Wow. Today did not go as planned. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it, but I managed to break the 1:27 barrier. 1:26, 1:25, and 1:24 too… I still can’t quite believe that I just ran a 1:23:46 half marathon, 6:23/mile overall. Especially after such a monster week. It just seems ridiculous.
As far as race reports go, this will be short, because I am completely spent and want to have some time to nap a bit before heading out to the bar to cheer on the Jets. Then again, it couldn’t be that detailed even if I wanted it to. I don’t remember much of the race at all. It’s just one big painful blur.
Because of Central Park’s hills, my splits were somewhat sporadic, but they were definitely faster in the second half. My fastest mile was a 6:12 mile 9 and mile 12 was the second fastest at 6:14. The fact that I was racing smart again makes me happy.
An alarming moment came right after I passed the mile 12 marker. I was at 1:16:50-something and, after doing some quick math, realized that I had eight minutes to run the last 1.1. That was the first time I knew I was going to drop sub-1:25. But almost immediately after that realization, I got really dizzy, stumbled, and almost fell. I guess I was pushing a little too hard. So, I ran pretty conservatively the last mile to make sure that I didn’t miss my goal over something as silly as passing out.
I was wearing a Jets t-shirt and had people yelling out Go Jets! the whole race. I even heard the J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets! chant a couple times. That helped a bunch, especially the last couple miles when I was really starting to fall apart.
A couple notes: According to the McMillan’s Running Calculator numbers I figured out before, my half is now the strongest of the 4 distances I calculated. It seems crazy that it went from last to first in one quick swoop.
Also, I can’t help but compare the similarities between today and Chicago. Both were days where I went in off high mileage weeks with really low expectations and then ran way better than I ever could have imagined. There’s got to be something to that… My dinner last night wasn’t an appropriate pre-race meal, I was drinking Scotch, I didn’t get eight hours of sleep, I didn’t really stretch today, my warm-up was half-assed, my legs were super tired at the start, and then I run one of the best races of my life? WTF?
Okay, that was longer than I expected, but it’s all I have the energy for. Nap time.
Wow wow wow!! Great stuff! What was your placing? If only “did not go as planned” was always this fantastic…
Thanks! 146th out of 5,441 overall.
Great time, congrats! Those Central Park hills are tough…I was dying out there today.
Go Jets!
Spectacular running. You describe what is great about the HM. Let it happen; run steady and pick things up at the end (well, you can leave out the almost-fainted-towards-the-end part).
Maybe you’ll come out for one of our Saturday runs?
I thought they were Sunday runs? Either way, yes, I’ll try to make one sometime soon.
Congtrats! You and Helen did a great job. Hey, only 46 seconds to get that automatic NYC Marathon entry.
I chuckled when I saw your results on NYRR’s site. The half can be magical that way. Nice job!
Wow! And wow, again! SO proud of you. Well, knock that one off your list for 2010. ;)
Fantastic run. The next time you don’t do as well as you expect to, remember this race. If you were to always run exactly as you planned, how boring life would be!
Thank you all for the positive comments. It’s been fun reading them all day as they come into my phone.
Wow! Congrats Rob, although i can’t sleep tonite….Jets….jets….arrrrgh!
Great race Robert — well done! Sub-4 minute ks for that distance over hills is fine running.
To (mis)quote Flo, “monster weeks could be a part of the solution, not part of the problem”. Racing well on tired legs is a sign you’re in good shape.
I was in such a rush yesterday to get some sleep and then get to the bar to watch the game that I hadn’t realized it was sub-4 kilometers. That’s ironic, considering that I couldn’t do that in the 15K a month ago.
killer work robert! congrats!
Awesome! Congratulations on the great race. I ran my best half when I least expected to as well. It was a nice surprise. :)