Brewer's Mini Marathon

Last night when I got home from the housewarming party I went to, I decided it was time to get my things together for the half.  It didn't take too long.  I could not find the socks I wanted to wear for a few minutes. Why do I have so many socks??

I laid out my outfit.  Since rain was in the forecast, I thought my 'No Such Thing As a Rain Day'  shirt was a good idea.  I wore a long sleeve shirt over it with some capris.  I brought extra socks, sandals, and pants for after the race.  I did not anticipate how cold and windy it was going to be.  I was so glad I brought that long sleeve shirt.
I was in bed by 9:30pm, but didn't fall asleep until closer to 11pm.  I woke up at 2am when Kev got home.  I figured I would not be falling asleep again any time soon, so I just got up and started my coffee.  I was surprised by my pre-race jitters.  I was a little worried about finishing.  I have never done just a half marathon.  There has always been a marathon going on simultaneously, so I would have about 6 hours to finish. My training runs have also been really tough, probably more mentally then physically.  I just couldn't get my head in it.  I also skipped the last couple of weeks of short runs, which is not like me.  I think this worry kept me from getting a good night sleep.
When I got up, I had an apple and peanut butter with my coffee.  After my first cup of coffee I made sure to drink  water.  Then I made oatmeal with pb, almond milk, and a banana for the ride there.  I also brought a second cup of coffee.  I had never had oatmeal like that.  It was good, but it needed sugar or salt or something.  It was a bit bland.  Probably because my almond milk was unsweetened.

My friend picks me up about 5:10.  We took off and noticed how foggy it was. Then she asked me if that was just lightening.  I hadn't seen it, but then there it was.  Again and again.  I figured we had two hours until start time, so we would be fine.  We got to the stadium and immediately use the restrooms before they got too busy.  On the way back to the car we hear the announcer say they were opening the stadium up for us to stand in because of the rain that was coming.  We were going to wait in the car, but my friend thought it would be a good idea to go inside so we would know if there were delays or not.  She is the brains of the operation.  They finally announced that there was a delay until 7:15am.  We went and sat in the stadium to wait for any updates.

It was really cool to be in the stadium so close to the field.  The last bit of the race we got to run around the bases and see ourselves on the jumbo-tron.  It was neat.

The race finally started at 7:25am.  The course took us through Milwaukee.  It was a nice, easy course with really fun hills to run down.  There were roads and highways shut down for us to run on.  We ran by the Harley Davidson Museum and the Domes and past Miller Brewery.  There were a lot of people outside cheering us on and tons of volunteers at the water stops.  I definitely plan on doing this next year.  I have to PR, after all.
After I got home I hopped into the shower.  I was SO cold.  I just stood under the scalding water.  After that, I settled down on the couch with my kitty on my lap and we took a three hour nap.   It was nice!

Here's a picture of the nice finisher medal!
I ate pretty well today too.  I went over my cals a bit, but I think that is to be expected after burning so many calories during the race.  You can check out what I ate here My Spark Page.


What is the favorite race you have ever completed and why?