(non) Race Report: Brooklyn Half, May 20, 2023

 I ran the Brooklyn Half this morning, finishing in an official time of 1:40:33.

I initially wasn't going to write a race report here, since I didn't race this, but instead did a workout during the race.**  But....one of the big reasons I write race reports is so that I have notes to look back on if I do the race again.  So I'll jot down some thoughts here, in bullet point form.

• Bib pick-up was located on Pier 2 of Brooklyn Bridge Park.  I'm sure that the point of holding it here was to showcase a lovely part of Brooklyn.  And it was lovely.  But....Pier 2 was a nearly mile-long walk from the nearest subway stop and didn't appear to be much closer to the designated rideshare drop off point.   Getting to and from the expo was a lot more walking than I would want to do on the day before a race.  To the point where I don't think I'll do this race again until they move the expo or offer the option to get one's bib another way.
• I stayed at the Fairfield Inn in Brooklyn.  It was a good enough location, but I don't think I'll stay there again.  I had a bad experience with this hotel where they cancelled my room on me for a very flimsy reason and I had to work to get it back.  And then, when I stayed there, I discovered that the hotel was adjacent to a 24/7 Cube Storage facility.  Meaning that people were going in and out of that facility (and driving trucks and yelling and opening and shutting big metal gates) literally all night long.  Luckily I always carry earplugs with me, so it wasn't too much of an issue.  But IF I ever do this race again, I'll look into other options.
• I left my hotel at 5:40 am to jog over to the starting area, about 1.5 miles away.  I thought I was being way too cautious and leaving early, but in actuality, this was just right or maybe a bit late.  Everything was crowded and a mess; I had to follow a convoluted path to drop off my bag, and then it took nearly 20 minutes to get through security and into my corral.   This was a big race at 26K runners, but it's not that big - the Army 10 Miler, the Broad Street 10 Miler, and the Monument Avenue 10K are all bigger, but also seem to work better.
• I wasn't crazy about the course either.  Essentially it was about 7 miles of up and down and up and down in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, followed by 6 gentle downhill miles that finished with an annoying run up a ramp and onto the board walk.  None of the hills in Prospect Park were especially bad, but after 7 miles they did start to wear on me a bit.   
  I found the final part of the course, with the concrete ramp and then a tight turn before about 200m on the board walk to be my least favorite part of the race.  Perhaps this is just because I really hate running on uneven boardwalks (which is a personal thing).  If I had been racing this, I would have found it very hard to kick at the end. 
  For myself personally, I don't like this course enough to justfy a return trip (unless I want to get another NYC guaranteed qualifier, and don't have any other options).
• The course finishes at Coney Island.  Which means that it was a long (45-50 minute) ride on the subway back to my hotel to the north, and would have been even further to Manhattan.  Anyone doing this race should note this and plan accordingly with regard to hotel check-out times.

[** Lengthy explanation of why I did this as a workout and not a race: My normal rule is that I only race during races; I don't like using races for workouts because I think doing so can result in a conflation of race and workout efforts, with the end result that one runs one's workouts too fast and one's races too slow.   Racing should always be where I give all I have; workouts should always be done with restraint.

However, this was a bit of a unique situation.  I want to run the NYC Marathon in 2024 with a group of friends.  NYC has a time standard that allows one to bypass the lottery for entries, and for me that time standard is 1:49 for a half-marathon.  However, entry under the time standard is only guaranteed if you run that time at a New York Road Runners race; there is a limited # of slots for time-qualifiers at non-NYRR races.  And those slots sell out very quickly.

So, I wanted to run that time at a NYRR race so that I had a guaranteed entry.  So I registered for the Brooklyn Half.

However, I then got greedy with the race registrations and ended up registered for...the One City Half-Marathon; the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, the Broad Street 10 Miler, and the Garry Bjorklund (Grandmas) Half-Marathon - all in the spring of 2023.  Five races of 10+ miles is too many in a season, so one had to go.

And then some friends of mine announced that the "20 year reunion" (actually 23 years, but we hate counting) of a nightclub I used to go to would be on the Thursday before the Brooklyn Half.   And I can tell you that there's no way that I can go out partying on a Thursday night and then race well on Saturday morning.  

So Brooklyn Half would be the race I would skip.  Except that I needed the NYC marathon guaranteed qualifier, which I could only get at Brooklyn.   

And that's the lengthy explaination of why I decided to run Brooklyn as a workout.]

