Sunday, April 09, 2017

On the road to the 2017 Brooklyn AirBnB Half Marathon

On the road to the 2017 Brooklyn AirBnB Half Marathon


Yesterday, Saturday morning, April 8th, 2017, I resumed running for the first half marathon of the year. A few weeks ago, I participated in the Kings Park 15 kilometer Run, which is very challenging for the steep hills, and the low temperatures as well, that restrains the free breathing. I left the house around 5:00 a.m., wearing a long sleeve cycling jersey to carry a water bottle in the back pocket. Sunrise wasn't until 6:20 a.m., and I wasn't going to wait until then to hit the road.


I ran on Merrick Road westbound, Oceanside Blvd south, Mott Street west, Austin Blvd south onto Long Beach Road, all the way to the boardwalk. Along the way, I see things, places, faces, cars, and the sun breaking the horizontal plane. I see people getting their coffee from the local bodega, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and I am thirsting of the same java cup. But, I was on a mission, to build up endurance for the half marathon.


I did every psychological trick in the book - think of distance in small increments, don't think of the distance, go at a slower pace, get distracted by the surroundings and the views. Once I arrived on the Long Beach boardwalk, I stopped to take some photographs as evidence of this endeavor. I also drank most of the water bottle. I returned back home literally on the same path, with the goal to not stop once. I didn't fulfill this target as I stopped a few times to catch my breathe, and to lower the heart rate. I wasn't upset for stopping, but I  do hope that by  May I can run the half marathon without stopping.

One nagging symptom, a reminder from one of last year's half marathon, was not to tighten the shoe laces to tight, as the feet either swell, or the foot  unintentionally pushes forward with nowhere to go.
The closer I got home, I couldn't wait to taste that cup of coffee in the kitchen. I finished running approximately 12.5 miles in 2 hours and a few minutes (I  don't carry a stop watch or a chronometer), including time along the way walking. As I finished training for the half marathon, questions of completing an Olympic Distance Triathlon traveled through my mind if I could complete one in decent time. I guess I should sign up to find out.

More to run . . . .