Even though I still think Philadelphia sports are the worst, the city knows how to put together a solid race weekend.
I thought running on no sleep would be horrible, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.
This weekend, I’m running the 2019 Brooklyn Half. It’s my first race since I became a dad and I think I’m excited? But even though this will be my fourth time on the course, I have no idea what to expect.
I like to overanalyze everything, and this race is no exception, especially since a few things have changed since this time last year. Here are some of the reoccurring themes that have been running through my head since I signed up for the 2019 Brooklyn Half.
After the 2018 NYC Half, I kind of figured I had peaked. Sure, this version of me is (a little) obsessive about executing training plans. But also, I really like chicken fingers and have zero desire to stop liking them.
Still, I was pretty optimistic after my build-up for the 2018 Brooklyn Half. And by “optimistic,” I felt that if everything went well, I could run 1:40 or slightly faster. “1:39:59 would be so cool,” I told anyone who would listen. “But a lot of things would have to fall into place for all my wildest dreams to come true.”
So, did things fall into place? Here’s the part where I force you to read on to find out!
Last year, my approach to running the NYC Half Marathon looked something like this:
But last summer, I started running with the Dashing Whippets, which made me wonder if I should follow an actual training plan. At the time, I was knee-deep in a pretty basic Hal Higdon training plan for the 2017 NYC Marathon. Because I’m paranoid about everything, I decided not to switch gears mid-cycle and do what all the other Whippets were doing.
Instead, I targeted the 2018 NYC Half Marathon as an experiment. Could I get faster if I didn’t just force myself to run 8-minute miles every time I stepped outside for a run? Is it possible for a putz like me to run a half marathon in under 1:40? Let’s find out!