Today was the Mo Cowbell Half Marathon. I got up early and had my usually race morning breakfast - a bagel with peanut butter. Jim was my hero today. He got up early and drove me to the race. He dropped me near the start and then went to find parking. He saved me the stress of trying to find parking. I did my usual stop at the port-a-potties then some leg swings and found the starting corral. I lined up with the 9:00 pace.
While in the starting corral there were many things that went through my head. "This would be much more fun with my slug sister", "Why I am doing this", "I forgot to cut my toenails", "Maybe I should have bought new shoes, these have close to 300 miles on them".
While we were waiting to start they announced that it was warmer than usual today. They said that optimum weather for running is 55 degrees. It was already in the 70s at race start and would be in high seventies by race end. Humidity was 95%. They said that for every 10 degrees above 55 you should add 3% to your finish time. I quickly added in my head that my finish time instead of 2 hours should be 2 hours plus 3 - 6 minutes.
I started out okay and kept around the 9 minute pace until half way. If I had been running a 10K it would have been great. I was dripping wet. It felt like I had jumped in the river and my shorts were just dripping. Then the sweat rolled down my legs and into my shoes. My socks and shoes were soaked. It was not that hot. I trained in the heat. The humidity and effort of trying to keep a quick pace was tough. The second half I had to slow down. My legs felt fine but my head was spinning. The hill at mile 10 was longer and steeper than I remembered. I finished in 2:02:28 which was 2nd out of 40 in my age group. The first place finisher was a young 60 year old. I didn't hit 2:00 but based on the temperature and humidity I was happy.
The computers were messed up so they weren't giving out awards. They said it could be anywhere from 10 minutes to 5 hours wait to get the computers fixed. We left. I can pick my award up at Big River this week. I think the awards were a cowbell.
Jim rode his bike around and saw me at multiple times along the course. He is amazing. It helped to have him there to cheer me. I did give him my beer.
I saw on FaceBook that due to the heat the medical staff stopped the full and made the full marathoners turn around at mile 17. Many people were able to finish the marathon if they had passed the 17 mile mark at a certain time. I feel bad for people who were trying to qualify for Boston or run a marathon in each state. They are just trying to keep people safe. I know that at mile 17 of a marathon I would probably just run until I fell over. The logical thought processes are not working so well at the end of a marathon.
Just 4 weeks until Skippo and 8 weeks until Wildwood Trail Marathon. I need to get out and run some trails.
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