My Eight Half Marathon - NYC 2014 Half

After crossing finish line

In this doodle we will run through 2014 NYC Half Marathon track while I am sharing my run experience. Just having 5 more days for the spring equinox in northern hemisphere this was our good bye run to winter. This event started in Central Park, New York and ended between Pine Street and Water Street, New York on 16th March 2014.

I registered for this event through non guaranteed category and luck favored me in draw. Since beginning of 2014 I am regular in my weekend running and hiking so no practice planning went into this run.

My goal for this run was to own a personal record that will be less than 1 hour and 50 Minutes. To achieve this goal I was working on my speed and some strength trainings. My pre-preparation to achieve the goal was satisfactory but I made a mistake of not preparing myself for the race day. On the night before the race I had only 2 hours of sleep and not enough carbohydrates. On race day had my wake up at 5:00 AM and hydrated myself. Reached NYC at 6:40 AM and having one more hour for the race decided to do active walk for 2 miles to reach the start line. This walk will also keep me warm.

There was good security arrangements to make sure happy running day for all of us. I was in my wave 2 coral by 7:30 AM. I was feeling cold and leg fingers were getting numb. Temperature was at 31 F and 18 MPH of wind.

After 15 minutes of wait wave 2 coral started jogging towards the start line. Clock has started counting and we crossed the start line with the aim of meeting our goals. I decided to time myself below 9 minutes per mile since beginning. This big event attracts great runners and I was always with enthusiastic runners through out the track. 

After running for a mile I was still feeling stiffness in Soleus muscle. This was my second mistake of not doing proper stretching before the race. I was with an oscillation whether to increase, maintain or decrease my pace. Considering my goal I decided to increase the pace to 8 minutes and 30 seconds for a mile and stay consistent for an hour and listen to the body.

After 3 miles I was getting better but reached the uphill track which was slowing me a bit. I also decided to have Gatorade and water in support stations to have my electrolyte balance up. This was helping me to keep my pace up. After 6 miles of run track exited the central park where incredible cheering greeted the runners. I had my adrenaline rush with all these fabulous cheering's and with no decision my pace is set at 8 Minutes for a mile.

Completed my 7.35 miles distance while my watch clocked 1 hour of run. I knew to have me set for my new personal record I have to take care of my pace and also no injuries in the track. After completing mile 9 I had symptom of side stitches. I looked at my watch to realize  that I am on pace 7 minutes and 45 seconds. I reduced my pace to eight minutes and started doing deep breathing. This helped to recover.

Reached my 11th mile and for the first time in my running days I realized how my body was starving for oxygen. I was even unable to loose a breath. I was consciously doing some shallow breaths between my deep breaths to have enough quick oxygen intake.

We ran into the Batter Park Underpass entrance to clock our last mile. This is the dark tunnel run where all runners were enthusiastic and exited to see the finish line on the other end of tunnel. I was having my feet across the finish line while my chip clocked for 1 hour 47 minutes 28 seconds (1:47:28). Yeah I have my new personal record now.



My Chip Timing