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New York City Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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New York, New York
United States
New York Road Runner's Club
47F / 8C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 47m 19s
Overall Rank = 3951/15336
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

As always a maze to get into the city the day before. Get parked, check into hotel, and get to pack pick up and everything all before 5 when expo closes. Got in around 1, got packet, went to lunch, checked into hotel and then got dinner and went to sleep. Stayed at the Empire Hotel which is 2 blocks from the start and the best place to stay if the course doesn't change. Woke up 4:15, ate, muttled around and then left around 6:20 to walk over to the race. Everything is well organized and it was a nice foggy cool morning.
Run
  • 1h 47m 19s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 11s  min/mile
Comments:

I focused quite a bit all winter on running using a modified pfitz the first few weeks of the 18/55 and then just leveling off around 35-45. Each week had a mixture of 5.5/7.5/10 and sometimes a long run maxed at 15 miles on peak week. I always tried to get in 2 longish runs of at least 10 miles a week. My last 2 halfs everything fell apart once I hit mile 10 and my times really slipped 30 secs to a minute slower there after. All my runs were rolling hills/steeper hills, nothing flat around here. My goal for this race was to go greater than 1:50. I ran 1:54 last year here and 1:52 in Philly in november.

I started out going roughly slow considering there were lots of rolling hills and a few longer hills but nothing really steep. Miles 1-6 were the rolling hills and then 7-13 were all a slight downhill. As I was running I did start to get tightening in my shins as I was trying to push the pace and it felt frustrating as I was only in the mid 8's each mile and felt like I was never going to get my goal of 1:50:00. I tried running harder and I still couldn't go near an 8 minute pace. I felt like I was keeping a consistent pace though as I ran up hills I passed tons of people and then when I ran down hills some of those people passed me and this went on at each hill. I think I need to run faster going downhill.

Around mile 4 things started clicking. Usually in most of my training runs nothing feels quite right until I get to mile 4. Once I get to mile 4 all things start to click and I feel like I can run for miles. I think it has something to do with my legs finally being stretched out. I dont do any warm up or anything. Might have to look into that. Once I reached around mile 6/7 we exited central park and I took a GU gel and things really flattened out. Also felt a pretty decent headwind as you go onto 7th ave. The headwind ended once you got out of the times square area. I think maybe it was just all the high buildings together. Didn't feel it on the WSH. Running through times square was nice. That is when things widened out and there was much more room to run. By this time my shin tightening was completely gone and I was really starting to motor along. Looked at my watch as I exited times square and it rang up 6:56 and I was like, there is no way I am going that fast. Must be a mistake. Hit WSH and the next mile said 7:36.

This was when I thought maybe I have a chance now. I started to turn it on once I got to West Side Highway. When you look down it, all you see is thousands of people running and the road is completely downhill to the financial district. As I was running I was flying by people as if they were jogging and I was actually sprinting. The miles piled up in the mid 7's. I was wondering how long I could hold this pace as most of my training runs are in the upper 8's and the only time i've run in the mid or low 7's was a 5k sprint last year. Even in philly I only ran one mile in the 7's. The rest were low 8's. I started to hold back a little as I hit mile 10 and 11 because from my previous two half's I hit a wall and I was just waiting for it to come as I knew my luck of 7 minute miles would not sustain. My legs however felt great, no pain at all and I just felt like I could go faster and kept pushing the pace until the end. By this time I was really hauling it and passing tons of people who I presumed were running about an 8-8:30 pace and I was going much faster. I just ran right down the middle of the crowd weaving through all the people. I think maybe a handful of people passed me and I passed probably several hundred people. I felt like I was the only one running and everyone else was death marching it or jogging. Once I got passed the imaginary wall of mile 10 and 11, I started to just push it as I knew I was going to break 1:50 and it was a matter of by how much.

I negative split the race. First time that has ever happened. I ended up beating it by close to 3 minutes and also PR'ing by over 5 minutes from my last half 4 months ago. I only wonder if there weren't hills the first half of the race whether I could of gone faster than 1:45. That will only now push me for my next race. What if? How fast could I have gone? Is 1:40 even possible?

My garmin showed I ran an extra half mile. That kinda sucks but it could be satellite issues or something. I was seeded in the 8000's and ended up in the upper 3000's. I was also seeded 2 corrals ahead of where I was last year. Maybe I need to seed a bit further up so I dont run around so many people.

Split Time Distance Avg Pace
1 8:19.9 1.00 8:20
2 8:36.9 1.00 8:37
3 8:24.4 1.00 8:24
4 8:35.0 1.00 8:35
5 8:20.3 1.00 8:20
6 8:16.5 1.00 8:17
7 7:45.6 1.00 7:46
8 6:56.4 1.00 6:56
9 7:36.1 1.00 7:36
10 7:40.1 1.00 7:40
11 7:49.9 1.00 7:50
12 7:35.2 1.00 7:35
13 7:31.2 1.00 7:31
14 3:51.6 0.64 6:03
1:47:18.9 13.64 7.52

What would you do differently?:

-Run faster going downhill
-Warm up run/stretch?
-Run faster and expect not to hit a wall
-Seed higher
-Did the GU at mile 6 make me HTFU?
Post race
Warm down:

Walked the inevitable tunnel around the buildings to exit the festival area. Hit the train at Fulton Street back upto Columbus Circle. There was no problems getting on a train and it wasn't packed at all. I finished under 2 hours though. Not sure about the rest of the people behind me. Got back to my hotel in plenty of time to shower, eat, and relax for an hour or two before having to check out.

Event comments:

Well organized race as always. Probably will be back next year.




Last updated: 2012-03-16 12:00 AM
Running
01:47:19 | 13.1 miles | 08m 11s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/15336
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2012-03-19 3:29 PM

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Subject: New York City Half Marathon


2012-03-19 4:01 PM
in reply to: #4103535

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Subject: RE: New York City Half Marathon

Great report -- sounds like you had an amazing time out there for the last few miles! There's probably more time to be had if you were feeling so strong late in the race.

I was going to suggest to discount the 6:56 mile, as my Garmin had me running 1 min/mile slower around that same part of the race, in between the tall buildings. But then I noticed that your super-fast mile was for the 8th mile, which is the one that's a steady downhill from Times Sq. to the WSH, so it's more likely true. I think that the official course markers were pretty accurate, and that my Garmin was much less reliable, except in miles 8-12. I was beeping about 15s too early for the initial miles around the park, then around 50s too late for the last few miles. And of course it was impossible for the GPS to track the part through the tunnel near the end.

2012-03-19 6:24 PM
in reply to: #4103598

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Subject: RE: New York City Half Marathon
Yea the time was exactly right with my garmin, but the mileage was off.  I know the last part near the tunnel I lost connection for a little.  Also it was beeping like 10-15 seconds early for each mile in the park. I trusted more so the time and the markers. But it gave me a good idea of pace though relative.
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