Hills! Thank you sir, can I have another?
While I never would have anticipated so many hills on the Queens Grand Prix half, it was certainly a great way to prepare for the San Fran. Some people said it was actually worse than the San Fran, hill wise. However, the elevation charts on mapmyrun.com beg to differ.
Nevertheless, there was an incredible amount of hills! I woke up at 4:50 to leave for the race. We got there around 6:00, so I had a diet coke in the car to get me ready.
After spending the entire week in complete confidence. I actually felt really nervous all morning. A race is totally different than a practice run. So before I knew it, we were off. About 3,600 of us. And we were racing through a very unscenic suburban area of Queens. Seriously they could have done so much better. The World’s Fair Globe, the Hall of Science, Flushing Meadow Park, Jackson Heights, Shea Stadium…we saw none of it. Just fairly ugly streets with an occasional smattering of mansions.
So anyways, the two miles were by far the worst. I was so unused to running without talking and my without usual running buddies. So I struggled for the first four miles, mostly with whether or not to cave and put on my ipod. By mile 4 and a half, I decided that I better put it on and stop torturing myself, clearly there was no view to enjoy.
The race got much better after that. I actually got the hang of drinking on the run down pretty well. At least I wasn’t choking, soaking, or blinding myself like last time. So that was good.
As far as pace, I kept it pretty slow, around 10 minute miles. This was for a few reasons:
1.) I didn’t know the course, so I didn’t know what to expect
2.) I didn’t want to burn out
3.) There were a ton of hills
But the miles slowly ticked away. I felt strong the whole way. By mile 11 I started to really push myself. A couple of times I thought of missed the mile 12 marker because 11 went on forever, but finally 12 came around, and I picked up the pace even more. However, there were 2 huge hills in mile 12 that slowed me down, but I kept plugging. Hi-fiving little kids along the way.
I waved to the team as I approached mile 13 and then smiled for my parents who were both taking pictures.
After the race we made our way back to the car, which was parked like a mile away. Then four of us squished into the backseat, all nice and sweaty.
However, the day improved with a nice sunny brunch and a great afternoon at the Beer Garden. Go team.
While I never would have anticipated so many hills on the Queens Grand Prix half, it was certainly a great way to prepare for the San Fran. Some people said it was actually worse than the San Fran, hill wise. However, the elevation charts on mapmyrun.com beg to differ.
Nevertheless, there was an incredible amount of hills! I woke up at 4:50 to leave for the race. We got there around 6:00, so I had a diet coke in the car to get me ready.
After spending the entire week in complete confidence. I actually felt really nervous all morning. A race is totally different than a practice run. So before I knew it, we were off. About 3,600 of us. And we were racing through a very unscenic suburban area of Queens. Seriously they could have done so much better. The World’s Fair Globe, the Hall of Science, Flushing Meadow Park, Jackson Heights, Shea Stadium…we saw none of it. Just fairly ugly streets with an occasional smattering of mansions.
So anyways, the two miles were by far the worst. I was so unused to running without talking and my without usual running buddies. So I struggled for the first four miles, mostly with whether or not to cave and put on my ipod. By mile 4 and a half, I decided that I better put it on and stop torturing myself, clearly there was no view to enjoy.
The race got much better after that. I actually got the hang of drinking on the run down pretty well. At least I wasn’t choking, soaking, or blinding myself like last time. So that was good.
As far as pace, I kept it pretty slow, around 10 minute miles. This was for a few reasons:
1.) I didn’t know the course, so I didn’t know what to expect
2.) I didn’t want to burn out
3.) There were a ton of hills
But the miles slowly ticked away. I felt strong the whole way. By mile 11 I started to really push myself. A couple of times I thought of missed the mile 12 marker because 11 went on forever, but finally 12 came around, and I picked up the pace even more. However, there were 2 huge hills in mile 12 that slowed me down, but I kept plugging. Hi-fiving little kids along the way.
I waved to the team as I approached mile 13 and then smiled for my parents who were both taking pictures.
After the race we made our way back to the car, which was parked like a mile away. Then four of us squished into the backseat, all nice and sweaty.
However, the day improved with a nice sunny brunch and a great afternoon at the Beer Garden. Go team.
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