Race Inventory 2012

After surviving my first Ironman last year, I wasn't sure how I was going to top it for this year...so I didn't really try. However, it was still a very good year for racing and improving as a mediocre age-grouper athlete!

Here's the short version.

• 8 half-marathons
• 4 marathons
• 3.5 half-iron triathlons (one was shortened due to weather)
• 1 30-mile trail run
• 4 triathlons of assorted distances (two winter indoor tris not listed below)
• 1 olympic-distance duathlon
• 3 assorted running races

I used one half-marathon as a long recovery walk/jog, and took advantage of the opportunity to walk it with someone dear to me. That was a nice break and a welcome chance to relax.

This year saw my first "double" -- two longer races in two states in one weekend. I survived, and actually had a good time. Saturday was the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson, MS, which turned out to be quite hilly. After the race, I drove to Mobile, AL, and mingled over dinner with a lot of other crazy people who were also doing both races. Sunday morning was the First Light Half/Full Marathon. I opted for the half, but many people were doing another marathon. It was an interesting experience, and I learned a little bit more about pacing and recovery. Much to my relief, AL was also flat.

An enjoyable 15K trail run in March became a bittersweet reminder of how precious life truly is, and how important it is to live in the moment.

My second ultra, a 30-mile trail run in April, resulted in a new friend and running partner. We have plans to try our first 50-miler together next April.

I became more comfortable with the half-iron distance, doing three-and-a-half this year (one, Muncie, was shortened due to extreme heat). Kansas saw winds like I've never experienced combined with some impressive hills. Steelhead felt more like a reunion between old friends, and was a perfect day, if tinged with a hint of sadness. Augusta was a mini-vacation that ended in a personal best and a thoroughly enjoyable visit to a little town in Georgia.

Instead of a full Ironman this year, I tested my ability to recover. In the span of six weeks, I did two half-marathons, a half-iron tri, and a marathon (in that order), took a week off, then did another marathon. I survived unscathed, save for a few hours of aching feet and legs. I consider that a "pass".

Perhaps the most unique marathon of all was the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey in Nashville, TN. This is a small race (300 or so), completely irreverent, and highly sarcastic. In short, it was loads of fun. It was also quite challenging, with 7500 feet of elevation change crammed into those 26.2 miles. I highly recommend it.

Next up: Starting 2013 with a marathon on New Year's Day. Doesn't get much better!

Below is a more detailed list of the year's events.

Santa Hustle Half Marathon	Dec 16	2:19:47	Indianapolis
Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon	Nov 18	5:17:01	Nashville TN
Detroit Free Press Marathon	Oct 21	5:10:31	MI
Chicago Marathon	Oct 7	5:07:23	IL
Ironman 70.3 Augusta	Sep 30	6:32:39	Augusta GA
Quad Cities Half Marathon (walked with Paula)	Sep 23	3:45:07	Moline IL/ Davenport IA
USAF Half Marathon	Sep 15	2:14:04	Dayton OH
Ironman 70.3 Steelhead	Aug 19	6:45:59	St. Joseph MI
Eagle Creek Sprint Triathlon	Jul 21	1:26:03	Indianapolis
Buckhead Border Challenge	Jul 15	3:34:24	Jeffersonville IN
Ironman 70.3 Muncie (shortened due to heat)	Jul 7	3:48:01	IN
iChallenge Indy Tri	Jun 24	2:11:11	Indianapolis
TNT Trail Run 10K	Jun 19	1:08:41	Indianapolis
Eagle Creek Sprint Triathlon	Jun 16	1:27:40	Indianapolis
Ironman 70.3 Kansas	Jun 10	7:57:40	Lawrence
Geist Half Marathon	May 19	2:19:03	Fishers IN
Muncie May Duathlon	May 12	3:17:09	IN
Wisconsin Half Marathon	May 6	2:17:37	Kenosha
PA Winona Lake Trail 30 Mile	Apr 14	6:48:53	Warsaw IN
Opossum Creek 10K	Apr 7	1:04:24	Granger TX
North Carolina Half Marathon	Mar 25	2:18:21	Charlotte
DINO trail run 15K	Mar 10	1:39:01	Indianapolis
Rhythm & Blues Half Marathon	Feb 19	2:16:00	Houston TX
Bop to the Top 36-floor Stair Climb (Triple Challenge)	Jan 21	31:28	Indianapolis
First Light Half Marathon	Jan 8	2:28:21	Mobile AL
Mississippi Blues Marathon	Jan 7	5:13:14	Jackson MS

