Last Half Marathon of 2023

COVID-19, “The Rona Era”

Today was the BAA half marathon. I was not ready for this. Yes, I’ve run a 10 miler for the last 4 Saturdays to get ready for this. Did I do hardcore training, no. Did I make sure to hydrate and fuel my body properly, no. Did I run more miles in the week that I needed to for training, no. But here I am. At the half. And it’s cold, cold, cold. Katonya and a couple of the other ladies have run this before. They told me the hills, the hills, be prepared for the hills. Not what I thought.

The race started at 8a.m. This was the first time I was running this race. Normally I’m watching and cheering. The first 5 miles were not bad. We started off down hill. I knew what does down has to go back up. It was somewhat flat. I will say. This was a beautiful run with the fall foliage around the pond. Mile 7, 10, 11, were no joke. I did a lot of cursing. What I didn’t fully realize. The last 4 miles, you need all your strenght to deal with the hills. Then when we entered Franklin Park, I was doing the Turkey Trot route. I hadn’t realize that. It was a mind fuck. At one point I thought we were going to run to the Golf Club house. Then we turned around and headed up the hill to the zoo. It’s not over then. When you run through the starting point of the race, you have to keep going to get to White Stadium. Pissed.

I appropriate the black woman running next to me and she tapped me on the shoulder. I think I was struggling. That motivated me to kick it into gear and keep going. We actually finished together. I thanked her. Knowing the course now, I can properly strategize. That is, if I do it again.

2:28:15 was my time. I’ll take it. I’m proud of it. .