race report: more/fitness women's half marathon

official finish time: 1:58:16 with a pace of 9:02. i had been hoping for a new PR but when race day dawned warm and humid, i was skeptical about that possibility. as it turns out, it didn't happen, but i still finished in under 2 hours.

after long lines at the potties pre-race, i barely made it into my corral in time. one fun thing about women-only races is that i get bumped up closer to the start -- red corral! the national anthem was quite awful. we had a few sprinkles spritzing us in the corrals but that stopped with the starting horn. i crossed the start line about a minute after the horn. i saw my parents & sean just after the start but they didn't see me.

i planned to take the first 3 miles easy. there was plenty of traffic but not much pushing or passing really. skipped the first couple of water stops, then hit the one at the north end of the park just before the Big Hill. this is where some rude woman dumped her cup of water on my legs and feet. boo.

at this point, i was comfortable with my pace but definitely not speedy. i decided to stick with it through the next couple of miles, which are very hilly and always challenging for me. someone near me told her friend they were running 8:30's and she wanted to stick with that. i wasn't really keeping track of my pace, but running more by effort, so i wasn't sure what my speed was until i heard that. (though clearly i could've checked my garmin at any time.)

sure enough, the west side hills were taking their toll. but there were more spectators in miles 4 and 5, which was distracting in a good way to hear the cheers, read the signs, and watch the people. then we were approaching mile 6, the not-really-halfway mark. this was the point of the race where i planned to evaluate my pace and decide whether to push or just hang, knowing the next few miles were the easier part of the loop. i was looking for my parents & sean in the crowd but hadn't seen them yet and wasn't sure where they might be. then, a little before mile 7, i saw them and was able to come over and wave.

then we came up to the point where we'd be splitting off from the course to head to the finish (in another 6 miles of course). the sun was up, it was hot. i was comfortable with my pace, but not feeling too springy, so i sort of decided to hang. in worse news, i was developing several hot spots on my feet, which i attributed to having wet feet & socks thanks to the water-dumper back at the north end water stop. boo. most women around me seemed to be running comfortably, no pushing or passing, so i settled in as well, knowing the hilly part of the course was coming up one more time.

no surprises there, just kept pushing through, over the west side hills. now i was just waiting for the mile markers... 10... 11... i felt like at 11, almost all the hills would be behind me, and i could push harder. the hot spot on my left foot was becoming more painful but at mile 12, i knew i only had a little while to go and i wanted to finish strong, so i focused on the finish.

arrived at the split and veered left onto the 72nd st transverse, where we could see the finish. best part of the race! ha. and yes we got medals. i leaned forward for the volunteer to place the medal around my neck, which seemed to surprise him. i figured, hey, i worked hard for this, man! he did figure it out and hung the medal over my head for me. :) in the finish area, there was very little space and it got crowded fast. there also weren't many refreshment tables so people were doubling back, it was a bit chaotic. oh, and they had heat sheets which made me laugh because it felt like 80 degrees.

met up with my parents and sean. i felt a little deflated about my finish time, but it wasn't a surprise as i knew from the clocks along the course that i wasn't even close to pace for a PR. it was really neat to know they were there on the course, and i was surprised how emotional this made me at points during the race. thanks mom & dad & sean for coming to support me!!

as usual, zoe was less than impressed with my accomplishment.

post-race foot evaluation confirmed a LARGE blister on the ball of my left foot right beneath my big toe. ouchy. at least it hadn't burst.

splits from my garmin. miles 4/5/10/11 include harlem hill & and the west side hills, you can see what they do to my pace. yipes.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:58:18.2	13.16	9:00
1	8:54.8	1.00	8:55
2	8:31.3	1.00	8:31
3	8:06.6	1.00	8:07
4	8:58.2	1.00	8:58
5	9:07.9	1.00	9:08
6	8:45.9	1.00	8:46
7	8:47.6	1.00	8:48
8	9:12.5	1.00	9:13
9	9:10.4	1.00	9:11
10	9:36.3	1.00	9:36
11	9:47.1	1.00	9:47
12	9:10.3	1.00	9:10
13	8:50.4	1.00	8:50
14	1:19.0	0.16	8:27