a bear walks (and i run) in brooklyn.

2011 grand prix half-marathon series race #2.

Friday afternoon and it's time to go home.  most 24 year-olds rush home to get ready for a night out on the town. me?  i rush home because I need to finish my chicken parm and pasta at least 12 hours before a 7am race time.  i feel like i live on a completely different planet than most mid-20 year olds living in new york city.

i get home, i eat my usual pre-long run meal, lay on the couch, and get into bed by 9pm.  yes, you read that correctly.  i was physically laying in my bed by 9pm on a friday night.  you can lift your jaw now.

i fell asleep pretty easily, meaning that i was probably out cold by 9:30, and i slept through the entire night undisturbed (this is why you text your bf to let him know that you are now in bed and have to be up before the sun).  at one point, i turn and wake up, figuring that i probably have about an hour before my alarm goes off.  i turn to check, just to see.  5:00am.  WHAT?!?

literally, seconds later, my alarm goes off.  good morning, angela.

so now i'm awake and running around because, as usual, i gave myself only about 20 minutes to get ready and be out the door, grab a cab, pick up meghan, and get to the start line in brooklyn.  i love the races where the start line is far away from the finish because then nyrr has UPS trucks that take your bags and bring them to the finish area.  as i'm throwing things in my bag to be checked at one of the trucks, i realize that my bag has no "affix sticker here" box like i'm used to seeing on these bags.  i look through the bag to try and find my ID sticker.  nowhere.  GAH!  so because i'm flipping out, i call meghan.  turns out the sticker is on the back of my bib.  me = idiot.

so i get in a cab and i get to meghan and we get to brooklyn by 6am.  yes, it's 6am and i'm already in brooklyn.  FML.

it was a little chilly in the morning so i stayed in my sweats and jacket as long as possible before i had to pack up my bag and hand it to the lovely baggage people.  for some reason, my mouth felt so incredibly dry before the start.  i was sure to hydrate a lot on friday so i couldn't quite figure out why this was the case.. luckily, meghan had brought some powerade with her and i was able to steal some sips.  smart lady. her, not me.

as we're waiting by the corrals, someone says something along the lines of "is that a bear?"  so obviously, i turn like "ooooh a bear! in brooklyn!"  yea, it was just a ginormous black dog that was off a leash and walking slowly through the prospect park "woods."  [note: i originally typoed that as "prospect bark woods." funny.] but honestly, it took me a good 9 or 10 seconds before i was convinced that it wasn't a bear. i'm still slightly unconvinced that it was a dog...

anywho, we get running.  we cross the start a few minutes after 7. there are crowds mainly by the entrances to prospect park and there are definitely a few good signs including one that read "chuck norris never ran a marathon" and one that said "you've got great stamina. call me - ###."  the park is rough. the course essentially loops around prospect park twice and then goes out onto ocean parkway, finishing on coney island's famous boardwalk.  unfortunately, twice around prospect park means going up the devil's hill two times.  i don't know that it's actually called devil's hill... but it should be.  it's that bad.

while in prospect park, meg and i run (ha!) into TFK alums, leslie and fern.  they look awesome.  i love seeing fellow TFK alums who still run together.  it makes me feel so good about that group. as an adult, i find it so much more difficult to make new friends... and i'm thankful everyday that i found my running ladies through this absolutely amazing organization.

orange tech! score.

once we get out of the park, meghan gets my mysterious under-the-rib boob cramp.  maybe it's contagious.  anywho, she slowed down and i completely understand as i was there just last week in the healthy kidney 10k.

right after mile 8, i have an allergy sneeze attack.  lucky for me, i was just passing a med tent and i was able to run (ha!) in and grab some tissues.  stupid allergies, go away.

so yea, i continue on ocean parkway.  fyi- ocean parkway is super long.  and super boring.

after mile 12 (that's right, ocean parkway stretches from mile 7 to mile 12), we turn to head up onto the coney island boardwalk.  as if on cue, the DJ starts playing justin bieber's "never say never."  yes, i like justin bieber,  yes, i realize that i'm not a 12 year old girl.  yes, i know you're judging me right now.  and yes, i'm okay with that.

but anywho, it's actually a great song to have at a time where you need the motivation to keep going and to pick up the pace.. even if you don't like justin bieber.

i ended up crossing the finish in 2:17:05 (10:27 pace).  honestly, i feel really good about this pace.  meg and i went out a little too fast, with a few sub-10 min/miles right there in the beginning, but were able to realize it by mile 2 or 3 and bring ourselves back to a slower pace around 11.  with very minimal training, i'm very happy with a 2:17.  i don't feel like i pushed myself the way i would have had i trained more and if i weren't getting ready to start my marathon training 2 days post-race.  i included lots of speedwork in this years' training schedule so i'm REALLY hoping to PR in this years' marathon.  i can do it.  sub-4:45, i got you.

so i cross, i get my bag, put on my flip-flops, change my shirt, lay on the ground and enjoy my gala apple.  absolutely glorious.  meghan ended up crossing only 5 minutes after me and we were able to meet up at baggage and make our trek back out to manhattan.

an hour and a half on the subway = cranky, hungry, stinky ang.  don't mess.

marathon training in full effect folks, stay tuned during the next 5 months!