Mary Gibbons on the Brooklyn Half 2019: or, how I defeated impending GI issues with a smile on my face:
I didn’t sign up for the half marathon this year, only having run in once in 2016 and not enjoying it (that last 6 miles! the plodding feet! the sun!). But when a post on Facebook about a club bib being available went up, I knew I should try. My winter running had gone off the rails due to over commitments at work, and I needed something on the horizon that would keep me plodding along. I didn’t follow a particular training plan, but made sure to get to Bed-Stuy Flyers workouts with Tara as often as I could, and hit my longer runs on the weekend. I didn’t know how my pace would shake out, but I ran a sub 7 min/mil 5K in the beginning of May, so figured 1:45 was a good goal pace for this race. I have some big race plans over the summer and fall, and so was hoping that hitting 1:45 in this race I didn’t enjoy too much would set me up for a good baseline for my summer training.
Race week was incredibly silly and fun. The most hype I’ve seen for this race in a long time – there were events by different clubs or crews every day of the week (grumble grumble David, Tara, and I went to one for free swag and came away empty handed). Pizza at Bravi Ragazzi on Putnam (shout-out to Mike Bancale!) the night before with some running friends got me jazzed for the race, and showing up for the pre-race photo with the Royals kept me in “this is fun, this is fun, I swear” mode.
I ran the race alone, without anyone from the club, though of course we all know how crowded that course was. I kept it conservative in the first six miles, and slowly picked up speed on Ocean Parkway. I am still dumb-founded that I passed a woman running with a boot on (like, the cast things y’all) and a woman running with crutches… both in mile 2. -_____- I kept a smile on my face throughout the race, felt like I was going to go to the bathroom for about six miles, and then had gastrointestinal distress for the evening…but yea, I had a lot more fun than 2016! Oh, and I hit my goal pace. What a treat to be done and hang around the stadium with all the beautiful CHRC buds. Really, it was just a perfect running morning.
BK half, you’re tricky and popular and I’ll probably see you again.