NYRR Virtual Brooklyn Half :D

Wow, it wasn't easy - but I ran the 13.1+ miles for my virtual Brooklyn Half Marathon this morning :D

It was the longest distance I've run in long time (going back to last Fall?).  I did a 10 miler two weekends ago, but it wasn't the distance that threw me off.  My route planning was something of a fail because it had been planned as straight out and back course - 6.5 miles up to White Plains and back.  Instead, my return route was a mile shorter (brain freeze) and got back here with just 11+ miles.  That was a big oops moment and it resulted in something of a hodgepodge for the last 2 miles.  Still - mighty happy to get it done!

In an interesting (for me) observation, my 10:11 pace - it was sub-10 for most of the run - was a solid minute faster than my pace (11+) for the virtual NYC Half 5k I ran two months ago! Granted, that one was an easy jog around the neighborhood.  But the base re-building program is paying off :D

2017 Brooklyn Half Marathon: Packet Pick-up at Brooklyn Bridge Park

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to the Pre-Party/Packet Pick-up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon.  The sun and 90+ degrees did not deter any of the foot traffic over the bridge, or at the Fulton Landing, for that matter.  It was hot - and crowded! We can only hope that the temperature drops 20-30 degrees in time for tomorrow's race :O

I've lost count of how many Brooklyn Half Marathons I've run - maybe a dozen by now?  It was actually the very first half marathon I ever ran (way back in 2001)!  It was a winter race back then - and started on the Boardwalk in Coney Island... finishing in Prospect Park.  Back then we only had a fraction of the 20,000+ runners expected to line up tomorrow!

It was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite races :D

As always, if you're at this one - say hello!

May 2017 Race Schedule

With final exams to give/grade and travel to kick off this month, the earliest I'll be able to line up for a race is Mother's Day!  So hopefully I'll be over in Norwalk to run the Lightfoot Runners 10K :D

Otherwise, the only definite race on the calendar this month is the Brooklyn Half Marathon - and the 4th and last training run for the Great NY Running Exposition 100 Miler at the end of the month (an evening run at that).

So here's how the slimmed down schedule looks:

5/14 - Norwalk Mother's Day 10k
5/20 - NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon
5/27 - TGNY Training Run #4

If you're at any of these events - say hello!

2014 nyrr grand prix patch... and certificate!

this post was almost sidetracked because of the cataract surgery this week - the 2014 grand prix series patch arrived on wednesday (same day as the surgery, in fact)!  this was the first back to back 5 boro series i've completed.  Prior to 2013, the last time i completed all 5 races was back in 2005 (when the series consisted of 5 half marathons across each boro).  Given the races i've missed in 2015, there won't be a 3 peat of the series this year!

last year, as a little bonus, a package of race magnets was included with the patch and certificate.  this year, there were no magnets.  but the patch is, i my opinion, way cooler than the 2013 version!

here is my short recap of the five 2014 races - which i posted back in October, following the last race - the staten island half.

2014 brooklyn half marathon: race report

one very funny coincidence is worth noting at the outset - almost to the day, two months after the nyc half marathon, i ran the identical race at the brooklyn half (albeit one second faster in brooklyn!  except for the wide disparity in temperature (teeth chattering cold at the start of nyc half), the race played out with practically identical splits!

aside from finishing it faster than last year's 1:45, i didn't have a time goal in mind.  i would have like to run sub 1:40, but that wasn't in the cards.  it would be race #4 of my 9+1 for the 2015 nyc marathon.  the brooklyn half is one of my all-time favorites (easily among my top five races) and i really enjoy running the course.  in fact, brooklyn was my very first half marathon way back in 2001 - in the days the course ran in the opposite direction, from coney island to prospect park!

