Akron Marathon Relay 2.0...

It was maybe 40 degrees this a.m. um...brrrr.....

Ahhh, race day! Who doesn't love a sleepless night, and a 4:30 am wake up call in the bitter cold?

It was a 2 hour wait in the freezing cold until I was "on"!

Sidenote: I'd much rather hop around and stretch constantly to keep my muscles warm, vs. almost die of heat exhaustion any day. (hello, Cleveland marathon with its 108 heat index!)

I was a bit worried about my performance since I was off my training for a while due to illness.



 Mr. Magoo poses with my race shirt and bib. I love our shirts this year!

 

 

Mr. Magoo had the utmost faith in my ability to still race well. Dog's opinions obviously matter.

 

I did ok! I kept it a comfortable jog the whole time until I noticed at the last half mile...which was the bottom of a grand hill......that I had a chance to come in under my goal time and pushed it a bit too fast, and as a result, I had to WALK into the relay exchange, while dry heaving. I sure hope this isn't on film.

 

One day I'll learn not to do that.

 

 

 

 

Getting your medal, is the best part!!



 

 I had an original goal of a 10 minute mile pace. Race day, I had hoped to come in at a 12 minute mile and finish my 7.5 miles in 90 minutes. I actually finished it in 85 minutes, at an 11.3 pace. So I did better than expected.

 

My team which consisted of two of us avid runners, 1 beginner, and two casual runners, finished the 26.2 in 4.5 hours.

 

Not too shabby. And, just as I had expected, it stirred up the race day excitement in them all, and I have some new racing buddies for the future!

 

My beginner, wants to do the half next year, and thanked me for being an awesome workout buddy, and said she couldn't have done it without me. Now I know why people train. It's very satisfying!

 

I told her I will be her training partner, and stay with her thru every step of that half, just like my BFF did for me.

 

Isn't running GREAT?!

 



 

 Yes..the dog really thinks he had a part in this whole thing, so he tried to get in every photo.