Grete's Great Gallop Half Marathon - October 6, 2013

Hi All!

I realized I never got the chance to post my scores ... I had gotten sick immediately after and am only starting to feel better today!

So my friend and I finished the 13.1 miles in 2:19:44, which gives me an average pace of 10:39.  Not terrible, not good, plenty of room for improvement!  But I think for my first half marathon and with only 2 weeks of training, I did all right!  =)

I plan on running Brooklyn and NYC half marathons next year for sure.  I may re-run Grete's Great Gallop, of course, just to see if my time changes!  I would definitely say that Grete's Great Gallop is not a beginner half marathon, it's definitely a moderately difficult one, especially with all of the hills that we encountered and there were MANY!  If you have ever had the pleasure and pain of running Central Park, then you are aware that it is riddled with hills.  Of course the uptick to suffering through an uphill is, of course, the downhill afterwards! =)  Which, if used correctly, can be quite beneficial!

I would like to also try running the Atlantic City Half Marathon, as I heard that it's considered a beginner's half marathon because virtually the entire course is flat (dream!).  We'll see ... a little bit about the race:

Miles 1-6:  I was definitely good through here, felt good, legs felt good.  Still talking and yapping with Nelly.

Miles 7-10:  I was SURE I was going to be ROADKILL!  LOL!  There was no talking to be had during this section, it was head down, concentrate, keep talking to yourself ... "don't give up now Chang!  You're almost there!"

Miles 11-13.1:  Found my second wind!  The last 1.1 miles I actually really picked up the pace, I was definitely running a 8:30-8:45 pace for the last mile.  I had motivation, the FINISH LINE. LOL.

I'll be honest, I think i'm good with 13.1 miles ... I don't see myself running much more than that ... my knees had ALOT of nasty words for me following the race and up to a week after the race, all of it well deserved. Haaaaa!

I have one last race scheduled for this year ... Join the Voices Against Brain Cancer 5-Mile Run.  I'll put up another post for that specifically, but I think 2014's race schedule is stacking up to be pretty intimidating, here's a sneak peek:

RUNS:
Color Run 5K
9/11 Memorial 5K
Run 10 Feed 10 - 10K
Brooklyn Half Marathon
NYC Half Marathon
Grete's Great Gallop Half Marathon
Atlantic City Half Marathon
Puerto Rico Half Marathon (maybe???)
Hamptons Half Marathon (maybe???)
Voices Against Brain Cancer 5Mile Run
Revlon Cancer 5K

RACES:
NY Tri-State Spartan Sprint
PA Spartan Sprint
NJ Super Spartan
Spartan Beast (not sure of location yet)

So far ... I've planned 15 Races/Runs ... that's a pretty intense schedule ... lots of training to be had. =)  I'm excited.  I hope you'll follow along with me on these journeys!  See you at the finish line!

Sher!