Half Madness

***Note--I added five posts yesterday and today. They are all long but as fascinating a read as "War & Peace," or at least more interesting than "Twilight." Scroll down (and down some more) to read them all!***

Yesterday (Saturday), I survived my first (and possibly only) half marathon. I signed up for it last spring on a promise of a really cute finisher shirt--technical shirts, they are called (not t-shirts at all!). Well, the shirt was disappointing--it's a very nondescript gray. My third gray shirt this year. What's up with that; can't race organizers be more adventurous in their color choices? Also, the swag bag was disappointing. Usually I end up with all kinds of free granola bars, drink mixes, and other stuff. Leah, as far as that goes, your friend's 5k last year is the best race I've been to.

Now on to the real race report. The race location, Hobble Creek Canyon, is a little over an hour's drive from my house. I was supposed to be at registration before 5:30 Saturday morning. Yuck! So, my friend Kellie and I spent the night with my good friend Megan, who lives just 5 minutes from the park we were supposed to go to. Thank you, Megan, for an extra 90 minutes of sleep! Not that I slept much, since sometime in the night I realized I was at least half crazy for signing up for this race. I enjoy the training, but come race day I usually wish I was at home sleeping in or making pancakes.

Kellie and I got to the park, picked up our packets, put our race bibs on, and got on a bus. The 13-mile ride through town and up the canyon seemed like it took way too long, especially since it went from dark to daylight during the trip. Then we got off the bus and waited 30 minutes to use the port-a-potties, and waited another 30 minutes for the race to start. I'll remind you that we were wearing only racing shorts and very thin running shirts, and we were high in a shadowy mountain canyon--brrr!

The race finally started (late, thanks to a lost bus), and we ran for 13.1 miles. The first 10 miles were fun. The last 3 were miserable, which supposedly just means I should have trained a bit more. Happily, Bruce and the boys met me at the mouth of the canyon with cheers and waves, then met me at another few places on the route. By their last stop, I didn't want to see them because those soft seats in the car looked way too inviting. Finally, after counting the minutes I had left to run, I crossed the finish line for a total time of 1:55:24.5--easily making my goal of finishing under 2 hours. That is a pace of 8:49 per mile. I was in the 46th percentile, so in the bottom of the top half of finishers. Woohoo!




My take on the whole thing? Madness! I really like running, but 8 miles seems long enough for me, in general. Half marathons are harder than triathlons (at least sprint distance), and not as much fun. I love doing a different activity in each portion of a tri--it keeps me more alert mentally, and isn't nearly as hard on the body. Not that I will rule out doing another half-marathon someday, but I don't feel like I need to and I hope I am NEVER crazy enough to try a full marathon. (Kudos to those of you who enjoy running 26 miles without stopping.) Finally, I am surprised that my knees and calves are not even slightly sore today (they usually are, a little), and I didn't lose a single toenail, but my quads are pretty stiff--I think that's mostly 'cause I just sat around all day after the race. I'd better go for a little run tomorrow morning...