Well, it seemed like it would never get here but it did.

all packed – never thought I could fit it all in this small bag!!

I left very early Friday morning by bus.  I arrived in NYC and decided that since it was a beautiful warm day I would walk from Manhattan to Brooklyn. That means I took the subway to the bridge and walked over it. (That meant I had to carry the bag pictured above.)

Brooklyn Bridge Park in Manhattan

It was so awesome and worth every step.

The views were breathtaking.

It was getting late so I quickly hopped a bus to get to the apartment that I rented thru AirBnB.

it was very clean & comfortable – even had Netflix

As you can see from the pictures, it was pretty nice and my host Sylvie was great.

She was French and didn’t speak much English so as a former French teacher I got to practice my French with her. Loved it!!!

After she left for work, I quickly hopped onto a subway to get to the expo.

I got my bib & tech shirt.

It was one of the worst expos I’ve ever attended.  There was nothing there. So I wound up getting a shirt (only cuz I got $10 off by test driving a Toyota) and having something to eat. Got to Carbload, right?

it’s a tank & I liked that it had the race route on it – but it still cost too much

Maple grilled cheese & free beer

When I was done with the expo, I still had time to kill so I hopped another subway and took a ride to Prospect Park. (I met a nice girl on the train who was from Mexico, a triathloner and planning to run the Great Wall of China Marathon.)

And I just sat on the bench in the sun watching the bikers and runners go by.  It was heavenly.

Finally it was time to head back to the apartment and I arrived just as a thunderstorm hit.

too many steps the day before a half marathon???

Happily the rain had stopped by the next morning but it was a lot cooler. I got up at the crack of dawn (I couldn’t sleep anyway), had my oatmeal and tea and called a cab to get to the race start. (I didn’t want to deal with buses and subways in the dark.)

I arrived around 6 am with no problems.

arriving at the plaza with the other lost souls

But here’s where running an inaugural race is not a good idea. (I seem to have a knack for picking them.  It’s my 5th – Lake George, Fall Foliage, Love Run, Saratoga).

It was VERY poorly planned and so unorganized. A lot of inaccurate information given out, if any.

I heard that they overbooked the parking lots so people had nowhere to park and had to miss the race.

There were no signs and thousands of runners aimlessly wandering around.

I took a cab to Grand Army Plaza per directions but then had to walk a mile to gear check (I had lots of keys and a jacket to check.) I finally found a long row of 25 trucks labeled alphabetically (starting with Z – I had to walk to the 3rd from the beginning since my last name begins with Ca.)

Then we had to figure out how to get to security to enter the corrals.  You guessed it.  Another mile walk. After passing through airport like security, you had to walk to arrive at corral 20.  I was in corral 10.  Believe it or not, there were 4 porta potties for each 4 corrals!! That means 16 porta potties for 16,500 runners.  (Good thing the 27,000 projected runners didn’t sign up. I also heard that it was so backed up that they let runners in without going through security – how comforting!)

The porta potty lines were miles long. I kept walking until I got to my corral and waited online for a while. But it was almost 7 am so I got off the line (Luckily I didn’t have to go that bad. many runners waited in a line over an hour.)

I moved up to stay warm and ended up standing with runners in corral 7.  And we waited and we waited and we waited.  I guess the roads weren’t cleared so the race started a half hour late. I was freezing.  At least I had my DIY arm warmers on and a throw away long sleeved shirt but my teeth were chattering i was so cold.

waiting for my corral to go

Eventually, it was time to move.  It took about 15 more minutes for my corral to pass the starting line.

It was very crowded, of course, and very hard to get going.  You had to weave in and out. First, my shoe which was double knotted got untied.  (A bad omen, I guess.)

But at least, it was warming up outside.  Next I ditched my throw away shirt. By mile 2, I had also thrown away my arm warmers. It was sunny but there was a nice breeze which kept you cool.

The best thing about the race was the PERFECT weather.  (All that worrying for nothing.)

I think early in the race – not sure – didn’t see many photographers

My plan for the race was to race the first half conservatively.  I always crash and burn. To do this, I would walk through ALL the water stops and have Gu at mile 4, 8 and 12. (I wasn’t hungry and only had one at mile 5 and 10 but did drink water at every stop.)

That’s one good thing (and maybe the only) about the race.  There were water stops at every mile.  Toward the end, they even gave out GU.

As you can see from the map below, the race started with was an out and back running through Brooklyn Heights.  I liked seeing the other runners ahead and behind me.

Next came running along Flatbush Ave and then on Ocean Ave for a very long time.

You would think that for a Rock N Roll race, there would be music – NOPE.  Just one lonely guitar player.

Things were going well until the turn around.  My feet did not hurt (a miracle).  My even pace kept a 2:15 finish in sight.  (That was my real goal. No delusional PR hopes)

Then around mile 8-9, things started going south.  My lower back started to ache.  It bothers me when I sit too long but never while running. (Usually it’s my upper back & shoulders if I am tense.)

The pain got worse.  I was running and massaging my back at the same time.  My pace got slower and my water walks longer.

At mile 10, I saw the 2:15 pacer go by and mentally, I think I gave up.

This was also when I met the first big hill.  I ran up most of it because I was looking forward to running in the park.

The park was the nicest part of the course.  I would have enjoyed it more, of course, if I was in pain. There was even a small band.

Then came mile 12….the very long unending hill.  I just walked most of this mile.  My back hurt so much that I thought for a second about quitting.

But I forced myself to run despite the pain.  I told myself that there was no way I was finishing slower than 2:30.

heading to the finish line & happy

And I didn’t 🙂

hill near the end – ugh!

