For my first Half Marathon, I was shooting for 7:45 min miles (which would result in a 1:42 race), based on my November 10k of 1:42 (6:52 minute miles). Had been freaked out that I had been assigned to the 3rd of 23 corrals for the start.\u00a0 (“What expected time did I TELL them?”)\u00a0 Full of worries re: dressing warm enough, parking in NYC, proper fuel.\u00a0\u00a0 (Coach Debi prefers chewy Shot Bloks, I’ve been training with slurpy gels.\u00a0 “What should I doooo?”)<\/p>\n
Weather predictions ranged from mid-40s (week before race) to freezing (night before race).\u00a0 Week before, bought extra layers at Salvation Army, and 5 minutes before the race threw them in a bin for Goodwill. \u00a0(Now, that’s efficient recycling.)\u00a0 Turns out, perfectly dressed for the weather: \u00a0all wicking tri shorts, tights, tee and long-sleeved shirts, running hat, and gloves (which at mile 6 I stuffed into the pouch in my brand! new! race belt!\u00a0 and took out again when the wind picked up at mile 9).<\/p>\n
Kept HR mostly to Z2 in first mile. Drank and chewed a few sips at each water station (“chewed” because water was frozen on the top of each cup!\u00a0 Did I mention it was 30 degrees when we started?)\u00a0 Hammer brand caffeine gels at miles 4 and 8; no way was I eating again at mile 12, despite Debi’s advice.<\/p>\n
Periodically checked GPS watch to confirm whether I was running sub-8 minute miles.\u00a0 Damn thing fluctuated as it found the satellites, but I assumed it was accurate if I was running slow and didn’t care if it showed stunningly better pace.\u00a0 Plus, whenever I had to pick up the pace, I checked whether I was having fun.\u00a0 THAT was what made the race a great opportunity.<\/p>\n
Probably like most other people:\u00a0 I carry a lot of (psychological) baggage all the time.\u00a0 And I realized that to run a Half Marathon, I can’t carry baggage.\u00a0 So I kept taking notes:\u00a0 It’s beautiful, I’m running the middle of Times Square, and the West Side Drive, people are cheering, bands are playing (badly but with gusto and in the COLD), I’m lucky to be alive and to be able to do this and to be here.\u00a0 So, THAT’s the success story.<\/p>\n
Plus, I had a damn good finishing time, worthy of bragging rights and better than I expected:\u00a0 1:39:24, an average of 7:36 minute miles and 2 1\/2 minutes FASTER than my goal.\u00a0 That’s icing on the cake.\u00a0 So, no. 1,782 out of 15,000, and top 1\/3 for my age group.\u00a0 Each 5k almost exactly the same 23:25 (other than 0:20 slower at 20k).\u00a0 Racing for one year, 50 years old and another PR .<\/p>\n
And, for Coach Debi’s portfolio: \u00a0once again proving that training at Z1 (low heart rate) DOES work.\u00a0 Vindication for those long, slow runs!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For my first Half Marathon, I was shooting for 7:45 min miles (which would result in a 1:42 race), based on my November 10k of 1:42 (6:52 minute miles). Had been freaked out that I had been assigned to the 3rd of 23 corrals for the start.\u00a0 (“What expected time did I TELL them?”)\u00a0 Full […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2013-races"],"yoast_head":"\n