Race Report - First Half

Below are my splits for the first 14 miles.  All I could think of as I ran over the start line was "don't go out too fast.....don't go out too fast......don't got out to fast....."  So I did my best to start out slow.  It actually wasn't that hard to do.  When I signed up initially I told them my finish time was 6hrs not knowing how fast I ran, so I was with some people who actually ran slower than me.  I was actually with a whole group of people who were doing the 2 min run/1 min walk thing.  Almost as soon as we crossed the start line, groups of people were walking all over the place.  So it slowed me down to get around them.

The first 2 miles of the race are over the Verrazano bridge so it's just you and 1000's of people, but no spectators.  At the start in the corral, I was pretty quiet and just sort of lost in my thoughts of "holy crap am I going to be able to do this?"  On the bridge, there was this mid-60's Italian guy who was running around yodeling.  I think he was running with a woman who may have been his daughter.  I mean I made up this whole back story in my head.  Anyway, he wasn't crazy, but just seemed like he was having the best time.  As we got into Brooklyn and the crowds of people started, he would smile at all the spectators and go say hi to them.  This guy really had an impact on me because I realized that I just needed to have fun and not stress about it.  So I just totally changed my mindset and decided to enjoy it.  I may only do this once, so I am going to take in every second.

And I did....I had my name on my shirt and I tried to acknowledge every person who cheered my name.  I'd smile back or say thank you or give them a wave.  The first 13 miles of the course are in Brooklyn and the crowds there are great.  After a few turns just after getting off the bridge, we ended up on 4th avenue that is pretty much a straight shot until mile 8.  The crowds here were amazing.  At about mile 6, I came upon a guy with a 5:00hr pace sign on.  I was so surprised.  I thought, hey if I can keep this up, I might be around 5 hours which would be awesome.  So I kept that guy in my sights for a while and then lost him at one of the water stops. (a few more of the 5:00 hr pace people would pop up again around mile 10.)

I pretty much just plodded along walking through the water stop when I got there and then running again as soon as I finished the drink.  I alternated by taking Gatorade at one stop and then water at the next.  I was taking the gels ever 45 minutes or so and would have water with that.  It's amazing how fast some of the miles seemed to come up and also how hard it is to remember if you had Gatorade or water at the last stop.  I mean it's not like there's a lot else to think about. 

Well at mile 8 as I was about to make a right turn onto Lafayette Ave, I saw some familiar faces from way far out.  I definitely saw them before they say me.  It was my Dad and Mary.  I don't think Mary was expecting the humongous bear hug I gave her.  Both her and my Dad had their Go Lisa shirts.  As I ran away I definitely was choked up after seeing my Dad.  He was so excited for me and that just meant a lot.  This is a picture of another crew of folks that I would see with the same shirts.

It's amazing what a boost seeing someone you know can give you.  Mary said James and Emma are up ahead, so I instantly started looking for them.  The next stretch of Lafayette Ave was crazy.  It reminded me of the hilly part of the Tour de France where the people are all coming into the street and it looks like they are going to swallow up the bikers.  That's how many spectators there were.  It was awesome.  I was looking for James and Emma so much that I was almost getting motion sickness trying to find them in the crowd.  And then all of a sudden I heard the bellowing voice yelling my name and there they were up on a fire escape on the second floor.  Another blue shirt.  Love it!

Mile 10 was pretty quiet as we went through Williamsburg, but I knew that another crowd was waiting for me around mile 11.  Again, I saw them way before they saw me.  Can you see me below?

Donna had carried 2 more gels for me and I took them and stuffed them in my pack.  I had a little bit of a headache that had crept up, so I thought about taking Advil, but decided to wait. 

As I came up on mile 12, I had a big dilemma of to pee or not to pee.  I thought I should stop, but didn't want to take so much time in line.  I had passed two stops already that had really long lines.  I wasn't sure what the porta potty situation would be in Manhattan, so I thought if I had to stop, I should stop before then.  As I came up just before mile 13, there was a stop without too long a line, so I stopped.  I just watched my watch tick by as I waited in line.  My splits don't really reflect it, but I think I was there for about 5 minutes.  I was still with the 5:00hr pace group just before that, but I lost them at the pee stop.. Man!  

The 1/2 way point is in the middle of the Pulaski bridge on the way to Queens.  There were all kinds of clever signs along the way.  Here there were signs saying bye from Brooklyn and others saying welcome to Queens.  We really weren't in Queens that long.  I was still feeling pretty good at mile 14 and was just enjoying the people and the view of Manhattan in the distance.  Just before the 59th street bridge which is the bridge to Manhattan, there was a DJ tent that was playing Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z.  Couldn't have been placed more perfectly.  I definitely sang along and put my hands in the air.  Why not?  I was loving it.  Just as I rounded the curve to go onto the bridge, someone had a sign that said "Make the bridge your bitch".  I did my best to do just that.  Well in that I mean I ran it instead of walked it which was a feat in itself because there were a ton of people walking it.

Lisa