After work and a quick dinner at home, I grabbed my stuff and drove out to one of my favorite airports, the Long Beach Airport. I had an evening red eye flight with JetBlue headed out to John F. Kennedy Airport. I like this airport because it's much easier to get to than LAX, it's small enough that you don't have to get there super early to get through long TSA lines, and you get to board the plane from the tarmac instead of a jet bridge. So after parking my car at the long term parking lot B, I was on my way.
Saturday 3/19
Even though I had a window seat, I wasn't able to sleep much on the flight so I showed up super early to NYC feeling super tired. I made my way to the AirTrain and took it to Jamaica Station. It cost $5 upon exit. After taking the elevator down to the subway level, I got on the E train to head into Manhattan. It ran as an express train and I rode it until the end of the line at the World Trade Center. I tried to check out the 9/11 Memorial, but it wasn't open until 7:30 am. I walked around and decided to get out of the chilly weather since my rose was running. I eventually found my way to the lobby of the Marriott Downtown Hotel at West St and Albany St. I hung out there for a bit while charging my phone.
As it got closer to the opening of the expo at 9 am, I walked over to the Rector St Station and took the number 1 train up to the 18th St Station. I walked over to the Metropolitan Pavilion. It was a fairly small venue. However the expo was very well organized. I picked up my race bib, an official clear plastic bag for gear check, and a race shirt. I took my time and I was done with the expo in about 15 minutes.
I decided to go to my hotel to see if I could check in early. I took the number 1 train up to the Times Square 42nd St Station. I walked a few blocks up to the Hotel St. James. There was plenty of construction on the outside so it was somewhat had to recognize the hotel. I spoke to the guy at the front desk, but it was too early to check in. He told me that my room would probably we ready at about 1 pm at the earliest. There were several Irish restaurants nearby, so I decided to check out Connolly's which was next door for some breakfast. I was super tired, so I had coffee and ordered the traditional Irish breakfast. This was my kind of breakfast. I could probably eat this stuff every morning.
Good morning from Times Square
To pass more time, I hoofed it over to the Grand Central Terminal. Up until now, I have yet to visit this iconic place. It was pretty neat to check out.
I then headed back to my hotel and waited in the lobby. At a little before 1 pm, the guy at the front desk informed me that my room was ready. After taking care of the paperwork, I was given the keys to my room. I took the elevator up to my room on the 11th floor. It was an interesting accessible room. The bathroom reminded me of ones that I've only seen in Asian countries. There was no bathtub. I didn't ask for or book an accessible room, but I always appreciate it when I have to take a shower after running a half marathon or marathon. :)
I took a quick shower and just lounged around while watching some TV and going through my race packet. I also got my race gear ready just to make sure that I had packed everything. I eventually dozed off and didn't wake up until around 6:30 pm.
Man v. Food!
Red Mill Burger
I went out looking for dinner, but I first stopped by the Walgreens at Times Square to pick up some water. I then found myself at the nearby HB Burger for dinner. The place was a bit packed, but I was able to find a seat at the end of the bar. I started with their IPA. The beer wasn't very cold and it was a little flat. For dinner, I ordered their HB Beef burger cooked medium and the tater tots. The burger was not bad, but I was expecting more tater tots. I finished off the burger with their oatmeal stout. Again the beer was tepid and flat. The bartender saw that I noticed that the beers were off, so she told me that she would take both drinks off of my bill.
IPA
HB Beef burger, tater tots, oatmeal stout
Sunday 3/20
I haven't posted any fast results at NYRR races, so I was placed in corral 21 of wave 3 which was the first corral of the last wave. The corrals for wave 3 didn't open until 7:45 am, so I took my time walking up to Central Park via Avenue of the Americas. It was super windy just as I reached Central Park. Only runners with bibs were allowed to enter W 59th St. Bag check closed at 7:20 am for wave 3, so I waited until about the last minute to take off my jacket and check my bag before heading to the corrals.
It was a pretty chilly morning so I was glad that I had a mylar blanket with me. There was a big crowd of runners all trying to get through the metal detectors. On the very left, they were using the wands to check runners for metal. Once we got through, it was pretty open road heading up to the corrals. The road was lined with a lot of portapotties. If you kept walking down to about where the last corral started, there were actually no lines for the portapotties.
Going through the metal detectors
I made a beeline for my corral and got to the very front where we saw waves 1 and 2 begin the race. Wave 1 was released at 7:30 and wave 2 was released at 7:45. Wave 3 did not start until 8:10 am. I sat down on the wooden railing on the left side of the corral next to the clothing donation bins. The bins helped block the wind. My goal for the race was to finish somewhere between 1:55 and 2 hrs.
