Half Marathon

Over the weekend, Laura B. and I trekked down to Iowa for the promised half marathon in Mason City.  Laura, Nicole, who had worked with Laura at Woodstock, her sister Amy, and I had decided this while on a 17,000 ft. mountaintop in India together.  The race was a benefit for a local Catholic school.  Nope, no connections- just wanted to run 13. 1 miles- wherever.  The weekend was too short, but a reminder of how great of a connection we had on our travels together in July. 

Because Laura and I didn't preregister, we got a shirt that was too big, a number with a great big red slash through it, NO socks, and NO sausage  (sounds like a great race pack, eh?).  We met Amy, Nicole, and Amy's roommate Aimee in our hotel and drove the course.  Some of it we had to approximate, because it was on local trails, but for the most part it looked flat, wide, and not ALL pavement.  The race highlighted what puts Mason City on the map- a start line at Music Man Square (yes, 76 trombones hanging from the ceiling), and a scenic view of the Frank Lloyd Wright house and its neighborhood replicas. 

The evening before we ordered food from an Italian joint (I opened up Nicole's race sausage)

decorated T-shirts, the caption: "From India (17,000 ft)...to Iowa (1,100 ft)." 

and hennaed our calves.  Laura created an interpretation of the course, which looked like a little paisley.

The evening was comfortable and we headed for bed, feeling "warm and puffy," around 9:00.

Race-Day:
6:45 Up and at 'em.  Breakfast.  Tried to pack in some yogurt, oatmeal, banana, boiled egg, but only a small portion of each.
7:15 Dressed in our racing finest.  Weather is cool with a small breeze, yet almost humid.  Perfect for running.
7:45 Depart for high school to catch shuttle to start line.  I sat next to a guy who smelled like a crusty bar and looked like death.  He was looking forward to running.  "Anything's gotta feel better than this hangover."
9:00 Prayer and air horn in our ears.  Vamos!
9:30 3 miles down and feeling great- starting out slow, remember?  Slow and steady...
10:00 6...feeling great.  Starting to get passed by marathoners who started an hour before us.
10:10 7...feeling great.  More than halfway.  I start to think, "I could do a full."
10:30 9...feeling great.  Lots of great neighborhood cheerers and signs.
11:00 Almost done.  I start to think, "I would not want to be doing a full today."
11:05:26 Cross the finish line accompanied by my name, big push to the end, feeling great!
11:06 Wrapped in the big aluminum foil blanket, feeling loopy and teary, jelly legs.

After finding each other post race, we showered, changed, and wore out medals to a Mexican restaurant.  The fried ice cream was perfect.