Flying Pig Sunday

0420 - Wake up!  I have no idea what I was thinking.  I headed out shortly thereafter and made it downtown around 0500, before the rain started.  I learned from last year that the best parking is under an overpass in the lots around Paul Brown Stadium.

Number 15407.  Because active.com is ridiculous I'm registered as "A M" so I need a bib number to see my results.

The race was, well, not what I'd planned.  In some ways it was much better and in some ways it was quite painful.

My plan was to stay with the 11:26 (2:30:00 finish time) pacer.  That was a mistake.  I run up and down hills differently than you people.  I'm slow up and fast as hell coming down.  The pacer ditched me around mile 1 and I was perfectly fine with that.

Kentucky - always a nice place for a race.  Lot's of bridges which are taller than you'd think.

Back to Ohio - the cheering squad met me on the bridge coming back into Ohio.  It was one of the only places Mom actually saw me apparently.  (My name is on my shirt; this shouldn't be hard.)  Really, this is also the start of the uphill section although mile 4 is a much gentler grade than what comes next and the run across downtown is legitimately flat.

Up big hills - right before this climb the route takes runners over this little overpass and it's lined with people.  I always feel like it's people lining the route to hell.
Hell, it turns out, was the best part of the course.  I just ran right up that climb.  No problem.  I thought I was at or ahead of a 12:00/mile pace that that time too.  (And that's a big hill to have run up.)

At the 'top' - it's not really the top.  The water station had water but ran out of cups.  WTF?  This did not help that 'puke' feeling I had in my stomach.

At the real top - there's water here.  It's still not helping that puke feeling.  Shortly after that I saw Mike and Linda.  Linda, who was in a rain coat, got a big hug from me.  Thanks for coming out!

Only it's not the top - the 'top' for the full course is actually not the top for the half course.  And all you people who say 'it's all down hill from here' are full of crap.  This course is "up hill both ways" times 10. 

Down big hills - the secret of this race is that the half marathon has a very technical, very steep, very long descent in addition to that ridiculous climb.  All my hill training paid off here, possibly even more than the up hills, 'cause I just let loose and had fun with it.  (Other than that I really wanted to puke.)  I passed a bunch of people.

Downtown, also known as "you really think now is the best time for an out-and-back" - there's this ridiculous part of the route where runners go west on Central Parkway several blocks and then just turn around and come back East on the same road.  It's easy because it's flat but it's mentally draining.

How much farther?  I may really puke - With less than a mile to go, I did have to start throwing in even more walks.  I was really getting sick.  I didn't take the beer they have near the finish line.  Happily I did run across the line and the cheering section got to see me.

Boom! I'm done.  I thought I'd finished with about a 12:00/mile pace.  Ultimately I wasn't disappointed given my training (those two 10 mile runs and that one 12-miler with Beth...) and the difficulty of the course.

And then I puked. 

This race is actually known for having really cool medals.  They delivered this year.

The official results: 12:04/mile pace, not my best but definitely good for today I think.

Here's my Nike+ read out.  The higher the line on this graph the faster I was running, this graph has nothing to do with the hills on the route, only my speed.

 To be clear, this race was a blast and it was fun to come home and run it for myself, but this is definitely not my best half marathon.   

Sometime after the race I discovered I have one of the most impressive blisters I've ever had.  (I'm including the gigantic one I had in Amsterdam.)  I only felt it once, for about fifty feet, during the race.

See it on my big toe?  Impressive right?  It doesn't hurt.

I spent the afternoon at home.  I did convince Mom and Dad to go for a stretch walk.  It was part of the day that it wasn't actually raining.  (Nice right?) 

We ended the night with Skyline and packing.  And Grater's.