Norma Runs

2:19:13.48 Finish

I PRed this race by about 10 minutes under my last half marathon finish and for that, I am happy with my performance.  However, it wasn’t easy.  The morning dawned foggy and damp and didn’t improve much as the sun came up—it just got hot.  We had 97% humidity at the start with no wind!

The first six or so miles were inside Prospect Park—two loops—before the course veered off to a long straightaway down Ocean Parkway.  The park was shady and comfortable; Ocean Parkway, not so much.  Luckily, we were able to run down the more-shaded left side of the street.  That helped, but it was pretty brutal.   

Major cramping at mile 9 forced me to walk a couple of times and stop all together to stretch at mile 10.  It was also really crowded until I hit the boardwalk.  Walking in the ocean afterward made it all worth it!

Loooooong bathroom lines pre-race.

This is a look at Ocean Parkway from the Q Train at mile 12.  Thanks to Chicken Underwear for letting me use it.  You can check out his blog post over at http://whatyourdonotknowbecauseyouarenotme.blogspot.com/2011/05/no-i-ran-whole-marathon-6-days-ago.html.  He and the rest of the PPTC did a lot of good cheering!

While perusing volunteer opportunities with New York Cares, I came across one that asked for able-bodied runners to train alongside the disabled runners of our local Achilles International chapter.  I was intrigued at the possibility of using running in conjunction with volunteering. And I was also intrigued because I’ve seen many Achilles runners and volunteers at races and been very inspired by them.

After a few calendar conflicts, I finally had the opportunity to do join forces with Achilles last night and it was amazing!  Another new volunteer and I ran four miles with a woman who is already an accomplished long-distance racer.  The pace may have been slow, but it was incredibly interesting, humorous, and fun! 

It appears one doesn’t have to wait for NY Cares to announce Achilles workouts; anyone is free to show up on Tuesday evenings, which is exactly what I plan to do.