Hotlanta Half 2016

I ran the Hotlanta Half on Sunday, June 13 and the photos are finally ready (and then I forgot to post finish this post for a while, so the photos were actually ready back in June.) The event has free race photos - yes, I said FREE race photos. How awesome is that?

I tried not to freak myself out about this race. One, I wanted it to be fun. Two, I signed up because I needed to prove to myself that I could do some long runs for the Marine Corps Marathon. So I kept telling myself it was just an expensive long run with hydration stations and 1,600 of my closest friends.

I woke up on Saturday viciously hungover and dragged my ass to CrossFit to sweat it out. I had a great partner workout with Dave (I've been trying to get him to be my best friend for months), but there was rowing, doubleunders, over the rower burpees, and thrusters. All things that would catch up to me on Sunday. I had drunkenly slept through my 5K the previous weekend so riding the struggle bus on Saturday was actually clutch for my pre-race preparation. The boyfriend and I adulted the rest of the day and then I cooked the shrimp in my refrigerator because it was going to go bad and ate a bunch of sourdough rolls. It wasn't my usual pre-race dinner of buffalo wings, but it wasn't bad. I was in bed by 10 PM.

It's Sunday morning and I'm out of bed by 5 AM. I walk the dogs, make some toast, and cover one piece with Earth Balance creamy coconut and peanut butter spread and the other with some Kerrygold butter and fig spread. I decided to take an Uber to the race and conveniently one of my neighbors was coming home at 6:15 in the morning so I snagged his driver.

The race was super easy to get to down at Pemberton Place by World of Coke and the aquarium. I arrived, walked my ass over to bag check, and took my shirt off. I was ready to roll! Unfortunately the porta potties didn't arrive in time and the line for the real bathroom was a bajillion people long. I decided to line up and hope I'd find a restroom along the way.

I took this photo instead of standing in line to pee.

Area 13.1 2016

I ran the Area 13.1 Half Marathon on Saturday. I did this race back in 2014, but it was in November that year. In case you were wondering, the same course in August is a heck of a lot harder.

The Area 13.1 is a night race in Roswell, GA. It's alien-themed. Get it? Like Roswell, New Mexico? 

The race starts and ends at Riverside Park. There's free parking but you have to find it an available spot in one of the three parking lots. I had to pick up my race packet the day of so I arrived pretty early and had an hour to wait. After many trips to the porta-potties, we lined up and got ready to roll.

Fall Half Marathon

I've been thinking a lot about running lately. My good friend and Facebook wife, Rebecca, likes to get my riled up about running and then I adamantly insist that I hate it. I didn't always hate running and sometimes I do miss racing, even with all of the pressure I put on myself. Running used to be fun and I want that fun back.

these are photos from a run along the Beltline during my first week in Atlanta

The Professor Runs the NYC Half

While I was enjoying my last morning in Florida, the Professor took on the NYC Half Marathon. Please enjoy In Shape Out of Mind's very first guest post.


This Sunday I ran the NYC Half Marathon and I shattered my PR. I ran a 1:51:23, which is 8:00 minutes and change faster than my previous half marathon PR. Woot. Maybe it was worth not going out on St. Patrick's Day. Although seeing through sober eyes those Long Island and New Jersey animals stumble around Manhattan during this day is enough to make me question the holliday altogether, and I use that term loosely.

This year I am trying to only run Saturday races because Sunday races kill your weekend. But I hadn’t ever run the NYC half so I made an exception when I was lucky enough to make the lottery.

I woke from anxious dreams at about 6:15 am. I already had my outfit laid out because I am a sick tool.  I wore my Dylan Murphy's shirt (my standard racing shirt and favorite bar in NYC – ISOOM would agree) on top of a teck shirt from last December's Jingle Bell jog that I did not run in because I stayed out the night before. It's a bit of a sacrilege to wear a race shirt from a race you slept through but I am not going to turn down a teck shirt and especially one that is cool and white. So whatever.