logistically, however, the race isn't that much fun to contend with.  i didn't mind the early wake-up and drive in (i met up w/tony, jeanette, alan, and anne at 5:10 - and they had gotten underway at 4:45)! but the blocks long walk to enter via the security checkpoints located just beyond the very last corral and the blocks long walk back to the front of the corral and then onto the baggage check was a drag (though it did have the unintended effect of serving as a warm-up).  the low point of the morning, however, was baggage check - both at start and finish.

i don't like to harp on negatives -- but i was at the baggage truck at 6:20 - with dozens of other runners waiting for our bags to be taken - and, astonished, watched the truck doors closed despite repeated pleas to take our bags (and even some intrepid soles tossed their bags into the trucks helter skelter).  we were all relegated to the late baggage truck - which now had the runners from the 3 departing trucks to contend with.  and the confused scene of 100s of runners randomly tossing their bags onto that truck was more than unsettling.

on the walk over to my corral all i kept wondering was whether i'd ever see my phone and car keys at the finish.  but aside from baggage, everything else about the day was fantastic.  i love the idea of having porta-johns in the corrals (best race amenity since the invention of sliced bread - haha)!  the first person i saw in my corral was my taconic rr teammate, eliot.  a few minutes later, alan came in - having also tossed his gear on the late baggage truck.  while in the corral i had drank a bottle of water and ate a package of power gel gummies.  then we were off.

i really like the new course design that runs a couple of miles outside the park - up to and back from grand army plaza - before heading into the park.  ostensibly, this was mapped out to handle the increased number of runner (and avoid the lapping problem that would arise under the old course).  the number of finishers this years exceeded 25,000 - a sharp increase from last years 20,000+ runners!  that's an impressive number of runners taking to the streets of brooklyn!

as for the race itself, here are the splits:

5k  23:37
5m  39:46
10k  49:23
15k  1:14:24
10m  1:19:49
20k  1:38:21
13.1m  1:43:23

7:54 pace

despite a crowded and slow first mile (8:00), i was almost a minute ahead of my nyc half 5k split (24:11) - but quickly gave back those 40 seconds on the prospect park hills.  the 10k split finishing up the prospect park loop was now 2 seconds off the nyc half split (49:21).  i lost another 10 seconds by the time i reached the 15k split and at 10 miles was a solid 23 seconds off my split at the nyc half (1:19:26).

but with the help of a 2x caffeine gu at mile eight, which final kicked in, i made up 30 seconds over the last 5k and actually finished 1 second ahead of my nyc half time.  when i crossed the finish i didn't remember my nyc half finish - but guessed they were within seconds of each other.  my watch read 1:19:25, which as it turned out was 2 seconds slower than my official time.  when i finally looked up my times i couldn't help smiling.

but before i checked out results, tony, jeanette, alan, michelle and i headed back to the boardwalk for a couple of beers to rehydrate.  the bar, ruby's, had a fantastic view of the finish line and the crowds cheering on the runners as they crossed it. for the record, i had a mermaid pilsner (which was so hoppy that i would have sworn it was an ipa!).  all in all, it was a great day to run a half marathon - and finish up at the beach :D

here are my race photos.

2014 brooklyn half marathon: race photos & results

it's hard to believe over 25,000 runners finished the brooklyn half marathon this morning - that's 5,000 more than last year!  it was my 4th nyrr race of the year toward 9+1 for the 2015 nyc marathon. i didn't have a particular time goal in mind - but did want to finish ahead of 2013's result (1:45).

my 1:43:23 was well under 2013 -- but the real surprise was that it was and entire 1 second faster than my 2014 nyc half finish (1:43:24) - haha.  performance wise, event though i haven't gotten in any speed work, i managed to run negative splits!

here's my race report.

here are the race results from nyrr.

 

here are the rest of my photos on facebook.

here are my photos from the pre-race party/packet pick-up.

