NYC Half Marathon
Posted by Admin on August 18, 2009 in Training
I hadn’t originally planned on racing in this event despite the significant desire to do so because I wasn’t successful at getting into it. But when my good friend John wound up having a work conflict that would prevent his participation, I jumped at the opportunity to race in his name. It’s a no-no but was well worth it for me.
The course is what makes it so cool. Runners start in Central Park on the east side, run a full loop of the park in a clockwise direction, pass the starting line again, then run south again until they exit the park onto 7th Avenue south. The course then takes runners south to Times Square before turning right along 42nd Street. From there, runners run due west to the river before making a left onto the West Side Highway. Thereafter, it’s a straight shot south on the highway to Battery Park. Total distance: 13.1 miles.
Consistent with my bad luck, race morning met me with heat and humidity. I walked out of my apartment into some thick air and wondered immediately if this would be another epic battle. It was in its own way, but with much better results than in the past.
Though there were something like 15,000+ runners there, I felt alone. For about 40 minutes, I sat in my designated start “corral”. When it was finally time to start, I prepped the iPod with a hard rock playlist, ate my final energy bar of the morning, and readied myself for an I-don’t-know-what-to-expect kind of day.
I didn’t warm up before the race; I rarely do. These races are typically quite crowded in the beginning, so I just figure that my warmup would be running a bit slower with the crowd until openings allowed me to go a bit faster. After passing the starting line, I planned on running somewhat easy but when I came across the one mile marker, I saw that my time was 7:52. With an outside goal of running 8:01 or so per mile, which would net an overall time of 1:45:00, I was pretty excited. I thought, “That was an easy mile and I was 9 seconds ahead of my ideal pace. Nice!” It was short-lived. Mile two was 8:04, and mile three was 8:09. Immediately, I gave up… mentally, that is. I thought, “Oh well, I guess I’ll just run and not push the pace. There’s no point. I’ll be tired in the latter miles and I’m already missing my goal pace, it’s over.” What a defeatist and how contrary to my nature, but heat/humidity is my nemesis and plays games with me.
So, I relaxed, took my time, ran with a general pack of runners, and tried to enjoy myself. But, at around the 5 mile mark, I saw that my pace had actually averaged my goal pace. I was instantly buoyed, and immediately picked up the pace! I felt great and pushed hard until the 8.5 mile mark. At that point, I stopped to drink water and walk for about 25 seconds. It wasn’t my ideal strategy, but after a hard effort for a good 30 minutes, I was pretty beat and parched. I had gotten some water at each water station along the way, but managed only a small sip and chose instead to pour as much cold water over my head as I could. The heat was damaging me and I felt my core temperature was beginning to rise too much.
After that brief respite, I felt energized and immediately ran a 7:50 mile. Eventually, after turning onto the West Side Highway, I settled into a fairly consistent but somewhat desperate pace. This distance is the farthest for me since Ironman Brazil, nearly 15 months ago, and with the heat, I new I was taking on a big challenge. The desperation I refer to here is relative to keeping an 8:00 or so pace with a high heart rate, high body temp, a searing sun, no wind, and a concrete surface that seemed to send the heat up. There were volunteers along the side of the road with hoses and whenever possible, I veered towards them and pointed at my head. Most were more than willing to spray me and that did provide some relief… but only for like 30 seconds at a clip.
At the 12 mile marker, I was ready to call it a day effort-wise, but my mind wouldn’t let me. With only 1.1 miles to the finish, I figured I’d only have 9 minutes or so of running for the day, so I might as well push the pace hard since I knew I was close to getting a p.r. It worked great for the first half mile, but I began to notice my technique falling apart. The head was cocked to the side, I wasn’t necessarily running a straight line, I was panting noticeably, etc. Finally, with the finish line in sight, I put down an even harder effort and finished with my fastest mile split of the day. Phenomenal!
In the end, I bested my time at a half-marathon by 47 seconds. It’s not a huge improvement perhaps, but was still a big deal for me since I was able to get this p.r. in such oppressive conditions. I must have looked like a crazy person with a cheeky smile as volunteers gave me cold towels and water, but I didn’t care. It felt great. I only wish that I had taken greater notice of Times Square and the West Side Highway as I ran, but I was so focused on my physical condition and my watch/heart rate monitor. Oh well; I’ll try next year to pay better attention… if I get in.
After getting cleaned up at home, I had brunch with my good friend Danielle who reported that many of the water stations ran out of water once the slower runners arrived. I’m so dismayed by this news. The NY Road Running Club is normally so impressive with their coordination, so it’s surprising to hear how they mismanaged the heat. I also heard a bunch of folks had to quit because they couldn’t hydrate. Terrible. I just hope no one got hurt/sick.
To make the day complete, I got to enjoy prosecco along the very same West Side Highway with a beautiful sunset and great company. What a way to close the day, with a celebration after a victory (albeit 11 hours later). So sweet!
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