Brooklyn Half-Marathon Recap

When I first signed up for the Brooklyn Half-Marathon a few months back, my game plan was to build on my fitness from the NYC Half-Marathon on March 20th, get more workouts and mileage done in better weather, and run even faster. Unfortunately, I needed a mental break and took a bit too much time completely off running after the NYC Half, spending until mid-April just getting my mileage back up.

So, I knew I wasn’t going to PR in Brooklyn, but I knew I could still get in a good effort. And that’s exactly what happened so I am pretty happy with how Saturday went.

My time, 1:26:55, is pretty much on-par with what I thought I was capable of today, but 2.5 minutes slower than my best of 1:24:23 from just two months ago at the NYC Half. But, the best part of the day was crossing the line as the fifth female finisher for my new team, Central Park Track Club! The Brooklyn Half was a club points race, and the top five finishers for each team scored. I was happy that although I didn’t run my best, I was able to help out the team in my first race for them. Plus, it was so great having teammates at all points throughout the race! I was the 20th female finisher overall, and 4th in my age group.

So, let’s recap the morning quickly. The race started at 7am, which meant I was up at 5:20 am to get ready, roll out my piriformis/hip, drink lots of coffee, eat a big bowl of oatmeal with bananas and cinnamon, and go to the bathroom. I left around 6 am and quickly found a cab, which cost me about $47 to get down to Prospect Park. YIKES! I’m pretty sure I only paid like $18 to sign up for the race, and the cheapskate within me hates taking cabs. But, it was 10x better to arrive with time to spare rather than braving the subway.

I arrived around 6:30 and quickly checked my bags, and turned around and spotted Megan, Sarah and Shelby! Yay for new teammates! After a little walking and bathroom trip in the woods, we got in the corrals and were ready to race! Despite being in the first corral, I think it took me about 25-30 seconds to cross the line. It was crowded.

Prospect Park really wasn’t that bad. I think training and racing on the rolling hills of Central Park helped, and ‘the hill’ came and went. Sure, my mile times were a bit slower going up since it was pretty long, but wasn’t totally killer.

By the second loop, I grew increasingly frustrated by the amount of people walking/shuffling that I had to pass. I wasted a ton of energy here dodging people and almost running (literally) into them when they popped out of nowhere. I did find another CPTC-er, Jacy, around mile 5 so did my best to stick with her until we got out of the park and I kept the pace steady. I know I’ve said it before, but running with her for a bit and spotting and trying to keep up with the other CPTC girls throughout the race helped me so much.

Around mile 7, you exit the park and have the long, flat, and endless stretch of Ocean Parkway. Granted, it was pretty flat, but it felt neverending and there was little crowd support. Most people who were there standing and watching were completely silent. At least clap or say ‘woo!’ or something! Ugh.

Around mile 10, I really needed the race to end. I hadn’t really done as many longer runs and longer tempos as I needed, and I was growing pretty tired. I tried to stay focused on picking off the women in my sight one by one, which felt like a game so it was fun. Around mile 12, I wanted to die. It felt like my pace slowed dramatically and I had nothing left by the time I hit the boardwalk.

I heard Tony, the coach for CPTC, tell me I was the fifth team member when I was on the boardwalk. That got me a bit excited, but quickly wore off when I realized the finish line didn’t seem to be getting any closer and I thought I was actually moving backwards.

Definitely not a strong finish, but a finish nonetheless!

Miles 2 & 5 had the hill in Prospect Park, mile 6 I dodged walkers, but the rest of the time my pace was pretty consistent except my last 1.1 miles of death. My average pace was 6:38, which was pretty much my average pace for last Saturday’s 10K. I knew this about myself already, but I can keep a good pace for a long, steady race. Even if the race is shorter, it’s so much harder for me to run faster. Gotta work on that speed!

The race finished in Coney Island and Dan met me towards the end. We spent the afternoon in the ocean, eating Corn Dogs (well, he did…) and riding the Cyclone. It was a blast!

Baywatch?

Ocean=Post-Race Ice Bath

Coney Island Corn Dogs!

We rode and survived!

It took me a while post-race to get back my appetite, but I fueled properly…not one, but TWO trips to my beloved 16 Handles. I can’t think of a better post-race meal/treat, honestly.

The second trip to 16 Handles was post-dinner at Five Napkin Burger, followed by a night out with the girls! I was really impressed with myself that I stayed out until 2 am…in heels! What a busy/fun Saturday.

I was a bit sore yesterday, but made it through an easy five miles to shake out, and felt surprisingly good on my 7 mile run this morning. I am hoping to make it to the CPTC track workout tomorrow…my first track workout in quite some time. Hopefully getting in some faster work will pay off for the Mini 10K on June 11th, my last real race effort before backing off and gearing back up for NYC Marathon training.

Now that Monday is just about over, what was the best part of your weekend?