New York or Philly?

The New York City Half Marathon is a mere two weeks away, and I need to make a decision: run the race or scratch it from the schedule. This is one of the best races anywhere in the country. One lap around Central Park, then straight down Seventh Avenue through Times Square (passing such landmarks as Carnegie Hall), head over to the West Side Highway, and finish near Battery Park. Except for the New York Marathon, this is the only road race run through the streets of Manhattan. I ran the inaugural race back in 2006 and set a personal best at the half marathon distance, 1 hour, 43 minutes, one second, good for a pace of 7:51 per mile.

Fast forward to the present: barely two months back into running full time, trying to find my stride again, both in terms of speed, pace, and endurance. The longest distance I’ve run during the comeback is eight miles, and it was a struggle. If I decide to run New York in two weeks, I’ll have to take the opposite approach from 2006: slow, steady, cautious. This is out of necessity, to prevent both injury and hitting “the wall” and running out of energy. I don’t like to run this way, but for the time being, it's my reality.

I talked it over yesterday with my friend Anne, a very important person when it comes to all things ankle. You see, Anne was one of two physical therapists I worked with during my recovery from ankle surgery, and she is now my personal trainer (more about her and the other pt Jacob in an upcoming blog entry). Anyway, Anne framed my dilemma perfectly: I could run the race in New York and finish, but I wouldn’t be able to run it the way I want and I would probably be frustrated and miserable. She knows me well!

I’m 99% sure that I’m going to scratch New York, continue to train hard, strengthen my ankle, improve my fitness, speed, and endurance, and target a half marathon in the fall, perhaps the Philadelphia Distance Run in September. In the meantime, there are lots of shorter distance races being staged in the DC area in the next few months; I plan to participate in as many of them as possible.