Tag Archives: race recap

2012 Newport Liberty Half Race Recap

TWENTY MILES DOWN!

One 15-miler and one 22-miler to go before taper!

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Today was another great run with my awesome training partner, Rebecca.

I’d signed up for the Newport Liberty Half awhile ago because it was both cheap and awesome. After a crappy week of training this week, I was really hoping that all those crappy runs would clear the way for a good one today, and I was right.

I met Rebecca at the PATH at 7:05 so that we could be in Jersey City by 7:30 and get four miles in before the race started at 8:30. We got off the train, quickly got our bibs and headed off towards Hoboken–2 miles out and back.

We managed to get to the start just a few minutes before the gun went off. The corrals were really informal: just signs saying “xx minute pace.” We slid somewhere between 9 and 10 minutes, as we were aiming for around a 9:45 pace.

The first few miles of the course aren’t the most exciting–you’re just running on the city streets–but it was still a nice change of scenery, and it was fun to run with Dori for a few minutes. Around mile 4, you enter Liberty State Park, where you stay for most of the race.

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So pretty.

The course does a lot of looping back on itself in this part, but it was such a nice day and so scenic, that we didn’t really mind.

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If you look real close, you can see the Statue of Liberty all the way in the background in the middle. I swear.

Rebecca stopped for a quick bathroom stop and I took these photos then. The course went right on a river path for a good stretch, but I didn’t want to stop for a photo.

As usual, we gabbed on and on, and I didn’t feel tired until we got to mile 10 of the course (mile 14 for us.) My legs were feeling tired, but more, I was looking forward to the race finish line so I could bang out those three extra miles and call it a day.

We finished the half in 2:08:11; no overall PR, but a definite PR for me for the course!

We stopped for a minute to stretch and then headed back out on the same route to Hoboken. I came back to Jersey City; Rebecca did not.

I had plans to meet Shannon and Julie for brunch at Skylark, recommended by Dori. Shannon and I got there first, but once Julie showed up, we cheers-ed her heartily for finishing her first half!

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I don’t usually crave vegetables after a long run. I usually want nothing more than protein and carbs, but I really wanted veggies today when I was done so I got a veggie omelette.

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And some French fries to balance out the veggies.

Good running buddy.

Good course.

Good run.

It was definitely what I needed after a crappy week of training…

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And to give me some more confidence before this intense week of training. Gulp.

Do you like running with buddies or solo? Ever mix up a long run with a race?

Bronx Ten-Miler Race Recap

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These are the faces of three very happy runners after the Bronx 10-Miler.

I’ve really missed running, and it’s a good way to work miles into a long run, so I signed up for this bad boy a few weeks ago.

I’ve also not run a 10-miler since the Army Ten-Miler in 2009 when I first started running, so I really wanted to do a race of that distance. I ran that at a pace of 11:58, so I knew that even though I’d be running on tired legs today, I’d still PR!

I had to get in 18 and Rebecca had to get in 20, so we met up to run up to the Bronx together. I ran over to meet Rebecca in the East 20s. I think it was probably about 3/4 of a mile but I couldn’t get satellites right away and was running late, so I decided to just think of it as a warm-up. She mapped out a route up First Ave for us, and we ran from 27th Street all the way up to the Willis Ave Bridge, and then up Willis Ave to 161st and over to the start near Yankee Stadium.

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So many hills in the first 8.

As we got close, I looked at Rebecca and said “OMG, we just ran to Yankee Stadium!” When you run to a place, it usually makes it feel closer than the subway. It took me around an hour to get home from Yankee Stadium on the subway the other night–maybe I should have just run?

Rebecca and I are generally the same pace, so she’s great to run with. She’s also running Marine Corps, which I’m really excited about. It’s also fun to run with her, because she’s really smart about her health and her training (she’s also a physical therapist), so I feel like I always learn something running from her.

We got to the corrals about 5 minutes before the race started, which was perfect.

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Clearly we didn’t lose each other with our bright tops.

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Because this wouldn’t be a race recap without an OMG-the-corrals-were-so-crowded shot.

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The sunrise was lovely.

Rebecca and I didn’t know a thing about the course–we were both more interested in our long runs, so we didn’t do any research and just signed up.

After running all the way up First, we really hoped it wasn’t that hilly. The announcer mentioned something about the course being an out-and-back, which didn’t sound too awesome either. The course ended up not being too bad, though. There was one section where it deviated for a few miles from the straight out and back, which was really nice.

We ran into Ben pretty early on in the race and ended up running with him for the rest of the race, which was awesome. Not that Rebecca and I were sick of each other, but it was nice to add some new blood in there.

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Not my fastest race ever, but still a 10-miler PR! With, you know, 8 miles before it.

I’m a happy girl right now. And off to the U.S. Open, so really and truly, ridiculously happy right now.

Did you run or race this weekend? Favorite race distance?