I’m going to start from the beginning.
The first part of running the half marathon was picking up my packet from Urban Athletics in the World Financial Center. I was dreading this for two reasons: first, lower Manhattan is really confusing to navigate and two, for reasons, that I’m not going to go into on this blog, I have a lot of anxiety around being that close to Ground Zero.
But with the help of Hop Stop, Google Maps, Dori, and my friend Elisa I was able to feel better about finding it. Unfortunately Hop Stop wasn’t 100% correct and it took a big of wandering around (Dori’s directions were great, but I totally got off at the wrong subway stop, thanks Hop Stop) before I found it.
They had it set up to pick up the bib and other papers outside of the store, but then go in the store to get the shirt. I guess they wanted you to buy stuff. I wasn’t sure what size to get so I tried them on just to be sure.
I think the shirt is great, it just kind of sucks that it doesn’t specifically say NY or the date on it.
For a recap of last night see this post.
I woke up at 5am this morning. My dad was coming to get me at 6:15 since parking was limited. With heating my legs and stretching I didn’t get out of the shower until 6:05 and I still had to get dressed, eat breakfast, and finish packing.
First I made breakfast so I could eat it while I did the other things. Two slices of Ezekial bread with TJ’s almond flax seed butter and an Emergen-C
Luckily my father was half an hour late so I had plenty of time to get ready.
I really liked my final look
Once my dad finally arrived we headed over to Flushing Meadows Park. It was super easy as there’s no traffic at 7am on a Saturday! And parking was easy to find and still plentiful.
We went to use the bathroom and sat for a while and watched some of the soccer games going on
Then we walked back to the car so my dad could drop off his warm-up pants and sweatshirt and I could drop off my sweatshirt. And this is where I’m going to tell a strange story. As we walked towards our car I noticed a guy in the backseat of the car next to ours who seemed to have his shirt off pumping up and down. Then I noticed the entire SUV was shaking.
Yep, pretty sure I witnessed someone having pre-race sex. If I hadn’t been with my father it would have been really funny, but since I was with my father it was really weird. And, for the record, it wasn’t like we were parked somewhere really remote. There were people in the car in back of the sex car and 2 cars over and all around.
Anyway, back to the race.
We walked back to what was actually the finish line, but was where everyone was congregating.
I don’t know what my dad is looking at here
I used the bathroom two more times (nerves make me have to pee!) and while there were lines both times they weren’t bad. I also ate half a white chocolate macadamia nut Clif bar around 8:30 since I had breakfast around 6.
Around 8:50 it was finally time to walk over to the starting line. We got to walk past one of my favorite places in the world (and one of the main reasons I want to do this race) the home of the US Open (if you don’t already know I’m pretty obsessed with tennis).
The 5K started first, but the half marathon wasn’t far behind and, thankfully, we started right on time.
The first few miles were kind of awkward. I told my dad I planned to run a 10:30 pace and he was said he was fine with that and we would stay together. But he kept running ahead and looking back and seeming annoyed. Finally he just ran ahead and I put on my iPod and was happy.
The views were amazing, I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better day! (All pictures taken while running so they’re kind of awkward!)
I’m trying to put together all my memories from the race.
We did one really quick loop and ended up back by the Tennis Center and I was afraid that was just going to be repeated the entire race, but it wasn’t. We ran past the Tennis Center, the Queens Museum, the Unisphere, the Queens Museum, those things from Men in Black, the Queens Zoo, and a bunch of other museums and other sites I’m not remembering.
There were good crowds of people at certain points and it was great to have my name on my bib so people could cheer for me. Having people cheer for me felt just as great as when I cheer for people at the NYC Marathon.
At certain points the course was annoying or desolate. Because of all the rain the sidewalk was flooded in a few places so we were running on the very wet, muddy grass. Definitely not what I expected. There were also parts, after we crossed the Long Island Expressway, where it was just kind of empty and we were running next to a highway.
