RBC Brooklyn Half

Raw Notes

Training

  • Hal Higdon Novice 2
  • Worked up to 22 miles a week, with a 12 mile long run (10:14 pace) the saturday before
  • Practiced with gels and water bottle on long runs
  • This went very well! My legs were fatigued but taper week helped
  • Did 5 miles of running during taper, and a 45 minute walk the day before the race
  • Thought I was having a right knee problem, but I was just begin paranoid
  • Tried carb loading but I couldn't eat that much

Pre-race

  • Woke up around 5:15am
  • Rolled my lower legs a bit in the morning to loosen them up (I think this made a difference?)
  • Didn't really poop
  • headed out around 6:15am
  • Snagged some free Maurten 225s (very nice) the day before, had one on the train over
    • It tasted fine
  • Bag-checked immediately, hit the porta-potty
  • Temp was fine, felt a little too warm in the sun when I was warming up
  • Had a cup of water
  • Hit the porta-potty again in the corral

Race

  • took a caff gel once the wave started
  • Wave started at 8, didn't actually cross until ~8:25
  • Messed up starting my Strava
  • First half mile was downhill, immediately back up but felt good
  • Didn't have the usual leg tightness starting off
  • Grand army plaza good vibes
  • Felt nice and warmed up entering the park
  • Effort was slightly higher than I was expecting but wasn't too worried
  • Took a gel around mile 4, ran through the sprinkler which was fun
  • Took Battle Pass by effort, which felt great except...
  • My chest had some weird sharp pain around the top/mile 5 which I've never had before, I got nervous and slowed down a bit
  • hill-arious
  • Was able to breathe through it, but still weird since I felt great otherwise (breathing easy, legs felt fine)
  • Picked it up a bit at the end of the park (mile 6 + 7), I felt really good
  • Grabbed an extra gel from the table at mile 7
  • Left the park feeling great, pretty confident about finishing the race strong
  • Started Ocean Parkway, slight uphill to the ramp
  • It was sunny and I started feeling hot
  • Effort got worse over the next miles
  • Took my second gel a little earlier (~8.5) than I was planning, hoped this would help
  • I picked up some endurance drink from the tables
  • Ended up walking a little bit after the 9 mile marker
  • Figured I could just run the last 4-ish a little slower
  • Couldn't get back into any good rhythm when I started running again
  • Felt really hot, hit every water table and sprinkler, I was dumping water on my neck
  • Walk-ran pretty much the remainder
  • took the extra gel at 11
  • Eked out the last 3/4 mile
  • Quads were burning but I figured someone would wheel me across the finish if I collapsed
  • Big effort once I passed the Cyclone
  • Seeing the ocean was awesome and hyped me up
  • Had a great sprint to the finish line on the boardwalk

Post-race

  • Legs were real wobbly
  • Decent walk to get medals
  • Streched out my quads in the recovery tent
  • Met a nice guy on the line for the tent, we traded Stravas
  • Picked up my bag, then left
  • No appetite for a while, felt a little naseous for a while
  • Legs hurty

Reflections

  • A little disappointed by the result, I really wasn't expecting to walk the race (especially that early)
  • I ran the first half with a conservative pace with the intent to negative split, but maybe the effort was still a bit too high
  • Late start and heat?
  • I also fed into the crowd hype through the park, was fiddling with my phone (strava, music, etc.) more than I should have
    • I definitely lacked focus going onto Ocean Pkwy
  • Ended negotiating with myself a lot around mile 9
    • I think I could have run a bit longer (maybe even the whole race?), but it would not have been pleasant
    • I always win my negotiations on long runs, have to translate that to race day
  • Still glad to have finished my first half marathon
  • I am motivated to get stronger for the next half marathon (and races after that)