2014 nyrr brooklyn half pre-party at brooklyn bridge park

after a brief misstep (i went to last year's pre-party site... a short walk in the opposite direction) i made it to the brooklyn half pre-party at pier 2 in brooklyn bridge park.  despite the forecast of possible afternoon showers, the weather was beautiful and the walk over the brooklyn bridge was - as always - a trip down memory lane.

as for the pre-party itself, the highlights (aside from the spectacular views) was the barefoot wine tasting and the cold press expresso coffee :D

the brooklyn half is one of my all-time favorite races (easily in my top five)... as always, if you're at this one - say hello :D

the rest of my photos are on facebook.

here are the race photos & results.

2013 nyrr grand prix patch... and race magnets!

a two for one surprise arrived in the mail from the nyrr - not the just the patch for completing all 5 races in the 2013 five borough grand prix series (that was expected), but the 6 tiny race magnets that came along with patch (totally unexpected).  personally, i dig the magnets more than the patch itself.  each race shirt logo is represented, plus one for the series itself!

i last completed all five races in the grand prix series back in 2005 - a whopping 8 years earlier, when each race was a half marathon.  i normally run 2-3 of the races a year.  occasionally i managed 4 out of the 5.  but running all 5 in one year is a significant logistical accomplishment (aside from actually finishing the races themselves).

this year (2014) will see yet another variation to the composition of the series with the switch of the nyc half marathon for the manhattan half.  running the manhattan half counts toward the 4 of 5 races for guaranteed entry into the 2015 nyc half, but it no longer counts toward the 5 boro series itself (i believe).

last, but not least, the envelope contained a certificate of completion that listed each race and the finishing times. all in all, a great job in wrapping up the 2013 series by the nyrr!

 

2013 brooklyn half marathon: race report

the 2013 edition of the brooklyn half marathon was my 10th time running this race.  my first brooklyn half, back in 2001, started in coney island and finished in prospect park.  later in the decade the direction was reversed, with the start in propect park and the finish in coney island.  getting the two loops of prospect park done in the first half of the race was a much nicer prospect - sorry for the pun - than having to climb them (twice) with the finish line in sight.  last year, the start was moved to the front of the brooklyn museum and, as a consequence, we only had to run one loop of prospect park.  while i was registered, i didn't run the brooklyn half last year because of an injury - so this was my first time running the new course.

it was also a first in terms of number of runners who participated.  while the brooklyn half has always been popular (it's one of my favorite races) and regularly sold out in recent years, this year saw roughly 21,000 finishers - in a two wave start (also a first).  what wasn't new, however, was the early start - 7 am.  that made for an early wake-up (4 am) and commute down to brooklyn.  this year i car pooled in with some of my friends from Connecticut - who had to get up even earlier!  i met up with them at the new rochelle train station and we drove in with two cars.

since i ran the manhattan half (1:45:31) back in january, i had a minor setback on my road to recovery.  i once again had to cut back my weekly mileage (to the mid-20s) - argh.  when i ran the celebrate life half marathon in march, i couldn't run a sub 1:50 - and struggled to with a 1:51:59 finish.  but by mid-april i was back to rebuilding my base mileage.  i was averaging 40 miles a week (on the road to my return 50-60 mph) heading into the brooklyn half.  that said, i figured a sub 1:45 was a good target for the race.

ironically, my last two brooklyn half marathons were each 1:45 efforts.  i haven't run a sub 1:40 for this race since 2009 (w/a 1:36:53).  be that as it may, i felt pretty good about running a sub 8 minute pace when i lined up on saturday morning.  except for some humidity, we had great weather (mostly overcast skies) for the run.  my first mile, 7:49, was a good start, followed, by a 7:59, and another 7:49 - but that was it for sub 8 minute miles for the foreseeable future!  in fact, the next 3 miles were a string of 8:10, 8:14, and 8:16 - even including the prospect park hills, that wasn't a the pace i had hoped for (hitting the 10k split in 50 minutes, an 8:03 pace).

