On Sunday, November 3rd, 2019, I checked marathon #2 off my list. My official time – 5:09:44 – was a 5+ minute PR from my first marathon! I also achieved so many intangibles, including maintaining a steadier pace, feeling stronger the whole way through, and finishing feeling relatively solid.

This year was so wildly different than the last, and it all started with the training cycle. This past summer, I took my long runs so much less seriously than I had done so previously. My first sixteen/eighteen/twenty-milers of the season would not be the first of my life – they were just really really long runs. I knew I’d done similar distances before and survived (and sometimes even felt fine after) so I went into my weekly long runs with much less apprehension. I also had much more consistent company! The solid crew of Chill Pace Group (TM) members kept me from getting lonely on those long journeys across the borough (and beyond), and signing myself up to lead CPG runs kept me accountable. Due to these measures – social support and accountability – I was much more consistent with my long runs this summer, which certainly helped improve my endurance. I also threw in some speedwork and strength training alongside the regular runs this year, which may have helped with the overall feel of my race.

Speaking to fellow CHRC members about their first and second marathons, so many people had mentioned that the mistakes they made during their first races informed them well enough to achieve massive PRs the second time around – 10, 15, 20 minutes, even! Because of this, I went in hoping to break 5 hours (which would put me at a little bit under a 15 minute PR). However, even though I had planned and trained more consistently this year, and knew to incorporate walk breaks much earlier in the race, I began running out of steam by the Queensboro bridge. By the time I hit 1st Avenue, I made the decision to reassess my plans so that I could finish the race with a PR while also not exhausting myself so much that I would end up injured and hobbling across the finish line. The final miles of the race still hurt, for sure, but the pain was different this year. It was all from exertion, not injury, and when I finished, even though I felt so, so tired and broken down, I knew I hadn’t done lasting damage, and that I would recover soon.

Although I didn’t make a massive difference in time this time around, I have no regrets. I attribute my mindset during this race to many factors, including the lighthearted members of chill pace group, to the raucous support of my friends and family, and also to Brooke, my start buddy, who had made the decision to run the race for fun. Although we lost each other after the first few miles, once the going got tough, I kept going back in my mind to the conversation Brooke and I had had while crossing the Verazzano. We discussed what it meant to have our main goal of the day being enjoyment, how focusing on having a fulfilling experience while running would keep us buoyant and resilient, and how positivity and high fiving every cute kid we see is more motivating (to us, at least) than beating ourselves up over going slower than goal pace. Because at the end of the day, the Marathon is a beast, whichever way you look at it and however fast or slow you run it. It’s a daylong party and an assault on the senses and I am so, so glad that I went into it this year looking to soak up and cherish the whole experience.

Yes, I concede that my future plans include getting faster, but I am still so happy with the outcome of this year’s race because, even though my PR was relatively small, I finished feeling so much better than I did last year. I was no longer sore after a few days of babying my legs and I didn’t catch the dreaded post-race cold that I suffered last year. Although I have entered the lottery for the 2020 NYC marathon, and will certainly run it if admitted, my main goals are to focus on speed and running shorter races, while adding some more yoga and strength training back into my weekly schedule. I’m hoping to build on my base of fitness from the past two years of marathon training cycles and come back for #3 stronger, faster, and even more optimistic.

Before 2019, I would not consider myself a runner.  Sure, I had run while playing other sports (e.g. soccer, basketball), but the running, while necessary, was more incidental. Fast forward to late-February 2019, after entering the NYC Marathon lottery 3-4x, I finally “won.”  In the late winter/early spring, I slowly increased my running as I set out to read as much as I could about running a marathon generally and running the NYC Marathon in particular.  Once I settled on a training program, I focused on getting myself in running shape in order to tackle some of the longer distances required in the first few weeks of the plan.  As summer began, I also sought out opportunities to run with others and stumbled upon CHRC via social media.  I had the good fortune of running with CHRC on several long runs during the course of the training season and sincerely enjoyed meeting members old and new and learning a bit about them and their running careers.  With the exception of one long run on a particularly hot and muggy Friday evening through the East Village, the training itself was surprisingly enjoyable.  As the training progressed and I felt more and more confident that I would be able to at least finish the marathon, I started thinking about more specific goals and how to accomplish them.  Fortunately, with a few weeks left before the marathon, I was able to run the Staten Island half (thanks for the bib CHRC) with several CHRC members and it helped solidify some of my goals.  At this point, I thought if I did my best, I might be able to finish the race under 4 hours, a time that months before seemed completely out of reach.  Thanks in large part to the CHRC Saturday long runs and the CHRC NYC Marathon info session in late October, I arrived on Staten Island on November 3 feeling confident that I knew what I needed to do and how to get it done.  By far, my favorite part of the run was running near my house, near mile 8-9 where I had all of my family waiting for me at mile 8 and then CHRC at mile 9.  Four weeks after the marathon, I’m searching for my next run . . . and I’ll be training for it with CHRC.

