Back in January, when New Year's Resolutions meant something, I decided I was going to run the Brooklyn Half Marathon in 2011. I had done the Brooklyn half twice before, along with some other half marathons, but had not run more than 5 miles since Lyla was born. I signed up for the race the day registration opened (it sold out in one day) and conspicuously taped my training schedule on the refrigerator door. I was pretty good about keeping up with the training, although I skipped a couple of long runs and kind of ditched the speed training half way through the program. It is my favorite course of all the NYC halfs because it is mostly flat :). When I ran it, it started in Coney Island and ended in Prospect Park (which was shockingly hilly the first time I ran in). This year, they switched course and the race ended in Coney Island. This actually turned out to be great for two reasons. First, I got the hills of Prospect Park out of the way before I got tired. Second, Mark and Lyla could meet me at Coney Island and spend the day on the beach!
The race was great. During the second lap of Prospect Park I had my first thought that maybe I wouldn't be able to finish, but then we hit Ocean Parkway and the miles just peeled away. My pace was pretty consistent and I stopped for water every other mile. The end of Ocean Parkway was recently paved and I remember feeling slightly nauseous at the smell of new, hot tar. But then, as I approached the Coney Island boardwalk, the tar smell subsided as salty air hit me and I felt energized. I got to the boardwalk and finished strong, just past the Cyclone and Steeplechase Park.
Mark and Lyla had more trouble getting to Coney Island by subway than I did on foot. Mark said Lyla was good for the first hour on the subway, and somewhat impatient for the next 45 minutes (it is normally a 30-40 minute subway ride).
Once we all met up, we headed to the beach. Lyla tells me she saw dolphins, turtles and sharks in the ocean that day. I just remember throwing sea shells into the frigid water.
I want everyone to note Mark lying down in the background of this photo. I'm sorry, who just ran 13 miles? But the subway ride was
exhausting.
Once our feet were numb from the water, we headed back to the boardwalk. Coney Island is a funny place, so we decided to enjoy all the kitsch while we were there.
I wanted to get Nathan's for lunch, but after a look at the line, I was outvoted two to one.
We continued on -- Lyla got a balloon animal and Mark won her a little duck in some carnival game -- to the kids' amusement park
Right about this point in the day, I had a startling realization -- my girl is growing up. She wanted to go on all the rides and she wanted to go on them
alone. "How 'bout dis one?", she kept saying as she ran from ride to ride. At first, we went on the rides where one of us could accompany her.
But there was no holding her back. She wanted to go on rides that were too little for us to join and she didn't blink when we said she would have to go all by herself.
She even showed us how she can do "no hands"!
My big little girl.
Lyla was nearing meltdown mode when we decided to call it a day. But wait. Could Mark leave Coney Island without riding the Cyclone? I told him to go for it - when would we be back here? He did (he said it was pretty good - some big drops). And I snuck away for some Nathan's hot dogs and fries (I deserved it after running, right?).
So we each had our quintessential Coney Island experience.
On the subway ride home, she went from this:
To this, in no time.
We all spent the rest of the day resting our piggies after an eventful adventure. Thankfully, no one (
i.e. me) lost a toenail on this adventure.
