Week in Review

58 Miles
5 x 1000m repeats at 320-325 on Dilworth Speed Loop
Brooklyn Half in 1:16:20, 4th place
No Long Run

The big event this week was the Airbnb Brooklyn Half Marathon.  My mileage dropped down to about 60 miles as I tapered so I would be somewhat more rested for this effort.  The goal leading into the race was the start at 5:50 and then to drop down to 5:45 and 5:40 for the finish.  Long story short: I did not do that.

I started out around 5:45 / 5:50 pace, ran some high 5:55s through the hilly section in Prospect Park, and then when I reached Ocean Blvd, it was all I could do to maintain 5:51.  This was my first race in NYC and I really enjoyed the experience, even though I didn't run what I wanted.  I really would like to do this race again when I know that I'm in better shape!  It's a great course with lots of fast ladies and guys to push me the entire way.

The highlight of the race was definitely around mile 9, when a cyclist cheered for me by calling me by my name.  I thought to myself, who the hell knows me in Brooklyn?  I turned my head to catch a glimpse of this miracle worker.  From the flowing brown hair that is longer than mine, I knew it was Eric Mack who lives in Raleigh.  He cheered for me at a crucial moment in time, where I wanted to stop pushing hard and just slow the pace down.  His familiar face, combined with his shouts of encouragement gave me just what I needed to maintain a decent pace coming in to the finish.  Additionally, a nice man decided to push me to the finish line and even slowed up at the line so that I could finish ahead of him.  There was definitely all sorts of sportsmanship exhibited throughout the course, which is the number one reason why I want to do this race next year.

As I said earlier, even though I was unable to run my goal, I am still very pleased with this effort.  Just 4 weeks ago, I was running in the 108 degrees of sweltering heat in India and attending classes for 10 hours a day.  It's tough to come back from a trip like that and to run hard for thirteen whole miles.  Heading into summer, I am looking forward to focusing on speed by racing at the Running of Bulls 8k on May 30 and at the Beat the Heat 5k on July 25.  Additionally, in just four weeks I'll be heading to Istanbul, Turkey with Garrett for a week and then for classes for nine days.