Here is a course map for this years race.
I found this link on mapmyrun.com. It maps the run nicely.
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As usual it was a crazy weekend. Maybe even more than usual.
My in-laws are 7 toes out of NY already and into Florida. I get it. They deserve to enjoy their life. It will be hard(er) for us but that's ok. We will deal with it. In any case, they asked that Lee and her brother (Avi) go to Florida one weekend and take a look. They are at odds at each other. Her father thinks they should buy "A" and her mother thinks they should buy "B". I don't know what's the point of Avi and Lee coming and giving their opinion but they asked. So, it was to be this weekend. The weekend of the NYC Half.
I told Elizabeth to go and enjoy herself. Take the time off and that I would deal with somehow the kids being watched and the race but she decided to come back early. She would leave Friday and come back Saturday. Her brother would stay until Sunday which makes more sense. She wanted to come back to be with the Family. Cool.
Friday was the Purim Carnival at the kids school and they were allowed to and supposed to wear costumes as well. Also, school would end even earlier. I knew I would not be able to swim Friday night and Friday was gonna be beautiful (high of 70's), so I decided to get an early bike ride in. It would be a little silly as it was 50 when I left the house, windy and cold and yet later it would be warm. As silly as it was, I layered up and there were still moments where I was still a little cold. I decided on 15 miles. No more. I have been doing rides on the trainer as long as 13 miles but the trainer is not the same. I knew I could go longer. I wanted to go longer. I had to keep it in check. No point in getting injured right before the race.
Woke up and started getting ready. Got the kids ready and left a few minutes before them. Oh my God...It felt awesome to be out there. I missed it. I was glad to be out there. I got to Roslyn (7.5 miles out) and all I wanted to do was keep at it. Decided just 1 more traffic light. Had to keep it in check and not go out to the 106/107. Better to come back still feeling great, still wanting to go and do more but stopped myself. Coming home, a guy pulls up to me on a mountain bike, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He wasn't social so I decided to drop him. Awesome. And while he kept me in his sights (I'm not that great), I refused to budge. Got home feeling great. The bottom line, my legs were tired the rest of the day. Not smart but still...
Got back, showered and took Elizabeth to the airport. From there to the school for some downtime. Saturday had a good day at the YMCA but was a little tired. Took a small nap while J2 was at Gymnastics, sitting on the floor resting against a door. Woke up with a terrible pain in my back. Not good. Left the YMCA, rushing to go the dog. Came home and LC did not greet me. Strange. Until I noticed the mess. One of the kids left a Mishloac Manot package to low and LC got to it. He knew what he did was wrong. He was waiting upstairs, watching. Had to punish him (squirt water at him) and hated it. Never had to hit my kids and now I have to do this. Of course now I worry. The dog could get sick (vomit and diarahee) and we have to go to LGA to pick Lee up. Not good. Long night...?
Now a little about the race...This year it was a lottery. You put your name in for 5 bucks. If you get in, then you owe $ 50. If you don't, then the 5 goes bye-bye. I didn't mean to get in. I must have been bored at work that day so I threw my name in. Few weeks after when the results should have been posted, they finally were. One of the best/worst thing there is is the internet. It used to be that people would complain/grumble within their own club. Now, with social networking sites like Facebook, it's out there. Tons of complaints about NYRR. It seems that people are upset about the lottery. Give us transparency they ask. Apparently, no NYer knows a NYer that got in. I thought the whole thing was funny. Finally people see NYRR as it truly is. It's a money hungry thing. It's a NY runnig club that is NOT interested in NYers. Think about that one. They, Marry Wittenberg and company, only care about making this theirs. An international thing. Lots of $$$$.
Back to reality. I get an email - I'M IN! What the hell?!? I completly forgot about it but I did sign up and I got in. People upset and I didn't even mean to.
It is an extremly fun race. It's probably the only NYRR race that I have enjoyed. It's an 8 mile trek in Central Park (1.2 loops) followed by running down 7th Avenue through Times Square all the way to 42nd street. A right at 42nd street and then South on the West Side Highway to Battery Park.
I'm not a fan of Central Park - actualy I hate it. I mean it's a nice enough place but why would someone commute to CP to train when Alley Pond, Cunningham and Prospect Park are available. So many other places are available too.
Still it's a hilly place to run in and for that there's nothing you can do except run. Dig in and run.
As I walk the dog Saturday night, I realize forgot to get the in-laws mail. I didn't want to go so Lee did. I do glance at the fuel gauge and see they have a litle more than half a tank of gas. More than enough. On the other hand, when I left Sunday morning, I realize there is between a quarter tank and a half tank. Still more than enough but not enough to make me happy. Sunday morning before the drive to the city, I had to fill up with gas.
The plan: Wake up a little earlier (1:30 a.m), walk the dog at 4 a.m, and leave the house at 5 a.m. My target was to be in the city by 5:30, parked by 5:45 and by approximately 6 a.m be at race site.
