I went for a 7 mile run in Central Park that Thursday. While I was running I was passed by someone going at a rapid pace. I thought it was Ryan Hall but wasn't sure because he went by so fast. A little later he was coming toward me and verified it was Ryan.
Race day, I took a cab to the Staten Island Ferry. The village was well stocked and the weather being nice was a plus. Time to start, I had decided I would just try to enjoy the race and finish under 4 hours. We start, and I'm holding right at a 9 minute pace. At about mile 3 this guy is passing me and then cuts in front of me, causing me to stumble. I didn't fall but hurt my knee catching myself. The guy says "I'm sorry, but I need to run with my friend." I pulled over to the side and tried to run, but was limping badly. I thought about quitting, but decided to keep running and see if things improved. As I ran my knee did feel a little better, but I was still favoring my other leg. I got back on pace and tried to keep it up, but as I hit mile 20, I started feeling the old wall approaching. I walked some, but as I hit mile 23 I was able to mostly run at pace. I finished in 4:10 and then had a long walk to the hotel.
While I think this is a great marathon, the negative experience of being tripped probably set me up to be in a bad mood about it. Right now it's 3 days latter, and my knee is much better but still hurt. I don't think I tore anything, just really sore and inflamed. My current mindset is that I don't want to run this one again, but time will tell.
Two weeks before I ran in a race called "24 the hard way." This is the third year for the race, and I've run it all 3 years. First year, 24 hours, last year 12 hours, and this year 6. I had hoped to hit at least 35 miles. I started out on pace, but the day warmed up and I began to slow down. Since this was not a goal race, and I knew I was running the NYC Marathon in two weeks, I decided not to try and push things. I finished with a total of 31 miles, and in second place.
