The day started like most race days -- half a wheat bagel with peanut butter and half a banana, some water, and some coffee. B and I left the apartment at 7am to make it to the race course (which started near W. 63rd and Central Park West) by 8am. It. Was. Pouring. Pouring down rain. The NYRR 8k had nothing on this rain. I was soaked to the bone within the first mile. I have to say though, I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. Aside from having to wring out my sleeves every once in a while, it wasn't that bad to run in the rain.
I definitely started the race wondering if I could make it through the whole thing (and thinking that I probably wouldn't), but I decided to push those thoughts aside and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other and making it as far as I could. Honestly, the race went by much faster than I'd expected. I thought with the terrible weather it would be miserable, but I felt good and strong the whole time. There were only a couple of steps I took where I had a bit of pain in my hip, but other than that I felt great! I had a Powerade gel at mile 6.5 that pushed me through, and when the Glee version of "Like A Prayer" came on shortly thereafter, I was PUMPED! Here's a look at my playlist for the race:
So now with the Garmin issue. I'm not sure what the deal was, but I started the Garmin right as I crossed the starting line, and for some reason it was beeping that a mile had passed before I passed the mile marker on the course. Nothing is more frustrating than hearing that beep come before you can even SEE the mile marker! I don't know if the course was off or my Garmin was off, but I stopped my Garmin when I hit 13.1 miles (2:04:51!), and then restarted it...it went another 0.15 miles (1 min 19 seconds!) before I reached the finish line. So here's the first 13.1 miles:
I crossed with an official time of 2:06:11. While I am very happy with this time -- who doesn't love a PR, even if it's just by a few seconds?! -- I know that I did not push myself as hard as I could have. I had sort of planned going into it that I wasn't going to push myself extremely hard since I didn't want to destroy my hip, and my goal was to go as far as I can. Now that I know that I can push myself even harder (I definitely had plenty of gas left in the tank after this race, and did NOT give it my all like I did at the first half-marathon in September), my goal for the Brooklyn half-marathon will be to break 2 hours. I knooow I can do it!
And...my roommate B...who ran her FIRST HALF-MARATHON came in at 1:54:56!!!!! She is a badass. That's what I have to say about that.
The half-marathon was followed by a soaking wet walk to the 68th Street subway station (my hands were beYOND numb...and my left hand was suspiciously swollen! I think from the Garmin...), an extremely hot shower (soooo necessary!!!), and a burger, fries, salad and beer from Danal. I think I'm going to make the burger, fries and beer a post-half-marathon tradition -- it was what I had at Cafe Luxembourg after the Queens half-marathon and it was amaaazing. You need salt after you sweat so much, and that meal just really hits the spot! Of course, after all the running and the eating, a nap was in order!
I'm going to go do some more stretching, icing and then going off to bed before tomorrow's big doctor's appointment. I'll let you know what she says!
Yay for PRs! Yay for half-marathons! Yay FINISHING a half-marathon in the rain with a minor injury! Woo hooooo!!!
I'm so proud of you!
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