I guess I should write something about my sixth attempt at the Fox Cities Half Marathon. After all, it is my favorite race.
The race was on Sept. 21 and even though I had told myself earlier that month that I was going to get a long run or two in between the Lake Michigan Trail Half and Fox Cities, I didn't. So it was another race that I was super under trained for. Oh well. At least I knew it wasn't going to be fast.
The forecast for race day wasn't all that ideal, with rain chances in the morning. When I woke up at 5 a.m. I could hear the rain falling. Great. Thirteen miles in the rain and slightly chilly temperatures. Wonderful.
My Mom, who was playing photographer and chauffeur, and I headed out at 5:30 to pick up my brother and sister-in-law and two of my nephews. My brother was going to be running his first full marathon that day.
We did the typical pre-race stuff. Port-a-potties, stretching, photos. The rain had died down a bit, but it was sill kind of windy and chilly and misting, making it hard to decide what to run in. Long-sleeves? Arm sleeves? Just my tank top? I ended up going with my arm sleeves, but tossed those to my mom when I went past her at the starting line.
Like I said, I had no expectations for time since I wasn't prepared for this. So there was no pressure. I planned on walking the aide stations and whenever I needed to. I just wanted to run, finish the race, collect my medal, have a good time and cheer on my brother to his first marathon finish.
Thoughts from the course:
Mile 1: Running feels hard. This is going got be a long day.
Mile 6ish: Oh, great. The first race walker just passed me. Usually that happens around Mile 7.
Mile 6-7: This is the worst stretch of the course. I hate it.
Mile 7.5: "Eye of the Tiger" comes on my playlist. Reminds me of Lake Michigan Trail Half Eve with my friend Erica. Alabama Week!
Mile 8: I see my mom and two nephews. This is the first time I've seen my family since the start and makes me happy. Also get an update that my brother's through Mile 10 and doing well. Then I get told that I need to beat him to the finish.
Mile 8.3: Oh. It's starting to rain harder.
Mile 8.5: Menasha is a freaking long city. That, or I'm running really slow.
Mile 9: Still raining. The drips off the brim of my hat are coming faster.
Mile 10: There's Mom and the Rugrats again. Three miles to go.
Mile 11.5: There goes the marathon pace car. Kind of thought the leader would have passed me sooner.
Mile 13.1: Finish!
Overall, I never really felt bad during the race. Sure, I got into a few mental dark spots, but they were short lived. My legs? I think I did a good job of mixing in the walk breaks with my runs to keep them somewhat feeling fresh given the lack of training.
It was my fastest half of the year (OK, OK, so I only ran two of them), but the finish time (2:47) gave me hope that if I just buckle down and actually, you know, train next spring, I can maybe be "fast" again next spring/fall.
After I finished, it was time to get some food, change into some dry (although not much warmer) clothes and wait for my brother to come in. And the wind? Let's just say I was glad I finished when I did, because holy windy.
Soon my brother came across the finish line, crossing it in around 4:15, looking great for his first marathon finish. After pictures it was time to head home, shower and then over to his house for some pizza and Packers. It was a good day.
