Lifetime Half #67, State #38, Heartland Series (IA)

Heartland Series: Iowa
June 1, 2017
2:23:21

 

Temp: Low 50s to mid 60s
What I wore:hat, tank top, a Skirt Sports Happy Girl, compression socks, and Altra Escalante

Because the Illinois race and Iowa race were literally across the river from each other, we were able to stay in the same hotel for two nights. This meant we could spend our day after the race checking out the local area, rather than doing much driving. Know what was in the local area? The shop from American Pickers and a brewpub, as well as the Buffalo Bill museum.

Our final race of the series was going to be followed by an 8 hour drive as we needed to head to Annapolis for the ZOOMA half marathon. In order to buy us some extra time, I decided to take the early start that Mainly Marathons offers to half marathon, marathon, and 50K runners. This meant a 2:30am wakeup call. Good thing my body was still on Eastern time, so it only felt like 3:30am. OK, it still sucked.

We got to the race with plenty of time to spare and I headed out on the first of 6 laps wearing a headlamp. This  route was along the west bank of the Mississippi River, across from the previous day’s race. Unlike the previous days, it was mostly flat and easy.

I planned to run slowly and enjoy the race, since I really hadn’t trained to run 3 races (plus a 5K) in a row. Instead, I felt amazing and ran my 2nd fastest race of the series. The views were awesome and by this point in the series, I knew pretty much everyone, so it was just a fun, social time. My splits were pretty even and I was done running before it got warm. Heartland Series complete!

The good:

• I love Mainly Marathons races. It’s like coming home every time I see them.
• The weather was beautiful and the views were lovely.
• I love this tank from Sarah Marie Designs.
• I felt better than I really had any right to.

The bad:

• The only bad was that this was my last race of the Series. I hate it when I’m done and have to leave.

The ugly:

• 8 hours in the car after running a half marathon.

Would I run this race again?

I love Mainly Marathons and this was a nice course. I wouldn’t go out of my way to run it again, but I would definitely run it if I happened to be nearby.

I’m linking up with HoHo, Tricia, and Zenaida for the Weekly Recap. Stop by and check out their blogs and then check out a few in the linkup!