So, Missy got all of the details of our trip down to a tee, so I won't bore you with them further. I was nervous for this half. I hadn't done one in almost a year, and was injured the last time too. Plus I seem to put extra pressure on myself to try and get a great time. So, needless to say, I was nervous at the start. I wore just a tank and shorts with my windbreaker, given the weather was 50 and calm. I went back and forth with whether to wear a visor for the run. I hate running in hats, but it looked like there could be rain. Decided against it, and banked on the fact we were in the DESERT.
I ended up being totally wrong on both decisions. It rained almost the whole darn race. With a downpour for about two miles between 3-5. I couldn't see anything for awhile and wondered if I was going to lose a contact. So much for the "no hat" decision.
The gear I picked was fine for the race...I was wet, but warm. Until I finished. Then my extra body temperature from running left, and I was wet and freezing. I knew I had some time, since Missy was paced to run at 3 hours, so I ran in and got a cup of coffee. Helped for awhile. But I had nothing extra to change into, albeit I absolutely had the opportunity to bring additional warm clothes. Didn't even think about it. (As you will see in this excursion, I am seldom thinking about the right thing to do!).
I walked out on the race route to see if I could find Missy to cheer her in. I waited over a half hour (still freezing), and once the 3 hour mark passed, I was worried that she may have finished and I didn't see her. So I ran back to the finish line, just in time to see her finish. Darn it! Anyone who knows me knows patience is NOT a virtue I possess, and it came back to bite me this race. But she was happy to be done and not so worried about me missing the cheer into the finish.
Anyway, I did get a PR for this race: 1:53. I would love to get down to 1:45. Lots of practice will be in the future for that to happen. I am planning on running the Lincoln half on my own on May 1 (Missy will be 2 weeks from delivering at that point). That will be good practice for me.
This journey will be great. I am used to running a lot of races by myself. I have had support from my family and friends, but I have also done the vast majority of my races solo. Missy, on the other hand, always has an entourage of people with her on her races. It will be interesting meshing our two styles. At least I know that once Missy has the baby, she will be a training maniac, and I won't have to worry about chasing her down at the finish line, because she's going to finish before me every race from this point forward, I'm sure. So that will be one less thing to worry about.
