I finished the Brooklyn Half on Saturday. It was tough and much like my previous experiences there, except that the rough part didn’t start until about mile 9 or 10. But let me back up some. I trained for this race as a goal race, unlike in past years where it was either before or after a bigger race. I didn’t follow a specific training plan, but did the workouts from our track club coaches and increased my weekly long run and overall weekly mileage slowly but steadily, capping out at 39 miles as my highest mileage week. I added more strength training and cross training. I was more cognizant of the food I was eating and got sufficient sleep.
This Brooklyn Half was one I was prepared for. As with any race, there are factors that you can’t control, namely weather. The forecast for May 21 was overcast skies and upper 50’s but no rain until later in the day so, essentially perfect running weather. It could have been a little cooler, but I dressed properly, singlet and running skirt and was ready to run.
Because we have so many team members running this race, we have busses taking us from Riverdale to the start by the Brooklyn Museum. The first bus, for those in Wave 1, was leaving at 4:45 to be sure to make it to the drop off point in time for us to get our bags on the trucks by the 6:10 deadline. This meant getting up before 4am and getting picked up by my awesome teammate Bobby at 4:20… I never sleep well the night before a race so I wasn’t worried about getting up that early. I was well rested and didn’t have a problem getting up and out of the house.
We got there really early, more than an hour before the corrals closed and more than half an hour before the baggage closed. While I was tired and some were questioning why the bus left so early, I was happy not to stress about being late or missing baggage or the corral closing. There were over 27,000 finishers so it really was a mad house. The gun went off (I assume it did anyway, since I was too far back to hear it…) and a “short” 16 minutes later Emily and I crossed the starting line and headed into her second and my 13th half marathon. We both had the same time goal so we stuck togther for most of the race. I knew Emily was a stronger runner than I and had a shot for a much faster time than me but I also knew she was not as experienced and had a tendency to go out a little too fast so we stuck together, helping each other through the hills of Prospect Park and then out to Ocean Parkway just past the halfway point. We were about a minute behind pace at the 10K mark, but considering we were finishing with the hilly part of the race and heading toward the easier portion of the course that was to be expected.
I was still feeling fine here (not sure why I felt the need to stick out my tonge but that’s going to end up being one of my more iconic race photos, I’m sure….) but had already started exeriencing some hot flashes while in the park. They weren’t terrible and I was managing with fluid intake at every water stop, gels and even a cup of water over the top of the head. I’m sure many of the other runners around me were wondering why I was dumping water on my head when it wasn’t hot out at all, but I know there were at least a few women (other than Emily who knew what was going on) who understood my need to cool my head.
The cool water helped the flushes and soaked into my singlet which stayed nice and cool the rest of the race so I wasn’t overheating. I knew if I could just maintain my pace along Ocean Parkway I would have a chance at a PR.
By the time we hit mile 8 I could tell that Emily had a lot left in the tank and she was really holding back. At this point I knew she should pick up the pace and get her PR, especially since mine was in question, so I told her to go. She picked up the pace and managed to find our 1:50 pacer who we lost before we even hit the starting line because the crowds were so thick. She finished with a 1:49:08, about a 2 minute PR off her first half marathon from last year. Great effort and smart race for Emily (she’s the one in the middle in the featured picture)!
I was starting to get a little dizzy again, feeling a little unstable and my quads were starting to ache. It was a feeling that I knew all too well but rather than give in like I had in the past, I trusted my training and kept pushing. Miles 6-9 were basically on pace, still pushing to break 1:50 even though we lost a little time in the park. I made sure to take my second gel and take in gatorade and water at every stop but I just couldn’t hold it together. Mile 11 was brutal. I walked at the water stop, though, and felt stronger for a bit so I pushed a little harder, trying to at least get to an 8:30 pace, only a few seconds off the goal pace of 8:23. It was getting harder and harder to maintain that pace and my legs were feeling like they didn’t want to work. Just when I was feeling really discouraged, I looked up and there was Anthony, my new best friend from the Central Park Track Club! He was cheering from the side, walking along with a cup of coffee. I yelled to him and told him I needed help. Without even thinking about it, he jumped in and ran with me until there was about 800 meters to go. He kept me thinking positive, told me to not think about the fact that my legs were going to stop working and gave me such encouragement. If he hadn’t been with me I surely would have lost another minute.
I knew I was not going to get my PR, but I wanted to at the very least do better than last year’s Brooklyn time of 1:59:40. I pushed through the last half, telling myself it’s just two more loops of the track, then one more loop. Up the ramp to the finish, a few steps on the boardwalk (I wonder how many people fall there, it’s so uneven and slippery at the end of a half, it really makes me stressed….) and then it would be over! I pushed with whatever I had left, my quads screaming and feeling like they were going to stop working but I eeked out a little mini kick and finished in 1:52:33, 7 minutes faster than last year. And as with any race, there were all smiles at the finsh:
I was disappointed that I didn’t get my PR, but I was proud of my strength in pushing through discomfort and pushing my perceived limits to still finish with a respectible time. I managed to score for my 40’s team and really did pretty well considering the extra stress my body went through that day. I’m happy with the end result and have races (much shorter ones, of course) the next three weekends so hopefully my recovery will be swift and I can enjoy my 5K, 4miler and 1 mile races in the coming weeks.