Runners Redemption, The Brooklyn Marathon
re·demp·tion noun 1. an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed.
It took me 2 years to run my first and second marathons. It took me 3 weeks to run my third and fourth. I wrote after my NYC marathon experience of the troubles I had on race day and said that I was fine with the whole situation- I had learned some valuable lessons about myself as a runner and person.
While in Mexico the week following the NYC marathon, sitting in the sun and drinking chilled tequila I had nothing to think about but the marathon. The questions. Why did I go out so fast? Why did I change my fueling routine? Why? Why? Why? As I started to read a new book, Running With the Buffaloes, and my legs started to feel better, my mind started to play games with me by telling my body it should run another marathon.
Each morning after breakfast I would check for marathons to run- Rock ‘n Roll Vegas was sold out, Philly was sold out, Coach Jerry had guests during the Overland Park, KS marathon. Then by some miracle I stumbled on the inaugural Brooklyn Marathon the week I returned from Mexico. It was perfect! I didn’t have to travel, I didn’t have to worry about big race jitters and there were still spots available.
After getting the full support from my wife, I decided that I would run the Brooklyn Marathon; my 
redemption. I only told a handful of people that I was running this race. I didn’t want all the pressure (social media or other) to creep in. Heck, I just ran 26.2, took a week off drinking and eating like crazy and now I was going to try to run another marathon. I just wanted to go out there with no expectations, no pressure and run a strong race. If I decided to walk off the course after 15 miles, I didn’t want to have to write about it on my blog or twitter. Running, and enjoying it, was all I wanted to do.
About The Race: The Inaugural Brooklyn Marathon is the brainchild of Steve Lastoe who is creator of NYCRUNS.com. He felt that Brooklyn, with its active running community, needed a marathon to call their own. Overall it was a fantastic first race- from the race shirt to post marathon celebration. The entire marathon was contained within Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. This was my first time running here so I had no clue of the elevation changes- holy crap the hills are TOUGH. The course started with 2 lower loops of the park with 6 full loops and 1 final lower loop. You had to run a hill that was long and steep 6 times! It was actually, in my opinion, a harder course than the NYC marathon. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing for the race as newbies might be scared off by the multiple loops and same him over and over again. Other than being difficult I didn’t mind the multiple loops, it helped me compartmentalize the course and manage my race.
There were about 350 runners and all were treated to a beautiful day of running. The race was organized and had support from the local running clubs along the course. They could have had 2 more water stops at the top and lower part of the park, I had to stop and chug water from my wife, who was supporting me like a superstar all day with our little pup Shea. Great finish area with a very cool medal and a tech race shirt. For its inaugural race I was super impressed and very challenged by the course. I would love to see this 
race take the next step and get into the streets of Brooklyn.
My Redemption: As I wrote, I bought a Garmin last week. This thing is awesome as it kept me updated on my pace throughout the whole race. I was able to go out slow, about an 8:40-8:50 pace. I had no real goal other than to finish and hopefully break 4 hours. I had no idea how my body would react to running another marathon so close to my last so I didn’t want to push it.
The first 3 full loops were a shock. People said the hill was tough but I didn’t realize how long it really was, and just when you thought it was over it came back and gave you just a bit more. I was only walked once to meet Catherine at the top of the hill to get hydrated and continued to take it easy until mile 17. After this I felt great and was settled back into an 8:35-8:45 pace again.
The final 3 loops were tough. There was a water station just before the hill kicked it up. The final three laps I would walk into and out of this water stating, hydrating and fueling and actually laughing at the absurdity of it all. I was feeling totally fine mentally, it was the effort of this hill that was just getting tougher and tougher. Each of the last 3 times through this section I would walk just a little bit longer to get my legs under me. Around the 20 mile mark my legs were starting to feel fatigued and finally at mile 22 my left hamstring locked up. I stopped and feared a repeat of the NYC marathon. I didn’t panic. I had a salt packet, massaged it, took a 
second to stretch and I continued along a few minutes later. It would rumble every now and again as I ran the last loop and hill, but never locked up on me again. I reached mile 24, and I couldn’t believe how positive I felt as I was running at about an 8:40 pace.
The last lower loop. I got to the turnoff for the final loop and it was at this point I started to realize what I was about to accomplish. I was about to finish a marathon, again, just a few weeks after one that kicked me in the balls. Over the final hundred meters or so I checked my Garmin and realized that for only the 2nd time I would finish a marathon under four hours with a 3:56- 9 min off my PR and 21 min better than my NYC blowup. I was thrilled. The time was great. The experience even better. Most of all, I learned again a lot about myself as a runner and got my redemption.
I would not have been able to finish this race without my awesome support team of Catherine and Shea, you guys are the best!
Redemption, have you ever looked for it after a bad race? How do you feel about running multiple races so close to each other? Did you have a good race experience yesterday, if so share it.
WTG Scott!!!! glad you had such a great experience in my hometown borough AND in the place where I learned to love distance running!!! I’m looking for redemption in 2012.. in every distance I plan to tackle.. and I’ve done the multiple races back to back but never at the same distance.. I use them as prep for the longest distance..
Loved Brooklyn, could actually see myself having a closer look at the neighborhoods once it is time to look for a new place to live.
Awesome recap – great to see you go back out there and redeem yourself. Kind of funny that we share the 3:56 marathon time now.
That is right! Too funny.
Hey there! Just discovered your blog via Daily Mile. I totally feel you on this post. Last year, I ran my second marathon — Chicago — and it went horribly. Everything about it. I was so discouraged and I wanted redemption! Well, I saw that Marine Corps was just 3 weeks later. I hadn’t planned on running but I immediately got a transfer bib and was determined to conquer. I did it and had an amazing marathon — PRing by 14 minutes!
In the same regard, I signed up for 2 marathons this year within two weeks. This time, the first one went awesome and second was a doozy. From now on I’m keeping all marathons at least a month apart. Learning experiences!
Thanks for checking out my blog and leaving a comment! Great job with your redemption PR, totally makes you feel better doesn’t it?
Congrats!!!!!!!!! So happy we both got our redemption races after our disappointing NYCM experiences. You did amazing and I am so happy for you!
I think the strategy of not telling anymore before and just running for yourself is a smart one, which can be hard when we have blogs and Twitters and all. It is refreshing to just run for yourself, no pressure or expectations.
Thanks, and to you too! Totally makes it easier when you don’t tell anyone, something to be said about the self inflicted social media pressure.