If I could do the race all over again, I would do the following:

1. Orient myself to the location of the starting corrals.  I waited in the cold for 3 hours doing nothing and then sprinted to my corral and arrived just after it closed.
2. Fuel better. I did not consume enough calories during each of my long training runs and on marathon day, I faded towards the very end due to insufficient fuel.

That being said, I would run it again in a heartbeat. Thank you CHRC for the support and community.

What was your race experience like?

Wow, this race was hot! I’ve never enjoyed a popsicle quite so much as I enjoyed the frozen goodness at the finish line of this race.

Aside from the heat, however, I very much enjoyed the overall lively and positive atmosphere. It truly felt like a celebration, which is its purpose! I also enjoyed Jessie’s tutu, that Heather and I had matching rainbow compression socks, Bess’s commitment to the shorts rainbow by getting a new pair of shorts for a color we were missing, Mary’s enthusiastic sass in the team photo, and everyone’s overall positivity. It is such a happy coincidence to me, also, that Allison and Jessie and I always, including at this race, get assigned to the same coral and can have a laugh before setting off.

Did CHRC help you train for/run/celebrate this race? If so, how?

I did not train per se, but I did enjoy many a Monday Miles and Friday Five with the CHRC crew per my normal schedule! There were also the solo runs in between, which these days feel rather lonely, I must admit.

What was your favorite thing about the race?

My most favorite thing about this race was the shorts rainbow! Inspired by the good CHRC-ers come before, with minimal last-minute planning we managed to pull off quite the colorful spread. My second favorite thing (yes, the shorts rainbow beat this) was that we set a new world record for the largest ever Pride race, anywhere in the world. I find it quite special not only that NYC gets to claim this title, but that CHRC was a part of it.

What was the biggest challenge about the race?

Did I mention the heat? So sweaty…

What advice/tips would you give to Royals wanting to run this race?

Dress up! Have fun! Don’t go expecting a personal record in the dead heat of summer, but have the mindset that this race is meant to be a chance to celebrate the amazing LGBTQ+ community in New York City and around the world, so make it just that – a celebration!

Kelsey: On a warm, sunny Friday afternoon, Brooke and I hopped on the train to New Jersey — a halfway point between Brooklyn and Reading, Pennsylvania. We picked up my car from my parents’ house in NJ and Brooke was an excellent co-pilot on our 2-hour drive to Reading. We were looking forward to a Memorial Day Weekend getaway that included spending a night in an Airbnb in Reading and running the Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon in Birdsboro Waters Preserve the next morning.

Saturday was race day and the weather was perfect. I was feeling good and excited after a (surprisingly) delicious Mediterranean feast for dinner the night before and some fresh morning coffee. Brooke and I were both coming off of road half marathons (She got an amazing PR!), so we were confident in our fitness but still had some pre-race jitters about tackling new terrain.

Once we got to the race and parked, we promptly boarded a classic yellow school bus at 8:30 a.m. with a bunch of stinky runners — it smelled overwhelmingly like sweat, sunscreen, and bug spray. The Charlie Horse half marathon is a point-to-point race, so we were all heading to the start as a pack. “Have you done this race before?” seatmates asked each other, trying to gain insight into the unique course. “You’re from Brooklyn?!?” we got asked a couple of times.

About 200 runners toed the start line. We were all ready to cross two creeks, battle a mile of mud, and complete the course mapped as 14.2 miles long. After the start whistle blew, we ran down abandoned roads, over an old canal, across rolling hills, through multiple parks, and even through Charlie’s property. Charlie was the founder of this race 22 years ago and still plays an active part in organizing it. Brooke and I ran most of the course together, chatting on the trails and enjoying banana slices at aid stations, and we finished within minutes of each other.

After crossing the finish line, Brooke and I were elated to reflect on the experience with new friends while everyone waited in line to rinse off all the mud with a hose. We were all insanely muddy — my back was so dirty that Brooke had to hose me down like a horse getting a bath. The water was so cold that I couldn’t catch my breath. Some very smart women in line before us even brought shampoo and soap, and we soon regretted not taking them up on their offer to share. When we got back to NJ a couple of hours later, I took one of the most refreshing showers in my 27 years of life.

Brooke interviews Kelsey:

BS: What was your experience with trail running before this race?