Do Epic Sh*t, or, Chicago Marathon 2012

This was marathon #9, one week after completing a half-iron tri. Probably not the best planning. But I digress.

I used to live in Chicago, so I still have friends there. This was a combo marathon/see-friends-and-family trip. I drove up Friday night, made it through Gary without encountering any cars burning on the highway, and hit parking-lot traffic as expected. This was when I discovered two problems with the car. 1) The headlight that I replaced the day before was out again, and 2) my oil light came on a couple of times when I had to stop suddenly. Great. Issue #1 was simply massively annoying, as this was the second time I'd replaced the headlight and been ignored when I suggested it was an electrical problem. #2 was very concerning.

Upon arrival to my friends' place in Oak Park, we decided to drop the car off the next morning at his mechanic. I scrapped my breakfast plans with family and we had a nice quiet morning just hanging out and relaxing while waiting for the car. The garage called, and it turned out the engine was bone dry, and thankfully didn't appear to be damaged. Why was it bone dry? Don't know. The last time it was worked on it was supposed to have had an oil change. Not sure that happened. In any case, I was extremely grateful to have been caught in stop-and-go traffic. Otherwise, that light would not have come on and I probably would have seized the engine somewhere on I-65 between Chicago and Indianapolis. Crisis averted. Headlight issue would just have to wait until I can go be pissy with my hometown mechanic.

Got the car around lunchtime, complete with oil. Drove through horrible traffic to get to the expo and picked up my bib/shirt/etc., more horrible traffic to get back to the suburbs, then spent a quiet evening with friends.

Sunday morning my amazingly wonderful friends drove me into Chicago, and dropped me off within a couple of blocks of the start. I was there about two hours early to avoid the horrible traffic, so there was plenty of time to scope out the area, people-watch, shiver uncontrollably from the cold, and get to gear check. I don't know what the temperature was, but there was a very cold wind that made it uncomfortable. I had not planned on the cold wind, so really wasn't dressed warmly enough to sit around for two hours. While sitting there, I was missing my usual pre-race enthusiasm. As I watched arriving runners, many of them all excited and happy, some of them nervous, I just wasn't feeling it. I reminded myself that at least today I would be exerting myself for less time than last weekend (six-and-a-half hours), and wasn't even going half the distance as last week (70.3 miles). That was a happy thought, and I was almost as happy as if I'd had a wonderful hot latte to wrap my cold hands around. Finally I gave up my sweatshirt, checked my stuff, and wandered into the crowd in the start corral, hoping to enjoy the collective warmth of all those bodies sharing a smallish space.

After another 30 minutes of standing around with thousands of excited people, I finally started to feel ready to tackle the day. We shuffled to the start line, and were off.

Things went really well for the first 13 miles. Then my hamstrings started hurting. Then my calves. Then my butt. (See a trend here?) It was at this point that I started seriously questioning the wisdom of running a marathon on only six days of rest after a half-iron tri. Oh well, I knew it would be hard when I signed up, I really wanted to do Chicago this year, and there wasn't a darned thing I could do about it now except suck it up and keep going. I reminded myself that this was a heck of a lot easier when not preceded by a long swim and longer bike ride. Small consolation, but a wee bit helpful. Let the walk/jog process begin!

At least Chicago offers constant distractions. There are no lonely spots on the course; there are spectators everywhere and they make a lot of noise. They also carry some very funny signs. I saw a couple that referenced Paul Ryan's (bogus) claim that he had once run a marathon and done it in under three hours. One said something like, "Don't worry, this marathon is being timed the Paul Ryan way". Another said, "Run like Paul Ryan". "Run faster, the Bears kick off at 3pm!" and "Run faster, my arms are tired" were also good. However, my very favorite sign of all time was "Do Epic Shit". That one just summed it up!

