Today marked the last pre-Boston tune-up. I awoke to amazing conditions: 50 degrees and no wind. What? A non-brutal NYC half? Unheard of. I awoke at the ungodly hour of 4:30am to have enough time
Canal Street - mile 12
to get to the race minus stress. I met ironing.it.out at the Brooklyn Bridge stop at 5:45am after an interesting trip to the subway (there are some weird characters at that hour). I’m pretty certain from the time we met til the finish we didn’t stop talking?
Going into the race I had a couple of numbers in mind but would just go with whatever the legs told me to do. As the race started, they settled into a groove. That groove? 7:54-7:56 pace. The pace didn’t hurt as I was able to continue being my chatty self the entire way around the park. Before I knew it, we were at mile 7 heading to 7th avenue! I had an issue with the sport beans and water with the water up my nose and issues opening the sport beans. I’m just smooth like that:-)
My favorite part of the course: running through Times Square. The crowd support. Music. Just puts a pep in your step. Between E and I we had a ton of cheers and the miles peeled away. This year instead of turning at 42nd we headed up a couple blocks for a turnaround near the Intrepid. We both commented we’d never been there. I remember “Danger Zone” was playing at this point. Made me laugh and think of a young Tom Cruise (pre-weird Scientology).
The West Side Highway made the miles melt away as both E and I run home from work this way. I commented it’s the run home minus the bridge for me! I crossed the finish line at 1:43:23. Not a PR but a successfully run race. A) It was a PR for a half marathon in NYC. B) 3rd best half time and it didn’t feel horrendous like in 2006 or last year– I definitely could have run faster. C) I had a blast running with E! The morning finished out with coffee and more chatting – who knew there could be more to say;)
Now for the numbers part. Remember, I am known as the pacemaster. Just take a look at my splits.
Just a rock solid race. I’m feeling pretty good and if I’m running like this already, I may need to revisit a few goals later on this year. It feels great to have that running vibe back. 4 weeks from tomorrow til the next bout with 26.2!
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Congratulations on your race! God I would love to run a half or a full marathon in NYC! I fell in love with this amazingly beautiful city last June for a long weekend 1st time visit and managed to run 10K in Central Park (not a race though). One of my dreams came true that day, it was magical. I wish I would go back there one day (I’m from Windsor, Ontario, Canada).
Great job!
Way to kick ass yesterday. It was such a beautiful for racing. It seems that everyone had a great day, so many PRs. You are going to rock Boston.
Congrats on your race! That’s a great time!
And yes, that 4:30 wake up call was a killer…I was a zombie at my post-race brunch!
killer race! awesome pacing too! good seeing you and eissa pre-race before we set off on the run!
[…] Half as a final tune-up for the Boston Marathon; she was paced by our friend ES and discovered that sub-8’s are actually “chat pace” for her. But EG, was that before of after you spilled water up your nose?… I haven’t […]
Great run! And fantastic pacing throughout!!