Start line
I ran a disciplined race. Early in the race I wanted to push the pace, but the right hip was feeling weak. So I held back and ran at a comfortable 8:30 min pace. For some reason the 2 hr pacer was running just ahead of me. Eventually the pacer started running a more reasonable pace and fell behind. I caught and started overtaking the stragglers in wave 2 starting at about mile 2. It was pretty nice to cruise through the hills of Central Park on a nice brisk morning. I started the race wearing gloves and arm sleeves, but eventually I took off the gloves and rolled down the sleeves. At about mile 6 we left the park and headed down 7th Ave towards Times Square. Then the course made a right turn at W 42nd St. There was a quick out and back at 12th Ave before we head south towards Battery Park. My left foot was getting quite sore, so I stopped pushing as hard and my pace slowed down to about 9:30 min per mile. 12th Ave became 11th Ave and then West St. I focused on just getting the legs to turnover and not worry too much about the pace. It was a mental struggle seeing my pace drop by 1 min per mile, but I saw the Freedom Tower in the distance and just focused on getting there. It was good to finally reach the Battery Park Underpass knowing that the finish line was close. Coming out of the tunnel on the other side, we crossed over to South St. I turned left on Maiden Ln with a final left turn on Water St. I didn't have any kick in my legs, so I cruised to the finish line.
Pic from Kino
Finish line
Click here for my Garmin data.
I've been doing nothing but resting in between races, so I was glad to be able to finish the race in under 2 hrs. The course this year was a little bit different than when I last ran this race back in 2011. It was definitely better to run the race without a stress fracture in the tibia.
2011: 2:40:07
2016: 1:59:00
I got my medal, a mylar blanket, and a recovery bag full of fluids and snacks. I then picked up my gear bag and put on my jacket and gloves. This was one very organized race from expo to finish. I believe all NYRR races are well organized events.
It was pretty chilly, so I started making my way to the subway station. There was a lot of construction, so the entrance for the number 1 train was on the west side of the Staten Island Ferry Station. I rode the subway up to Times Square and 42nd St. I had a pretty nice conversation with a couple of fellow runners.
After getting back to my room, I took a hot shower and relaxed. I ate my beef jerky and the rest of my snacks instead of going back out for lunch.
For dinner, I met up with a friend that had moved out to NYC for work. We decided on eating at Bareburger over on W 46th St. We got there at 5:30 pm and there was a little wait to get a table. We waited at the bar where I got a Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro. A short while later they put us at the table by the entrance. I ordered their Fire Quacker which was made with duck, pepper jack, habanero mayo, pickled jalapeños, red onions, spinach, tomatoes, and a brioche bun. I also added a side baby green salad. The salad was good and went well with my duck burger which had a nice spicy kick. I finished things off with a Sixpoint The Crisp Pilsner. I don't usually drink pilsners, but they ran out of the beer that I had originally ordered.
I was pretty tired. I guess I'm kind of like Cinderella, but only I fall asleep at about 8:30 pm instead of midnight. Changing time zones doesn't help. :)
Monday 3/21
After checking out of my room at about 11 am, I headed down to Go Go Curry! to eat lunch. I ordered the usual Grand Slam plate. It had chicken katsu, pork katsu, shrimp tempura, sausages, and a hard boiled egg. That was plenty of protein to help recover from running a half marathon.
Early lunch at Go Go Curry!
My flight home wasn't until around 6pm, so after lunch, I took the E train down to the World Trade Center station. If I didn't have all of my baggage with me, I would've visited the museum. Next time I will have to plan for a longer stay. I walked around the two memorial pools. It's still hard to fathom what took place almost 15 years ago.
I then hopped on the E train again headed for JFK Airport. After a few stops, the conductor announced that the train was now an express train. That definitely reduced the travel time. I got off the train at the Jamaica Station at Sutphin Blvd - Archer Ave. I took the AirTrain over to Terminal 5 for JetBlue gates. I printed out my boarding pass before getting in line to get through TSA security check.
Once I got to my gate area, I found a spot to charge my devices and just browsed the internet and catch up on a little bit of Facebook. I thought about finding food to eat but there was nothing that interested me. What happened to all of the McDonald's? I decided to wait until I had gotten home to eat. I bought a bottle of my favorite lemonade to help tide me over.
Time to go home!
I'm not sure of the logic behind their reasoning, but because they didn't have headphones for sale, they were going to show the in-flight movies for free. Since I always bring my own, I wasn't about to argue with that kind of logic. As soon as we were up in the air on our way home, I was pleasantly surprised that they were showing Star Wars: Episode 7 The Force Awakens!
After Star Wars was over, I switched over to The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, part 2. Even though I had the window seat, I couldn't really fall asleep, so I was thankful for these 2 movies to keep me entertained. Near the end of the flight, the non-English speaking Asian guy sitting in the middle seat started fidgeting around and becoming a nuisance. Apparently his wife and young child were sitting in another seat. Eventually she stopped by and dropped off the kid. The kid kept hitting, kicking, or touching me as I was trying to take a nap. Eventually I gave up trying to nap. Oh, the joys of flying.
After we landed in Long Beach, it was time to drive home. I stopped by the drive-thru at the local In-n-Out before heading home. I really wanted to eat 2 of them, but I only had one. #OnADiet :)
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