NYC Half '12

Sunday was a perfect day for running; for my taste, a little cool still - if the race started just a few hours later, it would have been absolutely perfect! This was my first race for this year and the first big one since the marathon. In the winter I got lazy; it was always completely dark by the time I got home (I don't care so much about the cold, and besides, this winter was so mild, I could not even complain) and in the absence of a running buddy I had to meet at a certain time and place, the couch often won the contest over the asphalt of Central Park. I still kept up some amount of running, usually once or twice a week, not more than 6 miles at a time. Then came the news that I might get a race number for the big NYC half marathon. It's the biggest deal in city running circles after the marathon and even some pretty well known professionals race. I didn't apply for the lottery mainly because of the outrageous prices this year. I really think that running has become way too fashionable in a way. Isn't it strange that people are entering lotteries to run marathons and are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to sometimes suffer for hours (I am thinking of people who don't train or train much) just to say that had done a marathon, or a half marathon? I thought we were in a recession...

In any case, on Sunday morning, there were loads of people lining up as usual in Central Park. It was still dark and freezing and yet there were over 15,000 people, among them, myself in the overcrowded corrals. Since I was running in place of a man with a very manly name, I did not want to risk checking a bag (they have huge stickers with the names on them on each bag), which ended up being a good thing because I kept my extra layers on for the wait. Also because I was impersonating a manly man, who is also an ironman by the way, I had a very low number (meaning too fast for me) so I went back to a higher numbered corral - I knew I had to start slowly if I wanted to keep a decent pace for the whole 13.1 miles. I didn't know what to expect in terms of my fitness. Just a week earlier, I ran a little less than 8 miles and was sore the next day; it was hard!

I started at 9 mins/mile, which was very comfortable for the whole loop in the park and after making it out onto 7th Ave, I was super energized! Times Sq was largely hidden in fog; very mysterious and beautiful at the same time. There were people lining the streets, musicians playing, the energy was great! I was thinking that I should savor those moments; not just before reaching the long straight stretch of the West Side Highway, which I was dreading, but also in general. Savor the moment of running through TImes Sq, closed just for us! What great few minutes those were, those moments I really feel so alive! Then we were at 8 miles turning south by the Hudson. And I wasn't getting tired yet. I knew I was running a little faster and I kept thinking "when will I hit the wall?" Usually around mile 10 for the half it gets pretty hard, having to dig deeper. I saw a guy holding a sign that said "Fuck the wall!" in huge letters and I thought, ok, fuck it! So I cruised along that long straight stretch without a problem, keeping the same pace. Mile 10 came and went. Then we passed the World Trade Center site. I looked up but the top of the new Freedom Tower was in the fog and I almost lost my balance and fell in the effort. Then mile 12 came and went and we were all the way at the south end of Manhattan. I am sure there was no better way to do this but I wish we didn't have to run in a tunnel for half a mile while turning to the east side of the island. I was looking forward to having the view of the Statue of Liberty and the ferries, but that was all spoiled by the dark and noisy tunnel. And when you go down into a tunnel, you have to go up out of it eventually. With 800 meters to go, there was the uphill. The guy running next to me was cursing out that hill as if it did something terrible to him; I thought, this seems pretty darn easy to me. Hmm, I should maybe try a bit harder now. So for those last few hundred meters, I really gave it all I had an came in at 1:54:46, not bad for not training. Only about 5 minutes slower than my best. And most importantly, I think this was a bit of a milestone for my running career. For the first time I was able to run the second half a longer race faster than the first (illustration below, I could not get the picture to look nicer but it shows the trend). For the first time during a half marathon, I did not hit or even touch the wall; in fact, I felt great the whole time. And all this without training too much. I suppose I underestimated the power of being very well rested. Now I just need to get the marathon down and I am all set :)