I'm afraid that I was in too much pain to fully appreciate my surroundings; I was just trying to get through it. I vaguely recall a nice little Spanish neighborhood with a great Greek band (!), and a couple of spectators handing out beer. I seriously considered the beer, but decided that might make things worse. Around mile 24 my shoes began letting me know they were due to be replaced, and the feet got into the pain party. At this point I was fully appreciating the runner with the shirt that said, "This is the LAST time!" It was a good reminder that the pain really is forgotten remarkably quickly, and we keep coming back for more. At least the temperature was perfect for running -- nice and cool. It was downright cold for the volunteers and spectators, though.

The mile 25 sign was cause for celebration, and I was actually able to keep passing people, and eventually the finish line was in sight. Thank goodness for all those spectators! They really do make it hard to walk for very long at a time, and probably had a lot to do with keeping me moving faster than I otherwise might have. At last I threw myself across the finish line and was very happy with my 5:07 time. My average time is in the 4:50-5:15 range anyhow, so this was not an especially pitiful performance. I didn't have my typical steady pace, but the overall time was well within my abilities. Another good day and the hot shower was bliss.

Went and visited the family that I had missed on Saturday, had a really nice time, then drove back home. Thankfully the cop that pulled me over for the burnt-out headlight was a nice guy and didn't give me a ticket. All in all, a successful weekend! Next up: Detroit marathon in two weeks.

Total time: 5:07:23

Split	Time	Pace
5K	35:06	11:18
10K	1:07:54	10:34
15K	1:41:07	10:42
10K	2:15:46	11:09
HALF	2:23:51	11:52
25K	2:51:56	11:35
30K	3:30:16	12:21
35K	4:10:35	12:59
40K	4:51:02	13:02
Finish	5:07:23	11:59

Ironman 70.3 Augusta

Short version: PR by over 13 minutes, great course, humid but not hot, yes I'd do it again.

Longer version follows.

This was a fun course with a lot of community support. Augusta, GA is a nice little town with a strong sense of history, and a desire to rebuild itself rather than fading away. From before the Civil War to as recently as the 1970's, it was a major textile mill town rivaling Lowell, MA. As that business died off, so did many employment opportunities. The town is now following a strategy similar to that of Indianapolis: they want to become an amateur sports mecca. To that end, they very enthusiastically embrace the Ironman event and make the athletes feel very, very welcome. This was the fourth year of the event, and the town's enthusiasm was quite refreshing. I didn't realize that this is the largest of the IM 70.3 series races, at 3500 participants (most are capped at 2500).

We got into town Thursday, and did a little sight-seeing. While enjoying a Guiness, we ran into some Ironman employees who were coordinating volunteers, and agreed to help out at packet pickup the following day. After a canal boat tour Friday, we moved to the host hotel (the Marriott) and got settled in. I had shipped my bike there earlier in the week (Delta is a ripoff with bikes), and they had it delivered to our room before we hauled our bags up there. What service! Got the bike assembled, made sure no parts were missing, and went downstairs to check in and work our shift.

The expo was the largest of any 70.3 I've done so far (this was #8), and offered many opportunities to spend money. I picked up my race packet and chip, then found the volunteer coordinator. We assembled/dispensed goody bags for a few hours, had fun meeting other athletes, and called it a day. Saturday was a 1.5 mile walk down to Transition, where a bike mechanic aligned/tightened/verified that all was good, then I found my spot and racked the bike. Relaxed on a historic trolley tour and saw a bit more of Augusta.

