hacking the marathon

this is a bit of a brain dump of a post (¡que formatting!).

i’ve been talking about the nyc marathon non-stop for the last couple of months.

it’s my first marathon so friends that have run it in the past have offered up good hacks and i figured i should share. i have a pretty good memory but i’m paraphrasing some of these as i don’t remember exact words. but i think the idea from each person comes through with its original meaning.

+ trust me: you’ll want to write your name on your shirt. i still remember when some women in queens yelled out: “GO! NUH-DEE-UH! GO!” (nadia)

+ bring a plastic sheet to sit on in staten island. you have to sit for a long time from the time you arrive to when the race starts and you’ll want to sit down. the grass could be cold and wet and you don’t want soggy bottoms (superkb)

+ bring something warm to wear to staten island. bring an extra sweatshirt to throw on – one that you can then throw away later as you start the race (emilyg)

+ lube up your toes with vaseline (arainert)

+ if you have to run the lower level of the verrazano, try not to run along the edges. some people love to, um, pee off the upper level (gillian)

+ if you really have to, swap clothes in greenpoint (arainert)

+ coming off 59th street is like no other: it’s so quiet as you run that all you hear are each others’ footsteps. all of a sudden you get to 1st avenue and there’s a throng of people cheering and yelling and it’s the loudest thing in the world (dispete)

+ don’t take it too seriously and take it all in. i used to write “smile” on my hand, whenever i got stressed or tired i would remind myself to have fun (dispete)

some of the biggest, but most important, tips come from chad: just have fun with it, high-five some kids. “you’re going to run the greatest race in the world”. he got me these cool tearaways (what up, patrick ewing!) that should come in handy in the morning

the “have your name on your shirt” will go a long way, i think. i remember this trick from high school track: everyone at school knew you and gave you a reason to keep the pace up. there has to something special about having all of new york shout out your name

some others i’d add:

+ wear something nice. haha. (wear something you’re used to running in)

+ don’t bring anything you don’t absolutely need (or bring something you can pass off to a friend in case it gets to be a bother)

+ use anti-chafe and wear bandaids (where? you figure it out!)

+ have someone bring flip flops that you can wear after the race (this is a genius move; you’ll thank me later)

anything else? add them as comments.

i’m still raising money for campinteractive and just a little shy of my goal. i’d love your donation: http://bit.ly/naveenathon

i’m #20823. see you tomorrow morning!