Brooklyn 1/2 Marathon

I'm still training, and work is settling down so I should be back blogging soon. I ran the Brooklyn 1/2 marathon yesterday. Here is the race report I sent to my coaches.

***

Friday -- did not train, sushi for dinner, slept okay (6 hours).

Saturday -- banana and 1/2 pb&j for breakfast, sipped accelerade on ride to race start.

My PR was 1:59 so my conservative goal was to break that, but Charlee and I had been preparing to run under 1:50. At the start she told me I'd be on my own. I took a gel and swallowed the news. We ran the first mile together and then I went ahead. I quickly fell into a nice rhythm.

Mile 1 - 8:10/154
Mile 2 - 8:05/168
Mile 3 - 8:07/174
Mile 4 - 8:11/176 (gel)

At this point I was feeling great but started worrying that I would pay later, so I slowed down.

Mile 5 - 8:18/177
Mile 6 - 8:23/177

That just made me feel lazy. I wasn't hurting at all, so I picked it back up.

Mile 7 - 7:53/174
Mile 8 - 7:55/172 (gel)
Mile 9 - 8:09/177

I slowed way down when I got into the park. I was feeling tired, but I was also just really worried that I was going to blow up at the end. Wade went by me and I gave him a way-too-perky "good job" -- should have been my sign to pick it up. I don't remember where the big hill was, but I hope it was 10/11 or else I kind of fell asleep out there. I saw Ross and he asked me to please pass the "funny looking bald man" ahead of me, so I did. I was surprised by how easy it was to pick up the pace, but I still feared I was going to pay for my early fast pace. Ross handed me off to Earl, who told me to start reeling people in. I worked hard until I was pretty sure I was out of Earl's sight. Then I slowed down again.

Mile 10 - 8:35/174
Mile 11 - 8:30/177 (gel)

At some point Iwan went by me like I was standing still. He told me to get moving; I gave him a dirty look. I'm guessing it was around the 11-mile mark that I realized death was not waiting around the corner for me and I was, in fact, going to finish the race. So I picked it up. I had a lot left at the finish and kicked it in from about 400m out.

Mile 12 - 8:11/173
Mile 13 - 8:13/178

Overall - 1:47:20

That's a 12-minute PR, so I was pleased with the result. I worked hard for most of the race, which is huge for me. I'd rather run negative splits but this pace was kind of an experiment so I just wanted to see how long I could hold it for. I spent much of the race predicting my demise, which was stupid, but I was able to talk myself back into the race after I'd given in to the temptation to slow down. It's good to know I can run my own race.

Nutrition -- At the Manhattan 1/2, I didn't eat before or during the race. Surprisingly, that didn't work very well. This time around I ate breakfast, had a gel at the start and then every 1/2 hour, and took a sip of something at every stop. In retrospect, it might have been a bit much for the weather (I don't think I could take in much more), but I felt fine.

***

1:47:20! How cool is that?! I totally could have gone sub-1:47, and sub-1:45 is so in reach. That would get me into the competitive start at Chicago.

I'm off to DC for the week. Not sure how much training I'll get in, but I'm taking my shoes and goggles just in case.