met up with emily y. and spotter for breakfast in the east village. panya was perfect since we love our asian breads.
nyc has food from all over the world. within reason, you can satisfy any craving and still meet the right price range. em and stephen had to pick up some foodstuff for a picnic in brooklyn, and i came along to check out the shops.
and now for race day. got up by 5am to head uptown from chelsea. cabbing it turned out to be the most convenient option. as you can see, plenty of other people had the same idea.
i think this has been the most pleasant start out of all the races i've participated in. minimal wind and some humidity to keep off the nippiness of the high 40s/low 50s weather. though i still got pretty cold since i stood out there without a jacket for a good hour or so.
race mornings are awesome because the only people who're up at that hour are fellow runners, and those volunteering to help us out.
the essential line of porta potties you'll see at any race.
i think central park is my favorite place in nyc. i've run through it before, but it's an even more special when you get through it with thousands of other runners.
the park's where all the hills are. i was so relieved to leave it by mile 8 since it meant the hills were over, and we got to go all the way down 7th ave without a car in sight. finally doing this was as phenomenal as i imagined it to be, plus more.
we turned onto w. 42nd st from 7th ave to get onto the west side highway, where we turned a corner to pass the intrepid sea-air and space museum. it was around here at mile 10 that i started to feel the pain.
that last 3 mile stretch was flat but awful since the finish was straight ahead yet so far away. emily c., my gracious host, cheered me on about 2 miles away from the finish and that's when did my best to book it. there's nothing like seeing a familiar face to inspire you to push harder!
the DJ at the start of the last mile played lady gaga's "bad romance." how appropriate for how i was feeling about running at the time. at the very end, there were signs that told you when you were 800m, 400m, 100m away... soooo taunting. but i made it!
the D-tag's what you strap onto your shoes to get your time and splits recorded. somehow it missed me for the first 5k split, but it caught me for everything else.
em and spotter were able to greet me at the finish!
they were so kind as to treat me to perfectly done dimsum at red egg. now that's love.
this has to be the best recovery food i've ever had for a post-race feast. i owe you more hot dogs the next time i see you, em!
was able to snag a frontmost seat the top of the double decker bus back to dc.
i've logged a lot of miles onto those shoes. right now i'm debating when i should retire them and bust out the new pair i have stored in my closet. they're probably good for another 30 miles or so.
i wasn't limping after the race, which is a very good sign. will be giving those running muscles a rest this week, which means i'll have no excuse to slack off on everything else.results from the race:
Overall Place: 3153
Gender Place: 878
Age Place: 92
Net Time: 1:48:07
Finish Time: 1:48:07
10K Split: 0:50:55
15K Split: 1:16:21
20K Split: 1:43:04
Pace/Mile: 08:16
AG Time: 1:48:07
AG Gender Place: 1212
AG %: 60.89
managed to PR, which knocks my time down by 3 minutes and 42 seconds. :) surprising too, since i really haven't done much running all these past few months. my 2010 total's currently at 93.6 mi, most of which came from the last week and a half.
for more pictures/info on the race, check out the new york road runners site. they're quite good at putting on races and appear to do it quite a bit.
unfortunately both chang sisters had to miss out on the nyc half this time around. at least both'll be in town for the next road-kicking race coming up--the cherry blossom 10 miler on april 11!
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