NYRR Brooklyn Half Recap – Run Your Own Race
The Course: Two counter clockwise loops around Prospect Park, then exit the park onto Ocean Parkway and straight until you hit the boardwalk of Coney Island.
Weather: Perfect, beautiful and warm! That is, until around mile 9. After the 9th mile, the sun started beaming more and humidity kicked in.
Pre-race meals: Whole wheat pasta with alfredo sauce, bana-choco-nutter protein shake and a red velvet cupcake for supper. Oatmeal with cinnamon for breakfast. A banana an hour before race time.
My friend, Caroline (who also ran her first half with me, sneaks pictured next to me above) asked me “Which do you feel more proud of: running a half marathon or graduating from college?” The answer was so simple to me. Training and preparing my body and mind to run the long distance took far more focus and self discipline than studying or preparing for an exam. Finishing my four year degree seemed like a walk in the park compared to the 13.1 mile journey I had just embarked on.
The day before the half I was very calm and relaxed. I was ready to just get the show on the road and hit the pavement already! I received so much positive energy from friends wishing me well; it was really encouraging to sit on before the big day. I picked up my bib after work and went straight home to have a carbo-loaded supper, get my stuff prepared for an early morning and hit the hay around 8p.
I managed to sleep pretty well the night before. I woke up at 4am still feeling calm and relaxed, made a bowl of oatmeal and headed downtown to pick up Caroline. We headed to Brooklyn together and I’m 99% sure we were the first runners there. We got to Prospect Park around 5am and the park was still dark, super foggy and empty. Our cab driver decided to tell us the park was haunted right before we got out, so we were a little spooked wandering around aimlessly by ourselves looking for fellow runners. Luckily we were able to spot some volunteers and mingle with them for a bit beforehand. Once more runners started trickling in, my calm and relaxed persona disappeared and my nerves started kicking in full blast. Everyone looked so athletic and ready to rock, I began second guessing how prepared I really was for this race. Thankfully Caroline was there with me to calm my nerves.
Once the race started, my nerves went away and I was feeling good. The best advice given before the race was from my coworker – an avid runner who has completed tons of half marathons and full marathons. She told me to run my own race. The adrenaline pumping through me told me to pick up the speed, but I managed to control my speed pretty well to prevent burning out later. The first loop around the park went pretty quickly and smoothly. I remember reviewing the map of Prospect Park beforehand and being nervous of the big hill, but it wasn’t bad the first time around. The second loop around was a different story though. There’s an area in the loop where the hill plateaus and you think it’s downhill from there, but then you turn the bend and see there’s even more incline ahead. Man, I could have sworn the hill got steeper and longer the second time around! I manged to push through the second lap and that awful hill without stopping though and made it out of the park alive!
Once I exited the park I noticed I was making pretty good time, running 10 minute miles consistently through mile 7. By the time mile 8 hit, I was on the beginning stretch of Ocean Parkway. From mile 8-11 was the most boring part of the course. There were few people on the sidelines cheering, the scenery did not change since it was just a straight, shot to Coney Island. At least it was mostly flat. At one point during the course, the avenues begin going through the alphabet, so all you see is the streets counting down from Avenue A-Z. I really made the stretch seem never ending. Naturally, this is the part of the race where many (myself included) begin to slow down. Mentally, I was trying to push the pace, but my body was not agreeing. I went from a 10/mile to continually dropping mile after mile from 11/mile to 12/mile to an embarrassingly slow 13/mile at around 10-12. Woof. I stopped at mile 8 and 11 to refuel on Gatorade. My efforts were still above the low expectations I set for myself: I wasn’t going to be last, I was definitely going to finish and even better, I was well in front of the 3-hour time limit of the race. At around mile 11 I wiped the sweat off my face and felt beads of sand layered all over my cheeks. I licked my lips and tasted the salt water from the shore ahead. I finally felt like the end was near! This encouraged me to pick up the pace, dig deep and finish the last two miles strong.
Mile 12 and 13 were surprisingly the easiest of the race. I had so much adrenaline pumping at that point..I could taste the beach, see the Coney Island ferris wheel, hear more spectators cheering. Finally I could actually see the end of Ocean Parkway and a crowd of people at the entrance of the boardwalk; the final meters were so close! Once I turned the bend to the boardwalk I could make out the blue FINISH ahead. It was a bit further away than I anticipated and adjusting to the wooden boardwalk from the concrete proved to be tough on my legs, but I found some way to fight through the pain and I sprinted the last .2 miles to the finish line. I high-fived fellow finishers immediately after and as soon as I found a clearing to be alone, I began to weep like a little girl. I did it.
As cliche as this sounds…after all the ups, the downs, the hard work finally paid off and I finished. After a while, I began to realize the sweat, tears and ocean breeze were a synonymous salty taste on my face so I figured I needed to get myself together. I grabbed a bagel, started my cool down and searched for Caroline to celebrate the feat we conquered that Saturday morning before many New Yorkers even have their bagel and coffee.