RACE RECAP: Brooklyn Half Marathon


Pre-race preparation: I tried to catch up on sleep yesterday after my one-day work adventure, plus working from home was helpful! We spent the night at home last night, which I wasn’t complaining about, and made our traditional nachos for dinner. Somehow, I got glutened during the day (sad face) so no early bedtime for me.

I woke up at 5:30 and made myself two Van’s waffles with peanut butter and syrup. This is the first half where I actually ate beforehand and I think it helped. I headed down to the subway at ten to six, only to wait for 15-20 minutes with no train. I finally gave up and decided to jog to the start which was about a mile away.

Actual race: I think I mentioned before that NYRR expanded the field for this race… and it was BUSY. The start area was packed… I think there were about 16,000 runners in total?! It was so crowded and for the first three miles, I was so boxed in. I’ve never been boxed in to this point before… and it was either get elbowed in the face or cut off a runner or two (apologies to any fellow runners that I cut off to save myself from getting a black eye!).

I also had side aches like I did for Houston for the first three miles. I used my breathing technique (breath in through my nose and out through my mouth for two counts) and shook them off by mile 4. By this time, we were in Prospect Park, which is my favorite. I love that the new course took us through my least favorite part of the park first, and left the big downhill for last. From there, we were headed down Ocean Parkway for the rest of the race. I think the race started later last year because I remember running down Ocean Parkway and it was pure sun. This time, it was nice and shaded. I love that we finish on the boardwalk at Coney Island too, with awesome views of the ocean!

What I loved: I’ve mentioned it before, but NYRR races are so organized! It’s amazing how they are able to pull off such large races. The weather was great and the fact that there were water stations about every mile or two was great as well. I also loved the course changes — it was fun to run around the park before entering (especially since I’ve never been on that side of the park before). And how cool is it that we got medals this year?! Definitely worth the (slight) price increase.

#proof

Overall, it was a wonderful race. My one complaint is that it was SO crowded, I felt like I spent a lot of time and energy just trying to weave around other runners.

Time: So I totally PRed for this race! I will take it, considering my lack of sleep, stomach issues and energy spent weaving. My official time was 1:41.24. I was hoping to break 1:40 (and possibly even 1:37), but no complaints here since I didn’t feel the best leading up to this race.


Overall rating (4 out of 5 ups):

     

Categories: Brooklyn Half, race recap, running

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