I live only a couple of blocks from where most NYRR races start, so I can’t complain. This race was no exception. My neighbor just happened to be running this race as well, so we bumped into each in the hallway. This is the only situation where bumping into my neighbor at 6:30 am would be a positive thing.
The corrals were awful and it was cold. This is a huge race with tons of people, which just makes everything more annoying. And there is soemthing about running that makes people dress like Europeans. Don’t get me wrong, many of the girls on the North Brooklyn running team wear really hot outfits. But there are also many runners – especially male – who fail to meet basic wardrobe standards. Tights shall not replace shorts, unless you are rowing or biking.  Long tshirts are for girls.  Shaving your legs is for girls.  Being a premadonna at 6:30 am while everyone else is waking up is not acceptable.

I am the creepshow lurking in the back with sunglasses on. Maybe the sun will come out later. 

Before I continue I should note that the race photos in this post are taken stolen from Brightroom. Before I continue my story, here is the easiest way to steal these photos and keep them high-ish quality:
1. Take a screeen shot of the Brightroom dashboard that shows your photos
2. Paste into PPT
3. Crop around your photo and expand
4. Right click and save as JPEG

To continue, they tell you that they close down the corrals at 7:00 am but they are liars. You could definitely show up at 7:30 and walk right in. There was a lot of waiting around, and I did not cross the start line until 7:50 even though I had a half-way decent corral.

Can you tell which green bump is Harlem Hill?

The first 6+ miles was the standard central park loop. This is my home field so I was really able to attack it.  I know all the hills and bumps that feel like hills when you start to get tired. I also knew that this was the only part of the race with any hills so I might as well leave it all in the park.

Crossing the 10k mark right before 7th ave. Still not sunny out. 

After the park I slowed down. The course shoots you out onto 7th avenue and you run through Times Square.  I was underwhelmed. When you are on the street in New York you are typically in a cab zooming, and so to pass the street signs at a running pace is a bit deflating. Plus I was at the half-way mark and that is when I start to get inside my head and convince myself I won’t finish or will finish with a bad time. For me those middle miles are the hardest.

On 42nd we turned right and headed for the West River Drive. I know this terrain extremely well, as I work in the West Village and frequently run home up the West River. We were on the actual drive though so it wasn't nearly as sexy as when you run through the actual park and over all the weird foot bridges. ISOOM has a past post on this. I am featured so it’s probably one of her better ones.

I realize I am about to complain again but whatever. They stationed a bunch of bands along the course and they were all awful – with TWO exceptions. The first was a Beasty Boys cover band who was awesome and entertaining. They dressed like they did from Paul's Boutique. That said, I was running with headphones on because none of my friends wanted to do this one, so the added music of the live bands just created an annoying discord.

The second though was a cheer…I want to say squad? from some local high school. Of course I assume they are from some impoverished district and worked real hard to get to where they are and overcame adversity and stuff, but who am I kidding I bet they were probably a bunch of Chapin Spence girls.  Regardless of my charmingly patrician stereotyping, they were cool and gave everyone a nice boost as we crossed 14th street with 3.1 miles to go.

At this point I knew that if I even ran 10:00 miles I would beat my PR, and that was the best feeling I had in the race. I could dial it in. I didn’t though and kept up a fastish pace.

Until the Battery Park tunnel. That you run through. On mile 12. People were hooting and hollering like 12 year olds do when you pass under bridges on boats, which was cute. But the air quality was horrible and the lingering exhaust stung my eyes and shortened my breath. Lame. There was also a slight hill at the end. But then we veered left and right onto Water Street to meet extremely encouraging cheers and applause. That was cool.

After crossing the finish they gave you a medal and foodstuffs. I believe medals should only be given for full marathons, so I told myself I wouldn’t wear it unless I did something great. A time of 1:51 far exceeded my expectations though so I threw it on. The care package contained Gatorade Replenish. DO NOT DRINK THIS. It's crab juice. It tastes like chalky cough syrup.

