Marathon Sunday

One of the best parts of fall in Manhattan comes every year on the first Sunday of November. I always look forward to the New York City Marathon. This year, my friend Laura was hosting a rooftop party right on the marathon route. It was a great setup with a perfect view of the pack of runners making their way up First Avenue, a stretch of the race considered by many to be the "emotional high" of the marathon. A band was playing on the street below and the sun was shining. The energy of the city and electrifying crowds is what makes the NYC Marathon such an incredible experience.

It is hard not to get inspired as you see every type of runner, from the highly conditioned, graceful and lean elite athletes with their toned physiques and almost elegant strides, to those with heartbreaking physical limitations using every ounce of strength and willpower they have to make it to the finish line, to people of every age and build, running for every type of cause, fight, and tribute, their names or motivations printed on their t-shirts, with all of New York City cheering them on.

The festivities started early. Of course, the big moment we were all waiting for was Lance Armstrong to make his appearance on First Avenue. As more and more runners passed by, I was starting to wonder if maybe we had missed him. But then, there he was, surrounded by a mini entourage, running at a good pace behind a slowly moving "LanceCam" filming his every stride. Our clear, unobstructed, direct view of the world's most famous cyclist and cancer survivor taking on his latest personal challenge will rank among my coolest moments in New York City.

Armstrong's build presented a stark contrast to the elite men's runners who preceded him on the course. The cycling champion's heavily muscled legs and powerful chest set him apart from the slender Kenyans who traditionally dominate the race. "You see those pencils and pens on the desk there," Armstrong said in a press conference, pointing to a table. "Their legs are about that size. That's when I got nervous."

For the first 10 miles, Armstrong was paced by the former marathon champions Alberto Salazar and Germán Silva. He appeared relaxed and cheerful, smiling at fans and talking with the small group of runners that surrounded him for much of the marathon.

Salazar said Armstrong, known for his exceptional physical endurance, "could talk much better than I could talk during the race. For him, cardiovascularly, it was very easy, but I knew the hard thing for him was going to be the pounding on his legs.'"

"I thought the marathon would be easier," Armstrong said afterward. "My shins started to hurt in the second half, especially the right one. That's when I started to feel helpless. I thought, Uh-oh, maybe I should have trained a little harder for this. I think I'm in trouble. I never felt a point where I hit the wall, it was really a gradual progression of fatigue and soreness.

Despite the fact the muscles in his legs were cramping near the end of the race, Armstrong kept pushing along. "That LanceCam is humbling," he said. "At one point I wanted to stop and stretch but with the LanceCam on me, I thought that would be really embarrassing." His body seemed to tighten and showed signs of pain and fatigue in the final few miles. He started to fall off the pace required to break 3 hours before a final push allowed him to meet his personal goal.

His face twisted in pain, Armstrong slowed to an unsteady walk the last couple of steps, then bent to the ground immediately after crossing the finish line, his hands on his knees and his green shirt soaked with sweat.

Armstrong finished his first marathon just under his goal of 3 hours, with a time of 2:59:36, and placed 869th, with a pace of 6:51 a mile. "That was without a doubt the hardest physical thing I've ever done," said the 35-year-old Texan. "I didn't train sufficiently enough for this. I can tell you, 20 years of pro sports, endurance sports, from triathlons to cycling, all the Tours, even the worst days in the Tours, nothing was as hard as that, and nothing left me feeling the way I feel now in terms of just sheer fatigue and soreness."

After his news conference at the New York Athletic Club, he limped out of the room. "I'm a cripple," he said, needing a boost into a waiting van. "I wasn't kidding when I said that. I've never felt this bad, ever," he said. "My legs are killing me. My back doesn’t feel that great, either. I'm really suffering."

To be honest, I was shocked. If Lance Armstrong, world's most famous cyclist, seven time Tour de France champion, former triathlete, and cancer survivor, is calling the New York City Marathon the hardest thing he has ever done, I'm not sure what that does to my marathon ambitions. I think my legs are sore enough today just from running up & down the stairs to Laura's roofdeck!