Half Marathon #15 for 2014: Madison Mini Marathon

Madison Mini Marathon
August 16, 2014
2:27:11

Temp: mid 60ss and crazy humid (something close to 90%)
What I wore: hat, short sleeve shirt, Skirt Sports Happy Girl skirt,
PROCompression socks, and my trusty Altra Intuitions
(my very first pair, which I have now retired from racing)

Friday Evening

Kim arrived in Wisconsin and my dad and I picked her up at the airport (after a slight detour to Ale Asylum since her flight was delayed).

We immediately headed to South Union to pick up our packets.  Pick up went smoothly and we just happened to run into Jess from Run with Jess and her family.  After some time chatting, we headed back to my parents’ house and an early bedtime.

Race Morning

I had my usual pre-race crappy night’s sleep.  The alarm went off way too early at 4:30am.  We had a 45 minute drive, so we were out of the house by 5:15am and parking by 6am. Yawn! After a short walk down State Street, we were at the start line.  We again ran into Jess. (It was pretty amazing how often we managed to run into her considering there were about 4500 runners.)

The Race

This was a rough race for me.  Not sure if it was the crazy humidity or my allergies, but I could.not.breathe.  I was struggling almost from the first step.  Kim stayed with me and I hung in at a decent pace for the first few miles, but it quickly became apparent that I needed to just go super slow.  Around mile 6, we hit a hill and I decided to walk and Kim ran on.  (Honestly, I was seriously considering DNFing the race, but I decided to just walk the rest.)  Miles 6-9 were a combination of slow running, some walking, and a lot of mental whining. I decided I was dropping out of Ragnar, that I was never running another half marathon, and that I was the worst runner ever.  I drank so much Gatorade that I began to slosh. And then I hit mile 10 and my body said “oh, yeah, I know how to do this.”  And I ran the last 3 miles.  WTF?  I must have passed at least 100 people in that time.

The good:

• I love Madison and it was awesome to see so much of it on foot.
• Everything was well organized and there was plenty of Gatorade and a lot of different food and drink options at the end.
• Kim. She stuck with me for almost 6 miles and only left me because I needed to get into my own head and get through the race.
• My dad kicked a$$ and finished in 2:09:23.
• The medal. It has a bottle opener built in.  Gotta love Wisconsin.

The bad:

• The hills. I swear, I’m so tired of saying that about the races I do. LOL
• The walkers who insisted on walking 3 or more across near the end of the race when we were on a small path.

The ugly:

• The humidity.
• The heat.  The course was a “code yellow” by the end and it was quite sunny out.  I would not have minded a cooler day.
• The blisters on my toes and the toenail that will soon depart.
• My mental state.  I have only been that close to quitting once before – at my very first half marathon.  It was awful.

Would I run it again?

Maybe, but probably not.  It was a great race in many ways – well organized, nice shirt, great medal, good support, but it was also hot, humid and hilly.  And it’s been that hot many of the past years.  I just don’t love a late August race, unless I’m someplace like Alaska LOL.