Divas Half Marathon Long Island

heeey friends!

this will be a short recap, just like my last race report last week, because I haven’t been taking a lot of photos. I did think this race needed a report because I didn’t find a lot out there and went TOTALLY unprepared.

It took about 50-55 minutes to get there from the Upper West Side, by car. We left at 6 am and we got there with so much time to spare that we actually sat and hang out for a while before the start. The Half starts at 8:15, and the 5K starts at 7:45: we had time to sit for 30 mins, drop bags, do a warm-up, cheer on the 5K runners, use the portapotties and line up 20 minutes ahead of time. Seamless, no stress.

So, I had no idea how big or congested the race was, and I brought the headphones just as a last-minute decision as I never bring them anymore. I had no crazy goals, just to finish and get some fitness in the process. Given I had done the 10 Miler a week before in 8:10 pace in perfect weather, I assumed I’d be around 8:30 pace as we had crazy humidity. It was about 74 degrees at the start with 94% humidity and 69 of dew point. YUK.

Before we started the race!

The race happens in Eisenhower Park, some is inside the park facilities, drives and paths, and some is on the highways or road in the perimeter of the park.

Here is a tiny overview of the course.

The race is FLAT. FLAT. There are a couple of bumps but nothing big. Elena, Susan, Ilse and I were towards the start and we got moving quickly once the horn blew off. I counted about 20 to 28 people ahead of me by the first 800 meters. wow. Expecting an average 8:30 pace and a slow start, I assumed I’d be at 9 for the opening miles. When I saw my mile one was 8 flat I panicked a bit. I am sure my heart rate skyrocketed… By mile three I could see a guy and a girl ahead, and that was it. I had NO ONE AROUND. I am so not used it… Luckily I had Bey, and Taylor and Katie and Justin and all my talented imaginary friends to sing to me, loudly cause all I had was my breathing. I think I would have gone mental if I didn’t have the music really. By Mile 5 I had passed the girl, the guy and a girl in long tights (I learned later she was in my age group, though she looked 25!) and I had two girls running together about 600 meters up. That was all.

It was humid and gross. By Mile 7 the two girls made a wrong turn for a few meters and I followed them. Then they got yelled at and when we came back to the course I passed them. And I started panicking that I was gonna get lost. I could see no one ahead. I don’t think I’ve ever run a race where I had no one ahead or behind… that I could see!!!!

There was a light drizzle all the way into mile 8, it was great (though my videos/pics got crappy). By Mile 9 I had a gel and started to get anxious so I started counting orange cones and negotiating with my head: “this is just like the inner loop of the park, just do it”, “this is just like two loops of the reservoir, just do it”, “this song is awesome, focus on the song”, “just get closer to that person ahead, oh it’s just a course marshal”, over and over.

There were a few sporadic family members spectating, who’d clap when they saw me (THANK YOU KIND SPECTATORS!!!!), very eager volunteers at the water stops, two groups of cheerleaders, a boa/tiara station right before the finish, and then I was there!

My pace stayed quite firm the whole way. I had no idea I could run like that. I don’t think I’ve ever raced anything so even. My heart rate though… check this out, it’s priceless: