Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better run. The weather was cool, a but cloudy to start, with the sun coming out about halfway through for me. Beautiful course, plenty to see along the way, and lots of water stops. Plus, my fab sibs and the dog came out to cheer me on at a couple of places: that carried me right along for the next few miles each time! :) I ran most of the time, walked when I needed to, and didn't push the pace at all-- so by the time I saw the finish line, I was able to hit a surge for it. My goals were to finish smiling, uninjured, and ideally in under 5 hours: made all 3 goals!

Not have the whirlwind of stress and lack of sleep for the month leading up to the race? Seriously, since life intervened I did the best I could with the training I could grab. Next time, I'd hope to be less swamped and thus able to do a few more long runs-- but for having topped out at 16 miles beforehand, I figure I did pretty darn well.

Walked through the long finish chute to collect my blanket, race medal, and some orange slices, then walked through the crowds to find my sibs. We then walked to the car (and I drank a liter of blessedly cold water on the way) and drove off to lunch: my sister (aka the Chief Enabler) is the bestest enabler ever: she packed a change of clothes, some wipes, and deodorant for me to get changed when we got to the restaurant! That burger, fries, and beer was exactly what I wanted, too.


Lack of training time, really. But I'm not disappointed in the least at my time-- nor was I particularly sore or exhausted after the race. A bit more sore and tired than after a half-marathon, but honestly not much more than that, to my surprise,


Thoroughly enjoyed the race and will probably do it again next year! Lovely course, great organization, and even bands regularly spaced out along the course to play for us. Fab crowds, too, including folk with hoses in their front yards willing to spray hot runners near the last turn back to the city. An excellent experience for sure!