Race Recap: TCS NYC Marathon 2023 🗽

What. An. Experience.

I made it 💪 (📸 credit: MarathonFoto)

It’s been a few days since I completed the NYC Marathon, but the memories are still fresh and I know they’ll last a lifetime. If you take one thing away from this race recap, let it be this: while not the race I wanted or expected, I am beyond proud of the way I showed up.

I could take this post in many different directions, but I’ve decided that I’ll start by sharing why I’m proud, then I’ll share highlights and some thoughts from the course. Stay tuned for a little surprise at the end.

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💗 Proud of me

I am normally someone who is very achievement focused, so running a marathon for the vibes and truly being satisfied by crossing the finish line felt like an alien proposition before this weekend. But I ran — and walked a decent amount — just to finish and soak up the experience, and I am feeling genuinely impressed with my performance.

Let’s go back to Saturday. Remember when I wrote this?

Narrator’s voice: She was trying her darndest to not worry, but it wasn’t working.

I took a nap Saturday afternoon and I felt awful when I woke up. It was like the brave face I put on going to the expo had drained me of all available energy. I was heartbroken and a bit desperate; at one point I let it all out with an ugly cry into Bill’s chest where I wondered aloud why my immune system always seems to fail me. The sobs, as heavy and energy-intensive as they were, were healing and I was able to release some pent up stress. I went to bed at 7p that night and hoped for a miracle.

While I slept well-ish, I also woke up clearly still sick at 4a. I started drafting in my head a post to you about the bummer timing of my illness and how disappointed I was not to run. That instinct felt unproductive, though, so I made a coffee and for the second time that weekend I re-read all 16 blogs. I did so this time with a lens of “How important is this to me?” and it turned out to be very. One gift of these writings is that it’s a clear demonstration to me of how much I care. So despite feeling bleh (technical term), I made the decision: I would run and finish, and critically, I’d try to relish it in a way that would make Claire of 16-weeks ago proud.

How did that show up on the course? It meant that feeling drained from the start didn’t bother me; it meant I actively celebrated my resilience even when I was walking (my self-talk was part cheesy, part cute); it meant that every time I did a systems’ check and my hip wasn’t in pain I acknowledged that my hard work made that possible.

Sometimes I run, sometimes I walk… (📸 credit: MarathonFoto)

I’ve never cared much about post-race medals, but when they put this one around my neck I beamed. Sunday’s performance was not about running (as I had hoped); instead, it’s a proof point that I get to decide my reaction to setbacks. I’ll keep the medal and remember that lesson.

Medal looks great, tastes so-so. (📸 credit: MarathonFoto)

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🔦 Highlights

Let me start by saying that the whole NYC Marathon was remarkable and if it’s within your capabilities to do it, I highly recommend. It’s a 26.2 mile party unlike any other I’ve been to. The whole thing was a highlight, but here are some extra special moments:

📣 Cheer squads:

• Bill, my partner, saw me 3x on the course. The first time I saw him in Brooklyn was on a hill after Mile 8 and I stopped to give him a hug. I said, “This is hard,” and he replied, “But you’re doing it,” and it gave me an incredible sense of relief.

• I was running through Williamsburg and in the distance I saw a sign that read Team Claire. I had the active thought of borrowing from that Claire’s cheering energy and pretending it was for me. But as I ran past I realized that I didn’t need to steal — I was Team Claire! I made a chaotic move to acknowledge my little sister’s best friends who had crafted the sign. I was honestly so touched by it that I cried for a few minutes after.

• My twin sister and her family live close to the course and I knew to expect them around 72nd and 1st Ave. I started scanning the crowd around 65th because there was no way I was going to miss them. I’m grateful that my sister’s voice is the most recognizable thing in the world to me (it’s basically mine) and I caught them. I stopped to say to hi to Ali, her husband Colin, her BFF Carolina, Bill, and my two nieces, and it was a moment of pure joy (until I remembered I still had 9 miles to go…).

  

  

  The best cheer squad on the UES. (📸 credit: Carolina Chamorro)

• My new teammate Jordan stayed behind while her family went ahead to make sure that they caught her husband running through the park. Jordan gave me the biggest hug and then ran to see her own family. I thought my slow pace would mean I’d miss her, so I was amped.

