Broad Street 10 Miler

On Sunday, I did the Broad Street Run. I did this race in 2007, on 4 hours sleep following a graduation event, and finished in just over 90 minutes. Of course, I was 15 lbs lighter and in a whole lot better shape...So, while I planned to aim for 90 minutes when I registered, after my performance at the MORE Half Marathon, I decided to take it easy and have fun and not be more or less in tears at the finish line.

So, the race report...

I can't comment on the expo, as I had a friend get my packet for me since I couldn't be in Philly Friday or Saturday. She didn't mention issues, so I assume all was good. My lovely wife did get me an upgraded tee when she registered me, and that's awesome because a) it is blue, not school bus yellow like the cotton ones and b) it is super silky soft and I sort of love it. I got a L (I wear a medium in most tees, but tech tees run small), and its big in the body but fits well in the arms and shoulders and I liked it a ton wearing it yesterday afternoon!

Onto the race...I got up at 4:30 am. Ughhh. I was not pleased when my alarm went off. Anyway, I got up so early since its a 40 minute or so drive to the parking area, and the race packet sufficiently scared me into arriving early. I also took the subway from Center City (rather than the finish) to the start in 2007, and it took me like 20 minutes to get on and I barely got my bag checked in time that year...and the race has DOUBLED in size since then, so I was concerned.  All that worry for naught though. I was in the third row of the parking lot. I was on a half full subway. I got to the race start at 6:30 am. For an 8:30 am race. Yawn. And thank goodness for smartphones to amuse me!  So I bummed around, ate breakfast, etc until 7:30, when I used the potra-potty again (minimal lines) and checked my bag. I admit I was worried about bag check as well, since the race literature said to put your address in it just in case there was an issue returning it (as a result, I opted to carry my phone & keys in my belt, something I normally don't do for races, but I didn't want to be stranded).

MOST ORGANIZED BAG CHECK EVER. After my shade bag check experience at More, I was more than pleased with this. There were volunteers on the buses - same guy both ways - tagging the bags with a wristband with the bus number & your bag's number. You got a wristband to wear AND a sticker for your bib (they were heavy plastic too, not the weird paper ones that get all sweaty and gross). The only downside was bag check closed at 8 am, so I had a while to chill, literally.

around where I eventually lined up, mid-commoner land, at 6:30 am. See that white thing in the distance?? that is the start.

So bagless, I wandered over to the start. Since I'm not as fast as I think I am, I decided to set up at the front of my corral even though I planned to finish around the end of its "time" (1:30-1:40). I didn't want to move back a whole corral since people less self aware (teehee) than me tend to start out too far up and I don't like dodging walkers.

wanted

Our house is for sale again (for a few weeks now). Can we pleassseee get a buyer? Please? I accept that we'll likely lose a nice chunk of change between our repairs/upgrades and the realtor fees.

But I am ready to move on. We need to pack up (and stop commuting between our "vacation" home in PA on the weekends and my parents' attic in NJ weekdays). We need to nest (more on that later).

But meantime, we mostly browse. And I've made a mental list of what to look for in our next place. In an ideal world, we could have all of these things. Heck, we probably could elsewhere, someplace much cheaper than the NYC Metro (Seeing as a number of my wants didn't make the cut in the somewhat cheaper PHL metro). Alas, our jobs are here and so is my tiny family. So, we will make due with our limited budget (seeing as I owe Citibank my first born for my graduate education, but am opting to keep the kid and pay on my loans for yearsssss) and I am sure have to settle of a limited number of wants.

Must

• Dry basement. An actual basement, none of this crawlspace crap. Better than nothing but annoying. 
• Garage.

A London Afternoon

Not really, but I was channeling Mr. Bean last Wednesday.

I had a dermatologist appointment, and I booked with a doc in midtown since I needed a new one (and I work in Chelsea now). A HS friend of mine who is a resident at Columbia Presbyterian recommended this practice, and its about 20 minutes from my office via subway & foot.

half baked!

aren't they just adorable? such lovely little profiles.

