Sometimes I wonder if I exist in a perpetual state of taper madness due to the fact that I race so often.  It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, since for most of those races, I don’t actually taper (that’s hard to do when you’re not “training” per se), but I’ve got the mental part of it down pat.  It would certainly explain why I’m always feeling injuries creeping up… I mean, sure, sometimes they turn out to be legitimate injuries, but not always.

Take the past few days.  My foot and my sacrum were bugging me, and I’ve broken both of those in the past.  This is obviously a reason to freak out.  Because even if it is all in my head — it still hurts to walk, dammit!

And I didn’t even want to do the half marathon, really.  I was intending to do the 5K (I had to DNS that race last year), but since my body can be somewhat unreliable, I waited until the last day before the price jump, and the 5K was sold out.  So of course I decided it made sense to register for the half instead.  I figured I could run there, then run the race at a pace to be determined, but not HM race pace… unless the Divas half would be a disaster, in which case I’d have a backup.

Since I got my PR two weeks ago, I did not need to race this.  Michael and I decided to run together in an effort to keep the pace reasonable.  The plan was to run to the start at a 9:00 pace, and then he said he’d race at 8:30; I thought that sounded fine, and if I felt good, I’d pick it up to goal marathon pace for the second half (so 8:00).

It didn’t quite work out like that.  My first mile was nice and easy, exactly like it was supposed to be.  At that point, our paths intersected, and the second mile was a minute faster than the first.  Which still felt okay, so whatever, we just went with it.

The most accurate word I can think of to describe the start of this race is “clusterfuck.”  It’s run mostly on sidewalks and on the greenway — meaning we’re all running in that one narrow section, even when it’s an out-and-back portion.  Not such a big problem when people are already strung out a bit, but in the beginning, it was just one big mass of humanity.  It was kind of like running on a single-track trail, where you can’t really pass people, except that some people were passing, which is just begging for a head-on collision.  So many bright colors bobbing up and down, going in two different directions, and I was getting really dizzy.  And thankful that I had no plans to race this.

We did, however, run faster than planned.  It felt fine for the first half, nice and conversational.  Somewhere around mile 5, I started to wonder if I was losing my mind, and I asked Michael if he smelled peanut butter — I mean, I had a chocolate peanut butter gel in my pocket, but I didn’t think I was so desperate for it as to hallucinate!  Turns out a guy running nearby was eating a Justin’s honey PB packet.  Good, we aren’t nuts (in that respect).  Onward!

Those piers were annoying because they added a lot of turns.  I take turns widely.  Sorry, Michael.

The good thing about out-and-backs: getting to cheer on teammates!  It would be fine if we could do that without being in such close proximity, but beggars can’t be choosers.

When we turned around at the 7-mile point, we realized that we had unknowingly been benefiting from a tailwind.  Because we were suddenly smacked in our faces with an unwelcome headwind.  Maybe that’s why our return trip found us a little more grumpy than the way out!  Oh, and if we’re barely past the halfway point?  Don’t tell us we are “almost there.”  Because we can do math.  You, clearly, cannot.  But thanks for the support?  (We laughed at that in the first half.  Not so much in the second.  See: grumpy.  Or, as Michael pointed out during the way back around one of the piers [the good thing here was that we got a break from running directly into the wind], “I feel like we were a lot more jovial in the first half.&rdquo

Around mile 10 or so, we passed a woman who told us that we looked awfully relaxed for the pace we were running.  We did laugh at that.  Looks can be deceiving?  I mean, I just thought about how badly I was hurting at this point in the race during my last half marathon, and compared to that, I felt great.  But my stupid foot was not happy, so that made me… not so happy.

Since we were already running much faster than planned — we’d decided ten minutes off a PR made sense, so we chose somewhere between that point for both of us and came up with 1:46 — and there was really no need to run any faster, we kept trying to slow down in the last couple of miles.  Heaven knows it would have been nice.  Except that then it felt like I was moving much too slowly.

Besides, during the last mile, there was a woman ahead within passing distance.  I don’t care if I’m not racing — I can’t resist that.  Off I dashed.  And Michael dashed after me.  In retrospect, it might have been nice if I had said that’s what I was doing!  My bad.  But we both gained a few seconds, so you’re welcome.

There were lots of PPTC spectators out there, which is the nice thing about doing a Brooklyn race!  Noah was right around mile 13, I think; we got photobombed.

