My first half marathon of the year, last weekend's event, made me feel like a not-so-good runner.
I set my goal really late and settled on 2:20. I beat the goal by about 1:30 at 2:18:31. But I felt like a mess!
On the high side, this particular event is wonderful. It's on an active Air Force base and it's steeped in patriotism from beginning to end. Dayton, Ohio, my hometown, is the birthplace of aviation. We had flyovers galore: bombers big and little, biplanes, cargo planes - it was fantastic!
At the beginning of the half marathon, a flock of Canada geese flew over after the gun started the race. Everyone clapped and laughed and cheered. Later, on Facebook, they called it the Canadian flyover.
Thanks, Canada. I'll try not to curse you so much between January and March this coming year when you overshare the wind and snow.
Right now I'm trying to recover safely and still keep on track for my next event. The IMT Des Moines Marathon is October 16 and I'm looking forward to it. I have a few decisions to make about how I'm going to run it, but the jury is out for now.
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| Before the yelling began |
One thing happened on Saturday to tell you about. I had to go to the girls' room, so that means I had to stand in line for about 30 minutes. I got to the start line with 6 minutes to spare. I saw the flyovers and cheered and smiled and saw a woman wearing the same skirt I had on - squee!
Instant sisterhood.
SEVEN minutes later, I crossed the start line.
I started to run, but I was surrounded by walkers. Well into the first mile, I needed to split two walkers who were obviously not together. One was a solo and the other was walking with her husband (or boyfriend, or brother, psychologist, zookeeper...whatever).
I called out that I was coming through and the older woman, with her headphones on and blasting, bumped into me. I called out, "Sorry!" and she began to berate me at the top of her lungs. She was irate and the race had only just begun! We had only just barely bumped, at that.
I yelled over my shoulder, "Turn your headphones down." OK, really? I said, "Turn your headphones down, freak."
She hollered back at me. You'll never believe what she said. At a marathon event with 13,000 participants, she said,
"You need to slow down."
Maybe she cursed me.
5 comments:
That Is too much! OMG! A walker at a marathon with headphones?!?
Oh my goodness, race drama. Walkers are the worst. You beat your goal and the first time at any distance is tough. Marathon in October, that's fantastic. I have one this weekend but I'm pretending like I don't. Great job Caron.
Sitting here wiping tears from my eyes...I miss your sense of humor. That is just too funny....
Oh, Rose you make me want to blog again. You're so awesome!
LOL...must be related to my neighbor...
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