NYC Half Recap

[Fav quote]

If you read my past posts about the NYC Half you know my excitement in December had diminished to just hoping I would finish. Tra'sining this winter was brutal and I almost didn't want to run. But I am SO happy I did! 

[Expo time!]

After a few great runs the past few weeks- both on my own and at run club- I was feeling much more confident. On race day morning I woke up a little too early and had some time to kill. I left my apartment and headed to the 59th/5 Ave subway stop because I was in the 3rd wave and that stop is where I was supposed to enter. I met up with my Twitter friend Jane and we walked over to our corral together. 

[Good luck from my mama]

I kind of threw my sweatshirt away a little too early but luckily everyone was huddled together so I stayed pretty warm. I also managed to start my watch a little early so my splits were off the WHOLE time. Jane and I ran together for about the first mile then I kind of got ahead. The race started up cat hill the winded through the park. We left the park right before the Harlem hill and did an out and back (SO pointless) and came back in the park to run the hill. 

Although my training runs took place in Central Park, this was the least strong part of my race. I also got my shot blocks stuck on tin foil so that must have been hilarious for people to watch me pick that off. As we neared 7th Ave (not 100% sure?) there were many more spectators. That is also the point where I did the complete opposite of what they said to do- speed up in the hype of Times Square. I kept looking for my friends but they were MIA. 

Once we turned onto 42nd St there was a bit of wind. I grabbed a gel from the table because I could not handle getting the tin foil off a 3rd shot block. During the stretch down Times Square I felt pretty good- much better than at the start. We went up the West Side Highway for a little, where we ran INTO the wind, then turned around it was a straight shot down. 

These last miles flew by and I felt super strong. When we got to Battery Park Tunnel (yes, no?) I thought we would just run through that and it was the end. I mean it looked like a long tunnel. So I used a lot of energy in there come to find out that was not in fact the end. But I did maintain my energy for the next few blocks. 

Once I saw the finish line I sprinted over it. Since my watch was off the entire time and lost satellite in the tunnel, I didn't trust the time and since I started 45 minutes after the race began and I was in no position to do math, I was just happy I finished. It wasn't until Allie and Emma texted me a screenshot of the app and I checked my own app that I found up that I had an unexpected PR!!

[Thumbs up!]

That's right. For a race that I barely wanted to do anymore I finished in 2:04:51. I was so proud of myself! Although I have to admit I didn't run very smart. My splits were all over the place. But I finished and I am so happy for that. 

Afterwards we headed to brunch where I ate all the food and drank off the mimosas. I'd say it was a pretty solid Sunday. 

[Brunchin' with some cool people] 

Congrats to all runners who ran on Sunday!

Xo,
Lynette