Maybe it's part of being in the South, but the general atmosphere was very, very friendly, and athletes were very chatty. I've never been asked so many times if I've done a full. It was nice for the ego to get asked that, reply yes, and see the look of respect. So here we are in the elevator after dinner, I'm feeling all puffed up and studly, and an obviously elite female athlete gets on with her obviously expensive high-end bike and 2% bodyfat. Then two more Kona-qualifier types get on, about my age, with maybe 5% bodyfat. Then there's me...beer-drinking, normal bodyfat range, minimal training, never-gonna-stand-a-chance-at-qualifying because I'm in the middle-to-back of my age group. I just had to look around and laugh. Oh well, we all get the same medal at the finish line.

Sunday morning I got to sleep in late for a race day, until 5:20 am. Caught the 6 am shuttle to transition, got all my stuff set up, drank another Muscle Milk, then caught another shuttle back to the swim start. Those of us in wave 11 (of 25) watched the previous waves leave and noticed the visible current. Hooray! As a slow swimmer, I LOVE strong currents! Water temp was 76, so wetsuit legal and very comfortable. I had my fastest swim ever thanks to that current and got out of the water after 33:56.

Very long transition from exiting the water back into the transition area...about 350 yards. But there were wetsuit strippers after that long schlep. Gotta love the wetsuit strippers.

So far the rain was holding off, and everyone was hoping it would at least wait until most were done with the bike. We crossed the Savannah river after maybe five miles, and rode about 45 miles in South Carolina on rolling hills before crossing back into Georgia. These truly were rollers -- steep enough to have to work it, but not so steep as to be miserable. And some of the downhills were quite nice. With so many participants, it was hard at times not to draft, but it wasn't horribly crowded and I always had plenty of company around. I was hoping to have a repeat of the Steelhead bike ride (~3:15, no stopping) and succeeded. This course was much hillier than Steelhead, so I was very, very pleased with my ride. Pulled up to the dismount line after 3:15:48.

Still felt pretty good through transition, and headed out for the run...and just couldn't get enough air. I've lost any high-humidity conditioning I might have had, and it quickly became painfully apparent. At 93%, the humidity reduced me to a pitiful run/walk routine. I could run maybe .10/mile, then my heart rate would shoot up and I'd have to walk and pant a bit. It was like breathing through a wet dishrag. Very frustrating. The legs felt ok, the gut wasn't thrilled but wasn't the issue: I just couldn't get enough air. And I had lots of company. Many people were doing the same thing: run for a minute or two, then walk for 30-45 seconds breathing hard, then run again. Oh my, this is going to be a long day and it's going to blow my chances at a PR if I don't watch it.

The run is a zig-zag through downtown, twice, so there's plenty of spectators and plenty to look at. I was glad we had taken the trolley tour the previous day, because now I could recognize various landmarks as I went by and distract myself by trying to remember their story. Eventually I came upon Scott Rigsby, the first double-amputee to complete a full Ironman distance, around mile 9. He was chugging along at a good pace on his blades. Very motivating. I can't even imagine how much that must hurt after the first few miles.

Kept up the run/walk routine, and was delighted to look up and see the Mile 11 sign. A group of us passed it together, and had a good laugh about missing the Mile 10 sign but being very happy we only had two more to go. Eventually I rounded the last corner, and was able to run the last couple of blocks to the finish. Four of us hit the chute at the same time, and I came from the back to beat the two guys to the finish line. Yes! Hope they didn't mind getting chicked by an old fart (age is written on your calf). At last it started to rain a little bit.

Immediately found Paula, got my medal/hat/food, and headed back to the hotel for a badly-needed hot shower. Ohhhhh that felt good. Run time: 2:32:22. Not bad!

While I didn't have the negative splits that I had at Steelhead, I am still very pleased. The bike course was quite a bit more challenging than Michigan, and the run conditions were harder. Even without the nice current helping me out, I would have at least matched my Steelhead time, so it was clearly a good day. I took my time in transition, and it was well worth it. Between the hospitality of the town, the volunteers, and the hotel, I would definitely fly back to do this race again.

Total Time:	6:32:39
Swim:	33:56
T1:	6:23
Bike:	3:15:48
T2:	4:10
Run:	2:32:22

Steelhead, In Memoriam

Two years ago, I did this race with Team in Training, in honor of Jim Armstrong. This time, I did it in his memory, and thought of him several times as the day unwound. It really meant a lot to him the first time, so I dedicated this day to his memory.

