2016 United Airlines NYC Half Quick Report: FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, guys, it happened!!!

A FRIGGING PR!!!! It took THREE YEARS (did I say this enough?) but it is on the books now. I will give you a very short race recap because I am on the way to the airport (3 hours after the race, yes!). Eventually, when I come back I will write a bit more (maybe?) and I will share my splits, but I know I will not think about this for the next two weeks so I better at least get something done now.

It took a lot of back-and-forth to figure out what to wear because it was a bit cold. Good thing I woke up at 3:30 in the morning!

I settled on an under armor infrared layer, the DW singlet, and UA Capri tights. Who knew I would ever wear Capri tights? On a race no less. Little bit risky as I had only worn these tights just once before, I love to live right on the edge!!! I do love UA gear and I’d trust them with my race… for sure!

This is what I looked like before leaving the apartment. I was definitely really hot until the gun went off!

I met Carolina and we jogged to the start. We met Patricia by the trucks and jogged to the corrals. I ended up finding a lot of my teammates on the corral and a bunch of us decided to go on about the same pace, as I told everyone I was going for sub 1:37.

The gun goes off and I had lost everybody! I was freaking out, but on the other hand I was right on pace according to my pace bracelet for 1:36:40 (my PR is 1:37:34).
I was freezing for the first 2 miles but I saw Juan right there and that warmed me up at bit 💖❤️💖 Juan’s pics ⬇️⬇️ on the UES!

I was a bit freaked out about the pace: running fast always scares me. I made the conscious decision to try to ease off on the first miles but it was really hard to do.
I was cold, I was hot, I was cold. I couldn’t make up my mind. So when I saw a Juan on the west side (still in Central Park) I gave up my gloves and hat, around mile 4.

Doesn’t it look amazing there??

another chance to see my hubby ❤️ and Daphne who was also on both sides! You guys are awesome!!! THANK YOU!
Heading out of the park I had a gel and got ready to pick up the pace a bit. Running thru Times Square is a super fun but also very stressful so I tend to see a lot of people and that throws me off my pace a lot.
Once I turned on 42nd I saw Ben, and the Whippets and that helped me pick it up a bit.

2016-03-21 09.01.50
And I finally caught up to Young, who had gotten away from me earlier on. I was really trying hard to run with him but I was feeling really weak for some reason. I had another gel at about eight or nine and tried my best to stick with him.
I saw Helen! Thanks for the pic love (of course I would close my eyes!) there’s Young ahead of me too: thanks for being my rabbit for about 8 miles!

By Chambers I saw Michelle and Tom (and yes! so many more people that I can’t even think about now, don’t forget I am on my way to the airport and need food!).

2016-03-20 14.40.08
At Mile 11 I felt like I was losing it. Young got away from me and there was nothing I could do to keep it up.
I tried my best. I kept telling myself this is going to be my PR and to make sure I made it a good one in case it was another three more years of living with it. I tried to attach myself to every single person that passed me but it wasn’t happening. So maybe you DO need to drink at least a cup water doing a half marathon… HA 😳😖😖 Will test this better next time. I was so not hot but I didn’t think I would need that much. Anywaaaaay!
I started to get scared because I was really slowing down. The last mile from the tunnel on was a struggle. I was probably about eight or nine pace, when until there it was about 7:20 average!!!
As soon as I left the tunnel I really really tried to catch up. It felt like an eternity.
I saw the 800 m sign, I tried to do the math, then I saw a 400 m sign, I again tried to do the math, and all I felt like was throwing up. I really gave it all I had. I finished in 1:36:04!!
😳😳😄😄👍👍🎖🏅🏆
a Fantastic PR though I was a little bummed that I could’ve gone under 1:36 if my last half of mile wasn’t freaking disaster. There I hung by the side ready to throw up for about 30 seconds. Ugh. 😖😣

Here’s the laps!

laps
Very soon Carolina and Patricia and I met up. Both did amazing too!! Was so happy to have a PR that I didn’t even notice that I didn’t take the goodie bag. We all yelled like teenagers in front of Justin Bieber. No kidding!!!

The new bling! Cute right??

The official results
UntitledPardon the messy post!!

I am very happy about finally having broken that three-year-old mark. I have 2 half marathons coming up in the next two months, so who knows…. 😋😋 Now I’m going to eat and rest like I’m not a runner!!!!
How did you all do if you run it!!!????!??

18 thoughts on “2016 United Airlines NYC Half Quick Report: FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!

  1. Awesome post and thanks for sharing. Your previous posts on the NYC half tips really helped me today. I ran the half today and this was not only my first time in the race, but my first ever half marathon, and first time ever even running more than 10 miles. I was hoping to keep 10 min/mile pace for 2:10, because that’s what I had been training at, but actually finished the race in 2:03:11. Thanks again!

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  2. I was a bit bummed about missing 1:35 (first mile was a bit too slow and I know myself: I usually finish strong/on pace but I am never able to really drop the hammer and finish at a crazy fast pace to make up for a slow opening mine). Last mile took the life out of me, but I knew it would be that way (stooopid shitty incline after the underpass) and I’m happy it wasn’t my slowest mile in the end. Regardless… YAY FOR A BRAND NEW PR! And CONGRATS! I was sooo happy to see you at the finish line! Somehow, we always find each other at the end of this race 😉 Glad this one went way better than 2014.

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    • Same here, they now adjusted the results to 1:36:03 and it is a little bummer, 4 seconds of a bummer. Your race sounds just like mine. The last mile was a disaster for me. I know I should’ve taken in more liquids and I think I fell apart because of that. Live and learn!

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      • Just finished analizing my splits: last mile was a 7:25, which honestly is not THAT bad. But my first 5K was a 7:25, too (the rest was 7:16; 7:16; 7:18). It doesn’t seem like much since it’s only what, 4.2M out of 13.1M ran 5sec/slower than goal pace? But, apparently, it IS much. Oh well, live and learn for sure 😉

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