Race report: Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, April 6, 2014

Well, I started the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler (my favorite race of the year) but dropped out at the 2 mile mark - it was the right decision.

The backdrop here is that injury recovery is generally a 2 steps forward, 1 step back thing.   The trick is to not get into a pattern of 1 step forward, 2 steps back.  Which is what I came close to doing here.

I was feeling confident last week after having successfully finished a 5K race on Saturday, followed by an easy 14 miles on Sunday.  Confident enough that I ran 6x800 on Tuesday at my normal effort level, and finished feeling confident.  Yay.

But the next morning, I was very stiff all over, especially in my calves, with the left worse than the right.  I kept the running very easy, and got an appointment to get dry needled on Thursday.  We focused on the left calf, which was the worse of the two.

That ended up fixing the left calf, but the right was still a bit tight.    I snuck in an ART appointment on Saturday which seemed to help the right, and decided that I'd at least give Cherry Blossom a try.  Things felt slightly tight on my warm-up jog, but not too bad.  So I lined up, and just promised myself that I'd drop out if things started hurting, and not try to be a hero. 

It was Cherry Blossom, on a perfect day.  I had to at least give it a try.  I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I hadn't.  Especially since some of my best races have been run when something was really tight the day before/morning of.

We started, and I was pleasantly surprised to feel pretty good the first mile.  No pain anywhere, no tightness.  I felt like we were running very slowly, and was surprised to hear another runner announce we were holding 7:00 pace.  Wow - this could be a really good day.  I was happy I had decided to give it a try.  I don't usually run with others in races, since I like to pace by feel, but two of my teammates (both named Jessica) were holding the pace that felt great for me, so I just tagged along, breathing and running easilty.

And then a bit after the first mile marker, as we crossed the Arlington bridge, my right heel started to burn on the outside.  I played with my gait and my form, trying to give it a chance to pass.  But it just persisted and worsened.  As we approached the 2 mile mark, I realized that if my heel was burning at 2 miles, it would be really stupid to run for another 8.  So I stepped off course, and called it a day.


Very frustrating.  But that's life, I guess.  My podiatrist happened to be working in the med tent, so I went in for a "live" eval from him and the PT on duty.  Diagnosis was some plantar fasciitis in my medial arch, causing offloading to the outside of the heel, which was causing the burning.  They also noted that damn clicking sound in my ankle - associated with my ankle locking up.

So the plan is to rest it for a few days, and then see what to do from there.

Other notes:

-Weather was perfect
-took the metro, leaving from Virginia at 6:10, which got me to the metro exit in DC around 6:45.  Metroing to this race worked well, but next time I'll leave a bit earlier.

(non) Race Report; Cherry Blossom 10 miler, April 7, 2013.

I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler yesterday, finishing in a time of 1:14:24.

This was a first for me.  I've run races and raced them all out, peaking for them.  I've raced when I've known I wasn't in the best of shape or have been in the middle of a training cycle, but gave my best anyway.  I've used races as substitutes for workouts - running a moderate to hard effort while working on some aspect of my own running. But this was the first time I've done none of the above.

So why did I run Cherry Blossom?  Well, I LOVE this race. Even though I was running Shamrock Marathon this year, which precluded a 10 mile race three weeks later, I registered.  Just in case something happened at Shamrock - a DNF or DNS.   Having Cherry Blossom as a back-up of sorts was comforting.  And I couldn't bear the thought of missing it entirely.

And then, of course, Shamrock went well.  Which was wonderful.  But the price of a good marathon is the races you have to sit out before and after - no workouts or races for 3 weeks post marathon.  My coach OK'd running Cherry Blossom as long as I didn't run it hard, so that was what I'd do.  It'd be new and different.

Even so, I needed something to do. It will shock no one to know that I'm a bit purpose driven - just jogging the race didn't sound like much fun.  And I really don't like cherry blossoms - too much pollen.  So when I mentioned to my friend Cheryl that I was probably going to run in the 1:15-1:20 range, and she invited me to run with a group of teammates around the 1:15 range, I was psyched.  I had an objective.

***

It was a bit weird to do a race/non-race.  Because I wasn't racing, I opted to leave my lucky red skulls headband at home, and also to skip my lucky black nail polish.  Clothing wise, I dressed as I would for an easy to moderate run, rather than a race - wearing my Capital Area Runners longsleeve shirt in a race for the first time.  I also donned red compression socks, just to complete the red cheerleader ensemble.

