Ten Lessons Learned at the 2011 ING New York City Marathon
- Go to the Expo early in the day to maximize time with vendors and hopefully the crowds would be smaller.
- Don’t dither about dropping layers. As soon as I have the thought to ditch a layer I should.
- Bring some cardboard to the start area villages as insulation from the cold ground.
- Sit as much as possible in the start area villages and corral.
- Snatch a couple of packets of peanut butter from the hotel breakfast for the bagels at the start area.
- Pour excess Gatorade out of cup before attempting to drink at the fluid station.
- Figure out how to get more electrolytes and food with some bulk at about the half marathon mark.
- Increase hill ascending and descending in my training program.
- Either run with a phone or make sure to leave one in my drop bag.
- Upgrade my GPS running watch to a newer model that has a more reliable GPS tracking ability.
I will re-enter the lottery for New York City 2012 and hope for an opportunity to apply these lessons in New York and other marathons.
