I took 55,282 steps this week according to my Garmin Vivoactive HR (VA-HR) smartwatch.
Sunday, 10/13/2019
22650 steps, 46/143 resting/peak HR, 8:22 hr sleep, 4 floors climbed
run: 13.22 miles, 1:53:53, 8:37 pace, 137 avg HR, 162 avg cadence, 50F, 74% RH, 6 mph SE wind, sunny
Today's race was my second Empire State Half. I ran it last year in 1:46:18. My goal coming in today was to run under 2 hours. I considered myself under trained so I thought it was a realistic goal. I have run 37 road half marathons before this one so it wasn't my first rodeo ... lol!
Christine and I had stayed the night at the Super 8 on 7th North St in Liverpool NY so we were only 1 mile away from the race start/finish at NBT Stadium. I got the room cheap since I used my free night at hotels.com that I got after staying 10 nights over the past several years. We had a nice room with a refrigerator (useful for chilling my Hammer Gel flask), a microwave (unused) and a king-size bed (well ... we had to sleep somewhere). We both got a good night's rest. I woke up around 6:30 AM which is a bit late for me but the half didn't start until 9:30 AM (the marathon started at 8 AM and the 10K starts a half hour later at 10 AM). We headed down to a continental breakfast. The only hot food was oatmeal and make-you-own waffles. I chose frosted flakes, a muffin and orange juice.
It was around 40F and clear so I dressed in shorts (with running pants over so I could take them off) and my 2018 Empire State Half orange long sleeve tech. We headed out of the Super 8 around 8:30 AM. Three right turns and we were pulling into the NBT Stadium ... easy peasy!
I stayed in the 2018 Cruze for a bit too long (9:10 AM). I ditched my running pants, put on Body Glide and sunscreen, kissed Christine goodbye and headed off. I found a bathroom for some last minute business but didn't have any time to stretch.
And ... the horn sounded and I wasn't in the start corral yet! Oops! So ... I started after 99% of the runners had already started. I got up to a steady race pace and proceeded to slowly pass runners. I didn't want to go out and expend all my energy ... I have been known to do that before in my younger days, lol! I just set up my usual steady pace as best I could as I waved between slower runners during the first mile.
This course is just a flat, fast out and back on road or paved trail. It heads out from NBT Stadium, out to the Onondaga Lake Parkway (which was totally shut down for us), into the Onondaga Lake Park onto the East Shore Recreation Trail, go under the NYS Thruway and John Glenn Blvd and out to the turnaround at the end of the Cold Spring Trail.
I don't normally do this but I had decided to dedicate this race to my brother, Don, and his wife, Sherri. Sherri has some health issues. I thought that she would appreciate any positive thought that I could send her way. So ... I thought of them during the race from time to time.
I was behind a couple of girls around mile 4 by about 20 feet. I noticed that the cell phone of the one on the left was about to bounce out of her unzipped cell holster so I quickened my pace to tell her about it. She thanked me. The only rise in the entire race that I can remember was about 5 feet around mile 6 where the trail went underneath the NYS Thruway. It seemed like forever before I got to the turnaround. Now ... just run the course back the way I came.
I tucked in behind a blonde girl that was running my pace or slightly faster just after the turnaround. I took out my Hammer Gel flask at mile 7 and gulped a slug of it and took a big gulp of water on the run at mile 7 ... nice and without tripping! The blonde girl either put on some speed or I slowed down at mile 9. My hips started to hurt a bit so I probably slowed a bit. I didn't get down about it ... I sucked it up and kept going. I checked my Garmin ... around 1:30 with a bit less than 3 miles to go. I could go under 2 hours if I did 10 minute pace. Keep running ... getting there ... keep running ... NBT Stadium in sight ... keep running ... almost there ... 3 digital clocks running for the 3 races ... mine was under 1:55 (gun time) when I crossed the finish line ... done!
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| The usual obligatory post race selfie with the massive finisher medal |
We headed out shortly afterward. We stopped at the Del Lago Casino on the way home to stretch our legs and because we were hungry. It was quite noisy and busy inside. Every TV was tuned to a NFL game since Del Lago allowed bets via Draft Kings, link here. The sportsbook area was quite busy with several HUGE TVs. We split a 12" cheese and pepperoni pizza ... mmm (once it cooled down)!
We got home around 3 PM. Christine went straight to sleep for several hours and I caught up on stuff. So ... I did pretty well. I finished 88th out 429, 1:53:44 chip time, 1:54:38 gun time, link here. I was 7th out of 15 in my M 60-64 age group. My splits were: 7:59, 8:13, 8:20, 8:24, 8:26, 8:31, 8:34, 8:37, 8:50, 8:56, 9:11, 9:10, 8:53, 8:20 over the last 0.22 mile.
I was a bit stiff but unduly so. I have felt worse after many half marathons and certainly after any marathon. I went to bed relatively early .... I was a bit tired.
What did I learn? Well ... I just know how to run a race. I have run 494 races since my first one on Thanksgiving in Newark way back in 2005 almost 14 years ago. One foot in front of the other and repeat until I'm done.
Meanwhile ... I read all the Facebook posts of the runners from Rochester who ventured out to run the Chicago Marathon ... awesome!