...and despite a horrendously crappy swim, I still set a PR by almost 30 minutes. Thanks, Jim!

Previous 70.3 PR: 7:12:04.

Sunday's time: 6:45:59

Even if I hadn't set a PR, I'd still be happy. I managed to improve my rankings with every leg of the race, meaning I didn't slow down. I actually got faster as the day went on, which is a first. In fact, there were several firsts in this race.

First #1: Since dropping about 6 pounds of body fat, my already-low blood pressure is even lower. Like hold-a-mirror-to-my-mouth-to-check-if-I'm-still-breathing low. I'm used to it, so rarely notice it anymore. I noticed it Sunday during the swim. My "technique" is to do sidestroke when I want to take a break to clear my goggles, ride out a patch of thrashing (faster swimmers who have caught up), look around, or just pant for a while. Apparently my BP was so low that even lifting my head up to sidestroke caused immediate vertigo. Oh great. Are you kidding me? This was in addition to my mind just refusing to get into the idea of swimming. The body was definitely dragging the brain along for the ride, so it was a truly pitiful swim. Oh well, I made it, and didn't fall down and embarrass myself getting out of the water. Sheesh.

Swim time (including the slog through sand at the end): 54:47

[The air temp was 58, they said the water was 67, but if felt much warmer than that. Couldn't ask for better conditions.]

Transition was a long slog through deep sand, then a very long slog down to the very end of the long transition area. Transition is only four rows, about .15 miles long. Easy to find your bike, but it takes a while. Finally got to my stuff, wiped the sand off my feet and got ready to spend some bonding time with the bike. For as long as it took to get out of there, I could have ordered a sub from Jimmy John's.

T1 time (really didn't think I was walking THAT slowly): 7:33

First #2: I went the entire 56 miles without stopping to stand up. Typically, I can't take it anymore after around 25 miles, and pull in to the second or third aid station to simply stop and stand up for a minute. This time, I gave it hard thought as I approached aid station #2, but when I got there decided I really didn't feel the need to pull over. Did the same thing at station #3, just slowed down to grab a Gatorade and refill my bottle. Aid station #4 was only about 10 miles from the end, so stopping there would be, well, just plain silly. Had great ride, passed four women in my age group, and played tag with another. She and I just kept leapfrogging each other. We laughed about that after the finish. She finished the race about 25 seconds before I did. Thanks #65, for keeping me honest!

Bike time (best by 13 minutes): 3:12:09

Walked the bike down the .15 mile transition back to my spot, while seriously considering walking in my socks. Threw out that idea; didn't want to shove socks with sand on/in them into my running shoes and live it for the next 13.1 miles. Several of us that were racked near each other came in at the same time, so we had a shot together to celebrate. Or maybe we just took enough time for a shot. Whatever.

T2 time: 4:06

Left on the run...as the first female finisher was coming in! Was impressed at her form, then reminded of how dreadfully slow I really am. Watched the next three women come by as I trudged past, cheered for them, shook my head, and kept moving. Absolutely loved the spectators holding the sign that said, "Forward is a pace!"

First #3: My run time was no worse than typical standalone half-marathon pace on a hot day. Huzzah! In a triathlon, I usually slow down considerably from my typical half pace: today I managed to salvage a decent speed. Started with my usual walk/trudge plan. After a couple of miles, the legs started to realize they were no longer going in a circular motion, and I was able to trudge for longer and longer. I actually managed to pick up speed for the first 9 miles, then level off for the final four without too much drop-off. At least now I've got the trudge developed pretty well, so that I actually pass a lot of people when I move faster than a fast walk. That helps considerably with motivation.

Around mile 7, a young lady was having severe stomach problems, and wasn't sure how she was going to finish. I told her the worst was done (as we were trudging past a hill we had to do later for the 2nd time). She just groaned. She was able to laugh when I said, "We don't have to look at this again! This is our last time to deal with it." Poor thing had been wanting to puke since mile 10 on the bike, and was struggling to take water. I strongly encouraged her to drink more water, then go ahead and give in to the urge to puke. She'd have something to puke and would instantly feel better. I hope she did. I know she finished (faster than me - she was in a later swim start wave), but I don't know if it was a horrible experience for her or not.

