Monday, October 4, 2010

Things of Fall II

Or things I learned the hard way...*

I'd call this a race report, but I don't use the half (two weeks out from a marathon) as a race, but more a marathon practice run. So, I'll just give you a few of my observations about the event and my practice run.

To begin, a few things I of note. What I like about the race is that the elevation somewhat resembles that of a rather well known marathon held out East.


Note the down first half, up second half, and down (mostly) from there.

The web page said the start time was 8:00am. As I was getting ready, they made an announcement that the half starts at 8:15. Soooooo, pause the warm-up and try to keep the Redhead warm.** Now, pausing your warm-up sucks, but it is even worse when the pre-race music is seriously the soundtrack to the worst wedding ever. The dance floor was empty if you run with the comparison. I was waiting for them to play the Chicken Dance or the Hokey Pokey.

But bad pre-race music is nothing compared to a race with about 4,000 people and about 25 porta-potties. I was honestly going to go 'bear' in the woods. I mean, I went deep into the nearby woods to try and get some privacy. I was mentally preparing myself to break new ground in my running career when I saw a deer. No joke, a deer. He paused, looked up at me, and said: "Really? How would you feel if I walked into your living room and dropped a duese?" Good point. I walked out defeated and stepped into the long long line.

This resulted in barely getting to the starting line before the 8:15am start. See me sneaking in? Look for the red arrow below.


Once the race began, I used the downhill miles to build up a little time, as the uphill miles awaited. After mile ten, I dropped the hammer to bring in a strong finish.




Yeah, I passed my fellow Boston Marathoner. I close like a cheetah.

Ah, but what did I learn the hard way? I learned that failure to apply Body Glide before a half is a huge mistake. I mean, how do you forget something as basic as Body Glide?

* If I am being honest I should also include this information, stashed away under the category of "Mistakes You Should Only Make Once." The proper order is Icy Hot, wash hands, use restroom and not Icy Hot, restroom, wash hands. Failure to follow the aforementioned instructions will lead to very terrible results.

**The Redhead was kind enough to wake up uber early and come along to cheer me on; plus take a few action shots. Her support, as always, was greatly appreciated.

7 comments:

The Boring Runner said...

Are you sure that you weren't checking out that guy in the red/yellow singlet in that first picture?

I don't understand why races don't have enough portopots. I mean, there has to be some sort of ratio of runners to pots that you need to avoid super long lines, right?!

Way to go on the race. What % of max half marathon pace were you chugging at? (I may have looked up your time - killer)

Nitmos said...

I always forget body glide for any distance less than a marathon. And I pay for it on cold fall days.

Nicely done (I assume)!

Amy said...

Those last two pictures are really cool. It's very pretty with the green field and the white fence... but then the dark clouds moving in look very foreboding...

Sounds like they didn't give you any trouble. Congrats!

Running and living said...

I am probably an outlier but I never use body glide, icy hot, biofreeze, and other such things that runners overload on! Congrats on the race, now rest up!

Katie A. said...

Chi-town better watch out - that cheetah in you is coming out!

Nice work! And HOW do you forget body glide? I'm sure it's a lesson you'll never forget ;) That and the icy hot situ! LOL! Good luck this weekend!!!

RobinLK said...

Hmmm... Icy Hot and restroom. Two words that SHOULD never be used in the same sentence. EVER.

Glad to know the Redhead is looking out for you and your races! What would you do without her?????

Unknown said...

that was a great race! congrats! ~ spyder ski ~