I am back home today and resting my legs and feet. On a good and surprising note I had no trouble with my ankle at all. I am not totally positive on my time, but I know it is around 2:20, about twenty minutes slower than I was shooting for. Good thing I have my ankle as an excuse!
My morning started at 5:00 when the alarm clock went off at my buddy Paul’s house. Strange alarm clocks are always weird, but the wake you up quick! The weather was a bit unclear so I brought a cold outfit, a medium cold outfit, a warm outfit and a wet outfit. So the first order of business was a peak outside. It was a bit chilly but not bad. I decided to forgo the tights, and chose my long sleeve shirt. It was misting outside so I took my running/rain jacket along as well. I went through my loosening routine (which I had earlier promised to go through and will do so again, soon I say). I had all my gels, bloks and sport beans. Water was ready, watch, chip, bib, hat and gloves. I actually ended up with everything I needed and forgot nothing!
The cab got me to the race a hour early, so I walked around the Seattle Center to get a lay of the land. I did a bit of warm-up jogging to test the ankle and loosen up. I met a few people and chatted. I took care of my bathroom need with the exception of privacy, my latch was broken and I was walked in on, I hoped that wasn’t a bad omen. The weather seemed great as I walked around, cool, no wind, perfect for running. I would soon change my mind about that!
Despite all the recon of the area, I made a fatal (ok, not fatal) mistake and thought the line up was on the wrong end (I wasn’t alone, oh my, was I NOT alone!) With five minutes to go, the half-marathon walkers got off to a late start, so I breathed a sigh of relief about not being in the right area. As I made my way to the starting line, I had to wade through the over 12000 runners and their 24000 supporters including baby strollers (not allowed in the starting area) dogs (not allowed) and bikes (not allowed). When the starting horn sounded I was nowhere near teh line, and I was not alone. I finally made it to the street and crossed the start seven minutes behind, but I had a timing chip so no worries. The starts of marathons are always so much fun because there are so many runners AND you get to pass a bunch of people. It is really hard to pace yourself at the start so you don’t get off to too fast of a start. You get runners in front of you that are moving just a little bit slower than you, so you speed up to get past them only to find another runner that is running just a bit slower than you. Oddly they send the walkers out first, so you have to pass all of them as well. The walkers are especially frustrating as you get large groups of friends who line up all across the road and you have to figure out a good way to break through them without clobbering anyone. But all in all it is an amazing experience at the start.
The race started near the Space Needle and went through downtown Seattle. After a mile or so I started to realize that what I initial thought of as perfect running weather was actually unseasonably warm. Another half mile or so and I was once again reminded of what 100% humidity was. I wasn’t even out of downtown before I had to veer off and remove my jacket and hat. After two miles I was completely soaked in sweat and I started to get a little worried about hydration. But I was ready, I had my water bottle, my gels and electrolite replacement candies, so I wasn’