Race Report, My First Half, 13.1 NYC!

 Hi all,  

I have looked forward to writing this report for a while.  Thanks so much for all of your advice and inspiration!

I ran the inaugural 13.1 Race in Queens, NY, at Flushing Park, which was the  home of the world's fair int he 60's.  The event had a 70's disco theme which was kind of cool.  We raced all over the park, around lots of the iconic buildings.  I guess there were about 3000 racers in total.  

We had to get up at 4am as its about 1.5 hours drive or so for us down there, without traffic.  Then we had to park a good 1.5 miles away from registration.  I knew I was in trouble when the leg was hurting on the walk to register.  Pretty much from the first step, I was in pain, starting just below the knee and then moving up the whole left leg.  The weather was awesome though, like 58 degrees and sunny at the start, up to around 60 by the time it finished.  

I started out with a good 10.5 minute mile pace for the first 4 or 5 miles.  even with the pain, I felt like I was stretching it out and it would get better.  The course is really flat except for a couple of overpasses, and being as I had trained in these unrelenting hills in the Hudson Valley, I felt like I would be fine.  We;;, by the time mile 6 rolled around I was starting to seriously hurt.  Mile 7 I was in agony.  By the 9th mile I needed to walk a few minutes as the leg simply wasn't working right.  I had the spider tape on, not sure if it helped or not, but by the time I hit mile 10 I was seriously wondering if I was gonna make it.  

Everyone had told me if you could do 10, then adrenaline and excitement would carry you through the last three... well, I'm still waiting on that adrenaline :)  It was pure hell those last three miles, and I jogged at a snail's pace until the last 3/4 mile or so.  My leg was so tight I was struggling just to extend, and I didn't want to stop to walk because I wasn't sure I'd be able to get running again if I did.  

I popped a few hammer gels during the race, the last one around 10.5 miles.  If nothing else it gave me a little clarity and let me focus on eating it and not on the pain in the leg for a bit.  The last 3/4 I just gave it all I had and ran as hard as I could.  I had been hoping for at least 2 hours 20, and I finished with a chip time of 2:29:59.  Hey, I will take it.  1695 out of 2200 or so, especially considering I just about limped (crawled)  the last 3 miles.

I am most proud of my 17 year old son that finished in 2:07 and had not really trained at all, and his longest prior run was only 5 miles.  

Thanks again all for being here and contributing to this forum!

Way to get the half under your belt.  Pushing through the pain is tough, but it makes the finish all the sweeter.  Congratulations!
Rob

Way to go man. Congrats on your finish. Congrats on getting your boy out there also. That may be a bigger accomplishment.

Congratulations Andrew!  Sounds like you had a grueling race, but muscled through it.  Recover well!

Cassie