Soldier Half Marathon, Columbus, GA

This was a pretty sweet race. I signed up at the last minute and then called for a hotel (probably should reverse that plan in the future). I finally found a room with a king size bed. Since my mom, Emma, Miles and I were going to be sharing this room, I was a little concerned. Well, the lady in reservations said she didn't care how many people I had in the room as long as I could live with it. Perfect. Hello, air mattress!

The race organizers were very clever- they posted constant news and weather updates on facebook, which made out of town simpletons like me quite happy. They included a medal hint- I'm thinking dog tags! Oh, and I'm thinking I'm going to be cold...

The usual drill: running late for the expo and packet pickup, refusing to make any stops, a few wrong turns, running into the building dragging my crew, blazing up to the table to get my bib... The packet pickup was in the Infantry Museum- totally surprised by how nice it was. Volunteers were great- got all my stuff and we headed to our hotel. The reviews said the hotel was really nice but in a really rough area. Yep. We couldn't find any decent food, so I grabbed a pizza at Little Caesars. The pizza was fine, but again, the area freaked me out. (We did attempt to go to a restaurant by the mall, but went the wrong way for a very long time. I'd write more about that, but it would be in violation of my "never speak of this again" declaration.)

After modeling several outfits for my own Stacy and Clinton, I blew up the mattress and curled up with baby Milo. After all, my mom and Emma had a big day of shopping planned and needed to be in the real bed. I could just shake out the little aches and pains over the course of 13 miles.

And now moving on to race day!

I got up, put on shorts, my running girl Brooks tshirt, hat, my sweet plaid arm warmers, my Zensah compression calf sleeves, a light vest, and my Newtons. I threw on a cheap sweatshirt- both for the warmth and to look slightly less ridiculous. Out the door and into the car... And put the heat on full blast cause I'm going to turn into a Popsicle any minute!

After an uneventful drive I left my toasty warm sanctuary and dragged my shivering, teeth chattering self into the museum. Now that's an advantage to this race! Huge heated building, lots of chairs, and a really clean bathroom with at least 20 stalls. (I'm thinking they have the stalls because they have receptions here- seemed excessive, but it was a beautiful sight. I almost took a picture, but didn't want to look completely crazy). I popped a gel on one of my last bathroom trips.

The plan: take one gel before the start, start slow, rely on water stops, take one gel at mile 7 or 8. Try for a steady 8:30ish pace.

And we start (after they had to turn all the runners around because we were facing the wrong way- are we runners or sheep!?) In the first couple of blocks, we make a u-turn- aha! That must be why we were all turned around! We go up a bit of an incline. I'm still cold. Oh, I am loving my favorite new race attire- little convertible glove/mitten things!

This is a different sort of race for me. We were on the base for awhile and then on a bike path (think paved small road in the woods). Don't get me wrong, it was a great course, I just didn't clearly notice the different miles.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 9:08
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:35
Mile 4: 8:37
Mile 5: 8:37
Mile 6: 8:25
Mile 7: 8:46
Mile 8: 8:29
Mile 9: 9:05
Mile 10: 8:43
Mile 11: 8:51
Mile 12: 8:53
Mile 13: 8:48

Some of my memories:

First, the course was advertised as flat with a rolling hill at mile 2. Most people would probably agree with that assessment. Not me. I saw hills everywhere, and I'd call the hill at mile 2 a bit more than rolling. I guess I'm a true flatlander. I kind of liked the variety, but it did hurt.

Second, running in an army race was way cool. A lot of soldiers were running the full in camo and boots. Wow. Soldiers were everywhere on the course cheering, including a high ranking General. You finish the race running through a long line of flags with soldiers lined up.

The water stops were great, but I was so distracted looking around the base that I missed the first one. My first water was at mile 4- entirely my own fault, but not a good thing.

The bike trail part of the course was beautiful- lots of changing leaves and views of a river.

I forgot to check the map to see where the turn was for the half marathoners. I asked a woman around mile 8- she was older than me but had sweet pink compression socks and a long ponytail swinging away. She didn't know because she was running the full... And then she passed me. Show off. Or maybe my hero. Or both. Obviously I found the turn around (at the bottom of a hill, naturally!)

Mile 11 was lonely. I think I saw one other runner on my side (some walkers were on the other side). It was bleak and if it wasn't really uphill, it was in my mind. Note to self: long training runs need to be longer or all mile 11s (and 12s and 13s) will continue to be more miserable than necessary.

The finish: great medal (yep, dog tags). Grabbed a drink and wandered back in the museum looking for coffee. None to be had. Dragged myself back to my car (never stop moving until you make it to the car!) and went back to the hotel. Spent the next eight hours or so shopping with my fashionistas. Little bit of PF, but not too bad. Demanded a trip to the army surplus store for some Harry presents... And off to home.

Oh, final time a somewhat disappointing 1:56:xx. Not rational to be disappointed, but there you have it. And it took me at least three days to get warm!