even my favorite stretch of the race - ocean parkway - did little to speed up my pace.  my split for the 15k was 1:15:55, an 8:08 pace - and at 10 miles it was 1:21:22 (also 8:08).  but things looked up from there because i had grabbed a handful (3) of gu's at the mile 8 aid station.  the double strength caffeine gu's that i ate in miles 9 and 10 kicked and i ran a series of cut down miles for the last 5k (7:48, 7:36, 7:18 and 0.54) in a 7:36 pace!  but even with that last burst of speed, i crossed the finish in 1:45:01 - missing the sub 1:45 by only two seconds.

the overall 8:01 minute pace was a mild disappointment.  but that was more than offset by how happy i was with the last 5k - not only with the 7:36 pace but, most importantly, i had no pain in my foot when it was done.  this is the second race in a row (on the heels of the norwalk mother's day 10k last weekend) where i was able to push the pace in the last few miles.  while i haven't been too thrilled with the slow pace of re-building my base mileage, it has begun to show results.  next month, if all goes according to plan, i will finally be back to the track for some speedwork :D

here are my race photos.
and here are my photos from the pre-party (packet pick-up).

2013 brooklyn half marathon: race photos and results

despite a little humidity, it was a great day to run the brooklyn half marathon.  despite the early wake-up (4 am), i was no worse for the wear after 13.1 miles.  i missed my time goal (a sub 1:45) by just 2 seconds, w/a 1:45:01 finish.  but i was more than pleased with that - especially on the heals of a 1:58 at the celebrate life half a couple of months ago!  the recovery is progressing a pace :D

here is my race report.

here are the race results from nyrr.

here are the rest of my photos on facebook.

2013 brooklyn half marathon pre-party

it was fun walking over the brooklyn bridge this afternoon, although it was punctuated with occasional drizzle.  packet pick-up for the brooklyn half marathon was moved to brooklyn (dumbo) this year.  it was a great location - literally, under the brooklyn bridge.  but the entire thing was way over-hyped in my opinion

the race itself will go off in two waves, with more than 25,000 runners lining up for the run down to coney island!  this will be my first time running the new course (which includes just one loop of the park).  i'm looking forward to it :D

just registered for the 2013 brooklyn half :D

i'm in!  i signed up for the brooklyn half marathon just after registration opened at noon this afternoon.  the is one of my all time favorite races (at any distance).  the 2013 edition will be my 9th brooklyn half (my 10th if i didn't miss it last year).

i like this race even more now that the half begins in prospect park and finishes at coney island.  when i first ran this race in 2001 it began on the boardwalk and finished with the hills of propect park.  in this direction we get the hills out of the way at the start :D

the only downside is what seems like the ever increasing price tag.  beware sticker shock with the $55 registration ($75 for non-members)... ouch!

as always, if you're at this one - say hello!

update: nyrr just posted that the brooklyn half sold out in just 6 hours.  remarkable!

2012 brooklyn half marathon packet pick-up

yesterday i picked up the bib and tech shirt for the brooklyn half marathon. it was bit strange heading over there on wednesday, since most packet pick-ups are on thursdays and fridays. this time around, in an effort to accommodate the 15,000 strong field, nyrr added began the pick-up on tuesday.

the brooklyn half is one of my all time favorite races. logistically, however, it's a nightmare.  the early start (7 am) makes the trek down to prospect park from westchester a challenge (that said, it is a bit shorter than the trek to the old start - in coney island!). 

on the qualifying point side, this will be my fifth on the road to nine for 2013 (and i still need a volunteer credit).

as always, if you're at this one - say hello :D

ny running show podcast: brooklyn half marathon, sugarloaf marathon, & the wall street run

among the races we covered last night, on episode 31 of the new york running show, were a pair of nyrr races, the wall street run and brooklyn half marathon, and did a brief recap of the sugarloaf marathon from last weekend. then we took a look at the upcoming memorial day marathon at van cortlandt park. finally, we did a quick survey of some of the weekly summer series races that start up this week (or next) - i.e. the vctc's summer series kicks off thursday night.

listen to, or download, episode #31 at talkshoe.