DATE: APRIL 24, 2022; 7:40 AM
DISTANCE: 13.1 MI
PLACE: BROOKLYN, NY
WEATHER: 55F
OFFICIAL TIME / PACE: ???/???
FINISHERS: ???
SWAG: TECH SHIRT
While this was my worst half marathon performance to date, which was expected, I absolutely LOVED this course.
Race Expo:
Overall, I thought that the expo was pretty nice and easy-breezy even if the expo site was super far for me.
While the expo was nice and pretty straight to the point, it gave me a chance to check out Industry City, which has been described as a creative workspace where folks can eat, drink, shop, and explore. After I picked up my race stuff, I figured that I would check out all (or most of) what Industry City had to offer.
IC was nice and had a variety of shops; but unfortunately, most of the restaurants, bars, and shops were closed during my visit. I thought it was kind of weird because I picked up my race materials around 6:30 pm and figured that more things would be open. I guess most of the shops are open over the weekend when more folks are around.
Prerace:
It’s kinda weird, but it seems as if I did more prerace prep for a half that I did not really care too much about.
Not sure if this is snow or snot.
I carbo-loaded by grabbing a pizza pie at Sottocasa, one of my favorite pizza spots in Harlem. Also, I laid out ALL (very rare) of my race and post-race materials and was in bed by around 1 am. I was faced with a bit of a conflict (as always) to go with or without bag check. From my understanding, 6:40 am on race day was the last point where one could check their bags. However, my wave was going to start at 7:40 am. This meant that I would have to leave my apt in Harlem by 5:30 am (public transportation) or 6:00 am (Uber/cab) to travel to Brooklyn to meet the bag check deadline. Meaning, that I would have had to wake up around 4 am to get ready. In the end, I decided to skip bag check because that meant I could “sleep in” and leave the apt around 7 am to take a cab to the start. Of course, I saw this email after going through my internal conflict.
Half Marathon Time:
Normally, I do these reports by breaking them up into 3-4 segments based on mileage. Since I did not really care too much (performance-wise) about running this half marathon, I’ll just randomly mention some thoughts.
-Why are folks so damn annoying? Unfortunately, we are at a point in our lives where large NYC races have security checkpoints. One of my biggest pet peeves is when folks wait in a line for 10+ minutes and do not have their stuff ready when they get to the front of the line. In this case, the security point required folks to go through metal detectors. Please tell me why folks did not have enough sense to remove some of their metal items (eg smartphones, Garmins/Apple Watches, jewelry, etc) before getting to the front of the line. The same thing annoys me when people do not have their money ready by the time they reach a cashier. Sorry for the rant. Perhaps, I was crabby because I really had to pee and folks’ bullsh*ttery was preventing me from getting to the portapotties after the security checkpoint.
-I absolutely loved this course. I think that I’m going to say that it was my favorite half marathon course in NYC. Why was it my favorite? I really enjoyed running through various sections of Brooklyn, which were accompanied by amazing views of our city.
-While I enjoyed the course, I wonder if I would have enjoyed it as much if I did not do my run-walk-run cycle. During my walking cycles, I had plenty of opportunities to take in the sights of Brooklyn. If I have to walk during a normal half, it’s typically due to an injury or some other struggle so it was a different (and well appreciated) flavor to walk on purpose.
-Even though I did the run-walk-run method, I tried my best to actually run (~8:30 – 9min/mi pace). Although this is not a “normal” way to run a half marathon, I did feel like I was working hard.
-Ugh, I think I am at that age/physical state, where I cannot complete a half marathon without a bathroom break. Well . . . then again, it did take me longer to run this half. Actually, I take this back because I was holding my pee starting around mile 3. Since I started in the last corral of the last wave, the lines for the portapotties along the course were super long. At first, I thought that I could hold my pee, BUT I really had to take a poop. I decided to stop by a Burger King along the course to take a quick poop. Man, when I entered the men’s bathroom it was so filthy that my booty hole was like Naw, we’re good and will hold it until after the race. At least, I got a “cute” Burger King crown. While the bathroom was gross, I gotta give props to the employee who said that I did not need to purchase anything to use the restroom. She probably knew how nasty the bathroom was.
-While the crowds during most of the course were kind of small, there were enough of a crowd not to make you feel like a red-headed stepchild.
-I really liked the race bling. I think this might be the most colorful half marathon medal that I have seen in a long time.
-LOL at brunch. I really did not plan on having a boozy brunch. After learning that one glass of sangria was $11, but the bottomless brunch cocktail special was $20/hr, I figured that going with the bottomless option was a no-brainer.
-Has Uber lost its mind in your neck of the woods? After my brunch, this is how much Uber was trying to charge me to take me from downtown Brooklyn to Harlem. Note: A regular taxi cost about $25 bucks to take me from Harlem to the start area in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
