My First Half

So after an eventful and, for the most part, sleepless night, My wife and I load up the car and start out on our hour drive to Madison where the race is. After a quick stop at Walgreens for some ziplock bags to protect my Ipod, I hit the bathroom one last time and head toward the starting line.

As I am walking over I hear an announcement that there is weather headed our way and that we should take shelter as we wait for it to pass. I'm kind of annoyed. I run in the rain and don't see a problem with doing it. I say goodbye to the wife and kid and wait under a buildings overhang to wait it out. I'm hoping it will pass quickly but it doesn't.

I pass the time listening to one of my favorite running podcasts, The 3 Non-Joggers. I find myself getting odd looks as I laugh outloud to myself. We wait for updates and finally an hour and a half later they inform us the weather has passed and that we will begin the race. When they say weather, they meant thunderstorms. It continued to rain for another hour into the race.

We get in our corrall and as the race begins we start that slow move towards the start line. As we get close House of Pains "Jump Around" plays (A UW Football Favorite). I jump with the song and it is the perfect warm up to get my heart rate in the zone. I cross the finish line and begin the first half mile that is for the most part, all uphill.

I start off a bit slow, keeping my heart rate lower as I know I have a long race ahead of me. I get passed by everyone. I feel like everyone was standing still as I was slowly drifting backward in a strong current. I convince myself I am sticking to my game plan and I will finish stronger than the rest of them.

My wife and my 18 month old son bear the weather with me and plan on meeting me 5 times throughout the race. I see them next to one of my many favorite bars from when I was a student on campus. My son gives me a high five and I keep moving.

I keep up a steady pace and continue on my way. The rain finally stops about 3 or 4 miles in. The course if filled with a mix of sun and shade. I welcome the bath of warmth and sunlight early on and my Irish skin basks in the shade as the race streches on. The hills are small and provide a nice break of flat course before you hit the next incline.

I really do love this course. A mix of city and woods really balances out the race. The aid stations are expertly ran. I continue on knowing I need to hit a restroom but each time I pass one, there is a line of 3 or 4 runners. At my current pace I just don't have the time to sit and wait.

After about 4 miles of passing up restrooms I accept that a wait is inevitable. I feel like time is flying by as I stand still waiting. I finially get my turn and am back on the course in no time. I get to the next aid station and what do I see? No line! Grrr.

About mile 9 I do the math and see that I can finish under 2:30 if I push myself for the next 4 miles. I see my wife about a 1/4 mile later and I am thinking "get the gels, can't stop, have to keep moving." I see how excited she is to see me and I realize what I should have been doing was stopping to say Hi, thanking her for her support, telling her to get her ass moving because I'm going to finish strong and if she doesn't hurry she'll miss me.I go somewhere in the middle. I grab my Gels, kiss my son, and my wife, and tell them I have to get moving.

I feel really strong at this point in the race. My wife later commented that most people she saw go by looks dead and I looked like a man on a mission. That's exactly how I felt. I can honestly say that no one passed me in the last 4 miles of this race. I was booking. But no matter how hard I push myself I can not see the 2:30 pace group. This part of the race is mainly flat and they are carrying 10 foot high signs that say 2:30.

I start to think that I'm not going to make 2:30 after all. I take a break at one of the water stations realizig my goal may be out of reach. I get back to my previous "bat out of hell" pace and decide to just finish it out. Then I see something I wasn't expecting. I was at the 11 mile mark and I could see the pace group headed the other way after the turn around. I put them at about the 11.5 mile mark. I watch their speed and I realize I can definitely catch up to them.

I continue to push and damn near sprint the last 2 miles. I am flying by runners that are walking or those bastards that are done with the race and decided to travel back through the course with their finisher medals. Don't do that people. No one likes you when you do that. I continue to run and I still don't see the pace group.

My Garmin is a bit off and I don't know exactly where the finish is. I fear I don't have enough race to find these pacers and my watch says its going to be close. I finally run off the biking path we've been running on, make it around a building, and hit the road once more. I look up and see 2 guys in bright yellow jackets holding a large sign that says 2:30.

I finally catch and pass them on the inside as I round the corner for the last tenth of mile of the race. I cross the line and finish my first Half Marathon at 2:28:47. I feel great. I refuel, change clothes, grab a beer, and meet up with a few friends at the Union's Terrace over looking Lake Mendota. I already signed up for my next Half Marathon on Halloween. Any costume ideas?