Editing Openai/696162c9-5a7c-800e-8493-3f65605fbb14 (section)

=== Assistant: Short answer. ===
Short answer.
Your Orange CT route is far harder than the NYC Half.

Using your screenshot splits and elevation:

Your run climbs
Mile 3 +85 ft
Mile 4 +91 ft
Mile 6 +57 ft
Mile 7 +52 ft
Mile 10 +47 ft
Mile 11 +29 ft

You have six meaningful climbing miles, with two back to back 80 to 90 ft grinders in miles 3 and 4. That is real rolling terrain.

NYC Half with Brooklyn Bridge

Climbs
Mile 1 to 2. Small Prospect Park rollers.
Mile 4.3 to 5.1. Brooklyn Bridge. One sustained climb about 60 to 80 ft then a long downhill.
Mile 10. Minor rise coming off FDR toward Midtown.
Mile 12 to finish. Small Central Park rollers.

Everything else is flat or net downhill.

What that means for you

Your route has repeated climbing and never fully gives the legs a long flat cruise. You are constantly loading calves, quads, and glutes.

NYC Half has one real climb, the bridge. Once you crest it, you get miles of fast flat or downhill through Manhattan where rhythm and turnover dominate.

If you can hold 7:36 to 7:44 pace on your Orange route, you will feel mechanically advantaged on the NYC Half course. The bridge will feel like one of your Mile 3 or 4 hills, except it is followed by a long recovery downhill instead of more rollers.

Your training terrain is overpreparing you for that course.