I may have been a bit too chill, as I also left my number on my fridge, and had to go back and get it.  Yup, different mentality.

But finally I was assembled, and drove to a spot about 2.5 miles from the start, before jogging over.  Talked to friends, did a few drills (not because I needed to, but because I'm trying to do them a few times a week) and found the group I'd be running with - Cheryl, Allison, Patricia, and Stephanie.    We chatted some about race plans - they wanted to start at 7:40, then build a bit, possibly/hopefully finishing with 7:00 at the end.  We also chatted about the weather - the temps were perfect, but it was a bit breezy - I told them that anyone who was near me at Hains Point should use me as a windblock.

Then we crowded into our corral (I also saw my friends Greg, Elizabeth, Madeline, and Malissa in the corral), socialized, and the race started.

***

It was a bit odd, trying to start the race at a specific pace.   Or even focusing on pace at all.  For a while now, I've been running everything - easy runs, workouts, and races - exclusively off of perceived effort.  When I do a workout, I do 8x800 at "800m rep feel" not "2:xx."  I know how starting a 10 mile should feel; shooting for a pace rather than a feel was a bit foreign to me.  Plus all my runs for the last few weeks have been easy (with the one exception of 2 miles at marathon pace on Friday morning when I realized I was going to be late to yoga *whistles*).  So I flicked my Garmin screen to show distance and time, to give me some guidance.  [I don't trust the instant pace readings at all; but I figure quarter mile splits on it aren't too bad, generally.]

And that was how I ran.  I ended up a second or two ahead of the group of teammates, which I preferred - that way if I was massively screwing up my attempt to hit 7:40, I hadn't sucked them out.  They could use me as a guidepost, but were still able to do their own thing.

We came through the first mile in 7:36 - a little fast, but hopefully not so much that damage had been done.  Plus they were a second or two behind, which put them closer to 7:40.  From then on, I tried to hold a steady effort, continually looking behind me to see how near or far the group was.

It was easily the most looking around I have ever done in a race.  Normally, when I race, I get tunnel vision.  I'm focused on a) my effort and b) the shortest/easiest path between two points.  Not this time.  I was looking to each side to see friends, to the back to see how the group was doing (the further we got into the race, the more I let them set the pace, since I figured they had a feel), to the front to see if any issues were coming up.  When we hit turnaround points (there are two) I'd swing way wide to make sure I didn't get in the way of anyone who was racing.  I really didn't care if I ran extra distance.  It was just a different mentality.

***

At the second turnaround, I noted that the group had split up a bit, with Stephanie pulling ahead.  Since the group still had each other to work with, I decided to help Stephanie as I could - essentially running a bit ahead of her to give her something to focus on while trying to (figuratively) punch holes in large groups of runners ahead so that she wasn't blocked.  When we hit Hains Point, a bit of a head wind hit us, and I tried to find the best place to position myself to block the wind for her.  At some point though, we got separated, and I was simply running on my own.  It felt surreal, to be running at a moderate pace while others around me fought their own personal battles in the final miles of their races.  It felt a bit mean, to be honest, though I'm not sure why that's the case.

And then I noted another member of our group, Patricia, behind me.  I "led" her some more, pushing through crowds.  I would have loved to have done more, but the truth is that you can never run a race for someone else.  In the end, it's all them.

But when we hit mile 9, Patricia shouted to me "7 minutes."  I turned back towards her.

"You want a 7 minute mile?"

"Yes!"

Yay!  This, I could do.  After all the marathon training, 7:00 and I were BFF.  I found that familiar groove, and locked in.  All the way up the final hill and down the stretch to the finish (the last mile ended up being 6:58 on my watch, so a little fast, but Patricia didn't seem to mind).  Crossed the finish, and turned to cheer my teammates in. 

I felt satisfied, though also a bit wistful.  When you cross the finish line having given your optimal effort, it's a great feeling that more than balances any discomfort you felt while racing.  It's addictive.  I didn't get my hit at Cherry Blossom - while everyone around me was imbibing in the racer's high, I was a designated driver.   But still, a fun day overall.  And great to see so many of my teammates have great races, and to have been involved in some small way in Patricia's massive PR.

But yeah, I really can't wait to race again.  It's been way too long.  Way too long.


Other stuff:  for posterity - splits ended up being 7:36, 7:35, 7:10, 7:24, 7:20, 7:31, 7:43, 7:42, 7:25, 6:58.