First race of the season ... Queens NY 13.1 Half Marathon

This morning I woke up at 6:15, slightly nervous that today I would be competing in my first half marathon.  Started my morning with a glass of orange juice, vitamins and a granola bar.  Then I got gearded up.  The shorts I chose to wear today have a liner, usually I wear compression underwear but since I needed pockets I opted for these, hoping it would be a good choice.  Next I strapped on my heart rate monitor and watch and fired it up (all systems go).  My wife had gotten me the Timex Ironman Watch which is one of the best gifts I have ever gotten - this combined with Training Peaks is the best way I have found to track all my workouts (more on that another day).

So electronics in place - the next step was taping the nipples.  I have watched enough marathons to see the bloody nippled guys cross a finish line and there is no way I want to deal with that.  Training in the winter and wearing compression shirts chaffing is not an issue, but today would be mild and I used medical tape to make my own pasties.  Wore a nice wicking shirt from the Prospect Park Duathlon series and ran my ear buds through my Runner ID hat.  Final step to gearing up - the sneakers, I only race in my Saucony Kinvara's - unfortunately with a size 14 foot my options for racing shoes are somewhat limited - I train and trail run in different shoes but for races I break out the Kinvara's (today's socks were Thorlo's).

I filled up a 10oz Fuel Belt bottle with eFuel (I went Tropical Blast) and drank the other 14 ounces on the ride to the race as I ate a Peanut Butter PR Bar.  In my pockets were two eFuel Gels (Cherry Bomb and Tropical Blast) and one Gu (Chocolate Outrage with Caffeine).  To settle my mind I listened to the news as I drove to Citi Field - should have listened to music because the news is more depressing than calming - another lesson learned on a race day.

I don't live that far from Queens and I ended up getting there at 7:15 for a 9:00 race start.  Headed to check in and was happy to run into my former boss Dan Scully and his wife Sue.  Seems they were doing this race as a primer for the Long Island Marathon ... I'll be doing the half on Long Island - Marathons are a next season goal - only my second season racing - still taking baby steps.  Checked in, got my number (lucky 898) and my swag.  Bag checked my sweats in the swag bag with my ID and cell phone and still had over an hour to kill.

Unfortunately I could not find Dan and Sue again so instead I chatted up a military guy and his marathon running girlfriend from Washington DC.  I would see them later in the race as I tried to burst some speed from mile 10-12 but I never did catch them.  I like talking to random people at races - sometimes people approach me about my tattoos, sometimes I will say something - but most race day conversations are somewhat enlightening and help get me relax before the gun sounds.

About 20 minutes before the race started I bumped into Jen Chabus and her girl posse.  Seems her crew was there celebrating one of the ladies 50th birthdays.  Two of my neighbors were in the group - and it was nice to talk to a group that have done a bunch of Ironmen and get some of their advice.  I seem to garner a lot of advice but  for some reason I am hesitant to use most of it - today's made sense though - I grind the hell out of my gears when I ride the bike always hammering in the high gear - I need to learn how to maintain cadence at a lower gear and get the same power output.  I have heard it before - I just need to put it into practice.

This race started with a 5k and then they asked us to line up where we thought we would finish.  My goal was a sub 2 hour finish.  I was now starving and took one of my eFuel gels with two cups of water to try to fill me up, it seemed to work but I was definitely nervous that my nutrition plan was screwed before the race had even started.   The longest I had race prior was 10 miles last June, I finished that in 1:34 but my brother and I had done a bunch of 10 milers this winter and I had knocked down a few 15 milers.  If I could keep my pace steady for the first 7 miles the plan was to turn it up a notch in the second half and come in under 2.  I lined up between the 2:00 and 2:20 finishers and set off - IPod playing The Moody Blues of all things - not to knock the Moody Blues but "Your Wildest Dreams" is not amped enough to get me pumped so I guess it was a good choice as I did not shoot off too fast like I usually do.

I picked a guy in a GoRuck challenge baseball cap and his girlfriend to pace to.  They were going at a 9:10-9:20 pace with the guy obviously pacing her.  This guy was in stellar shape, jogging backwards, leaping over cones - making little effort but pulling her with him.  They were a solid duo that took me to the 10k mark at a minute over my target at 57:15.  I took my second (and last eFuel gel) and broke my rule and took a water cup near the 7 mile marker.  It didn't make sense to me to wash down my eGel with my dwindling supply of eFuel.

The course curved left and out alongside the LIE and my pacers fell off.  I picked a second target a taller guy than myself who had been with us for most of the race but as we curved and hit a stretch of muddy road at mile 8 he suddenly pulled off to the left.  To hell with pacers - I looked at my watch - I was moving at around a 9:20 pace - the mile marker at 8 showed I was close to target.  My plan now was to stay solid to mile 10 and then kick it up a notch.

The next two miles we ran over a bridge to a live band cranking out tunes and then past a drumline and cheerleaders.  I forgot to mention the drumlines and cheerleaders.  There had to be at least five groups of high school/college drumlines banging at several spots on the course - I thought it was pretty awesome but then to top it off there were groups of cheerleaders not to far from the drummers chanting "go runners go" and doing pom pom shakes and kicks.  The crowds at this race were pretty rambunctious cheering loudly, waving signs, reaching out for high fives.  There was one guy with a poster board over his head that said "Free High Fives" - so I had to get one.  The ambiance of the race was great - loops through Flushing Meadows Park - I am sure this will make the Long Island half be very boring and depressing (save for the finish line) by comparison.

So the crowd kept me pumped and I took my final Gu shortly before the mile 10 marker.  I then ran my fastest mile, my mind said 5k left see what you have so I opened it up.  I can't believe I had a kick but I kept up a solid sustained kick and passed a bunch of people (later when I checked my watch I ran this mile at 6:50   which I find hard to believe but it might explain what happened to me next) ... my plan was to look at my watch at the 11 mile marker and check pace and see where what I needed to do for the final 2 miles but right before the 11th mile marker my body felt weird.  I slowed and felt chilled to the bone for some reason, I actually shivered.  I drank the rest of my eFuel and kept stride.  Checked my watch and saw I was at 8:20 so notched it down a bit to see if I was ok going back to a 9:00 pace.  By this time the crowd was thick as we ran near the Queens Museum of Art and the Unisphere for the final time.

From here I just tried to stay strong with the final turn around the Fountain of the Planets to the finish line.  I saw a guy in a neon shirt swaying and banging into the rail around the fountain in front of me.  As I closed in I saw he was stiff legged, I looked back as I past him and he was white as a ghost and moving forward on sheer will - the guy was shot and looked ready to pass out.  So the dilemma was should I kick to finish or help - I opted to run off the rail and wave down help and direct them to the guy as I continued forward momentum, but my shouting directions and gesturing seemed to drain my final kick because I had none.  I crossed the line at 1:29:36 ... a 9:07 pace ...

First race is in the books - a few weeks of training and then the next race is in Brooklyn.