Better Half

Race Report: The Manhattan Half Marathon

I showed up at the Manhattan Half with TH and PL (as usual), and I was pretty fired up to run. One of my goals for 2009 is to improve my times for half and full marathons, which don't compare well to the times I run in shorter races. 

This is a long term goal, and I hope that my half marathon times will improve throughout the year. That said, my PR for the half marathon distance was old (Queens, 2007) and needed to be broken. Today certainly felt like the day.

The first mile went quickly, at 7:18 -- well ahead of PR pace. Either I was going out too fast, or I was headed for a solid PR. As it turned out, I was able to hold pace pretty well. I was even able to run really strong in the last mile. It was the first time I've had anything left at the end of a half marathon. I ended up with a 1:36:01 (7:19/mile), a PR by almost 4 minutes.

After the race, PL, TH and I stumbled upon a very quirky place called Patisserie Saint Honore at 189 Columbus (68th Street).  It's a tiny hole in the wall with just a couple of chairs along the wall, but if you happen to look up, you'll see a very cool, out of the way upper level with a couple of tables made cozy with some benches and cushions. We had "Morrocan Eggs", which were a delicious semi spicy tomato-y creation, and coffee. We took our treats to the upstairs area, which we had to ourselves, and told our races stories. Good times.