If you want to run the course virtually, watch it here:

After I got my medal, I found some chocolate milk. There were also bananas and power bars.  That’s it.  Food fail!

thousands of finishers in a field

I took my obligatory medal pic.

Believe it or not, I then bumped into a student that I taught 20 years ago.

We chatted for a long time and then I went to search for my checked gear.  I skipped the free beer and decided to find my way out of the park and to a subway.

I asked runners but no one seemed to really know so I just followed the crowd.

What was interesting was that it was after 12 pm and there were still runners out there.  They were all happy. It put it all into perspective.  I didn’t finish in my goal time but I did run 13.1 miles!!

My Splits:

mile 1 – 10:15
mile 2 – 10:21
mile 3 – 10:48
mile 4 – 10:18
mile 5 – 10:52
mile 6 – 10:35
mile 7 – 10:55
mile 8 – 11:18 (pain begins)
mile 9 – 11:29
mile 10 – 11:56
mile 11 – 11:24
mile 12 – 12:38 (I want to quit)
mile 13 – 10:53
.19 –   8:58

I’m not going to analyze what I did and should have done in the race. I’ll leave that to a later post.

It ended up being a mile walk to the subway.  But it was cool being on the subway and everyone is wearing their medals.

After changing my clothes and packing up, I decided that it was a beautiful day and I was going to spend it outside.  So I took the subway to Coney Island.

I had never been and it was great.

I walked along the Boardwalk.

strolled along the beach

sat in the sun and relaxed

Of course, I had to eat…

I wasn’t hungry but you just have to if you’re in Coney Island

homemade gelato …pumpkin spice, of course

Finally, it was time to head back to Manhattan to catch a bus home.

I think this is a record high – 8 miles in addition to the race

It definitely was an experience to remember.

After 28 miles in 2 days, I did rest on Sunday.

boating with my hubby and friends on Lake George – no talk about running or races…)

I’m linking this one up with Jessica at The Silvah Lining–she hosts a Race Recap linkup every Tuesday. Please head over and linkup a race recap you’ve written, new or old. And check out some of the other posts!

So I’m linking up today with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

October 10, 2015 7:00 am

Every time, I run a half marathon, I like to look back at my previous half marathon races.

I can’t believe that this will be my 15th.  And 10th after my ankle surgery.  (So Dr. Ortho, I can run again!!)

My first and BEST was the Naples Half Marathon in January of 2011.  My goal was just to finish and I did in 2:28:27  (gun time, no chip timing).

I immediately registered for the 1st annual Lake George Half Marathon in April of that year.  Unfortunately, I had to run in sleet & freezing rain for 13.1 miles & without my Garmin. My time was 2:22:39 (gun time, no chip timing) and a PR until 2014.

Out with strained Achilles for 6 weeks during the summer of 2011 delayed my training for the Adirondack Half Marathon  (so I walked the 2nd half of the race.) I finished in 2:44:59. It was still fun because I was running it with lots of friends.

Again impulsively, I decided to sign up for the inaugural Fall Foliage Half Marathon as a training run.  This was my hilliest half but I finished in 2:32:50.

My goal race of that year (2011) was the Santa Clarita Half Marathon that I was running with a friend in California.  This time it only poured for half the race and I finished with a disappointing 2:30:12.

After 5 half marathons in 2011, there were NONE in 2012. (The year of the broken ankle & foot stress fracture.)

My next Half Marathon, the First Watch Half Marathon in Sarasota, Fla came in 2013 16 months after serious ankle surgery and 5 months after a foot stress fracture.  I was just glad to be running again. The course was beautiful, my friends were waiting at the end and I was happy with my 2:33:59 time.

The Mohawk-Hudson Half Marathon in the fall of 2013 was supposed to be the one where I would be seriously training and hopefully get a PR. Then I broke my foot. With a late start to my training and my weekly miles not what I would have liked, again this half marathon was just “I’ll be happy to finish.” So I did in 2:24:14. I enjoyed it since it was my first half where I slept in my own bed the night before.

The Vermont City Marathon Relay on Memorial Day weekend was an unplanned race. Although, my finish time of  2:25:24 was slow, I thoroughly enjoyed the race and sharing it with AJH.

The Walkway Half Marathon was my 5th of 2015. I was looking forward to running this inaugural race and especially to seeing this new and highly publicized bridge. I had not trained much since April, overslept and ran without my Garmin so I was not disappointed with my time of 2:25:53. And I enjoyed the course.

Now to my upcoming race…

The Roll N Roll Brooklyn Half Marathon is an inaugural race so there are no race reports to read.  I have no idea if it is flat or hilly. (I have heard that Prospect Park has hills but not as bad as Central Park. )

There will be a few first in this race:

• First Rock N Roll race
• First out of town race not staying near the start (have to get a bus & subway)
• First time using Airbnb instead a hotel or a friend’s place
• First race with waves
• First really big race
• First race in NYC
• First race wearing Hokas

I’ve been looking forward to this race for a long time and it’s finally here. Look who else is running this race!!

my idol…

Here are my Goals:

A. Finish under 2:18:33 (making it my 2nd fastest Half)
B. Finish Faster than my previous half (under 2:25:53 )
C. Finish under 2 1/2 hours
D. Beat my slowest time (under 2:44:59)
E. Enjoy the race and Finish uninjured 🙂 

And what will I wear?

baseball cap, SkirtSports skirt (Tantrum pattern), Hoka shoes, compression socks, shirt TBD (depends on the weather which seems to get worse everyday.)

anxiously awaiting…

Happy Running! Anyone else running this race? What’s on your mind this Thursday?