As I was on some of my final spurts of trudging, after mile 12, I saw two people just starting out on their run. Oh my. That's a heck of a long day for them. Means they were on the bike at least five hours. Yikes. Forced a reasonable facsimile of running to the finish line, collected my medal, hat, water, and Gatorade, and chatted with some folks from Team In Training that I knew from Indianapolis. Ran into a few other people I knew, relaxed, got a plate of food, and got ready for the ride home.

Run time: 2:27:24

First #4: Nutrition. I don't know why, but I've been winging it this year with nutrition. My subconscious is trying to tell me something, but I haven't figured out just what, exactly. Anyway, this time I went relatively light, and it worked. Breakfast (4:30am) was a blueberry Chobani yogurt and an EAS Lite (22 grams or so of protein) drink. Drank another EAS after I got all set up in transition, around 6:30am, before heading down to the swim start.

Did my usual protein/carb powder mix on the bike, and made sure to drink all of it before the second aid station, around mile 26-28 or so. Refilled the bottle with Gatorade and drank most of that.

Took three gels on the run, at miles 3.5, 6-ish, and 10-ish. Drank water at every aid station, Gatorade at a few, and poured the ice down my bra (where it announced every step I took when I jogged).

I'm sure the cooler day greatly contributed to the success of the above nutrition plan. It was very nice not to be soaked in sweat from simply breathing. Between the clouds and lots of shade on the run, there were only 2-3 miles that were truly hot. I was just pleased to feel good and sufficiently fueled throughout. It was nice to feel tired from simply being...tired, not running on empty.

All in all, it was a great day. Even the drive back to Indianapolis wasn't too painfully boring...despite getting eyeballed by the Bubba pumping gas when I stopped to fill up. Guess he's never seen a white-haired woman in a tri-suit with magic marker all over her arms.

Final results

Overall time: 6:45:59

Total Distance	Split	Time	Pace	F5054	Overall	Women
Swim
1.2 mile		54:47	SLOW	24/28	1166/1499	334/442
Bike
36.6 mile		2:07:00	17.27mph
56 mile	19.5 mile	1:05:09	17.91mph
Total		3:12:09	17.49mph	20/28	1086/1499	292/442
Run
4.5 mile		51:38	11.28/mile
9.6 mile	5.1 mile	56:01	10:59/mile
13.1 mile	3.5 mile	39:45	11.21/mile
Total		2:27:24	11.15/mile	17/28	1020/1499	264/442

Day 21: End of Reset and Bonking

Yesterday was the last day of a 21-day "cleanse", the Beachbody Ultimate Reset. It was also the day of the Buckhead Border Triathlon, consisting of a 1.5k swim across the Ohio from Louisville back to Indiana, a 40k bike, and a 10k run. This post serves two purposes: a wrap-up of the Reset and a race report.

The morning started with a 3:15am alarm, only to find I'd slept through a series of texts from the race organizers the night before: the recent rains in the area had caused the bacteria levels in the water to rise to "slightly elevated" levels. We had the option of swimming anyway or doing a duathlon instead. This race is interesting mostly due to the swim across the Ohio, so I chose to swim. I'm sure I've swam in worse water than this. The lakes around here get pretty nasty by August.

Made the 100-mile drive in decent time, only to get held up in a horribly inefficient packet pick-up process. They were busing swimmers across the river to the start, and as I'm standing in the non-moving line, they're announcing that the last bus is leaving in ten minutes. Great. I still need to get bodymarking done, and get my stuff all set up, and here I am standing in a stinking line. Thankfully a very nice guy who was doing the shorter distance (and starting later), insisted I cut in line to the front. Finally I got my bib and other numbers, and could hustle to transition for set-up. Got all my stuff set up in record time, and trotted to the last waiting bus. Whew!

