On Sunday, November 3, Livingston resident Allie Granata ran the New York City Marathon. This was her second time running this historic race, and her fifth marathon overall. She discussed her training regime, race day, and future plans.
Running the Marathon
This year was the first time Granata completed a full training cycle and felt confident in her abilities leading up to race day.
“I remember looking at my friends and being like ‘Yeah, I’m ready,”’ she said, despite the nerves that hit her when she approaced the starting line on race day. “If you don’t have a little bit of butterflies in your stomach, what’s the point?”
The giant crowds that always come out to watch the marathon keep Granata, along with all the other runners, motivated and excited to keep going.
“The crowd is quite literally roaring,” she said. “It carries you in a way I can’t truly explain or put into words, but it’s so special.”
Throughout her training, she often runs with headphones, but said they were not necessary during the marathon.
“As a person where music carries me, I don’t need my headphones during the New York City Marathon because you have all these people roaring and cheering their butts off for you,” she said.
Granata shared that crossing the finish line of any marathon is always an extremely emotional moment.
“It’s almost always instant tears for me,” she said.
She explained that, in her mind, the completion of the marathon is a celebration of all the training and hard work completed leading up to it.
“You’ve put in a lot of work on race day, but you’ve been hardcore into it for 16 weeks leading up to that,” she said. “Whenyou cross that finish line, it’s like ‘Wow, it was all for this moment.’” When comparing the New York City Marathon to her time running the Boston Marathon, Granata said that while the Boston track is considerably different, running the New York Marathon feels like home for her. She appreciated the varied course, which had her running over bridges and through each of the five boroughs. She also added that seeing the familiar faces on the sidelines helped elevate the New York City Marathon to her favorite race and provided a much needed boost.
“Having those people along the course, waiting for me to pass, really means so much more than anyone could even imagine,” she said. “Because in your head you’re like ‘I only need to make it to mile eight because so and so is there.’ Then, once you pass them, you start saying to yourself‘Ifl can make it to mile 11,1 know so and so is waiting to cheer me on.”
Training Regime
One of Granata’s friends was training for a different marathon, so she decided to begin early so she could run with a companion. She has been running between 16 to 20 miles each weekend since June. Additionally, she worked with a coach who programmed four months of hardcore training for her to complete.
While training, she likes to switch up where she runs to avoid monotony. Often, she would start in Central Park and run up the West Side Highway. Other days, she would start down the West Side Highway and run in downtown Manhattan. She also completed some training sessions while running through Brooklyn. Sometimes she trained in New Jersey’s Liberty State Park, which she found surprisingly tranquil.
“It feels like it would be crazy busy on a Saturday morning, but it was beyond peaceful,” she said.
She also said that running through New York allowed her to feel slightly more anonymous than when training in the Garden State, where she often passed people she knows. The familiar faces can sometimes add additional pressure to her run.
As the November 3 race day loomed nearer, Granata said she “was getting so sick of running 20 miles a weekend, so I was so ready for this race to be over.”
Upcoming Races
Next, she plans to return to B oston for its marathon on April 21, 2025. She anticipates she will begin another intense training regime at the beginning of the New Year.
