Hills, Wind and Sweet Tea

Ok, so I started talking about my insane half marathon running schedule last week after Rock the Parkway. Now, it's time for the second stop on my crazy-town express train of half marathons.

• Rock the Parkway - April 14
• Kansas Half - April 22
• Oklahoma City Half - April 29
• Running with the Cows - May 12
• Hospital Hill - June 2

The Kansas Half Marathon in Lawrence, Kansas.

I was actually pretty excited to run this race because I graduated from KU and lived in Lawrence for four years. I was amped up to get to tromp down my old running paths and see the campus and my old dorm. I thought vaguely about the fact that KU is situated on top of a giant hill, but that thought kind of drifted out of my mind as soon as it entered. 

After Rock the Parkway's hellacious humidity, I was anxiously watching the weather all week for the forecast for Sunday. I'm not even sure why I do that, since the forecast changes just about every day. Oh, Kansas. But, the night before, the weathermen were calling for overnight lows in the upper 40s. Because the race started at 7:30, that's about where we'd be at start time. Not too bad. Definitely not like last week. I do tend to run colder than almost everyone I run with, so I was a little concerned with what to wear. 

When you are a guy, you only have so many options. Shorts or pants. Long-sleeved shirt or short-sleeved shirt. Girls, as with everything in life, have so many more options for clothing. Should I wear capris? A tank? Short sleeves? A jacket? Shorts? A skirt? Capris with a skirt? The choices are dizzying. I decided to go with capris, a tank and a jacket. (Because I know you were all dying in anticipation of finding out that tidbit of information.)

I carpooled up to Lawrence with Anne, her coworker Sam, and my pre-kids running partner Sarah, and we caravaned with Kelli and John. We were anxious about getting there on time, but ended up plenty early. We had plenty of time to hang out and stretch and enjoy the gorgeous morning. Only, whoops, it was FREEZING. Ok, so technically it wasn't actually freezing. It was in the 40s, but the wind was whipping by at a good 20 mph. It was not pleasant. So, we hung out in the car. We did get there early enough to be the very first people to use the porta-potties though. That was a definite first in my book. (Non-runners: I know I've spent a lot of time discussing the porta-potty situation at races. But, it is very important. Nothing worse than having to pee when you're out on the course, I promise. However, I am sorry for regaling you with the details.)

Because this was Number 2 of the Heartland 39.3 series of half marathons, the registration numbers were WAY up from the previous years. I'm not sure they were completely prepared. The starting line was downtown on Massachusetts Street. Very quaint, but not terribly roomy. Especially when they had the pacers from 1:40 to 3:00 only spread a distance of approximately 25 yards apart in the starting corral. (Again, non-runners, pacers are people who  keep a pace during the race that will have you cross the finish line at a designated time.) We wanted to run with the 2:00 pacers, but could barely see them, much less get close to them. We were practically on the sidewalk. When the gun went off, we had to push and weave our way through the crowd just to cross the mat at the starting line. Then, we had to try to track down our pacers.

Walking for MS

Last Saturday morning, we packed up both girls and headed out to join Chrissy's Angels for our annual participation in the MS Walk. I've been running so many races lately, it was a nice break to get out there for a leisurely morning stroll on a gorgeous morning.

Ok, does that sound good? It sounds nice and pleasant and not at all competitive, right? Yup, that's my official take on the walk.

Unofficially, it kind of drove this girl crazy to walk slowly along the sidewalk stopping every five minutes to let someone in or out of the stroller. Or up on or down off Cory's shoulders. Or, to get a drink. Or, to walk "by myself." Or, to complain that I'd forgotten their sunglasses.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm totally on board and totally willing to walk for the cause. I love to help out with causes that are dear to our or our friends' hearts. But, it was the actual walking with kids that was a bit annoying. It reminded me why I enjoy my solo runs in the morning so much. I love my girls, but it's about 3,000 times easier to run seven miles by myself in the morning than walk three miles in a crowd with both girls. Trust me on this point.

Keep in mind, we started at the very front of the the group. Chrissy cut the ribbon for the walk, so her whole team was at the very front. Where did we finish? Um, pretty much at the end. Ok, maybe it was like the last half. But, we were nowhere close to the front by the time we crossed the finish line. That is what happens when you constantly pull over onto the grass to readjust seating arrangements and snack containers for a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old. We're talking about slowly creeping along at about the pace of a sloth. It took us over an hour and 15 minutes to walk three miles. This is also why it amazes me when people are able to push kids in strollers during races. Side note: I really hate when those people pass me. 

Molly and Avery posing before the start of the walk.

