Ok so I waited until the last possible moment to sign up for the half this year, but I still ended up doing it. It is a real nice run, so I don't mind running it, even though I've never had great luck with the weather. The first year I ran, it was in the high 40s at the start, last year it was warmer, but too warm with the sun by the middle. This year was pretty spot on for weather, a bit breezy and a little humid, but not terrible. It had to happen sometime I guess. Anyways, I think the main reason this run is my favorite is because it was my first half ever and then later my first half coming in under 1:50. Every time I run this race, good things happen, even if it is hard during the actual run. But this year I ran it to run with Ryan. Which worked great for a mile, but I really had to stop for a bathroom break because the lines were too long to get a final break in before we started running. So I stopped for the portapotty line between miles 1 - 2 and decided that it was too long so I kept running. But I was also looking for Ryan, who I thought was still behind me at this point, so it was more of a run/walk. Plus, turns out skipping that line was a poor choice and I spent the next mile and a half dying for a bathroom so when I found them at mile 3, you can bet I hopped into that line and stayed. While I was waiting I texted Ryan, hoping that he wouldn't have gone too far past, or at all past yet. Turns out he was well ahead, by at least 5 minutes. I'll be honest, I had a moment right then of not finishing. The whole point was to run with Ryan and here I am almost a full mile behind him at this point. I figured there was little to no chance of me catching up to him. But I kept running after I used the portapotty, I just picked up the speed a little bit. I really wanted the chance to catch Ryan even if it was seemingly impossible. So as I'm coming up the turn in the road off the bridge, heading into mile 5, I see Ryan coming back down the other side of the road, after the U-turn, going down under the bridge, heading into Cambridge toward MIT. At that point I was thinking to myself that there was just no way I would catch him. After all, he was at least a mile ahead. But I kept running. I made it up and around the U-turn and headed back down into Cambridge as well, still trying to catch Ryan. In mile 6 I stopped thinking about it for a few seconds and had fun running down what I like to call high-five mile. Different cops from different cities line the side of the street and stand there clapping and handing out high-fives. It's definitely one of the best parts of the run. During that mile my knee also really started to hurt and again I didn't think I'd be able to make it another 6.5 miles back to the finish. I thought about cutting through the median, taking off my bib, and waiting for Ryan to come back around. Then I got a text from Ryan saying he was at mile 7. Which was convenient because I looked at my watch and there I was at 6.96. So I looked up and saw his head bobbing around in the distance. That was enough for me to run fast enough to catch back up to him instead of dropping out of the race. Once I caught him again, we ran/walked the last few miles to the finish. It's funny though because it definitely didn't feel like it was another 6 miles when we were together again. Even though my knee really hurt and even though it probably took another hour, it didn't seem like it at all. And in the end I still had fun and we finished together. My one complaint is that the medical aid stations didn't have any Advil or Tylenol. I forgot to bring some and I really could have used it for the knee problem. But, we had fun and that's all that matters in the end. I really recommend this race for anyone in the area, it's a great run, and there's a 5 mile option if you're not into running a half. Remember that for next year, because I'm sure we'll be out there again!
And now, the pictures, which btw, the race offered for free this year, which is also a big selling point.
Twinning
Bonus Woods run photo. Last night was the Tour #1, which goes off the regular path and onto smaller side hiking trails. It was supposed to be 5.6, but most of us got lost and ended up doing 5.2 instead. Still a nice night for a run though. I love woods running, even if it is significantly harder than road running.
No comments:
Post a Comment