It's been almost a week since Hyannis. I've run twice since then, a 3 miler and a 10 miler. Both were attempts at getting back to my normal pace (~8:30) after training for the half at around 10:00/miles because I ran it with my girlfriend. Well; I've committed myself to the Providence Marathon (Rhode Races) on May 2, so I need to get back to my training routine, because that race is less than 2 months away.
But anyway, that's not the purpose of this post. I wanted to comment on Hyannis.
The day couldn't have been better. The temp was probably around 38 at race start and 43 at finish. There were clouds in the sky, and the air was clear. As we lined up for the start I felt a little rushed, and too packed in so I found a spot to stretch some more and gather myself. I did and got back in line. The race started about 10 minutes late due to people not getting to the line in time (which I think was a direct result of inadequate port-a-potty numbers). For the 4000+ runners, there were probably only 25 port-a-potties. For 4000 runners, you conservatively need 50 to help everyone 'prepare'.
Nonetheless, eventually the race started, it took us about 2 minutes to cross the start line, but the race was timed with D-tag, so it didn't affect our time at all. I love D-tag, and always keep mine as another race memorabilia. During the first 2 miles it was still pretty congested but was moving at the pace I was hoping for Morgan. We continued on, and at around 2.5 miles hit the first water stop which had plenty of volunteers and water, but Morgan needed to use the port-a-potty, but there was only one there and had a long line (every port-a-potty along the course had long lines, so Morgan was unable to use them during the race).
The route was great. It took us along the water a couple of times which gave us spectacular views, and the hills were manageable. I do wish there were more spectators along the course itself, but there were SOOO many at the finish line which gave Morgan, who has never experienced that sensation in that magnitude, a great burst of final adrenaline and speed.
We crossed the finish line in 2:14:49, which is around what I expected for Morgan. She beat my first half time by about 4 minutes, so she was happy with that. She's running another half in Providence, but this time realizes that race I will be running my own speed to better my first (abysmal) marathon time.
I am waiting on most of my pics to come in, but here are a few others I've found.
Well, that's it for now, so I will post again when I have more time. I want to post about what got me starting to run.
Cheers everyone!
