NYC Half Marathon Finisher Medal
Farbod, Denie, and Megan after the race.
Week: 61.5 miles
Workout: NYC Half Marathon - 1 full clockwise loop of Central Park beginning on East Drive around 85th Street - exit at 7th Avenue at the bottom of the park - run through Times Square - 42nd Street - West Side Hwy - Battery Park.
The race went very well. I woke up at 4 a.m., was out the door by 5:00 a.m., and arrived in Central Park at 5:50 a.m. Although it was already warm and humid (77 degrees and 74% humidity), it wasn't as humid as I thought it would be. I immediately went to my corral and was amazed at how HUGE it was. Then, I just sat down and waited for an hour.
When Farbod showed up, I stood up and began to stretch a bit. About 15 minutes before the start, Catherine Ndereba ("Catherine the Great"), a world class runner, walked right by us. She was obviously in the wrong corral and moved into the corral with the professional runners. When Paula Radcliffe, the women's marathon and half marathon world record holder, was announced, my corral let out a huge cheer. It's funny how professional long distance runners are only celebrities to other runners. If they were walking in the streets, no one would notice them.
Since I knew it was going to be hot today, I planned on making the race a training run. I simply wanted to run 1h 30m (6:52/mile). However, early in the race, Tiffany caught me and I decided to run with her. Tiffany had told me early in the week that she wanted to run 1h 23m. There was no way I wanted to try running that time. But when she caught me, it didn't seem like she running at that pace. I ended up pacing her all the way to the finish. We ran some very even splits.
Mile 1 6:25
Mile 2 13:00 (6:35)
Mile 3 19:51 (6:51)
Mile 4 26:31 (6:40)
Mile 5 33:15 (6:44)
Mile 6 40:01 (6:46)
Mile 7 46:37 (6:36)
Mile 8 53:17 (6:39)
Mile 9 no split
Mile 10 no split
Mile 11 1:13:17 (avg. 6:40/mile for Mile 9, 10, and 11)
Mile 12 1:19:57 (6:40)
Mile 13 1:26:35 (6:37)
Finish 1:27:13 (0:38)
Average for race: 6:40/mile
As if running through Times Square wasn't good enough, the song "YMCA" was blaring from the speakers. I had on my West Side YMCA singlet and pointed to it as I ran by people, eliciting cheers. After the race, volunteers were handing out ice cold, wet towels. They felt soooooo good!
There were plenty of people out on the course who cheered as I went by, Chris, Alanna, Josh, Bruno, Jeanne, Pamela, and people from Nike Run Club. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone. It felt great to have people out there cheering for me in the race. It gives me such an energy boost.
I had a great breakfast after the race, and now, I'm still trying to hydrate. 64 oz of Gatorade, and I'm still thirsty!
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