One of the advantages of living approximately 60 miles from the starting line of the New York Marathon is the ability to practice some of the course!  This weekend, one of New York City's well known running clubs, the NY Flyers, an a local running store group, JackRabbit Sports, co-hosted a fabulous 20 mile training run called the Three Bridges Run.  The run started at Jack Rabbit's Upper East Side store and ran through Central Park, crosstown into Hudson River Park, all the way down the West Side Highway into Battery Park, across the Brooklyn Bridge, through Brooklyn until the Pulaski Bridge into Queens, a few miles into Queens until the Queeensboro Bridge, then back into midtown Manhattan and then Central Park, and finally, back to Jack Rabbit's store.

Although we didn't follow the marathon course exactly (for starters, the marathon doesn't go anywhere near the West Side Highway), we did hit two of the major bridges, the Pulaski Bridge and the Queensboro Bridge, at approximately the same mile markers we would hit them during the actual race. The Queensboro Bridge, in particular, has been a bit of a nemesis for me in the past.  Although it's not nearly as steep as some of the hills of CT, it is a rather long and slow incline. It's also one of the few spots where spectators are not allowed, so it's very quiet, and it's at a point in the race where some runners around you might start to slow and even bonk.  Although the bridge was still as dark, long, and all around soul sucking as it was last year, it was a great mental boost to practice it.

[caption id="attachment_1269" align="aligncenter" width="300"] View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge. I couldn't resist stopping to snap a quick picture[/caption]

The run started in 6 waves, with pace groups in 30 second increments from 7:30 min/miles to 11 min/miles.  I was debating between the 9:30 group and the 10 group, since I've been averaging around 9:40ish for most of my long runs, and the course would be flatter than what I've been running on. I ended up erring on the safe side and starting with the 10 min group, figuring it would be better to take it easy and lead the pack, then be struggling to keep up with a group.  Since the front of the group ended up averaging closer to 9:45 at times, it was definitely the right call.

On top of providing us with pacers, the run also provided three water stops along the way complete with water, Gatorade, and a few different types of gel.  I wish I had this rolling crew with me every long run, it was amazing to not have to stress about carrying enough on me!

[caption id="attachment_1270" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Thanks to the amazing volunteers who staffed our water stops![/caption]

Since the group was only 20 miles (is there ever such a thing as only 20 miles?), and I was instructed very specifically to run 22 miles by Coach Peter, I ended up leaving them in the park at around 19.5 miles, and just tacked on a few extra miles on my own.  It was a bit of a metal challenge to keep going when I knew everyone was almost done, but once it was done, I felt so accomplished - 22 miles is the longest run I've ever done in training.

[caption id="attachment_1272" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Paying tribute to the Fred Lebow statue in the park, the man who started it all[/caption]

On the way back from the park, I spotted the first ad for this year's marathon along the side of a bus.  I'm usually not particularly superstitious, but yesterday, I took it as a sign of good things to come. Only two more weeks of training to go before the taper!

[caption id="attachment_1273" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Manhattan traffic doesn't provided the greatest photo opps, but I just had to do my best to snap this one[/caption]