the standard is going from a 2:55 marathon to a 2:45 - they 'only' need a 3:05 for Boston! Women under 39 will need a sub-3, which is pretty amazingly hard to get for a woman.

NYCM is supposed to be incredible. I've actually watched a bit of it when I happened to be in New York during the marathon (before I actually ever contemplated running one myself). The course goes through all five boroughs of the city, a true scenic tour.

[blnchflr]

I'll get one of them package deals and stroll across the finish line in an infuriating (for the Americans who couldn't get in) sub-05:30:00* :P

* I just have to beat Katie Holmes's time.

[ilanarama]

Hee, well, there is the lottery. And you are reminding me that there is a marathon somewhere where the pace groups are all specific celebrity times, rather than even-numbered tens of minutes. Like, the sub-Oprah pace group, and the sub-P. Diddy pace group, etc.

I was just happy to go sub-Sarah Palin in 2008!

[blnchflr]

Sub-Palin is very respectable! Even Sub-Oprah isn't half-bad in my book for a first marathon. Sub-Holmes is not impressive, but it looks doable :)

[meri_oddities]

That's excellent. NYC is a great race. Everyone should do it at least once. Your times are amazing to me. I would just like to PR and break 4:40.

I run OK City Memorial this weekend. I'm even thinking of leaving my watch in the room and just going out to enjoy the course.

[ilanarama]

So this is not a PR attempt? Maybe if you stopped being so Maniacal and actually tapered for a race? :-) But you know, I am younger and skinnier than you, which helps, and I think I run more miles (but fewer marathons).

A friend of mine did OKC last year or maybe the year before, and enjoyed it a lot. Good luck, and have fun!

[meri_oddities]

Yes, this is just for fun. So is Ottawa next month and the 50k. After that, I'm going to take 4 months off and really train for Wineglass. I want to PR at that. So, 50 miles a week and CrossFit all summer long.

I've heard OKC is a great race. I'm looking forward to it.

[via_ostiense]

If I make it through the lottery, I'll see you there!

[ilanarama]

Did you get in?

[via_ostiense]

Alas, no :(. Good luck, and I'll be cheering on the sidelines!

[walterfielding]

I'm in too! Well, so far. I may end up deferring until 2013 (loooooong story). Sadly, I did not qualify to get in, just did it the old-fashioned way and lost the lottery three years in a row. *g*

Anyway, glad to see you signed up, and maybe I'll actually get to meet you there! (Um, this is mswalter from LJ, by the way...)

[ilanarama]

Whee! Except, why defer? Are you injured, or otherwise committed?

It would be fun to meet you there. I'm totally planning on Social Mania.

[ainsley]

That sounds like a great marathon to run! Enjoy preparing for it!

[ilanarama]

Thank you!

[(Anonymous)]

Run With The Horses. Those human contestants got nothin'.

[delurker]

You tripped and fell on the keyboard? ;)

Good luck!

[ilanarama]

I tripped and fell on my credit card! :-)

[idlerat]

d00d, you wait till I'm movin' out of town??? boo! But yay! enjoy!

[ilanarama]

I suck. What about HDGF?

[smalltownraces.blogspot.com]

Have fun for the both of us! I hope you have a great time AND a big PR.

I am not sure, after Boston, if I am a big fan of running through piles of gatorade cup slosh. If I ever make it in by the new standards, I will be SURE to let you (and everyone else) know. I will probably die instantly from a heart attack though.

[ilanarama]

Hee, I actually agree - I dunno why I wanted to run yet another huge race...

BTW I was thinking of you the other day, when I ran a set of cruise intervals (mile repeats around tempo pace) - a great workout! Thanks for putting that in my mind.

[smalltownraces.blogspot.com]

I love that workout! Makes for a lot of tempo time and not much thinking required..just hit lap after about a minute of recovery.

You'll have a lot of fun in that really HUGE race. Take lot and lots of pictures for us before and after :)