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The title is self-explanatory enough to you that I have some, well… explaining to do.
The 2024 TCS NYC Marathon was run on November 3rd, and I was all ready to run it (kind of) until I wasn’t. My registration was officially ‘cancelled’ (but really, deferred) 5 days before the starting gun went off.
So, WTF Happened?
This is the email I penned to my VIP List (aka those who generously donated to support The V Foundation) the night before the race:
For those who have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than read this novel… here we go!
‘Twas the night before the NYC Marathon, and instead of throwing back electrolyte drinks and my 5th bagel of the day, I’m typing this from a bar in Midtown while sipping on a spicy margarita.
This is not how the night before a marathon is supposed to go, that is, if you’re running it.
Huh???
Well, you see… I tweaked my hip back at the US Open. Was I doing anything badass and cool? Of course not! In true Katy Abbott fashion, I shifted my weight while standing there LOOKING AT THE SNACK TABLE in a fit of midday boredom. (I wish this were a joke, it’s not.)
A nuisance injury more than a detriment, I managed to keep my structural demise in check and train like normal until about 3 weeks ago. Halfway through my 18-mile run, it flared up and got MAD. Mad enough to trigger the override switch and stop me for running for 9 days straight, in the PEAK of training.
By the time I was physically able to manage a singular 3 mile run and see my Ortho for a formal diagnosis (turns out that “tweak” was an irreparable labrum tear), it was too little too late.
The timing of the flareup and the taper would mean if I ran the marathon, I’d be coming off the bench cold. 26.2 miles make you question your life decisions when you’re in prime shape. I, clearly, am not. Running tomorrow would have been a risky thing to do.
So, I elected to take the mulligan, deferring my entry to 2025. One more year of getting faster, getting stronger, and listening to me talk about how many miles I ran that day.
So… that’s why I’m sipping spicy margaritas instead of competing in a one-woman bagel eating contest right tonight.
This isn’t news for those of you who I’ve talked to in the last week, but I still wanted to send an update and massive THANK YOU to everyone who supported me along the way.
It’s one thing to smile and nod as the blonde chatterbox starts talking AGAIN about some insane endeavor, it’s another to take a minute and pitch in a few dollars toward the cause.
Your support means the world to me and the V Foundation, and want to thank you all. I can’t wait to make you all proud… next year.
2025 loading…
Didn’t I say “never again” in 2023?
This was set to be my third consecutive running of the race, after having gotten my ass handed to me in 2022, and earning redemption in 2023. For a few months, I maintained that the only way I’d run again in 2024 was if I lucked into an entry in the (nearly impossible) drawing.
But then, I got an email in late February/early March advertising an exclusive employees only access window to run again with Team V. I remembered how much FUN it was to make my graphs and work on my nutrition with the one and only Meghann Featherstun the year prior. Dialing in my nutrition was the most fun science experiment I’d done in a while.
So, even though I said I wasn’t going to run a marathon in 2024 for 3 months on end… I signed up to do it again.
Fundraising is probably more daunting than the training itself, but it became apparent in the two years prior that I am privileged enough to be surrounded by thoughtful, supportive, and generous individuals.
Again on the hook for $3500, I raised more money than I ever had, the fastest I ever had. I hit my goal 2 months earlier than I had in recent years.
I ran more miles in 2023 than I had ever before, my annual mileage total cracking 1000mi for the first time. I managed to stay off the treadmill (no matter the weather conditions), thanks to the Believe in the Run Winter GRIT challenge. I layered up and kept on with the fresh air, which staved off the winter sadness. All I did was run run run no matter what.
26.2 miles? Pshhhh… I’ve got this. It’s going to hurt, but I know I can do it.
I was no longer afraid of the marathon. Big mistake.
It took longer than it should have to get training off the ground. Having become single again in the spring, I was determined to make the most of my summer and jet all over the place. Concerts, time on the beach, an Alaskan cruise… I wanted to do ALL THE THINGS, and running? Well, I have a base of fitness, right? It’ll be fiiiine.
As you can see, I came up short on long run mileage more often than I’d hit my goal. It wasn’t until week 6/18 or so that I fell into some semblance of a routine. I’ve got more graphs like this that I’d like to share in a future post, but suffice it to say… the mojo wasn’t there.
I went through the motions. The little speed work I did was haphazard and nothing to write home about. I didn’t do my due diligence in communicating with my coach on how I’d have hoped we could work together on the build. So, we didn’t. Time kept passing and I kept doing whatever seemed like a good idea that day. Training was a bunch of last-minute “this seems fine”. I had to rework my Long Run Progression scheme 2-3x because I just couldn’t bring myself to STICK a proverbial landing.
It all got away from me. I wasn’t obsessed. I fell out of practice with strength and core work. I didn’t prioritize stretching, warming up, and cooling down. My recovery nutrition game was weak. After taking a week off for the family cruise, I did a lot of RUN or NOTHING in my final weeks at home before heading to the US Open. The stark contrast led me to feel tightness in my hips like I’d never had before.
That tightness was my sign to PAY ATTENTION and limber up, but I didn’t know it. I figured it was simply a consequence of taking a week off, even though that had never happened before. That tightness stuck with me for a month, and then one fateful shift changed it all. Seems pretty fitting that I sustained a permanent injury because I wasn’t taking care of myself when I wasn’t on the run.
All that to say…
I wasn’t obsessed with the distance. I wasn’t obsessed with training. I kept all the data to publish the weekly series I was obsessed with in 2023, but none of it came to light.
The marathon owes me nothing, and instead of a finisher’s medal… I am walking away from the 2024 season with a boatload of lessons learned.
Central Park… I’ll be back for you.
