Having the weather at least 12 degrees cooler than last year was a huge plus coming into this year’s race. My legs and entire body felt great throughout the early part of the race.

At mile 14 or so, my right hip started becoming very tight and uncomfortable. I was able to adjust my pacing and stride to ease the discomfort.

What really helped was grabbing an ice pack from a volunteer that I managed to apply for a minute or so every 5 minutes to my hip.

I held the ice pack, and it served two purposes: one was cooling my overall core temperature by simply holding it in my hand and rotating it to my left and right hands, because despite it being cooler than last year, on occasions the cloud cover was absent and it still felt quite warm. The pack really helped ease the hip pain.

Post Queensboro Bridge and 1st Avenue, the pain subsided, and I was able to hold a moderate pace throughout—not quite the marathon’s intended goal pace, but I was content.

The huge plus of today’s race was being able to run all the remaining miles after the Bronx without needing to walk, run, or shuffle to the finish. I was super proud of my performance on the day and achieving my B goal on the day.

As always, the crowds and cheers in New York City’s five boroughs are truly epic. Even the Bronx was amazing today, as normally the crowds there are few and far between.

Some takeaways from this race:

• 26 minutes faster than last year.

• No plantar fasciitis; knock on wood.

• More strength and mobility sessions were incorporated into my training.

• 7 pounds heavier (this was a direct result of more strength work).

• Cooler temperatures than last year by 13 degrees (55F this year vs. 68F last year).

• First sub-4 hour performance since the 2018 New York City Marathon

Strave file