I would give you full low down on the NYC Urbanathlon but that is why I’m blogging for Crushing The Course 🙂 If you want the details, you can read about them here. However, there were some important lessons that I learned about races and want to share:
10 Things I Learned at the NYC Urbanathlon
- If the weather calls for rain and or snow, bring clothes for both. You might be “over packing” but this is one time you will not regret it. This also means bringing a change of clothes for after the race, especially extra socks and a 2nd pair of shoes!
- The weather man is not always right. They said it was going to snow but it was rain instead. Glad I had my baseball hat with me.
- Running in a little rain is actually not that bad after the first 5-10 minutes. Turns out, running with lots of people in the rain is fun.
Don’t throw out a pair of sneakers you think you might have ruined during a rainy/muddy race. I thought I ruined a pair during the Chicago Urbanathlon, but ended up wearing them in NYC and avoided ruining yet another pair. I think I’ll hold on to these for rainy races permanently.- A headband under a baseball hat is a good idea for chilly rain. Crawling under fences with bars while wearing a baseball hat is a bad idea. Yes, I hit my head. Hard. It still hurts to shampoo on one spot.
- Obstacle races make longer distances go by so quick! Even if you’re cold and wet. But don’t sweat the obstacles. People are willing and ready to help you.
- I would move to Chicago. I’d need to land a dream job to move to NYC.
- Eat after a long race. Don’t wait for a big brunch or you will feel nauseous. I had some fruit, yogurt and granola but felt sick about an hour later. I needed more!
- I’m good at obstacle races! I have never done a half marathon but the 10-mile course has me convinced to sign up for one in the Spring. I did realize though that I do not like mud. So this might be only obstacle course to conquer.
- Sliding on your butt across the hoods of cars is fun!
Have you ever done an obstacle course race or participated in a race during a rain or snow storm!?
Congrats on living to tell us about it! Even the billboards looked too scary for me!
After I saw your Chicago race recap, it made me want to do the nyc urbanathalon. I’ve never run a race before and I thought it would be an awesome first race. Sadly, I couldn’t afford the steep entry fee. So I ended up doing a Lululemon Brick. We had a spin class at Flywheel and then ran 5.5 (3 with the group and then two and half home) in Central Park. By this time in the afternoon, the snow had become really heavy. As I ran through the park, tree branches were falling all around me, but it was so beautiful. I was glad that I wasn’t freezing at the Urbanathalon, but I was super happy to be running in the snow anyway. Even when I narrowly missed being crushed by half a tree on 87th street! Glad you had fun.
Well, I’m glad you did not get hit by the tree!! But yes, you were warm and I was not. I’m not sure what a luluemon brick is but i’ll look it up!
I feel so bad that you had to do the race solo. :/ But, it sounds like you totally rocked it!! You’re awesome!
As for running a half marathon -- I’ve always been told if you can run 10 miles you can run 13.1 and I’m pretty sure that’s accurate. You should totally do it.
Lastly, I’m kind of jealous of you getting to slide across the hoods of the taxis. 🙂
Don’t feel bad at all! To be honest, I didn’t know the SF course was wicked hilly! I wanted to run at least 2 so this way it allowed me to race in NYC the full thing and not have the really really hard course in SF. But yeah, the taxi’s were awesome! In regards to half marathons, I know a ton of bloggers did them last year. I wish a bunch of us could coordinate which one we all do and make it like a convention weekend in a fun city like Nashville!
Wow it was so cold at first. I thought of running with a fitted jacket for outer protection against the rain and cold however as it turned out I’m glad I didn’t. My dry-fit Nike shirts were sufficient. I was sweating within 6 or 7 minutes. Overall I loved the race. It was a good mix of obstacles and running. Loved the monkey bars and sliding across cab hoods ala the the “dukes of hazards ” boys. Afterwards, breakfast of champs : eggs, pancakes, bacon, hot chocolate. Congrats on your accomplishments and continued success!