The Half

All I got to say right now is, That was ONLY half??? Holy crap. Put a fork in me, I'm done!

Things started off looking great. The hot weather that they had warned us about in an email sent Saturday never came. Luckily, I storm had rolled in about 4am and cooled everything off. We could not have had better weather for a race scheduled in mid-August!

The race started...and I was in a porta-potty. I kid you not. I ran for the starting area and luckily there were so many runners that my pace group was still nowhere near crossing the start line. Finally, get across and start running. I feel fine...immediately start passing up all the slow people that feel the need to line up in the front corrals. Water stations are placed very nicely, we are running through the Loop so we are shaded by all the buildings. Spectators on the corners. Things looking very good.

Mile 5 takes us out of the Loop and over towards the lake...this is where things begin to go downhill. First, at Mile 6, my Ipod battery dies. Dammit! Why didn't I think to charge it?! Let me just tell you that that sucker is charging off my computer as I sit here and write this! That will not happen again! No way Jose!!! Shortly thereafter, I feel the need to go to the bathroom. Runners, you know what I'm talking about and you know how distracting this becomes. I was pretty sure there would not be a restroom until after the turnaround so I was starting to freak out a little bit.

Miles 7 water stop. NO FREAKIN' CUPS!!!! What the?! This is a huge race. How the hell do you run out of cups at a water station?! I keep running, no hydration. Mile 8 water stop. NO FREAKIN' CUPS!!! I was about to lose it! I spotted one guy who had brought some cups of his own or something and quickly ran to him. I was lucky to get one of about the last 20 he had. Believe me, I held onto this cup because I was not going to have to skip another water break!

I'm now starting to feel tired. My feet hurt and my body is going through the motions, but not in a controlled powerful way...more in a survival way...just keep moving. The urge to go to the bathroom faded...but don't worry, it reared its ugly head again around Mile 10 :)

Those last few miles...I don't even know how I made it. I just kept moving for fear that if I stopped, I may never start again. It was bad. At the Mile 12 water stop, I decided it was time for a little walk. I walked about 1/4 mile before I picked it up again for the home stretch. As I got to the finish, all I could think was that if a marathon means doing twice this much, I don't want to do it! Seriously, I'm now dreading the marathon :( This is not good.