Aside from the kick to the nose, the water was fine. I felt great during the swim, lost a little energy during the bike but it didn't suck, then bonked horribly on the run. It was my own fault. I usually stick a gel in my running shoes and suck it down after the bike, and in my haste I forgot to do that. And it cost me big time. I was totally spent by the time I hit mile 2 and the rest was a sufferfest. Slogged the last 4 miles to the finish, and managed not to be dead last, but was darned close. Oh well, I finished and had an active Sunday morning, which is more than the vast majority of our population can say.

In addition to my forgetfulness, I was on the last day of a 21-day cleanse. I had been on a reduced-calorie (and reduced-activity) diet for one week, and a vegan diet for the last two weeks. No meat, no dairy, no animal products, including eggs. While I heartily endorse doing something like this from time to time, it simply doesn't support this level of activity. I dodged a bullet last week at the race in Muncie, but couldn't avoid it yesterday. The cumulative effect of 3 weeks of reduced intake was a major bonk.

HOWEVER, the cleanse was worth it. During the 21 days, I felt physically great the whole time...felt energized, clean (can't think of another way to describe that), and ready to go. I lost that sluggish logey feeling I'd been having for a few months. Even though I was on reduced calories (and yes, thinking about food a lot), I still felt like I wanted to go work out. Intellectually I knew that would be a mistake simply due to the calorie deficit, but mentally and physically I wanted to move.

Final results: I lost 5.7 pounds and 3.2% bodyfat. My main goal wasn't to lose weight, but to cleanse the system and hopefully shed some bodyfat in the process. I'm quite sure I'll regain a couple of pounds this week, but if I can hang on to this current feeling of well-being and keep the bodyfat down, it's been worth it. Tonight, though, a glass of wine and a hearty meal are on the agenda!

Day 1: Day 21

Pre-Reset: Day 13 of Reset

Wisconsin Half Marathon 2012

You've gotta love an event that designs its finisher award to contain a bottle opener. After all, it IS about the bling.

So Friday we drove up to Wisconsin for a race. It was a half and a full marathon. Many months ago, Paula and I had a conversation something like this:

"Hey I wanna do this race to check WI off the list. You interested?"
"Sure, do they have a shorter option?"
"Ummm let me check...oops, no, just the half and full."
"Oh what the hell, sign me up for the half."

That was MONTHS ago, so it had been purged from the memory banks. Since then we've done several races where I did the half and Paula did a 5k or 10K, so we both figured that was the plan. Wednesday I go to check the registration, and find we are both doing the half. She took it well.

While it was gawdawful hot and humid here in Indy for the Mini, up in Kenosha it was in the 50's, damp, and blowing. Temps were great for running, but the wind got tiresome, and I'm sure it was a bit chilly for walking, and the volunteers must have been miserable standing around in it. Most of the course was along the shores of Lake Michigan, so the wind never abated. We were both happy it wasn't raining, just spitting water occasionally.

The course itself was an elongated loop up and down the lakeshore area. Part of it went through a very nice old neighborhood with beautiful old homes and large, well-kept yards. After that we went through the old "downtown" area, through a park, along the waterfront, and back.

I saw Paula once after the first turnaround; she was at mile 6-ish and I was around mile 9. I asked how she was doing and she just said (very adamantly), "This sucks!" She was only slightly mollified when I told her the wind was better on the way back. She never slowed down and continued trudging onward.

Paula did far better than she had any right to, a very respectable 3:25:05. I did my typical 2:17:37 and was happy with that. Anything under 3:30 and 2:20, respectively, is a good time. We were both pleased with our day, despite Paula's frequent exclamations of suckage.

We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the weekend, visiting several dear friends from my Chicago days forever ago. The friends we stayed with were wonderful enough to have Thai food delivered. Yummy! The next day we had a wonderful brunch at another friend's house (complete with mimosas), watched the storm come through, then drove home. It was a very full, very satisfying weekend. Not only a good race, but even better company and more shared memories to add to the (somewhat faulty) memory bank.