Brooklyn Half: I saddled up

Member

After being blown off by the other Cosa Nostra members, I ran this one on my own. After a very hard swim Friday night, I drove to northern NJ to spend the night at my parents' house. Saturday morning up at 4, on the road at 430 to drive an hour to the finish. I park my car, then take a subway and a bus to the race start in Coney Island. I search for 45 minutes for the start, and the packet pickup area. Eventually I find everything, pack my baggage on the bus, and head for the start on the boardwalk. I climb over a guardrail and up a steep incline, then up and over a handrail to the start.

61 degrees, 18mph winds, sunny. Pretty good weather. Much better than last year's race, where there was so much ice on the boardwalk the course had to be altered. I decided to experiment with this race, knowing I had to take it easy to "save it" for next week's Broad Street. I've been running with a HRM, at 75%, aka REALLY SLOW. I decided to start at one pace, faster than I've been training, but not as fast as I've been racing. I figure if I can hold it for 4-5 miles, I'll settle into that groove as I've been doing in training. I also know I have to hold back a little, as the last miles are in the hilly, hilly park.

The gun goes off and we run the first 3 miles on the Coney Island boardwalk. I look at the ocean, the sand, and often at my feet as the boards are popping up slightly and some people are tripping on them. I'm sweating profusely after the first half mile, but I know from experience that'll stop soon. My HRM says 86%, so far so good. I'm smiling already. Beaming, actually, totally enjoying this experience. After the turnaround the sun is reflecting off the boards, and it's making me dizzy to look at them so I focus on the water bottle on the guy's back ahead of me.

We exit the boardwalk at 10th street, run down Surf Avenue, and veer onto Ocean Parkway, a major thoroughfare in Brooklyn. My smile's getting bigger, as the miles are passing by pretty effortlessly and quickly. Even though my pace isn't reflecting it, I feel the mile markers are coming up pretty quickly. It's cool to see this Hassidic community's members decked to the nines on their way to synagogue. The NYPD clap and cheer for everyone as they pass by. My smile is getting bigger, and I'm having an absolute blast.

We merge onto highway 27 and take exit 5 (literally). The ramp signals the first hill, and I go up it pretty easily with HRM reading 88%. Guess the six weeks of hill training (every run finding hills, big ones, and conquering them) paid off, because this hill and the ones to follow were no big deal this time around. Quite different than last year. We run around MacHate circle and work our way to Prospect Park.

We enter the park around mile 9.5. I smile, knowing that now the hills are coming. The whole park, run counterclockwise (in which direction we are of course running), is one big monstrous hill. I hit the mile 10 marker and know that just beyond it is The Hill. The one that kicked my ass last year, the one I was forced to walk up. The one that is a mile long. I smile, say "let's do it", and start my climb.

I slow down, staying at 88% with the HRM. It's slow, but steady. When I finally make it to the top, I throw up my arms with a big w00t! knowing I'd conquered it. A very short decline, then more uphill. Mile 11 comes and more climbing. Just before the 12 mile marker, a brief steep downhill and then the rest of the way is uphill. I notice nonracers looking at me strangely - must be the huge grin on my face.

I remember this course, and know when I can push it and when I can't. As I round the final corner leading to the finish, I'm smiling so hard because I'm having so much fun. Manhattan has the lights and the action, but Brooklyn has the beauty. What a great course, and what a great race I'm having.

I turn for the last time and know that the finish is just over a tenth of a mile away, just a bit further up the incline. I am sprinting all out, HRM at 98% Shocked

but I'm almost done. I keep looking, and looking, for the finish but don't see it. Later I realize the finish was pushed back from last year to accommodate the shorter run on the boardwalk instead of the longer second park loop we'd done. Instead of a tenth of a mile away, it's half a mile away.

But I'm still going strong. Not struggling. Just smiling. I finally cross the finish line with a whoop! Not my best time by far, but the best half I've had. In Brooklyn I learned that half marathons don't have to hurt, and they don't have to suck. They can be loads of fun, if you just focus on the experience. And fun I had.

I go to pick up my baggage, and a guy asks me "Did you fall?" I said no, and asked why. He said to look at my shirt. And I see blood. A large amount of it. I walk over to the med tent (as I do for a large percentage of NYC races, it seems

) and the paramedic asks me "Did you fall?" Confused

I unpin my bib number to give him better access and see how bloody my shirt really is. Stupid HRM strap cut me, pretty badly. Funny, as I didn't notice any pain while running. Iodine goes on, I scream (holy hell that stuff hurts). It takes four bandages to totally cover my 5 inch bleeding gash. Luckily my SIL, The Cleaning Guru, managed later to get the blood out of my shirt though it required two washes. Can't wait to see the official pictures later in the week.

Final stats: 2:27:44, 11:16 pace, 2,843/3,036, beating 9% of runners. 11:15, 11:41, 10:52, 10:58, 11:09, 11:21, 11:23, 11:21, 11:15, 11:40, 12:02, 11:11, 10:42, :54.

I'm very pleased with this effort, considering nearly 10M of it was into the 18mph winds. I averaged 159 heart rate, and I met my three goals. 1) To enjoy the experience, and so remind myself why I run - to rediscover the pure joy of running. 2) To run a consistent pace. I was shooting for an overall 11:15-11:20, which I did. Fairly consistent though it's obvious where water breaks and hills were, but I'm ecstatic that the last 3.6 miles were mostly all hills (pretty major ones at that) and that I ran so quickly, and so strongly, at the end. 3) To for once and for all prove that I can run far, and well, if I train solidly and smartly.

I achieved these three goals, and had one of the best races of my career. Though it demonstrated that my half PR will be holding steady for a while until I can get my mileage high (the reason why I ran so well that day last May). It also strongly suggests that a PR at next week's Broad Street is a pipe dream, but I don't care. I ran smartly, I ran well, and I had a blast during this experience. I experienced the joy of running once again, a feeling that's for the most part eluded me during this very long, arduous training cycle. Like Alan suggested, I saddled up. And I kicked that hill in ITS ass. Cool

Excelent

Master of Prissface

Geez, I was tired just reading what it took to get there Wink

Way to run a good, strong race, kiddo! I can see that Mr. Green

from here.

Hipster Doofus

From someone who knows what it's like to run his long runs into nice stiff winds, you have every reason to be pleased with what you did, Kid. Great run!

"did...Kid"? I'm a poet! And I know it! Razz

Member

What a great race! And you had fun the whole time! Nothing beats that!!!

Member

Great race and report. I bet that cut will sting like the dickens in the shower tomorrow

.

The Pinball

great job elkid! good strong finish -- 1/2 mile sprint with a Mr. Green

sounds like a good experience for sure. Dancing Banana

arm gash=

Pyromaniac

Good job Kiddo. Racing is a whole lot more fun when it is FUN. Or something like that.

Member

Smart Racing thumbs up

Kickin' hills and taken names Dancing Banana

POTFH

Nice Job Elkid!

Member

the kid's running on the highway! Nicely done. Bet it feels great to whip that course's butt.

Member

NICE RACE KID! and i can't wait to see those pics! Wink

Member

Fantastic job! That's the one thing I like about HR monitors. They tell you that you aren't tired and to keep running. You did great!!!

Brooklyn Half: I saddled up

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