Daniel Seidler Completes 2011 ING NYC Marathon!!
On November 4th, 2011, WSPT’s Daniel Seidler completed the ING NYC Marathon. The Marathon had over 30,000 athletes running a 26.2 mile course that traveled throughout all 5 boroughs. Surpassing his physical goals, as well as his fundraising efforts for the Arthritis Foundation, he relives his amazing experience.
It’s Tuesday evening and my quads still are sore; no joint pain, just achy muscles. It’s that good pain sort of feeling, so I’m definitely not complaining.
Marathon Sunday 2011 was an amazing one for me. The weather was perfect; I had so many members of my friends and family in attendance, rooting for me from afar. I crushed my personal record with a 3:08:34 to handily qualify for the 2013 Boston Marathon as I had hoped to do.
I started off fast – faster than I had ever expected – around 13 minutes after 2 miles and then I rode that momentum as long as I could. Around Mile 16, I slowed a bit, and maintained about a 7-minute mile for the duration of the marathon. Miles 23 and 24 were uphill along 5th Avenue to the south end of Central Park – and they hurt. But at that point, I had shut down my senses and just let my body get into a rhythm. I knew it hurt, but I did my best not to feel it. When I crossed the finish line, I let out a primal scream in celebration of exceeding my own expectations by a long shot.
I met up with my family and friends a few minutes later and we all had ice cream sandwiches from the CoolHaus truck. I highly recommend tying the knot on a marathon in this manner to anyone running or watching.
I took a few pictures and videos, but I have to admit that my focus this year was on the race. I felt like documentation was distracting me. I’m not a committed journalist or documentarian, so I hope you can get a little feel for this year’s race from a composite of media from my friend JJ, my aunt Karmela, and me.
My final tidbit is that since the race I’ve done my best to achieve a smooth recovery by icing my sore spots, eating foods high in antioxidants, proteins, and carbs. I’ve also been doing some gentle exercise, like a short swim in the morning. I will be taking a break from intense exercise for at least a month in order to allow my 41-year old body to rest and recover. Truthfully, I feel pretty good and want to get back into training – but for now, I will do my best to chill.
Come December, the off-season strength training program goes into effect with my eyes on the spring marathon, early summer Eagleman Half Ironman in Maryland, and the NY IronMan in August. I’m psyched to start focusing on those events but – oh yeah, I’m supposed to be chilling now – OK. There’s always ski season!!!