NYC Half Marathon: The Editorial

Me and Brian right around the time the chit-chat stoppedI did not PR on Sunday.  In fact, I was exactly one minute short of a new record.  I'm actually pretty ok with that; it just means that I'll have to do another half this year.  And, to be honest, I was probably going to sign up for another anyway.  Perhaps Brooklyn, or Jersey, or maybe Philly again.  I'm open to suggestions.

When I found out that I had gotten in to the NYC Half this year, I had every intention of training with NYC Endurance again, like I did for the marathon.  But, for a myriad of reasons, that just never happened.  Between January and the race, I wound up only doing three dedicated running workouts. One was a series of 400 meter sprints; the other two were just three mile runs.  This is not to say that I didn't run other than that.  In the past few months CrossFit Metropolis had a lot of workouts with runs incorporated, and we frequently warm up with half mile runs that take us up what I've heard is the steepest hill in the city.  And it's not to say that I didn't train, because running is only one aspect of training for a race.

In any event, I'm pretty confident that with some dedicated training, I can shave at least the requisite minute off my time this year.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome race.  My friend Brian and I had similar time goals, and we were in the same corral, so I had a buddy for most of the race.  I almost managed to keep up with him, but even when he got out in front of me, I pretty much managed to keep his glowing neon yellow shirt in sight (see above).  That was hugely motivating.  

The temperature was ideal (mid-forties) and the sky stayed overcast throughout.  I really liked the course.  We went once around Central Park, then ran through Times Square and down the West Side Highway.  I will definitely do this one again, lottery permitting.

My day on Sunday did not end with the NYC Half.  That afternoon, I took on a scaled version of the fourth workout of the CrossFit Games Open.  More on that soon.

-Gym Belle-