The finishers shoot looped you more than THREE BLOCKS before you could leave. And they forced you in to the Poland Spring expo which I thought was a cheap move. At that point I was cold and wanted to go home.

ISOOM asked me what my favorite part of the race was and I don’t have one other than the accomplishment itself.  I hear a lot of people talk about the joys of running and I have to believe that most people who say that are idiots or liars or both. Running is hard work. It is painful. Long distance running is hard, painful work stretched out over several hours.

I shattered my PR. I was very unsure I could do that. I trained hard to give myself the opportunity to do so, and it paid off. That is something awesome.

Calling in the PR. Still cloudy.
Also see the bandit in the background getting stopped. 

NYRR Queens Half Marathon

Mile 13.

You should really read those emails you receive from New York Road Runners very carefully. I don't, which is why I'm always freaking out race day morning. Somehow I got myself convinced that half marathon started at 7:30 AM instead of 7 AM (maybe it was the date July 30th or 7/30?) and I realized this at 6:46 AM stuck behind the slowest moving station wagon of all time. I started having a conniption. I actually rummaged around in my glove compartment until I found an ancient pack of cigarettes and lit one up. Yeah, not so proud of that one.

I need to lay off the beer.

Luckily my mom was with me and she was able to save the day. I was pulling off at the exit for Flushing Meadows Corona Park when I realized it was blocked off by a police cruiser. This nice elderly man from NYRR (I really should learn his name since I see him all the time) was there and explained that this entrance was closed but that I had time to get to the starting line. I whipped off my shirt (it was way too hot to run in anything but shorts and a sports bra) and ran up the exit ramp into the park, leaving my mom to find parking for Petunia. As luck would have it, many cars were still roaming the park so the race was delayed by ten minutes while volunteers cleared the roadways.

My hair is SOAKED with sweat.

The race began a little after schedule, but the energy was high as we circled the Unisphere. A DJ had been hired to provide music for the event, which was pretty awesome if you ask me. I don't like to race with headphones because I think people who do are menaces to the running community, but I definitely value a pump up song or two. Speaking of headphone wearing menaces, while plodding along near mile 6, this guy, oblivious to his surroundings because of his earbuds, shuffled into the course of another (much faster) runner. They had a minor collision which I somehow got into when I was accidentally kicked in the leg as they flailed about. Don't worry about my thunder thighs - they can withstand almost anything, but I would've found myself in a much worse predicament if I hadn't been alert and ready to jump away from them. Please, take off the damn headphones!

Thankfully some parts of the race had shade.

At one point while running by the Van Wyck, I swore I saw Lady Gaga sitting on a guardrail watching the race. Obviously everyone around me had never heard of Lady Gaga, so I, alone, was the witness. I tried to tell my mother that I saw her but she accused me of mistaking a realistic trannie for the real thing. (UPDATE: Lady Gaga was on The View and said she went to watch a running race in Queens! So hah! I was right!)

Both feet off the ground means you are running.

The duration of the race was hot but doable. I was very sweaty and very thirsty. Luckily NYRR volunteers had hoses to mist us with. The Unisphere also gave off some spray as we circled it again.

This was my first half-marathon since the one I ran in high-school at the Island School. While I knew I was fully capable of running the thing, I wasn't exactly sure what my pacing would look like. I definitely felt myself fading by mile 10, but I just focused on my turnover, shortening my stride and keeping my feet moving.

Just keep moving.

After I reached mile 13 (see rainbow, Unisphere photo above), I just through myself into the last tenth of a mile. I started hollering and encouraging the crowd to cheer for me. Everyone loves my sunglasses, so it's really not that hard. I would like to call special attention to my muscular calves as I power my way towards to finish line. Anything to call your attention away from my way-to-tight running shorts...