(yes, I am totally aware you can barely see the profile since the picture is a little fuzzy)

eee.

i entered my first cloth diaper giveaway on one of my favorite mommy(ies) blog. excited. and obsessed. and the babies aren't even here yet.

update

well not exactly, but more to come on the Twin Chronicles (or something similar).

18w4d with the big brother.

MORE Half race report

In no particular order...

Organization
The MORE half marathon was taken over by NYRR this year.  My only experience with NYRR is the NYC Marathon, and I was not at all disappointed with the organization of this event. There were lots and lots of portapotties (I used them 60 and 30 minutes before the race, with no issues) and good signage.  The baggage area was less secure than I'd prefer - just piles by bib number and a guy in a red wig checking to see that your bib and tag matched - but it was fine and surprisingly low chaos.

The corrals were arranged by bib color, which was based on the best half pace you submitted with your entry. Now, my best half was 3 yrs ago, and about 10 minutes faster than I hoped to run this race, so this was sort of a fail. I lined up two corrals back from there with the 2 hr pace group. No issues at all, and it wasn't crowded in the least.

The Race Itself

The race started more or less on time. I didn't even look to be honest, so it must have been close. I opted to skip the Garmin and ran with my watch. For the first 4 miles, I hung with the 2 hr pacers (you can see where this is going). Its been soooo long since I did a 2 hr half (3 yrs) and lets all be advised that doing 3 ten milers in training where you stop in the middle for 1-3 hrs to do other things (like work, dinner, conference calls) are not the same as a single ten miler run straight through. And, well, I'm 15ish lbs heavier than my last sub-2hr half in 2008. And running 20 miles/week on a good week.

So off we went. The course is two loops (note to self: don't choose loop races) in Central Park. Its an attractive course, but I was pretty disappointed with the crowd support. It only really existed on the south end of the park near where the start and finishing areas were...  I was unimpressed with the famed Big Hill. It was long, but fairly low in terms of grade (not that it was easy, but it was less imposing than the one at mile 9 or so of the Philly Half). Of course, we did run it twice, and it was after this hill  I ditched the pace group (well, technically they ditched me; its not like I outran them). I could have hung for another 2 or 3 miles, but no way I was going to make it for 8 more. Also, the 2 hr pacers were doing the race as part of their 20 mile training run, which irrationally annoyed me. I KNOW pacers aren't pacing a pace that is their race pace and aren't racing the race but it still bugged me. And the "lead" one kind of reminded me of Charlotte from Sex in the City and that also bugged me. Oh well.

its nice...but boring...maybe I'd be more amused if Central Park was new to me?

The rest of the race was OK. I walked the water stops - every mile and a half or so which was awesome - and two other times I think. I will admit I got kind of upset at the finish line. I had 90 minutes to prepare myself for not hitting two hours; I knew it wasn't happenning, but I was still kind of bummed when I crossed the finish line. And, oh my god, my left arch hurt so bad from 5-8 and 12-13 or so. I should see a podiatrist, really. The medals are ok but unimpressive (decent though) and I appreciated the finish line apple. I would have liked a bottle of water (if they existed, I missed them), and Thomas's Bagel Thins in NYC? I know they're a sponsor, but come on. Boo. Baggage pick up was easy.

looking awesome post race....

After
Due to some minor scheduling issues, I had to take the train home (my parents had dropped me off). I walked to Columbus Circle to get the subway to Penn Station (and a brownie at Au Bon Pain en route). Of course, my Metrocard was empty, so I was a bit of a spectacle refilling it as my mylar superhero cape billowed in the stairway draft.  OK, I might have been a spectacle/hot mess on the train too. It was too hot to put my sweatshirt back on but too cold without it! Anddd during my connection I changed from a super hero cape into a sweatshirt/mylar skirt outfit. It was awesome I tell you, awesome.

Anyway, overall, it was an OK race, just disappointed with myself. 2:08:09; 9:47 pace; 2533 of 7494 and 640 of 1408 in the 25-29 age group.