This past Saturday, Kiwi and I headed to Augusta, Ga. About 3 hours
north of Savannah; Georgia Regents University and American Family
Insurance were hosting the Augusta Half and 10k. My friend Erin is
finishing up her last weeks (!!!!) of medical school and we needed a
race. Perfect timing!
A rainy, but uneventful drive got
us to Augusta and packet pick up. It was cold, but the organizers were
friendly. They made sure I knew where to park the following day and how
to get there with street closings. Goody bags? Oh yes! Long sleeve gray
(I LOVE gray!) tech shirt, reusable bag, hot/cold gel packs, hand
sanitizer, Starbucks coffee, sunglasses, and a collapsible water bottle
were included. Way to welcome your runners!
Course set up room...
no one sees this part of the crazy.
Kiwi
and I navigated through the expo then headed to Erin's house. We spent
the evening catching up, watching tv, and making sure her dog's bones
smelled like us for when he was scheduled to return on Wednesday.
Early
Sunday (6 am) I got up and headed for the race start. No problem
finding it. But I didn't realize until then what a toll the cold had
taken on me from Daytona. I was tired. I was stiff. And I was in awe
that this month had flown by.
...but that's another post....
I
headed to the start line, hoping for a short bathroom line. No luck
there, but next to the lines were a group of
way-too-cheerful-for-the-weather men asking, "hot cocoa or coffee?"
American Family Insurance sent its friendliest faces out with a coffee
truck! Wow! Free coffee while in porta potty line? ...what a huge happy
runner thing!
After that I headed to the corral. I knew
there was a wheelchair division, but only one racer entered. I found
him and walked up. I have plans to race with a friend who uses a chair
soon, and this young man and his mother were more than happy to offer
suggestions and information on doing just that.
Brain and tummy full, we started the race. 2 miles into downtown Augusta the chalk scribbles and kids with signs began;
"If it was easy, it would be called your mom."
"You've trained for this longer than Kim Kardashian was married."
"Worst. Parade. Ever."
"Just Keep Swimming!"
"Run like you stole something!"
...the just keep swimming sign was accompanied by kids blowing bubbles.
I love this stuff!
Onward!!!
Walton...
one of the l-o-n-g streets we ran down, we ran up, we whined about.
Walton had hills that went straight up, curved around corners and kept
going. I'm not making this up. It felt like mountains. I was
simultaneously glad to have a 3 week break before the Georgia Marathon
and to have a refresher on hills. Up and down we went, then out to the
river. It was beautiful and the volunteers were in great moods. That
always helps.
At mile 11 I was a little sad. This was
the end of the race and the end of The Month of Many Mini Marathons.
There wouldn't be a PR today, but no reason to quit. I ran with what I
had left and made it across the finish line.
2:18:39
Not
bad. I hadn't raced the hills since Athens in October and that was a
2:17. The medals were great and the after-party was well stocked with
plenty of space to sit down and get out of my compression sleeves.
Back
to Erin's house! I slept for a bit before we headed out to lunch to
catch up some more and plan some future races. She has finished a 5k, is
up to 6 miles, and looking toward a half in April. It is just a matter
of picking the one to do...
Then we headed home.
Are you sure?
Um, yes. We've been home since Sunday night, Kiwi. We're in Savannah. That's home last I checked.
Is not.
You're gonna have to explain. I don't understand.
Savannah's
where we keep our stuff. Start lines are home. Finish lines are home.
And you're not racing for 3 weeks. So you're by your stuff. But you
raced all the weekends of a month and now you aren't gonna race for
almost a month. That doesn't sound like home to me. That sounds like
bad.
So not racing after lots of racing is like not being at home?
Yeah. But you'll figure it out. You will find little bitty baby race homes before the next big race. Or...
Or what?
Or we just put you in a crazy home. Cause that would happen.
....so then we headed home.
Love the kiwi comments. Start and finish lines are your home it sounds like!
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