We awoke to "Eye of the Tiger" at 5AM, leaping out bed and into our racing gear, ready for a day of total TAF domination. Over a breakfast of PowerBars and 5-hour energy drinks, SK cautioned us about "banking time" and reminded us "how to draft" since it might be windy by the beach. Bouncing out the door at 6AM, we were prepared to take on any runner that stood between us and the finish line.
We met up with Laurel at the start, and said hello to some of the people in the Half Marathon Training Program. Everyone was "nervous excited", and then someone pointed to the sky. It's not supposed to be this dark at 6:30... I mean, it's been getting lighter later, but yeah, it was currently getting darker... hmmmm... oh no... those look like rain clouds... wait, weather.com said it was supposed to be nice today when I checked last night (fitness and comfort index of 9)!
The race started, and still no rain. Our first few miles were right on pace, and then somewhere around Mile 3 the wind picked up. By Mile 4 we were quoting Twister... "we got cows" (not really, but I was thankful that Coach had reminded us how to draft). Somewhere between miles 5 and 6, the rain started, and by Mile 8 I suggested that we trade our sneakers for some flippers (and The Little Mermaid "flippin' your fins you won't get too far..." song got stuck in my head)! At Mile 10, three things occurred to me: (1) I have a 5K left and I'm tired and sopping wet, (2) but at least I don't have to run 90 more miles (thank you Brad), and (3) maybe if I pretend that I'm running away from a tornado, I'll run faster! So, that's what I did, for 3.1miles. With half a mile left, we looked up... the sun was out and the rain had stopped... and THERE WAS A RAINBOW RIGHT OVER THE FINISH LINE! Awesome... the best prize ever... the finishing chute...
Yeah, I have no idea how the race went since this post and the start of the race should have occurred simultaneously! I'll post the real report when I get a chance (hope you enjoyed reading this one though). Have a great day everyone! #20
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