What are some highlights from the race?
It’s a new course that starts in Prospect Park and goes over the Brooklyn Bridge and past so many iconic New York monuments and special places, which is pretty neat. The coolest moment happened when we turned onto 7th Avenue because the kid's mile race started just as we were running through Times Square. It was so cool to look over and see these kids racing down the street literally two feet away from us.
How did you decide to run a half marathon?
It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while. In fact, I entered the Houston half in 2012 and had to pull out halfway because of hypothermia. Then, in 2013 I was planning to run the United Airlines NYC Half but couldn’t run because of an injury.
After getting pretty beat up from doing a lot of workouts on an indoor track last year for an indoor track season, I decided I wanted to stay on the roads as much as possible this year. The United Airlines NYC Half seemed like a perfect fit.
Any takeaways from the experience?
A half marathon is a long way! I did a lot of longer intervals in training that prepared me well for the grind that’s required to run well in the distance. Still, since it was so cold and windy, the race didn’t go out that fast. No one wanted to take the lead and tire themselves out too much. I know that if the weather had been ideal, it would have been a fast race from the beginning, and therefore completely different. So, in that sense, I don’t think I got the full experience of the half marathon.
You were lucky enough to set up shop in Arizona and escape the New Hampshire cold for most of your build up. Still, you squeezed in some running in frigid temps. How did you manage to stay warm?
My old ski coach always told us that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. It’s all about layering up and making sure you wear enough of the right type of clothing. In addition to the right layers, I always need something like a buff or a neck gaiter to pull up over my face.
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