• In March I met an incredible woman on the subway on the way to our half marathon, and she cheered for me on the marathon course. I love a full circle moment.

🎧 Audio messages: Perhaps the best idea I’ve ever had? Your messages were all so meaningful and seemed to hit at the perfect time. Lest I make this an extra long list, I’ll give you a taste of what I mean.

• My chiropractor, Nancy, is also a team doc for Stanford Track & Field and she had the womens’ team wish me good luck just as I ran past a moving billboard of Stanford sophomore superstar, Roisin Willis, for New Balance. I felt like kind of a big deal.

• My friend Allison noted how calm I make her feel in workouts with hand gestures that remind us to be steady and keep it easy right after I had just done the same for myself.

The love and care you poured into me truly meant the world. Please steal this idea!

📜 Signage: New Yorkers are so creative. I loved so many signs, but I had some extra love for the more biting messages like “Therapy would have been easier” and “Run fast or run slow, I really don’t care.” As you can imagine, there were lots of Barbie, Taylor Swift, and lost toenail signs. I was surprised to see a lot about rats running the city — I must have missed the joke.

👑 Queensboro Bridge: By the time I got to the Queensboro Bridge, I was walking a lot. A woman came up behind me and in the thickest NYC accent ever she loud-whispered, “Baby, I can tell you’re made for this.” It was one part encouraging, one part acknowledging that exactly what I was doing was ok. I loved it.

👯‍♂️ New friend: I made my way to the Midtown Bus at 5:30 in the morning and got into a long line. In front of me was the kindest human, Mary, who stayed with me until 8:10 when we went to our own corrals. Some people get to run races with their family or friends, and others of us arrive alone. It could have been anyone in that line with me, and I feel so lucky that the universe sent me someone level-headed, willing to talk, dedicated to the sport, and inspirational. I now have Mary’s IG and Strava, and I will definitely continue to cheer her on from afar.

🤣 Laugh attack: At one point in Queens I started walking and I heard someone yell, “Keep going, Hamburglar!” It took me a second, but then it hit me that the message was directed at me. Maybe I was tired, maybe delirious — but when the joke hit, I laughed so hard. Also, he was NOT wrong.

I can’t un-see it. 🍔🦸🏻‍♀️ (📸 credit: Jordan Taylor)

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Other thoughts

• My corral (back of Wave 1) was filled with people who’ve done 15+ NYC Marathon, many of them in a row. I took a lot of inspiration from them.

• I didn’t have any energy in the tank from the start. I knew I would need to add walking, and I’m glad I had decided that upfront so it wasn’t a disappointment when I needed to slow down. I felt ok until Mile 13, when I all of a sudden got very cold — if you look closely at some race pics, you can see me covered in goosebumps. That’s when I decided that I needed to take things back even more and focus on fuel, salt, and liquid intake.

  

  My arms were either up, crossing my body, or covered in goosebumps. Pick your poison. (📸 credit: MarathonFoto)

• My fueling plan worked, my shorts didn’t chafe, and I loved running with glitter on my face. It was great to test these race-day variables.

  

  Shining like a vampire in the sun #IYKYK (📸 credit: MarathonFoto)

• The finish line corral was extraordinarily long. I think I walked just under 2 miles post-race, which feels excessive.

• If I have any lingering issues post-marathon, it’s my big toenails. Getting behind on fluids and salt counterintuitively caused me to bloat significantly. I could see my fingers turning into little sausages, but I think the same must have happened to my feet. My big toenails are sore, and are probably going to fall off. This is not normal for me, and I don’t like it.

• I’m definitely applying to run again next year. I loved it.

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Thanks for your patience with waiting for this write-up, and to all who reached out with messages after the run. I am so cared for — it’s incredible. 

Now to my surprise: I am running a marathon relay with my favorite Rice Hall of Famer, Lennie, at the California International Marathon in Sacramento on December 3rd. I have never paid close attention to my post-marathon recovery closely, and I’ve rarely had another race scheduled. Since this blog was so helpful for me in understanding my own process and progress, I’ve decided to keep it alive through that event. So, if you want to stay on board, expect four more blogs as I navigate recovery, ramp up, and racing over the next few weeks (and no hard feelings if you peace out by hitting the unsubscribe). After that point the blog will go on hiatus, and I will be kicking up my legs through the end of the year.

With love from NYC, Claire ❤️