KD: I had only done one trail race, Run the Farm in 2017, at which I had a great time! I was training for my first marathon, so was wary of pushing my speed because I wanted to stay injury-free. It was a really fun experience with the CHRC team and an awesome excuse to escape the city.

BS: What scared you about trail running?

KD: I was a bit worried of mis-stepping on the uneven ground and getting an injury before the start of marathon training season. I’d gained confidence and strength after Brooke and I did two training trail runs leading up to the race. Completing the trail half marathon felt like such an accomplishment, especially since Strava clocked 15 miles, but doing it without injury also felt like an achievement.

BS: What was the actual experience like? Favorite parts? Least favorite parts?

KD: The actual experience was really fun and felt like an adventure. I didn’t have any time goals so was just trying to have fun and take it all in. The weather made it extremely pleasant and the varying course kept my attention.
My favorite parts were simply being in the woods getting some fresh air and talking to new people. We made a couple of pals on the course and it was really nice to chat with fellow runners. My least favorite part was definitely the mud! The whole time I was anxious about getting to the mud that I’d heard so much about on the school bus. I’m proud that I completed it, but will be satisfied if I’m never that muddy again.

BS: What was the recovery like afterwards?

KD: I was insanely sore for about three days. Waking up the next few mornings was painful, and I tried to embrace a little break from running afterwards to recover.

Kelsey interviews Brooke:

KD: You’ve run many trail races before — how did this compare?

BS: I’d done Run the Farm (5 miles), Leatherman’s Loop (10k), and the OutdoorFest relay at Staten Island (a few 8k loops with long breaks in between). Running a trail half-marathon was my goal this year. Royals’ descriptions of the Breakneck Ridge Half-Marathon, which left some of them pretty broken, had me a little scared, but the Charlie Horse Half was a comparatively easy course and as you said above, we felt pretty good when we finished.

The trail terrain was both easier and more varied than the Leatherman’s Loop and Run the Farm trails. It varied from rolling gravel to forest floor that wasn’t too rocky or tangled with roots. We ran about two miles on the road near the end of the race before we returned to the trails for our finish. I’d thought that this road portion would be the easiest part of the race, but it was 2 ascending miles up a never-ending hill. Typically a headphone-dependent runner, I was surprised at how quickly most of the race passed chatting with you and the other runners and enjoying the forest scenery. That 2-mile uphill road-race portion was the only part where I missed my music, but I kept chugging along slowly, not wanting to lose my momentum.

The creeks we ran through weren’t as high as the Leatherman’s Loop creeks this year, but the mud we ran through was pretty deep and thick, and then there was the Spartan-race style mud challenge near the end where course marshals made us slither on our backs under a tree branch through a mud pit. We really needed that hose-off at the end!

KD: How was the half marathon distance different on the trails than on the road?

BS: Mentally, it was a lot looser. At the Brooklyn Half the weekend before, I’d focused on staying with a pacer and keeping my pace consistent. This trail half-marathon was a fun romp through the woods and of course running it with you made it more fun. I didn’t carry my phone (my only pace-tracking device) or worry about pace. Much of it was single-track, so it would have been silly to worry about pace. Navigating the terrain, chatting with people, and enjoying a beautiful day in the woods were all that occupied my mind. The beautiful scenery and changing terrain made the miles go by before I knew it.

KD: How did you prepare for the race?

BS: You helped me organize two really fun practice trail runs. On Easter Sunday, we took Metro North up to Cold Spring, walked from the train station to the trails, and ran the 5.5 mile Bull Hill Loop. It was pretty rocky and steep, so we had to hike-run it. Then we took Dave Gibbons’ recommendation and did our second practice trail run in Rockefeller State Preserve. On May 11th, we took LIRR to Tarrytown and caught a quick Uber to the preserve. We ran about 9 miles on the rolling gravel paths and saw baby deer and lots of sheep along the way. We lucked out on great weather for both our practice runs and our race. Being dog fanatics, we made it our equally important mission to pet ALL the happy hiking dogs! Both of our practice runs were such lovely getaways from the city. I felt like we’d gone on a little va-cay and returned to Brooklyn refreshed and restored.

KD: Would you do this race again? Try a different trail half marathon?

BS: It might be fun to run this race again and be the ones preparing the newbies on the school bus for the course, but there are so many trail runs out there that offer a chance to explore a new place and run through a different landscape that I think I’d like to try a different one next time.

KD: What’s next? Ready to take on longer trail distances?

BS: If the terrain were like Charlie Horse, I think I’d be up for a trail marathon. But first I’d like to try a different trail half, perhaps one with more elevation like the Bear Mountain Endurance Challenge, or even Breakneck Ridge, though the stories about that one still scare me!