The Morning of the Half Marathon

So I was up at 4:45 on Saturday at ready to go. I was getting dressed and wanting to make it to UMD by about 5:05. This is when the nerves started to set in. For one thing, I woke up and it was pretty hot out.....

Weather for Sat June 16th temp Humid

6:00 AM

Partly Cloudy 61°F

90%

As I was putting on my brand new socks and I realized that my toenails hadn't been cut for a while. Remembering that I was wearing brand new shoes I cut my toenails quickly and rushed out of the door. grabbing my bag with the Forerunner 305, two bagels (one with cream cheese and one with peanut butter), two liters of water, a banana, a clif bar, and four Gu shots.

Looking back on this list, it sounds like I was planning to be abandoned on a deserted island. I realized that I should have eaten a little earlier when a runner type ahead of me said "Oh I should have eaten a little earlier!" Meanwhile, I am sitting there eating a bagel and a banana.

Of course, I realized today that just because someone looks like a runner, it doesn't mean that they know anything.

So anyway, on the ride to the bus, we passed a woman in a number who had gotten t-boned turning into the bus stop. It made me very thankful that I was having a realitively relaxed morning.

So I said goodbye to Jenny (took the picture from below), and I went the the half marathon buses and hopped on the first open one.

Everyone avoided sitting with me until the bus was full and someone decided to squeeze in next to me.

Well, sure enough, a guy sits behind me and decides to talk about everything in the world that bothers him. Whether its people at the race, or people warming up too much, or the Minneapolis Marathon (not as good as Chicago I guess) this guy was hosting a one man radio show. And, unfortunately, I was the guys number one fan.....

So in desperation I finally turned to the guy next to me and started talking to him. He turned out to be one of the nicest guys. He was an older guy and he told me that he only raced in this one race for a long time. So then he told me that he owned a sailboat up in Bayfield ( a personal dream of mine) and for the rest of the trip we talked about sailing and how much we loved it.

It was so much fun that I almost forgot I had to run 13.1 miles in a little bit.

More to come.......

This guy loves bagels....