We woke up with a wake-up call at 4am (much better than the 2am wake-up at Disney!), and I jumped in the shower first, had my Arnold Thin with peanut butter for breakfast, and we were out the door by 5am. We drove over to the PATH and found at least 100 other runners waiting for the next subway to take us into the city. Our plan was to just get off the subway with a bunch of other runners and follow them. Well, we followed them, and they all got in to cabs, which we weren’t planning on doing. So, I pulled out the email Megan had sent me with the subway directions, but we still caught a cab anyway to 102nd Street on the East Side, where my corral would be. The cab ride felt like my last moments on Earth- the driver was the worst! But we made it safely there…
Holly, me, and Ellen before the race
We hung out for a little while before the race, and with about a half hour left to go, they went on their way so I could warm up and get settled in my corral. I really enjoyed a nice jog along some trails in Central Park and some stretching up on a hill before I got settled. I felt so relieved that I could stretch and get loose, unlike my experience with Disney. Once I was in my corral, I started chatting with some other girls to help pass the time. The line started moving right at 7:30, and by 7:47, I was crossing the starting line.
Miles 1 and 2 were fairly easy. I knew I had to stick more with my interval training this time, so at the first mile marker, I stopped to walk for a minute, and I did the same thing at mile 2. However, the hills are Central Park snuck up on us for Miles 3-5. I still stuck with my intervals, but I let myself walk the hills when they got too tough, but I made up the time later. Miles 7 and 8 were repeats of miles 1 and 2, which got pretty boring. But coming up on the 8th Mile marker, there were more lined along the road cheering, and there was even a crowd of kids wanting their hands slapped. How cute.
Making the turn out of Central Park and on to Seventh Avenue was probably the best part of the race to me. Seeing the skyscrapers and hearing “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z being played on the speakers was awesome! And then I turned on “City on Down” by OAR, picked up my speed, and almost started to cry. The scene was amazing, and I was running in the middle of the streets of NYC! This was even better than running through Cinderella’s Castle!
This was also where my friends, Ellen and Holly, saw me! But I was too busy getting the photographer’s attention to notice them! But Ellen caught some action pictures…
Right after Times Square, we turned right on to 42nd Street and started the 10th mile. This is where I completely tanked at Disney, but I didn’t let it play with my head. At the 11th mile, we were on the West Side Highway, and I started “pole dancing” as Holly calls it. I would pick a lamp post and run to it, walk a little, pick a new lamp post, and so on. I already knew by this time, I was going to PR by at least 5 minutes. I just needed to keep moving at a good pace. At this point, the spectators were sporadic, but I could see runners walking back to cheer everyone else on. They were wearing their medals, which spurred me on! I wanted that medal!! So the pole dancing continued until the end. I gave it my all from mile 12.5 to the end and sprinted that last 0.1 miles. I felt like every muscle in my legs was falling off of me, and I’m pretty sure I uttered a four-letter word. You can see my anger/frustration/pain in this picture…
But the happy face returned as I crossed the finish line!
And a shot after the race, which I didn’t even know about at Disney!
My finishing time:
2:40:51
A PR of 10 minutes, 5 seconds
Splits:
5k- didn’t record
10k- 1:11:57
15k- 1:49:50
20k- 2:32:58
Pace- 12:17
After the race, I was to meet Ellen and Holly at the New York City Public Library on 42nd and 5th. However, I took the wrong subway and got lost in Brooklyn. Yeah, this was fun. I’m all alone, hobbling like I’m crippled, and I’m sure I looked like a hot mess. But a nice man gave me directions back to Manhattan so I could meet up with my friends 
We were all starving at this point, so we decided to walk around and find a good “New York” place to go to. On the way, I grabbed my Muscle Milk out of my “after the race bag”. We ended up choosing Heartland Brewery in Times Square where we enjoyed some great beer!
I ordered the mushroom ravioli, which was absolutely delicious and hit the spot!
Right after getting up from the booth to leave, I noticed I must have had a blister on the bottom of my heel. I didn’t have any blisters after Disney, but I did get one from NYC. Thankfully, it’s already healed!
We made our way back to the car in Weehawken and headed home, but not before we got a picture of the three of us!
Overall, I absolutely loved this race. The scenery was amazing. I could have done without the hills in Central Park, but hey, I like a good challenge. Disney Princess was a fun race, but I felt like this was a more serious race. I mean, Deena Kastor was running it! So, after finishing this one, I truly feel like a half-marathoner. Not that I didn’t feel like one after Disney, but this solidified it for me.
The best part of this race was… Ellen and Holly have decided to join me in next year’s Disney Princess Half Marathon! They’re both going to start training now. Isn’t that exciting!?!?! And I just found out my friend Jen, who I lived with in Florida, will be training for it as well. I’m so excited to have a big group of girls join me next year!
Now I must pack for my Orlando trip! I need to leave my house in 3 hours, and I’m not even packed. And… I got my iPhone back today! Well, it’s a refurbed one, so it needs to be synced, and who knows how long that will take!
Good night! See you in Orlando! If anyone in Orlando wants to meet up while I’m there, email me I’ll be around Thursday-Monday.
Tags: nyc half
Way to go, Andrea. Great job, not just running but also sharing the details of your experience. Now I want to do this one.
Keep up the great work.
Gwen
Congrats!!! It feels like just last year we decided we were going to do the Disney marathon. not only did you do it you then turned around and did the NYC half right after! your a rockstar!!
Loved the recap. Congrats again!! I love the term “pole dancing” for finding a pole to run to. I do that ALL the time so Im thinking I need to borrow that phrase.
That is really exciting that more of your girlfriends are doing the princess 1/2 with you next year. I cant get my girlfriends into the whole running thing so I have to force my husband to run in it again. 
Congrats! It awesome that you PRed by so much! I feel like I am still recovering from Disney and couldn’t even think about running another one now. You looked like you were having FUN and that’s the most important part!
Have fun back in Orlando!
Gotta love the CP hills, man they’re tough. I can’t believe you ended up in Brooklyn, but at least you made your way back hehe.
congrats! you are positively GLOWING in those end-of-race pictures
Awesome job! Your legs look strong and mean in those pics…not like they’re about to fall off.
And your face shows determination!
You *might* be able to count me in for the Princess 1/2 next year. It looked like a lot of fun!
That looks like it was an amazing race! I’m planning on doing the Disney Princess Half next year too, as well as the Disney Marathon in January. Scaaaaary!
Wow!! Congrats!! You are an inspiration. And I love the term pole dancing – I do that all time, pick a marker and run to it. Great job!!
Great recap! Congrats on your PR!!
Nice race especially 2 weeks after your first HM. Your doing well keep it up!
Congratulations on a job well done! I was going to say that you might be able to see some pain in your face in some of those pictures but you can also see the muscles in your legs! Wow! You look great!
I also have to add that I think it’s really cool that your number was 13100 the first thing I thought of when I saw that was 13.1!
This might be a race I could do with you next year if you do it, it sounds really cool! Hope we’ll be doing the Broad St. together soon, that will be a piece of cake for you… for me… not so much.
Congrats again!
Those central park hills were interesting, weren’t they? Living in Florida, I am not used to hills! I love your pictures, I wish I would have remembered to smile like you did, my pictures didn’t come out too great. I forgot to stop after the finish line and have my pic taken with my medal, I regret that.
Congrats again!
Jen
Woohoo! Way to go girly!
Awesome!!! I’m training for my first half in October. Can’t wait!!! It’s interesting to hear that you walked in the beginning to keep within your intervals. I’ll have to keep that in mind.