Where ARE We?

This weekend I ran the Queens Half Marathon. The Queens Half is a very unique event. First of all, it is very very hard to get to (since almost no one in NYC has cars). You have the option of spending a bazillion dollars on a cab, paying $15 to take the shuttle from the NYRR HQ, or trying your luck at public transportation. For the last option, you take the subway to about 2 miles from the start and wait for a free shuttle from NYRR. The problem with all of this is that 5,000 people run this event, so the free shuttles are very crowded. Oh yeah, and the roads close at 6 am so, you have to make sure you get on the shuttle before then. Both years I have run this, and a lot of the people who take that option end up showing up about a half hour after the start. That is just too much stress for me, so, for the second year in a row, Bill and I opted for the $15 bus tickets. The last bus leaves at 5am. Soooooooo...we both got up at 3:45am (bless Bill!) to grab a cab across the park and catch the bus.

When we got to the park in Queens, some girl said to her friend "Where ARE we? The end of the subway line was back there, and that was like 20 minutes ago!" Everyone in the bus laughed.

After that? You scramble to find a park bench to sleep on until the race starts at 7am. And it was COLD this year, so there was more shivering than sleeping!

Despite this, I kind of sort of like running this event. EVEN THOUGH it has 66 turns within 13.1 miles (those turns keep me from being bored) and the whole thing is hills. Up and down, up and down, there is no flat part that is more than about 20 feet. And that's only three times in the whole race.

Ramon said not to count on PRing, because you could not PR this event. I realize why now. I do not remember it being THAT hilly last year, but maybe that is because last year it was like, 90 degrees!

The start was crowded, and once again, I was in the corral behind my friends I usually run with. It was SO crowded that my first mile clocked a 9:16. I didn't freak though, because I knew Ramon said no PRs (even though I was secretly still hoping for one). My next mile was 8:25, so I knew I needed to slow down desperately. Luckily, I found Molly (a girl I usually run with). She runs pretty consistent 8:40s in the beginning of races, so I decided to covertly follow her :) And guess what? My next lap was 8:44! Perfect!

In fact, I was pretty consistent the whole race, ranging between 8:16 and 8:51. The miles were flying by, and I didn't really feel tired until mile 11. Which, Ramon says, is an indication that I ran the race smart. Yay! A smart race! I don't usually get those.

In that last mile? There were two of the largest hills on the course. There was actually a collective groan as all the runners around me made one of those last turns to see that huge hill. One guy was like "Now that is just RUDE!" which made me laugh. I had to really dig on that hill. It pretty much sucked.

I was all pumped when I looked at my watch, which said I averaged an 8:33 pace. Whoo-hoo! Too bad my ACTUAL pace was 8:42. Why the discrepancy? Well, Coach Christine said all the turns added mileage on, and that UNLESS you ran on the course line exactly you probably ran an actual 13.33 miles (everyone who had a Garmin had that the course was 13.33 miles).

So my official time was 1:54.04. A PR by 34 seconds. Don't get me wrong...I am happy with a PR, but I am bummed because I felt like I was running a lot faster than my PR in the Bronx Half. :)