Walked the dog and it was 36 degrees. Almost 80 degrees on Friday and 36 on Sunday. C'mon....It wasn't cold and it wasn't windy. Yay. Still, as I was leaving the house, I decided to take a windbreaker with me. I never check anything in but it was 36 degrees and a long wait. Apparently with the race starting at 7:30, they want you in the corrals at 7 since the corrals arer closing at 7:10.
Last time I did this race, it was Jim, Anu, Ed and me. There are 2 things you can do: You can either park at the finish and commute to the start or park at the start and commute back after the race. Last time, I parked at thee finish and we were to the subway. Got a great parking spot but the train took an hour to come which stressed things out. Didn't want to repeat that experience. This time, I was by myself. I parked at the finish and took a cab to the start. Now, I don't know the area so in the cab, I made sure to write the 2 cross streets on my left hand. More on that later.
Cab dropped me off at the start and I got my bearing. There was wind in the city and I got cold. Took the windbreaker out and put it on. Guy comes over to me. I dropped my sunglasses. Maybe I would have survived the run but the drive home? I would have been in big trouble. Headed out to the porta-potties. Still early and fresh. That's when She-Hulk came and tried to rip the door open. Obviously, she can't tell the difference between red (LOCKED) and green (AVAILABLE) but don't you get it when you can't open the door? Gotta give She-Hulk credit tho. She really tried to rip the door off it's hinges.
Checked in my wind breaker and walked to my corral. Got in there and started walking up and down to try to warm up. As people started filling in, I couldn't do that anymore. Stood there surrounded and shielded by tons of people. Good thing too because the wind was blowing from behind. Stood there, shivering, teeth chattering, jumping and dancing like everyone else. Feet were frozen and they hurt. Badly. When I run, I never stand there like an Idiot for 30 minutes hoping to turn into an icicle.
Race starts and every step hurts. Gotta warm up and find a rhythm. Any rhythm. First mile comes and goes and my watch says 8:30(ish). I figure it's a mistake. I was tired and I didn't expect anything. All I wanted was to just enjoy myself. That was the only goal. I wasn't trying to PR or to make a statement. Mile 2 again says 8:30. And mile 3. And mile 4. And mile 5. Weird....All I wanted was to hang on and maybe (just maybe) after we get out of CP, when things are flat to a little downhill, try to do something if I can. Mile 6 was a 9 minute mile. That's probably the worst of the hills. Mile 7 and 8 are back to 8:30ish.
We're out of CP and now things are interesting. Certainly more fun. Running down 7th Avenue and it's the best part of the race. I'm like a little kid enjoying the ride. I'm running looking at everything. I am no longer hurting. I'm running on water with feather shoes and...The clock says 7 minute mile?!?
The thoughts start....PR? Nah, I mean I would need very low 8's to do so and that 9 really hurt but the average of a 9 and a 7 is an 8 so maybe...? Nah still not posible I think.
Running on 42nd street and it's still pretty cool except for the fact that we left the hills and went straight into the wind. C'mon...
Got to the West Side Highway. Prevviously it was just a left. Now, it's a right for a 1/2 block and an ugly u-turn, right at the Intrepid. How cool is that?
Only 3 miles to go. PR not possible but it won't be worst time too. That's cool.
At mile 11, I noticied there is a girl who is trying to draft off off me. She seemed to be struggling and dropping off. I waved her to catch up and she did. Still, she was a little anti-social. Everytime, I tried to say something to her, she took her earphone off, answered and put it back. Whatever. Still it was good that she was there. Every so often, I struggled to keep up with her.
At mile 12, she turned to me and said "Are we gonna push it now?" I told her, I need to rest for a minute but that if she feels good, then she should go. She did...But I kept her in my sights. I wasn't more than 20 feet behind.
800 meters to go and I start catching up. I am big time drafting, right behind her. At 400 meters I push harder and I pass her. At 200, I still push. Suddenly, I am at 13 and oops, there is the finish line. I push and pass about 30-40 people into the finish.
I turn and congratulate my friend. Told her that it was funny that originally, I pulled her but then she provided the pace. How true. I would have slowed down.
Got my medal, real nice one too, food, bag and starte searching for the car. Asked a cop on a horse directions and was at the buisness end of the horse. Still looking for car. Took the gloves off to get the cross streets and don't you know it - the sweat erased everything. Managed to remember names with what I could read from my hand. Still can't find car tho. Unlike other males, I have no problem asking for directions. Went to a traffic cop (female no less), described to her how I drove and she told me where the car probaly is. And it was....YAY!!!
Forgot to mention....Went to the expo on Thursday and it was OK. The Volunteers were cluless. Anyway, turns out CJR later put his hours in and ended up giving Mary Wittenberg's husbands his bib. Apparently she did not get in through the lottery. When CJR cracked a joke, she mentioned that's it's fair to which he responded, "did you send an angry email to NYRR?" She was not amused.
Here is a course map for this years race.