And a minute or two later, there was Murray!  This is me being all thrilled because yay, the finish line is right there!

I’m pretty sure we saw Noah first, anyway.  My brain doesn’t always remember things the way it should.

Yes, so… that’s basically my goal marathon pace, or a little faster.  13.12 miles in 1:42:55, 7:51/mi.  Which is nice, and all, except that when I think of having to run another half marathon at this pace, immediately following one… I am terrified.

Michael’s reaction to the exact same situation is completely disparate, which is hilarious.  Seems like everything I do to increase my confidence level before the marathon has the opposite effect!

Officially, 1:42:52, 7:51/mi; 117/949 OA, 17/512 F, and 2/174 F30-39.  My AG was actually the slowest women’s AG today, so I won a pie.  It really annoys me when I win yummy food that I can’t even eat.  But Jimmy was happy, because I gave him my (apple, apparently) pie.

Prospect Pie Track Club.

And to make up for the extreme heft of my AG medal from the Divas half, I now have these two “sustainable” wooden ones.  They’re very lightweight.

So… I guess this was my last “long” run before the marathon.  And I have absolutely zero confidence in my ability to run a BQ.  Oh, dear.

 

Yes, so… that’s basically my goal marathon pace, or a little faster.  13.12 miles in 1:42:55, 7:51/mi.  Which is nice, and all, except that when I think of having to run another half marathon at this pace, immediately following one… I am terrified.

But actually, you can run 10 sec slower per mile for your marathon. That makes a big difference

You have the heart of a racer, that's for sure.

Can you hold the pace for a full 26.2? I can't answer that for you. As onemile pertinently pointed out, 10 secs/mile slower is huge.

Great RR, as always.

 

But actually, you can run 10 sec slower per mile for your marathon. That makes a big difference

At least. Isn't your BQ 3:35, or 8:13? Even if you go for BQ-3 to be sure to get in, that's 8:06. Plus, didn't you just run a sub-1:35, ffs? I'm sure you can do it. I'm not saying you will do it, because marathon. It's always a crapshoot.

Those shoes look sweet paired with your outfit. Are those your new Ghosts?

No, those are the 7s!  Get with the program, dude.

 

But actually, you can run 10 sec slower per mile for your marathon. That makes a big difference

I can't even imagine having twenty extra seconds though (which I technically can spare and still BQ).

Congrats on the AG award.

Thanks!!  The funny thing is that I was saying before this race that I wouldn't be tempted to run faster than I should, since based on last year's results, I wouldn't have had a shot at an AG award unless I raced it full-out.  Figures that my AG would end up being the slowest of the day.

You have the heart of a racer, that's for sure.

Can you hold the pace for a full 26.2? I can't answer that for you. As onemile pertinently pointed out, 10 secs/mile slower is huge.

Great RR, as always.

I'm hoping that will help me come marathon day... that, and praying for a miracle, is the basis of my race plan.

 

At least. Isn't your BQ 3:35, or 8:13? Even if you go for BQ-3 to be sure to get in, that's 8:06. Plus, didn't you just run a sub-1:35, ffs? I'm sure you can do it. I'm not saying you will do it, because marathon. It's always a crapshoot.

It is, but I decided I may as well go for broke and am using 3:30 as my goal.  It gives me a little wiggle room, I guess.  The problem is that I feel like I can do a much better job of this if I run with someone (not a pace group, just one other person), but somehow I ended up in the last corral in wave 1, and everyone I know who is targeting 3:30 is two or three corrals ahead of me.

Not sure how I missed this RR. Nice job. How are you feeling now a couple of days later?

After a couple of days of sitting on my ass and enjoying the cold that I got from my mom, that she got from my cousin, who brought it all the way from Australia... superb!!

 

It's a question I never bothered with where training is concerned, mostly because no one ever thinks they can hold race pace during a training run, regardless of the distance. Or at a minimum, very few do.

True dat.

Nice entertaining report and and photos and congrats on your half.   Only 1 thing surprised me in this report:  your age group.  Really?  In looking at your previous photos - without knowing your age - I thought you were about in your early 20s.  You 'preserve' very well, young lady. 

...but somehow I ended up in the last corral in wave 1, and everyone I know who is targeting 3:30 is two or three corrals ahead of me.

Get used to it, it pretty much is the life for hobby joggers. We're stuck in the middle and except for the occasional instance, most often race alone.