Bronx Half-Marathon Report

I drove an Infiniti today.
No. Not the car.
Brooks Infiniti.

These sneakers which have been fitting me rather nicely, were put to the test today at my toughest of all Half-marathons, The Bronx Half. The result? I was very pleased.

As with all my races, I have been consistantly lowering my durations. Last week at the Gridiron
and this week too.

In my first Bronx Half in 2005, I posted a 2:02:47, followed by 1:58:18 (in 2006), a 1:57:48 (las year) and this year, 1:53:24. Not bad for a 168 pound porker like me (note: after the race I went down to 165)

As you have probably read from my previous visits in the Bronx it is very hilly, and can be very windy. However, today the wind was actually a welcomed relief at times, due to the strength of the sun. Good thing for me that all I was wearing was a long sleeved T-shirt.

Additionally, it was nice not to see any loose dogs on the Grand Concourse to chase me like before.

I've posted my split times and other info on RunningAhead.Com below. If you are a runner, and really are serious about measuring your progress, RunningAhead.com is still by far the best FREE tool out there. I've been using it for over 2 years now and I have no complaints whatsoever.

Here is the link: -> RUNNING AHEAD - BRONX HALF MARATHON RESULTS
and in NYRR: -> Official New York Road Runner's Race Results

The only people I saw were Jack and Maritza. I saw Jack heading to the finish, while I was walking back a second time to get another bagel about 1/4 mile away from my car. Maritza, who jumped ship from Forest Park, finished about 3 minues after me. We saw each other as I was going back north on the Grand Concourse at around 182nd street. She was still going south towards the 179th turnaround. She is progressing nicely, having shaved off 14 minutes from her previous best of 2 hours and 9 minutes for a half-marathon. Keep it up, Maritza....You'll get there soon!

A few things I noticed along the run today of interest. They had a lot of gatorade in the first 5-6 miles, and very little along the Grand Concourse. Towards the end, the Gatorade was pretty watered down, but then I remembered reading somewhere that towards the end of a race it should be watered down else it doesn't get digested properly?

I drank very little water this morning, and no Gatorade before the start. I did however have a chance to warm-up. I got to the race at about 6:30am, and found parking right on Goulden, about a 1/4 mile from the starting line. Unfortunately, it was also in the finish line path to the 3668 runners who finished today, so I was not able to leave until after 11am.

Strategies Invoked: Reserved my strength for the uphills. I lowered my arms and ran lightly past the 11 mile marker going south and downhill on Mosholu Pkwy S. to be able to give myself more arm pumping power going back up hill on Mosholu Pkwy N. I did this both times I went through this section, and also on the windy bumps along the Grand Concourse.

I did begin to cramp up after Mile 2 in my right foot. I took a salt packet for it. Not sure if it did any help, but it didnt get worse, and I finished OK as I crossed the FINISH by Bronx Science.

The french toast bagels were good. Thank you New York Road Runners!

I will definitely be posting up some pictures soon of the event, plus any others that I might get from Brightroom, so stay tuned!

My next race will either be the Snowflake 4 Miler (21Feb) or one of my favorites, Coogan's 5K in Washington Heights (1Mar).

Overall, today was a wonderful day. 56 degrees!