Queens Half Marathon - 9/20/09

This was my second go round at the Queens Half Marathon, with my first race being in 2007. I had a great experience the first time running this race (pacing, weather, breakthrough for me), and it did not disappoint yesterday either. The course seemed the same as I remember it from two years ago. There were lots of turns (which I like), and a bunch of hills including one during the last mile and a half or so (don't like so much), but I still like the challenge of it very much. The weather was fantastic - cool and sunny - and I was able to run a strong and consistent race. I felt great and this was definitely another confidence booster for me regarding pacing.

Total time: 1:40:14 ; average pace: 7:39.
This was my second fastest half marathon time so far, and if not for the Long Branch Half earlier this year, this would have been my PR by about 2 minutes.

I was able to keep a pretty consistent pace throughout the entire race, which I believe the weather had a lot to do with. The first few miles set the tone for the rest of the race and I felt strong and calm through miles 3-4. At that point, I wanted to try and stay as close to a 7:45 mile pace that I could and I felt that I had a good chance of doing so. At the beginning, I had a goal of running sub 1:43 and by the middle of the race, I felt I had a great chance of attaining it. With the last few miles approaching, I was still feeling strong and I figured that there was an outside chance that I could break 1:40. It would be great to do so, but that wasn't the overall goal for the day. I picked up the pace on mile 12 and 13 and missed going under 1:40 by only 17 seconds. Oh well.

My half marathon time plateau seems to be getting lower. This is the third time this year (out of three half marathons so far this year, not including the 12 miles that I ran at the Ocean to Sound Relay) that I was able to run sub 1:43. Although I had to run hard to do so each time, I felt strong and confident that I in my ability to can achieve these times. I am starting to get a little better at pacing myself and adjusting during the race and I need to keep this up.

Mile splits:

Mile 1 - 7:49
Mile 2 - 7:35
Mile 3 - 7:47
Mile 4 - 7:46
Mile 5 - 7:36
Mile 6 - 7:38
Mile 7 - 7:36
Mile 8 - 7:32
Mile 9 - 8:47 (too long)
Mile 10 - 6:34 (too short)
Mile 11 - 7:45
Mile 12 - 7:57
Last 1.1 miles - 7:06

Average pace - 7:39 ; Overall time - 1:40:14

Prior to 2009 I ran 3 sub 1:44 half marathon times (Runner's World Half - 2006, NYC Half - 2006, Staten Island Half - 2008)

So far in 2009, I ran 3 sub 1:43 half marathons out of three (Long Branch Half (1:38:20), Brooklyn Half (1:42:29) and the Queens Half (1:40:14). Four out of my last four halves were under 1:44 if you include Staten Island from October of 2008.