13.1 New York Race Report

I’m usually good about at least getting the race reports up on my blog, but I’m behind – still have not written up the March Madness Biathlon from last weekend.  For another day, perhaps…

Yesterday was the inaugural 13.1 New York race.  I’ve had this on my radar since mid-August, when I purchased a pair of shoes at JackRabbit and first saw a postcard advertising the 13.1 race series.  The website had ZERO information about the New York race, but my interest was piqued, as I’m always looking for non-NYRR race opportunities in New York, and the half marathon has become one of my favorite race distances.

By NYC Marathon Expo, we had a location (Queens), and then over time we found out the date, exact location, and race course.  Signed up as soon as I figured out that I did not have a long run scheduled for this weekend in my training for the Providence Marathon.

I was definitely a bit concerned about the course existing solely in Flushing Meadow Park, thinking the park was not big enough, and that the narrow paths and turns would be a problem.  Turns out the park is REALLY big, and had no problem accommodating the course.  Yes it was crowded in the first mile, but once that cleared up, the course was clear enough, and very well marked with signs and road markings.  There were also plenty of water stops, with lots of water and Gatorade, with friendly, helpful, volunteers.

I again perfectly executed the pre-race strategy of getting things done before the masses, to get to the start line early.  Had some company this time, as I picked up Michelle on the way.  Good thing I had the extra time as I was under the impression that bag check was at the start, not the finish.  So, little bit of confusion, but got my bag checked before the masses, and used the bathroom before the masses, and got a nice spot at the start line.

I fully intended to not ‘race’ the distance.  I intend to shoot for a PR (1:56:42) at the Brooklyn Half Marathon, and for this one, I was thinking to finish just under 2 hours.  In the early miles, I realized that was not going to happen.  I could not maintain the necessary 9:09 pace.  I found that my comfortable pace was about 9:20-9:25 per mile, and settled into that pace.  Even that pace didn’t feel completely great, I think because I had run 5 of the previous 7 days and my legs simply didn’t feel fresh.  I know with a proper taper, I could probably go a little faster in the marathon, especially with another 2 hard weeks of training before my taper.  So, long story short, I was happy with 9:20-9:25 pace.

You can see from my splits below, my pace was very consistent.  Not quite sure what happened in mile 6 (slowest mile by far at 9:59), but besides that, my times were very consistent.  That is also what happens when the course is flat as a pancake, as this was.  Well, mostly flat with the exception of about 8 trips by small bridge over various highways that crisscross the park.

This ended up being a perfect practice run, I think, for the marathon in Providence, because that race is also mostly flat.  It was nice to settle into marathon race pace, and not have to worry about stopping at lights, dodging cars, stopping into bodegas to buy drinks, and to not have to carry my bottles of water or Gatorade.

Even though I wasn’t feeling perfect, I had enough in the tank to run the last mile in 8:32.  The medal they gave at the end was really nice, and they also had a nice spread of food, and a great party.  All in all, a great time, and I hope they continue with another race next year.

My official time was 2:01:52, which ranks 8th fastest out of 32.

834 / 2103 – overall
528 / 923 – male
99 / 158 – age group

• Mile 1 – 9:01
• Mile 2 – 9:15
• Mile 3 – 9:22
• Mile 4 – 9:25
• Mile 5 – 9:25
• Mile 6 – 9:59
• Mile 7 – 9:18
• Mile 8 – 9:37
• Mile 9 – 9:06
• Mile 10 – 9:22
• Mile 11 – 9:11
• Mile 12 – 9:24
• Mile 13 – 8:32
• Mile 13.1 – :49

4 weeks to Rhode Races!