66 Turns

This morning I got up as early as I've ever gotten up for running...315 am!!! Today was the Queens Half Marathon, which is part of a Half Marathon Grand Prix. Each borough has it's own half and they are all spread throughout the year. I can't complain too much about the early start because it is supposed to get up to 90 today which is unseasonably warm. The weather was bad enough as it was for our 7am race....hazy and warm, 71 degrees but with the dewpoint felt like 81 with 75% humidity! And luckily, Bill got up early to come and cheer me on (he is such a good husband!)

We took a cab across the island (it is so weird to me that Manhattan is an island) so that we could catch the NYRR shuttle. Coach Ramon had highly suggested buying tickets for this instead of taking public transport because the marathon was way way out of the way. The only thing that stunk is that the buses left at 4:30am. This got us to the half site at around 4:50, so we still got to wait around until 7.

For awhile there it looked like we were going to have a coachless race. The TNT team was all at our meeting spot but with no coaches. Then, at 6:40, Coach Steve (the coach who spends most of his time coaching the advanced group) showed up. He had JUST gotten there, even though he left to take the 7 train and the free shuttle buses at 4:30am (the same time Bill and left). Yuck. I would have totally been panicking if I was in that situation because I get super antsy before a race.

Just like clockwork the race started immediately at 7.

The start was CRAZY. I don't know if people just lied to get into the wrong corrals or what but it seemed like there was a lot more pushing and shoving than normal and people whizzing past and shouldering people. Plus, of course there was a bottleneck at the first turn. The Queens half is known for it's millions of turns. One guy said on his blog that he counted them last year and came up with 66. I was pretty sure he was just exaggerating, so I decided to count them myself. The course is also pretty darn hilly. I was planning for some hills but there were a LOT.

My strategy for the race was to follow Ramon's strategy. I figured he has helped me get my best times and I haven't had a horrible race yet so it was probably a good idea. In summary, we were supposed to:

• Take the first 6 miles out a little slower than usual. This meant that we should feel like we were holding back. According to Ramon's calculations, this would put me at a 9:10 min mile for miles 1-6.
• Take stock of how you feel after mile 6...if you feel good, take 10 seconds off per mile (a 9 min mile for me) for the next 4 miles.
• Take stock of how you feel , if you feel great, race it in for the last 3.

So I was looking forward to my 1:57.

I panicked a LITTLE at the first mile when I looked at my watch. It said 9:55.22. I figured that this was because of the slow start though, and told myself not to panic, I could pick it up a smidge for the next mile.

Next mile? 8:55.62. Whoops, not that much.

I reigned it back in for the next mile, which was a 9:12.66. Perfect! Now just keep that pace.

When I got to the 4th mile I figured I should stop and get some water. It was also a perfect time to try out running through the water stops. (I usually walk these, because every time I try to drink on the run I choke and cough.) I figured this was my longest practice race before the marathon and I should be trying all of this stuff out now. No go. I choked it down and decided maybe it was better to just walk through the stops. 9:19.64.

I was trying to follow this guy who has this t-shirt on that had written on the back of it, huge, in a Sharpie "WHAT?!!!....I AM THE QUEENS BLVD." I have no idea what this meant, but he seemed to be running exactly my pace....between 9:10s and 9:20s. Lots of turns, lots of hills and lots of confused bystanders. In fact, I think in some places it was only Bill and maybe two other people cheering. And those were the big cheering spots. Mile 5: 9:32.36. Luckily, with all of these turns the miles were FLYING by. Every time I got to a mile marker I was like "Oh wow. Really?" and checked my watch, like "Yeah, I guess that's right."
Last mile to go slow...9:27.69.

At this point, I was wondering if I should pick it up. I was mostly like, "YES." because I could tell that I was holding back a little on all of those miles. But I also thought no, because it just didn't feel like I was holding back that much. I figured that mile 7 would be a transition mile into my new pace, so I was shooting for around a 9:10. I just kept visualizing my legs turning over faster, not necessarily picking up the pace. I got a 9:27.07. Not EXACTLY what I was hoping for, but then again, I didn't really feel like I was going any faster either.

My breathing was still good and not audible, so I decided to pick it up for real this time. I willed my legs to turn over faster, and you know what? It worked!!! I felt like I was going a smidge faster, but not that much. However, I logged an 8:55.04. Hurrah!

The miles were still coming fast at this point even though the hills seemed to be multiplying. I was stupid at the next mile and forgot to push the lap button, so I don't remember what that split was, but the next two combined were 18:53.59. After these two miles I was just like "Forget it. I'm done. I'm not running anymore." I was so tired. Plus, my GU from mile 6 kept coming up which is an awful, gross feeling. My tank and short were SOAKED which was incredibly uncomfortable. I was just done. No more. So, according to Ramon's plan I was dropping out. I meaured how I felt after 10 miles and decided from that point just to finish the race.

It was a pain to run the next miles. More hills and MORE turns. Luckily, there was some funny/friendly banter from the runners ahead of me about Sarah Palin (for and against, despite the fact that in NY everyone is a democrat). It was cracking me up, which was good because it took my mind off of everything.

It was here that this woman came up to me and said "You're doing great. I've been following you from mile 1 and you still look like you're doing good. Keep it up." She of course passed me. But I thanked her tremendously because I totally needed that at this point (even if it wasn't true). I knew I was running awful and tired and I didn't care. Mile 11: 10:04.10. I wasn't even surprised and I didn't care.

Now the miles were DRAGGING. I kept thinking, "Aren't we almost there?" Some guy asked a course volunteer what mileage we were at and he said "11.5" and I groaned audibly.

It was here that I ran into Coach Steve. He ran up to me and started running with me. He asked me how I felt, and instead of smiling through the pain and saying "Oh, just fine." like I used to do in Cincinnati during my practices, I said "I feel like crap." He said "Of course you do." (I was like WHAT?! Really?) "It's really really hot and humid out there. You look good and you're almost finished. Make sure you get water at the next stop which is right around the corner and then just finish strong and we'll be there to cheer you on." The whole time he was telling me this he was running next to me and it didn't escape me that he was increasing my turnaround by just a smidge. Yay. For some reason, all of this made me feel better. Mile 12: 9:22.13. Hurrah!

Here I saw Bill, and even though I was feeling a little better I gave him the thumbs down to let him know that I was completely off my plan, and overall not feeling so hot. He gave me some words of encouragement to push through. And guess what else was there for me? A HUGE hill. Maybe the second largest on the course? Now that was just MEAN.

I was SOOOOO tired. Mile 13: 10:10.93, but I didn't even look at the watch on that one because I was totally focused on the finish.

I finished with a 2:04.17.

I guess it's a PR since I've never done a half before ;)

I definitely wasn't ecstatic, but I felt like considering the circumstances I did ok.

But the thing that stunk? No medals! Pttt. Well, at least the shirts were cool.

Oh, and I lost count of the turns when my race started to fall apart, but at that time it was around 50, so it is quite possible that there really are 66 turns in the Queens Half Marathon.