I had really good intentions to get this post up on Monday, but obviously that didn’t happen. Better late than never I guess!
For this race there is no race bling but we get a kick-ass hat! 🙂 |
On Sunday I ran my first race of the year, the NYRR Fred Lebow Manhattan Half Marathon, in Central Park in NYC. The race was two loops around the park. I am not a big fan of races that loop because I always see the winner run pass me as I hit mile 6 or 7 and that irritates me to no end!! It’s a little disheartening to see that because you know you still have more miles to run before you can finish.
The day before the race, we got a few inches of snow but nothing too crazy. I was happy to see that the park was in good condition and the course looked dry (no ice or snow). Also it was a balmy 35 degrees which was great and much better than the temperature for the race last year, which was 19 degrees (yikes)! The course itself was….well it wasn’t good or bad. Central Park is known for their hills. To me the course had many rolling inclines and one or two substantial hills.
Elevation profile for the race |
I woke up with an upset stomach so I literally had a few bites of a banana and water before the race – not the most ideal pre-fuel for 13.1 miles. I started to feel a little better right before the start of the race. I honestly felt good for the first half of the race. I stopped to walk at mile 6.5 so that I could eat some of my Honey Stinger chews (I don’t trust myself to run and eat at the same time lol) took a few swigs of my Nuun water and then proceeded to finish loop 2 of the course. At about mile 9 I started to have issues with my left ankle and right hip – perfect right? I stopped to stretch but it didn’t quite work so I had to adopt a run/walk method for the next 4 miles. Not exactly how I would have liked things to go, but I try to listen to my body and didn’t want to risk it to cause a harmful injury.
I think this was toward the end |
Once I saw the mile 13 marker I kicked it into high gear because I was really tired and in pain and I just wanted the race to be over. After crossing the finish line I pretty much inhaled a bagel in 2 minutes – I was starving!
Bringing it home on that last .1 haha |
After crossing the finish line. This is the “I’m glad that sh*t is over” face |
What did I learn from this race? I REALLY need to incorporate more hills into my training runs. The inclines/hills got the best of me and it really frustrated me when I was out on the course. I have another half marathon on that same course at the end of February and I’m really hoping I can improve my time. Also my quads were completely tore up for 2 days straight after the race and I had a slight ankle injury so I think I also need to incorporate more strength training to build up those muscles. I’ll be making some changes to my current training/gym schedule.
My two main goals this year are to run 15 half marathons and complete the NYRR 9+1 program (for guaranteed entry into the 2016 NYC Marathon). Thankfully this race helped me get one step closer for both goals.
My next race is the NYRR Gridiron 4 Mile on February 1st, which is also Super Bowl Sunday! Do you have any plans? I plan to #eatallthefood 🙂
My next long race is the NYCRUNS Central Park Half Marathon on February 22.
Have you ever had a bad race? If so, how did you bounce back?
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