I was supposed to be in Boston for the BAA Half. I couldn’t stomach paying $500 for a decent flight to Boston and decided to bag that race. I found out Hartford was the day before and when I realized I could get there and stay there reasonably inexpensively, I booked it. State number 22 in my quest for a half in all 50 was ON!!
The trip in was interesting to say the least. A rental car mix up followed by paying $10 for 22 minutes in a parking garage not to mention the power in the hotel where I was staying losing power at 2am was enough to drive many people to drink! I actually thought it was pretty funny when I got my 5:30 wake up call via a knock on the door and a glow stick so I could see (ingenious actually!!). By 6:45 I was ready to run. Enough of the peripheral stuff!!!!
The day turned out to be gorgeous!! Upper 40’s at the start and not a cloud could be seen! I got there a bit too early but fortunately found a park bench free so I could relax a bit. A woman joined me and we chatted about running and drinking for 30 or so minutes. She was running two legs of the relay so I hope she did ok!!
The national anthem played at 8am and despite no jets flying over, it was a pretty amped crowd. It was interesting seeing two sides of the road meld into the start with about 8,000 people trying to hit the start mat. I may have been a bit too far forward but it seemed pretty chaotic to me passing and being passed by tons of people (more of the latter, I’m sure). By the 2nd mile we were fairly stretched out and I settled into a pace. I was surprised how the course was rolling. Nothing too steep in either direction really but living in Columbus, any slight change in elevation is always interesting!! The course split the marathoners and half runners just before mile 4 and I had a pretty good rhythm for me. Unfortunately the rest of the day wouldn’t be that easy because by mile 7, I had the feeling of lead in my legs. I pushed through it for as long as I could but by mile 8, I had to walk for a minute to get stretched out. Fortunately all wasn’t lost! I rebounded a little, had another PowerGel and I felt a little better. I hit the 10 mile mark faster than I’ve done 10 miles in probably 3 years. The last 5k was a little slower than I had hoped but when I hit the tape, it was a 2 year best by about a minute. A good run for me for sure!!
Here’s a special congratulations to my new friend Cat! She was also there completing her first half marathon! We didn’t actually meet there (she bought a 13.1 sticker from me on ebay) but she blew by me around 9 or so miles! Congrats, Cat!!!
Next up, The Nationwide Better Health Half Marathon. Then to Las Cruces, NM for the third of four straight half marathons!!Keep running, all!!!
The trip in was interesting to say the least. A rental car mix up followed by paying $10 for 22 minutes in a parking garage not to mention the power in the hotel where I was staying losing power at 2am was enough to drive many people to drink! I actually thought it was pretty funny when I got my 5:30 wake up call via a knock on the door and a glow stick so I could see (ingenious actually!!). By 6:45 I was ready to run. Enough of the peripheral stuff!!!!
The day turned out to be gorgeous!! Upper 40’s at the start and not a cloud could be seen! I got there a bit too early but fortunately found a park bench free so I could relax a bit. A woman joined me and we chatted about running and drinking for 30 or so minutes. She was running two legs of the relay so I hope she did ok!!
The national anthem played at 8am and despite no jets flying over, it was a pretty amped crowd. It was interesting seeing two sides of the road meld into the start with about 8,000 people trying to hit the start mat. I may have been a bit too far forward but it seemed pretty chaotic to me passing and being passed by tons of people (more of the latter, I’m sure). By the 2nd mile we were fairly stretched out and I settled into a pace. I was surprised how the course was rolling. Nothing too steep in either direction really but living in Columbus, any slight change in elevation is always interesting!! The course split the marathoners and half runners just before mile 4 and I had a pretty good rhythm for me. Unfortunately the rest of the day wouldn’t be that easy because by mile 7, I had the feeling of lead in my legs. I pushed through it for as long as I could but by mile 8, I had to walk for a minute to get stretched out. Fortunately all wasn’t lost! I rebounded a little, had another PowerGel and I felt a little better. I hit the 10 mile mark faster than I’ve done 10 miles in probably 3 years. The last 5k was a little slower than I had hoped but when I hit the tape, it was a 2 year best by about a minute. A good run for me for sure!!
Here’s a special congratulations to my new friend Cat! She was also there completing her first half marathon! We didn’t actually meet there (she bought a 13.1 sticker from me on ebay) but she blew by me around 9 or so miles! Congrats, Cat!!!
Next up, The Nationwide Better Health Half Marathon. Then to Las Cruces, NM for the third of four straight half marathons!!Keep running, all!!!
1 comment:
Troy did not mention that I was running with a 6'3" runner so I HAD to fly! Gorgeous day, great run, welcome to Hartford!
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