Rock Star

At the risk of wearing you all out on my running posts, I'm going to apologize in advance. If you don't like or want to read about running or races, you can leave now, and beware of the next months of posts.

Somehow my friend Anne has become a running fiend. We walked a 5K together last March, and then she ran her first 5K in May. Since then, she's become a running machine. And, she convinced me to sign up and run the Heartland 39.3 Series. A series of three half marathons in the span of six weeks. Then, because that just isn't crazy enough, she also convinced me to run another half marathon in Oklahoma in the middle of all those other ones. Then, because I'm not sure that was enough, I signed up for another half at the beginning of June. See, for the three years leading up to Hospital Hill's anniversary running, they are doing a 3-part medal. I already had the first part, so now I need to run the next two years to complete my medal. Yes, you can tell me I'm crazy. I'm already telling myself that.

So, here's the schedule:

• Rock the Parkway - April 14
• Kansas Half - April 22
• Oklahoma City Half - April 29
• Running with the Cows - May 12
• Hospital Hill - June 2

Clearly, we're past the first date. I ran Rock the Parkway this past weekend. I had a plan for all these races. My goal was to run as hard and as fast as I could on the first one, then, I could take it easy for the rest. And, just have a good time with my girlfriends. Afterall, that's really what I love about running. Well, that and medals. But, the awesome part about half marathons? Every single finisher gets a medal. Score.

Anyway, back to my plan. I started to get nervous about the race because every weatherman this side of the Mississippi was forecasting thunderstorms and hail for Saturday. And, it was supposed to arrive smack during the race time. Now, rain, I'm ok with. Hail and thunderstorms? Not so cool.

I wake up (after a horrible night's sleep thanks to my precious 2-year-old) around 5:15 and get ready to head down to the race. I head out to my pre-kid-running-partner Sarah's car and can already feel the humidity in the air.

(I worry "pre-kid" gives the impression that Sarah ditched me as a running partner after I had kids. That's not true. She just happened to move out of the neighborhood around the same time I had Molly. It's not like she decided I was a drag once I had kids and thought it would just be easier to move than to explain why she didn't want to run with me anymore. At least, I hope that's not what happened. I mean, it was probably just a coincidence, right? Right? I say pre-kid really to differentiate between her and my current running partner. Because after Sarah moved, I discovered another Sarah, who lives on my street and is now my post-kid running partner. Confused? Yeah, I probably should just think of new classifications all around.)

Anyway, as we're driving down the highway, we see lightning in the distance. Uh oh. But, we score great parking and get in and out of the porta-potties in record time, so maybe the good omens are overpowering the bad ones. Short porta-potty lines have to overpower lightning, right?

Sarah and I are hanging out, waiting for the start and I run into several friendly faces. That has to be a good omen, too. I see Alex, who I used to work with, and Katie, my friend and fellow blogger.

Finding Katie before the race. Turns out, she was the long-term sub for Sarah's class when Sarah was on maternity leave. Gotta love the small world we live in!

Kelli, Sarah and I are all planning to run with the 1:55 pace group. So, we grab some pacing wristbands and join up in the corral. The gun goes off and we take off. It really helped to stay with the pace group, because I'm always tempted to start out too fast. It helped to take the adrenaline out of the start and chill back. By mile 3, I'm already soaked with sweat. I honestly can't remember when I've been that sweaty after only 3 miles. I was gross.

Despite being blurry, it is in fact Sarah and me. 

Smiling at my beautiful Molly, decked in princess tiara and shouting "Go Mommy!"

We keep trudging along, up one hill after another. It is so nice to have someone to talk to. I brought my iPod, but I do truly love talking to people more. At one point, Sarah told me that I was welcome to tell her any stories. If I had possessed that ability at that point, I would've. But, the humidity was absolutely killing me. I ate a couple gummies (running energy food - essentially fruit snacks) to try to perk me up around mile 7. By mile 9, I had a killer side stitch. I had to walk for a little to try to stretch out the sharp pain, but tried to continue on. I really wanted to make my goal.

Now, here's where you'll probably really think I'm crazy. While doing some online reading the past week, I ran across the fact that Joey McIntyre (yes, from New Kids on the Block) had run in the Hollywood Half a couple weeks ago. His time? 1:55:27. That became my new goal. My previous goal was to PR. My previous PR was from Hospital Hill 2006. Before kids. I am in better shape and faster than I ever have been, so I was really wanting to PR. But, then, I really wanted to beat Joey McIntyre. I had to get under 1:55:27. Please don't ask my why I had a desire to beat a completely arbitrary time set by a boy band singer I'd crushed on in the 6th grade. I don't know. I'm weird like that.