NYC Half

So this Sunday was the New York City Half.  I have mixed feelings about this race.  It unquestionably has the best course of any of the NYRR half marathons (except maybe Brooklyn), but it also symbolizes everything that I don't like about running races since 2008.

First, the course:  It consists of a lap of Central Park, a triumphal run down the canyon of Seventh Avenue, through Times Square, a right turn on 42nd Street to the West Side Highway, and then a straight shot to the Battery on the West Side Highway.  I ran it two years ago, and there wasn't a single piece of the course that wasn't a pleasure.  For the last mile or so, you could see the Tribeca Bridge (mile 13) looming in the distance, and I just found myself running faster and faster to the finish.   This year they modified the course, cutting a mile out of the Park, and running through the Battery Tunnel, and finishing at South Street Seaport.  I didn't like the changes too much.  Running through the tunnel was sort of fun, but at the end of the race it was a bit disorienting.   Still, it was a great running tour of NYC.

Second, what's wrong with it:  Well, the lottery, for one thing.  I fondly remember the days when one could decide on Saturday that one was going to run a half on Sunday, show up in the morning, register, and run the race with 2000 of your closest friends.   Now you have to register months in advance, and there's only a 50% chance of even getting in.  Next, the price.  The race costs over $100.  That's more expensive, hour for hour, than skiing. . .  Anything that is more expensive than skiing is too darned expensive.  Finally, 15,000 people.  I got to the start faster in the NYC marathon than I did in the Half.  My number put me more than half way up in the field, and it too, me more than 10 minutes to get to the start.  The crowd never let up.  I was passing people and stutter stepping for a clear path the whole way.

Okay, enough complaining.  I had a really good race.  I'm not in the best shape of my career.  I've been training consistently, but my weight has gotten a bit out of control over the winter, and that certainly affected my time in the short races I've run in the last month or so. So given that caveat, it was a good day.  I went out fast, perhaps a bit too fast.  I ran 8:12 the first mile, then 7:50 (up Cat Hill), then 7:30 (around the back of the Park).  I slowed a bit running up the back hill, and then settled into 8:10 miles the rest of the way.  My heart rate and pace pretty much locked in.  My form held, and most of the way, I was passing people.  I went into the race hoping to go under 1:50.  So I was quite pleased when I came in at 1:46.59.  Before the year is out, I'd like to get my half marathon pace under 8 minutes, but all things considered, for a race in March, I'm pretty happy.