My quest to run one half marathon a month in 2013 began in Manhattan with 13.1 miles in Central Park on January 27th. The weather had been mild for most of the winter so far, but for some reason, this race always brings cold temps. In 2007 it was single digits at the start and only reached the upper teens by the finish. This day was no exception with 20 degrees at the start and a slight breeze. I was running with a friend who planned on taking it easy which was fine for me since I was looking to do 8 minute miles as well. The Central Park half course is a tough one, two loops around and with plenty of hills so don’t expect a PR.
We both agreed to run the first loop easy and then pick it up the second time around if we felt good. He fell back after 3 miles and almost quit after 5 due to a leg cramp. I kept looking back for him and then decided to just run since it looked like I was on my own. I was not having a particularly good run, but I didn’t let the hills get the best of me, although my legs were getting tired towards the end.
I kept a pretty even pace although afterwards I realized my splits were, in some cases, 20 seconds off per mile. I usually like to pick it up at mile ten, knowing I only have a 5K left so I did my best to pick up the pace. I finished strong, passing a number of runners, but was disappointed with the time of 1:46:27. I was hoping to go under 1:45, but the weather and the course were not cooperating.
My schedule didn’t allow me to run a half in February since there was only one within a short drive and I was busy that weekend. So the next race for me was the Half of Quincy in Massachusetts on March 10th, followed by a mini ski trip at Killington afterwards with my son and his friends.
The Boston area had been hit with several snowstorms this winter and got another big one a week before this race. The race director hinted that if more snow was to come, he might have to cancel the race. No snow was predicted and in fact the weather for the weekend and the day of this race was going to be in the high 40’s and sunny. I was excited about running it, but when I got home from work on the Friday before the race, I saw a Facebook post that he cancelled the race because the police thought the course was unsafe.
I was initially annoyed because my plans were now all up in the air and I was trained and wanted to run 13.1. My original plan was to leave on the Saturday, sleep over a former coworker’s home then run the race on Sunday. I now had to switch plans and knew of the Ocean’s Run Half Marathon in South Kingston, Rhode Island.
This race started at 10am so if I wanted to run it, I would have to leave at 5am to give myself enough time to get there. I figured I wouldn’t hit any traffic at this early hour and it was daylight savings time so I actually lost an hour of sleep.
I was up at 4am, on the road at 5am, and arrived at race registration at 8:45. I met up with a few Half Fanatics for a few photo ops and then got myself ready to run. I assumed it would be a flat course, but alas it wasn’t. No big hills, but a bunch of rolling little ones. It was actually a good day for a long run although I was hoping the sun would stay out.
I went out in 7:17 and felt relatively good and thought I might be able to hold that for the first 6 miles. My goal was to go under 1:40 so this was a good pace. By mile 4 I was fighting the little hills and the crosswinds. I never was uncomfortable so I thought I might be able to pick up the pace at mile 8 or 9.
In fact, at mile 8, I was at 1 hour so I thought if I can go 7:30’s for the final 5 I would easily break 1:40. Mile 9 was 8:02 although I picked up the pace. I thought the mile markers were not correctly placed because for the last 5 miles my pace was all off; 8:02, 8:46, 7:03, 7:39 & 7:53. I finished up in 1:40:26 which wasn’t horrible but slightly off my goal time.
I hung out for 45 minutes afterwards hoping to meet another Jersey runner from my town. As it turned out, he was over 1 hour after me. I needed to still get to Boston, pick up my son and then head to Killington. I headed out without meeting him.
Half marathon #2 is done and now the April Fools’ Half in Atlantic City on April 7th is next. I am doubling up in April with the Unite ½ on the 21st.
The Half of Quincy has been rescheduled to May 5th. I hope to make it up for that one.
