Have Race, Will Run

And run we did amigos... regardless of the inclement weather. Inclement doesn't do yesterday's conditions justice. It was as bad as it gets... 40º, 25mph winds and rain. This was the kind of weather that weeded out sick people in the 1700's. This is the kind of weather you get when you sail a boat around Cape Horn. This is also the kind of weather you get in Ohio from time to time... most often on days when you're going to be outside.

Sunday was the 32nd Mini Heart Marathon and I planned on running both the 5K at 9am and the 15K at 10am. I convinced my boy, Bradley, to run the 5K with me, but after a text message the night before admitting his unwillingness to run in the rain, I was skeptical as to whether he'd show up in the morning. But show up he did. It was cold and windy when we made our way outside from the Westin's lobby, but bearable. It wasn't until the rains came as the gun went off that it almost became unbearable. But away we went. His goal was to run the whole way and with the weather and hills, that was no easy task. He was able to accomplish it in fine form with a 26:48. A job well done seeing as it was his first race ever. I tried to tell him that the weather was really about as bad as it gets. I hope he'll join me in more.

And after some stretching and chatting, my sister, her boyfriend Dan and myself made our way to the start of the 15K. The weather hadn't improved. If anything, the wind had picked up. But the gun went off as did we. I had planned on doing better, but after some stupid preparation mistakes, I'm not sure what I expected. I didn't eat at all before either race. I probably had more beers than what I should've Friday night and I ate like crap all day Saturday... and only twice for that matter. So, of course, the last 5K ended up being the worst. I ran out of gas, plain and simple. But overall, I can't complain. Finished with a 1:03:32. Good enough for 89th overall and 9th place in the 2 Beats Challenge (combining your 5K and 15K times). What makes for a better story is that Dan, who's only run a 5-miler up to this point, ran alongside my sister for the 15K... and he made it the whole way. Sounds like something I would do. Special thanks go out to my parents who were there to act as "bag drop". They have no idea how important that component is and along with the support provided, it makes their contributions to the weekend immeasurable. I had brought the mini digi, but didn't take a single picture.

So the weekend in Cincinnati was a good one. We got the basement clean at Envoi and we had my mom's chicken 'n noodles on Sunday at my brother's house after the race.