United Airlines NYC Half - Early Plans
With less than two weeks to race day, I figured it was time to start working on some early plans.
Getting There:
Oh Brooklyn. I’m in Wave 4 (Corral D), and my start time is 8:30. According to NYRR, I should plan to arrive at Prospect Park by 7:15. I’m in the last corral of my wave, so … I’m gonna plan to show up around 7:30.
According to Google Maps, the fastest way for me to get there is to take the 2 to the Q (switching at Times Square, which was how I used to commute to work, so I know that part of the commute well), which should take a little less than an hour. So I’ll probably leave around 6:30ish. And have a ton of time to kill once I get there. Oh joy.
Although … corrals don’t open until 8:10. If I don’t check a bag (which is very doable, since I no longer have the long commute home), I can leave closer to 7. Which means extra sleep (and maybe even allows me to go to my friend's birthday party the night before). So … hmm. Something to think about.
Outfit Options:
Rock The Dots
This would be a repeat of my marathon outfit (same shoes and everything), but with a black shirt underneath the “Run Like Minnie Mouse” shirt (spoiler alert: I’d be breaking my “no wearing another race’s shirt to a race” and wearing my 2016 10K shirt). As a reminder, here’s the marathon outfit:
A Skirt So Nice I’ll Wear It Twice
...aka the same skirt I wore last year. This time with a white shirt. Which, to be fair, was what I wore last year too … you just couldn’t see the white shirt with two layers on top of it.
Just because we all can’t get enough of it, here’s last year’s finish line photo:
Color Me Pink
Colorblock skirt, pinkish shirt. I don’t think I have a picture of the shirt (well I do, but it’s on the other computer), but here’s the skirt:
Rocket To The Finish
Black skirt, “To The Finish Line and Beyond” Raw Threads hoodie. No real relevance to the race, but I like the hoodie (and who doesn’t love Buzz Lightyear), and I’m running towards the finish line, so … it’s an idea.
I can’t find a picture of the hoodie online (and just folded mine, so I’m not taking it out to take a picture), but here’s the design on a different style shirt.
Anyways … I have no idea what I’m gonna wear. Right now I think I’m between #1 and #4, but the other two are also possibilities. Hmm.
Race Plan:
Primary Plan: Run the whole thing at HM Tempo pace, which is 10:20 (honestly, I’d probably end up going for 10:30-10:40 just because that’s around where I’ve been lately). If I can actually stick to this, it should net me a PR … but that’s not really the goal of this race, it’s just something that may or may not happen.
This is subject to change. I have my last tempo run on Thursday, and the 10K on Sunday. If either of those goes colossally badly (ie I can’t stick to tempo for more than a 1-2 miles or my effort/pace is waaaaay too all over the place on Sunday), I may end up deciding to go with my backup plan.
Backup Plan: If I decide that I don’t think running the whole thing at tempo will make for an enjoyable race, I’ll do 4+5+4.1 - 4 miles at Easy/LR, 5 miles at HM Tempo, and then finish off at Easy/LR … unless I’m feeling really good after the tempo portion, in which case I’ll just keep going at HM Tempo for as long as I still feel good.
Post-Race:
No idea. The race ends like a mile and a half from my apartment, so I’ll either walk home or take a bus (or possibly the train if it's actually running). After that I got no plans.
Post-Race Coffee: If I walk, I’ll probably stop somewhere on the way home. If I bus, I’ll probably just make coffee at home. I’m considering starting to cold brew (yes, I know it’s way earlier than usual, but I’ve been in the mood for cold brew a lot recently), so if I’ve started that, I’ll probably have iced coffee. I just need to get the stuff I need to cold brew. And a new iced coffee cup, since I didn’t end up buying one in Florida (so feel free to send along some links to your favorite Disney, Harry Potter, or otherwise really cute iced coffee cup ... I like the ones with straws). I actually almost bought the Mickey birthday one in January, so I may end up buying that online. We'll see.