Just because this one was special to me.   (And it's also really freaking long.)

Technically speaking, Jerusalem is the first half marathon I ever ran — because the only one I completed prior to that was the Half Marathon from Hell through which I hobbled with multiple pelvic/sacral stress fractures.  Back in 2013, I said of this course that it was probably the hardest one I’d ever run.  That is still true, and I was having trouble imagining how I’d ever best my time from that year.

A couple of months after Jerusalem in 2013, I ran the Long Island Half Marathon in 1:44:49; my PR now is 1:39:08, so I should be able to run a course PR, but I still worried that I couldn’t.  (Not to mention the fact that my knees were screaming for mercy after the Washington Heights 5K last week; if that’s how they react to a hilly 5K, I don’t even want to know what they’ll do after an even hillier half marathon!)

So, my goals going into this:

A: 1:45
B: sub-1:50
C: course PR (sub-1:51:39)

According to the marathon website, there were supposed to be pacers for 1:40 and 1:50… and no 1:45.  After my less-than-successful attempt to use a pacer in Tel Aviv in 2014, I wasn’t exactly planning to do that again… but I do like to have them there, because it’s a useful gauge for me to see whether I’m on target for my goal.  I decided I’d start halfway between those two groups, and that if I passed the 1:40 one or the 1:50 one passed me, it meant I was in trouble.

Despite the fact that I netted a grand total of three hours of sleep the night before the race, I got to the start super duper early, because I wanted to find the OneFamily tent — I never did in 2013!  Of course, this time I found it immediately, so I had half an hour to kill.  That gave me enough time for two bathroom stops.  Bathrooms!  Indoors!  With flushing toilets, and sinks, and everything!

The starting area was kind of a mob scene, because there were multiple barriers through which we had to bottleneck to get to the actual start line.  I don’t understand the point of the whole A, B, and C corral indications on the bibs, since everyone was just milling together anyway, but all right.  It took a bit of maneuvering, but I finally found both the 1:40 and 1:50 pacers and parked myself somewhere between them.

And then we were off!  Supposedly it was going to be sunny; it was not, and there were even a few rain sprinkles early on.  And it was chilly — ideal racing temperatures for most (high 40s/low 50s), but I was freezing.  It was quite congested at first, but it cleared up really quickly; nothing like NYRR races at all.  I think this photo is from the first mile, when it was just starting to thin out.  (Yep, free race pictures!)

This is how randomly my mind operates during races: last year, I hit mile 1 in 8:48, and I averaged 8:31 (officially).  I decided this meant that my pace for the first mile would be my average pace for the whole distance, minus fifteen to twenty seconds.  (Spoiler: I wasn’t wrong.  Creepy.)

The first four miles or so were rather pleasant.  There were some unkind climbs, of course, but they had nice corresponding descents.  And during the second mile — in a tunnel, which naturally was filled with the sounds of whooping runners — I was surprised to pass a 1:45 pacer.  There wasn’t supposed to be one of those, but… new gauge!  Try to stay with him.

Somewhere around the 5K mark, we made a quick little trip into and out of the Old City; the streets there are REALLY narrow, and running on cobblestones isn’t super fun, so I’m glad it was just a short jaunt.  Plus, then you get an awesome picture with the Old City wall in the background.

Shortly thereafter, the hellish portion began.  It started with this ramp:

Not the sort of thing that comes across well in pictures, but trust me, it was a wee bit brutal.  There weren’t really any easy downhills to make up for the slow steady climbs in the next portion of the race… which lasted until about, oh, mile 12?  I did remember that there was a truly nasty hill around mile 11 in which we ascended 200 feet in less than a mile; that was the only time I walked during the race in 2013.  Come hell or high water, I was determined not to walk this year.

And I didn’t.  I was running up the hill so slowly that I practically could have been walking, but I didn’t.  In fact, that mile wasn’t even my slowest — that honor goes to the mile which included the ramp pictured above.

My left knee (the “bad” one) had been bugging me since about the midpoint, and on this hill, the mystery injury afflicting my right peroneals began to squeak.  Nothing like in Tel Aviv in 2014, when I had the same injury in my left leg, so I was just counting my blessings that I was able to run this race relatively healthy.  (For me.  Other people, those who are not always injured, would think I’m crazy to say that.)

There was a lot of mental math to keep me occupied, because I kept having to convert kilometers to miles to figure out my projected finish time.  I assumed my watch would measure the course long, because it did last time, and it usually does; how can it not, with a route as meandering as this?!

My calculations kept ending up somewhere around 1:42 or 1:43.  By mile 12, I knew I was definitely going to finish under my A goal, which is astounding, but evidently not astounding enough for me — because I decided I wanted to finish under 1:41:39, so that I could nab a ten-minute course PR.

Have I mentioned that after the cruelty of that monster hill, there is an uphill finish?!

Just because that doesn’t quite illustrate the cruelty of said “uphill finish,” here’s a photo… about four minutes left for me.

There’s a long straight stretch to the finish line — what I call a conveyor belt, because you’re running down this seemingly endless street with the finish line at the end of it, but it seems like your goal is moving farther and farther away from you.

I, however, was too busy being confused to feel very discouraged by that — because my watch was not going to measure long this time at all.  Nope, it was going to measure short.  And then I saw the clock and realized that I was going to technically run a 1:40 half marathon.

That guy ruined my photo.  Heh.

That is my second-fastest half marathon.  Ever.  Don’t ask me to explain how this happened, because I am completely baffled.

Immediate medical tent visit after the race, of course, because while I know my knee is going to hurt, if I don’t ice it after I run it will really hurt.  (Fun little fact: they took my pulse there, and their manual check said 66, while my HRM was telling me 92.  Huh.)

This annoying format is courtesy of Garmin Connect Modern, which I hate.  But anyway.  Before I changed the distance and time… Garmin stats were 13.02 miles in 1:40:52, 7:45/mi.  Too bad there are three miles in there that don’t start with 7: xx… if they had, I could have finished under 1:40.  To be fair, if I’d known that my watch would measure short, I might have made more of an effort!  But no, I am not allowed to be upset about this.  Not at all.

And the 1:40 pacer… finished behind me.  What?

Official results: 13.1 miles in 1:40:47, 7:42/mi.  As far as I can figure … 377/4076 OA, 21/991 F, and 15/380 F20-39.

So… if the last time I ran Jerusalem I followed up a 1:51 with a flat 1:44… does that mean I’m going to follow up this 1:40 with a flat 1:33?

Excuse me while I go die laughing!

Thanks for sharing - I enjoyed reading and loved seeing the pictures.  You ran a great race, and obviously have more fitness than you've given yourself credit for.  Doing so well on a tough course should definitely bode well for some of your upcoming races.

It's a good thing you were moving so quickly...those narrow streets would have been a real bear to navigate in the middle of the pack.

Congrats. When is your next half marathon? Should be a big PR.

Nice job, congrats!  Especially on such a tough course.

Tough course, great job!

I see a man eating a big diamond, do you see it?

You have to turn your head to the left but it's there, because I AM NOT SEEING THINGS.

 

I see a man eating a big diamond, do you see it?

 

You have to turn your head to the left but it's there, because I AM NOT SEEING THINGS.

I see him too

Heck of a race, Blue!  Loved the pics.  That elevation profile looks like a tough one.  I'd say 13.02 miles is "close enough", especially since those Garmins are not always 100% accurate.  Even if you want to tack on an extra minute for that .08 miles, you still tore shit up.  I'd say you're a few minutes faster on an easier course.  Don't discount the nice race weather, either.  40's may have seemed cold to you, but that really is a great temperature for racing.