NEW YORK –– As Kara Goucher made her way down Fifth Avenue toward Central Park, she felt as though she was on track for a decent, but not spectacular, finish when her body completely shut down.

For the first time in her career, she “hit the wall.”

From that point, it took every ounce of grit, determination and energy left in Goucher to make it through those final four plus miles and across the finish line of the TCS New York City Marathon. Emotionally and physically spent, she crossed in 14th place in 2 hours, 37 minutes, 3 seconds.

“It was about mile 22,” Goucher explained while choking back tears. “I was checking my splits and I was still running, not great, but was going to finish in a respectable time, around 2:30. All of a sudden it was like my body didn’t even work and it sucked. It was terrible. It was just a struggle.

“I was just trying to use people cheering for me as motivation to keep moving. At that point I knew it was over. I knew there was no chance… I mean sub-2:30, even 2:32. It was over. It became just about survival.”

When Goucher arrived here and learned that the weather forecast was calling for cold, windy conditions, she discussed her strategy at length with her coaches Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs and together came up with a risky strategy that believed would work.

The plan backfired.

“We thought the pace would be slower and that I should take the gamble of tucking in early and following the leaders,” Goucher said. “We thought it would be a 2:30 race at least through halfway. So I just went with it. I didn’t check my splits until the fifth mile and that was a mistake because I didn’t realize how fast we were running. I was just tucked in and felt good.

“At mile eight I saw 5:29 and I knew I was in trouble. So I backed off, but then I didn’t know if that was the right decision because I was in the wind by myself and there was no one to work with. There was nobody by me.”

Goucher said she had readied herself mentally to run alone at some point in the race but didn’t anticipate having to do that so early on – she began slipping off the back of the lead pack in the Williamsburg section of Queens about 11 miles in – or to be in a constant solo fight with the elements, which saw 43-degree temperatures and 31-mile-per-hour sustained winds at the start.

“I wasn’t prepared to run by myself in all the wind. That’s a very different game,” she said. “There was no reprieve. I thought it would be at our back and then I would feel good and like I was making up a little time but I wasn’t.”

Goucher got a jolt of inspiration when she passed Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat, one of the pre-race favorites, between miles 20 and 21 in the Bronx, but a mile later began suffering physical distress.

Even though she gave an all-out effort, Goucher was still overwhelmed with disappointment and emotion afterward.

“I’m really sensitive so it hurts,” Goucher said, wiping away more tears. “I know I am in great shape and can do great things. It’s like, ‘Well that sucked.’ I’ve worked really hard and have a lot of people behind me and I’m like, ‘That’s what it was?’ But that’s what it was. It just wasn’t great. It was really sucky, actually.

“This is the most pain I have ever been in my entire life” she continued. “Both physically and emotionally. It’s taken so much for me to get back here and so many people have invested in me so I feel a responsibility for that and then physically I have never felt like that before where I literally couldn’t move. It was not a good experience.”

After crossing the finish line, Goucher broke down crying. Meb Keflezighi, who endured a similar experience in finishing 23rd last year only to bounce back and take fourth in the men’s race, approached her and offered some words of comfort.

“I talked to Meb about it and he said, ‘These are the things that define you and the experiences that make you appreciate the good times and make you work even harder,’” Goucher said. “He came up to me and I started crying and he started crying. Then he said, ‘Look at where I was last year and look at where I am now. I believe and don’t let this sway you from what you know you’re capable of.’

“That was really nice to hear.”

@karagoucher getting a pep-talk from @runmeb post race. #SkechersGO #Oiselle #ReadyToFightAnotherDay pic.twitter.com/orvHeiGRtN

— Adam Goucher (@Adam_Goucher) November 2, 2014