Somewhere between miles 6 and 7, after we went up the steep incline to cross the LIE, I found Dori. I was really excited to see her since we had Twittered a lot about the race. I had a great time talking to her for a few minutes. I would have loved to talk longer, but I felt bad ditching my dad, who at this time had hung back and was running slower to keep me company, and I didn’t want to impose on Dori who seemed in her zone with music. Plus I can be a bit of a talker and I know not everyone likes that while running! 🙂
My dad ditched me again at the end of the race, I want to say round mile 10 or so. I didn’t mind, I just put on my iPod, but I started to feel a little sluggish and it would have been nice to have someone there.
Overall I felt great throughout the race. My knee bothered me a while, I could feel some stiffness in my ankle at points, but my breathing was great and overall I feel like I couldn’t have asked for a better race.
At the end of the race I just booked it. I ran mile 13 in 9:17! When I was at 12.75 miles or so Thriller came on my iPod and I remembered the dance my college class did for our Junior Show and my friend Alexis who had suggested MJ for my playlist and I felt really energized.
So, my time:
Pretty f-ing amazing! It was so much more than I expected. Given how I felt for the past few weeks and my lack of running my expectations weren’t that high.
My Garmin says I actually ran 13.28 miles which is even better!
I picked up my medal, a cup of Gatorade, and a bottle of water and headed to the food line.
I actually ended up right in back of my dad on the line for food. He only ended up finishing 40 seconds or so ahead of me. I guess my speed at the end really paid off!
I took a banana, an apple, a thing of dark chocolate almond granola, a plain bagel, a doughnut, and cream cheese.
I had the banana, apple, and bagel with cream cheese while we were hanging out. I was HUNGRY. During the race I probably ate about 16 Sharkies and stopped maybe 5-6 times at water stations for water or Gatorade which I just took a few sips.
We hung around for a little while with the other finishers.
After a little while we walked back to the car and headed home.
Check out this odd store we passed on the way to the LIE
They had serious animals inside
When we got to my parents’ house I took a shower and then went to Subway to get a veggie sandwich. It was delicious!
I watched some tennis and then headed to Target to pick up a few things. I really wanted coconut water, but I can’t find it anywhere here!
I also dressed the dog up in my dad’s shirt and medal
I think it reminded him of his old racing days. Haha.
My mom made pasta with sausage, broccoli rabe, and chickpeas for dinner. It was delicious! It wouldn’t have been my first choice (it’s my brother’s birthday so he got to pick the meal) but it ended up being great.
I also took the opportunity to open a bottle of wine I had been saving for a celebration.
My friend Elisa brought it back for me from Oregon and it’s far nicer than anything I would ever buy myself so I wanted to drink it to celebrate something. What’s better to celebrate than running a half marathon?
I’ve had about a glass and a half tonight (plus tons of water) and I think I’m going to bring the rest to my grandparents’ tomorrow for Easter.
Now I’m just relaxing. I think I’m going to have some ice cream and watch a little TV and then head to bed early.
I’m going to do a post about how I emotionally feel about the half and my journey to get here, but I need a bit more time to reflect.
Oh and I can’t wait to see my official race photos! They should be available later this week. I tried to smile and wave for all of the photographers!
Thanks to everyone for their good wishes about the race!
Congrats on a great race! I can only imagine how awkward it was to see the sex car with your dad. Pretty hysterical!
Thanks! I’m glad to hear your 10K went well. Here’s to improvement this season!
Hahaha those things from Men in Black – nice description! That was the Grand Central Parkway we ran over, not the LIE actually. It was so great seeing you and you didn’t impose at all! I wish I stuck with you longer, you made such a great time and finished 7 minutes before me!! Omg we saw that Livestock store too, how weird! Congrats, you did great!!
As you’ve probably figured out from the past 2 days I’m really awful at directions, lol. Thanks and I’m glad I found you with all those people!
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