Tuesday, June 2, 2009

half marathon and hot dogs!

i did it! i finished the brooklyn half marathon. here are my stats from the race:

Time: 1:55:07
Pace Per Mile: 8:47
Overall Place: 3828/9629
Gender Place: 1022/4450
Age Place: 352/1469

this is a new pr for me in the half, and i beat my time from queens by 32 seconds!

that's definitely exciting, but i think i was actually a little dissapointed :( although i didn't really have a specific goal time, i think i was secretly hoping to beat my last pr by a few minutes. oh well, it was still better than my best time, so how can i really be upset about that?!

all in all the race went pretty well. i didn't feel as great as i thought i would, and i honestly think a lot of that had to do with the fact that i was still a bit congested. i brought tissues with me, but by the time the race started and we hit up the bathroom line, i only had 1 tissue left for the race! i used it as much as i could, but let's just say it was pretty gross, and i was actually planning in my head how long i could wait to blow my nose next :(

but it wasn't that bad.

i woke up at the crack of dawn on the morning of the race- i set my alarm for 5:15- yikes! i got dressed, made my breakfast (1 slice whole wheat bread with pb and banana), made some tea, put my chip and number on, and headed out the door.






that's when the fun began! i took the subway, and was meeting my friend on the last car of the F train. i had to take the L over to transfer to the F. luckily i had gotten directions the night before on hopstop.com, and they told me to take the L to 8th avenue and transfer to the F.

when i got to 8th ave, there was no F train! (i'm a bad new yorker, i should know where the f is- but luckily i didn't!). apparently there was a service change, and the F was running on the E line, which is at 8th avenue. hopstop accounted for a service change in my route, but didn't tell me what that was!

a little confusing/nerve-wracking, but luckily it all worked out, and i met my friend on the train :) i'm so glad i left really early and left myself extra time!

i ate my brekkie while i was waiting to switch trains, and when i got on the F i put on my sun screen. the train ride out was kind of long, but we saw lots of runners on the train. when we got there and made our way to the park, that's when the chaos began!

apparently, the baggage check was closing in 7 minutes- so everyone starting sprinting in that direction- including us! we made it in time, but my heart was racing and i felt so rushed!

immediately after we checked our bags, we headed out to find the bathrooms. there were obviously long lines, which we had to wait in (it felt like we picked the bathroom with the LONGEST line!). i feel like had we looked around or gotten there earlier, we could have found a better bathroom spot with a shorter line (way to go heather for going to mcdonald's- smart choice!) but we both felt so rush after the baggage check, we decided to wait it out- and wait we did! all the way to the start of the race and beyond!

i couldn't help feeling worried the whole time i was waiting in line. but, luckily the starting line was literally right in front of the port-a-potties, so we just jumped right in with the runners from the corrals crossing the start. that made for a rush start, and again, my heart was racing! usually i have some time to hang out in the corrals and 'relax,' but this time i went from worry-warting it up in the bathroom line straight to jumping in the race!

and here's how it all went down!

miles 1-3: i was feeling good! because we were rushing around through the start, i started the race off pretty fast, but because it was a bit crowded i felt like was going slow. i felt really good through these first three miles, however- there was NO WATER in sight! i really needed some... finally it was there at mile 3!

miles 4-6: another loop around the park! luckily i didn't think the hills throughout the park were that bad, after having done a 12 mile run the week before in central park with those killer hills! i felt ok all through my time in the park, but at mile 4 i definitely started to feel like i hit a mini-wall. my head felt a little cloudy, i think due to my sinus congestion. i had never felt like that during a race, i felt almost light-headed. but i pushed on! i turned on my trusty shuffle for some motivation.

miles 7-9: we exited the park, and i was glad to get on to an open road and have room to spread out; it was nice to have the first half of the race done with! we spilled from the park onto ocean pkwy, and it was a nice flat stretch. i was also very happy it was abundantly shaded with trees :) there were also lots of people around- a few lining the side of the road, and other people walking here and there, which i found to be a nice distraction. i was feeling ok, but starting to get tired. at mile 8, i had my packet of gu, which helped!

miles 10-13.1: i'm not gonna lie, i was definitely feeling really tired during these last three miles! i had ditched my sad, pathetic excuse for a tissue back around mile 8, so no more blowing the nose. in my head, i felt like i was going sloooow, but in reality i was keeping a steady pace, probably around 9 minute miles, but my feet were dragging. i stopped for an extra few seconds at the water stations at miles 10 and 12. then, FINALLY, we made a right turn, and were headed to the ramp to the boardwalk- the end was near! i pushed my way up that ramp- no stopping me! i chugged along and picked up my pace on the boardwalk- i was almost done! i sprinted to the finish, and that was that, i did it!

the boardwalk was a bit hard to run on since it was uneven, but luckily we weren't on it for all that long. after the finish we were herded down to the baggage area, where i got my bag and met up with my friend. we got some pretzels, and then met up with my dad and the fiance.

unfortunately, i didn't see them at the finish, and they didn't see me either! :( there were just too many people. i felt pretty bad, because this was the first race my dad came to- and it was all the way in brooklyn! but he had fun anyway, and it was nice to see each other afterwards.

we all headed over to nathan's to get hotdogs! now, i am not a hot dog person, at all, and i never ate them as a kid. i just never loved the taste. but my dad insisted i try a hot dog from the original nathan's, so i couldn't say no. it actually wasn't so bad smothered in mustard and ketchup and relish, in fact it was kind of good! this could also be because by the time we were done waiting in the LOOONG line, i was starving. i wolfed it down, hence no picture :(





then we headed back to the city. by the time we got back, i was hungry again- so i had a bagel with turkey and cheese, and some more pretzels. then, i took a glorious nap. it was, indeed, glorious.



after i woke up, i hung out for a bit, and the fiance and i headed to dinner. we walked around the village, and found a cute mexican place with outdoor seating. i had some chips and salsa, and ordered the chicken enchilada. it was everything i had hoped for :)





it also came with some beans on the side.



the fiance got a grilled chicken wrap, and i definitely had some of his fries! hey, i deserved it after all that running :)



of course, we happened to pass by 16 handles on our way home, and i got a yummy cookies and cream/pb with almonds and carob chips. :) a lovely ending to a great day!





















3 comments:

  1. Great race report and congrats on the PR. I have no shame - when running, I constantly use the bottom of my shirt to clear out my nose! On Ocean Parkway, I almost got hit by the spray of a guy who was trying to blow his nose out on the pavement - now that was gross...

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  2. The course sounds pretty nice! Congrats on the great time!

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  3. Yay! I am so glad I just read this because it's like I relived the whole thing! Congrats to you!

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