Zeke's Corner: Rock n River Half Marathon

Friday, May 11, 2012

Rock n River Half Marathon

I have been logging more miles this year than any other year so far. And so, I had my hopes set on a new half marathon PR.

Last October I ran the Bizz Johnson half (which is billed as super fast and mostly downhill) in 2 hr 20 mins.
I was ill prepared and didn't regulate my blood sugar well and I was feeling it when I finished the race.

Enter the rock-n-river half marathon to redeem myself.

Under the Reno Arch

The long story:
I couldn't find my peeps before the line up so there I was standing amongst strangers feeling like a dork...it was my first Disneyland half marathon all over again.

I borrowed some one's garmin watch for this race and it is quite possibly smarter than I am. I had my eye on a couple of the Fallon Kaia girls, who I intended to use as my pace guides (because I secretly wanted to beat them...you know). But I fumbled getting the garmin-that-wasn't-mine set after the gun and by the time I looked up they were nowhere to be seen.

Within the first quarter mile I had found TWO of the girls from my Reno Tahoe Odyssey relay team. We ran together for a couple of miles, keeping the pace slow and catching up on life.

And then some guy dropped his iphone and it exploded into 3 pieces. He picked up the phone part but not the battery or the shatter case. Me being the good samaritan jogged back and retrieved it from the water puddle it had fallen into.

Mile 5, pretty sure I won't be able to make this whole thing without stopping, so I stopped to pee. It probably took me 3 minutes. I'm guessing.

And I lost my running buddies.

So I cranked up the music and found my own pace.

As Baz Luhrmann would tell you:

The race is long. In the end it is only with yourself.