....miles to go before I sleep....: a Half in the books

This morning, I ran the Kansas Half Marathon in Lawrence, KS--home of the Jayhawks. Lawrence is a cool town with lots of neato restaurants, coffee shops, sports stores, and even a wine shop (which we visited and enjoyed the ~~wine buffet~~ wine tasting before buying several bottles of wine between the five of us. But this post is more about the race, and I'll refrain from the endless silliness of which every third phrase was "That's what SHE said!!"

Maybe the saying "What happens in Lawrence STAYS in Lawrence would be fitting? Hmmm.... But Sunday morning was an early alarm clock. I slept like a rock (seven good hours) but the room next door had a cyclone blow through during the night. Reports were made of a possible tornado (although no confirmation of was made--other than Sandra's hairdo.)

We arrived at the start welcomed by clear blue skies, no wind, 42°, and several hundred other runners, many of whom were friends with Sandra. Sandra is a KU alum, and knows half the town, and every nook and cranny, shortcut, and good place to eat. She was an excellent tour guide. Where was I at this early hour??

HERE! Now you know why the line was growing restless outside, as I spent a few minutes getting the light just right. (and there was no hand sanitizer--not that I needed it in a bad way!

The contingent that made the trip--The Charlie Brown Gang. How did we get this designation?? It was the brain child of Sandra and Pat. They are training buddies, and Pat became Peppermint Pat, while Sandra became Lucy. Dana started running with these two in recent weeks, and she took in the ID of Sally. I was dubbed Pigpen, "because he was dirty--you know--from running trails." I actually liked that. Pat's wife Paula was Marcie (Peppermint Patties best friend, and for our purposes, Peppermint Pat's girl.) Marcie (Paula) was running the 5K while the rest of us were going 13.1. This was Pat's first Half Marathon, also Dana's first (although Dana has done several 25Ks, and two 50Ks) my 4th Half, and Sandra's 10th.

All distances (5K, 10K, and Half) started at 7:30. It was sure that we would beat the heat. Finishing in time to get back to the motel for a shower was going to be a bonus.

Sandra/Lucy is all ~~smiles~~ tongue as the race starts. Paula/Marcie has her game face on. I think this is her 2nd 5K, and I bet we have her moving on to crazier things soon.

For someone who abhors pavement, Dana is in good spirits. Would this last??

We started with a downhill. This race--a new course--was a lot flatter than the old course. I personally like hilly races, but it turned out that this route had a few inclines--enough to mix it up. I was happy. A note--the previous post was not meant as a slam to the course, but rather a poke at the LONG drawn out list of turns. The course was really not complicated at all, and was well marked. There were plenty of volunteers and course marshalls, making it a super event in my books.

Pat, Sandra, and Dana train using a one/one walk/run interval, and sometimes go to a two/one. This day, the one/one was the method, and we averaged 12 minute miles for much of the way. These three are doing the Pumpkin Holler 50K this October. This'll be the first ultra for both Pat and Sandra, and interval running WILL get them to the finish line.

Pat found an Oklahoma sign. Isn't he cute?

Sandra, a former Kansas girl, found a Kansas sign. (And yes, she is cute too.)

Somehow, the 5K course and our course hooked up, and we found Paula. I ran a little ways with her and she was feeling great and ready to be through. We had ten more miles to go.

at mile four, we got off roads for a while and onto a paved bike path. This new concrete actually felt pretty good to run on. He was pushing the pace just a little, but waited occasionally for the girls to catch up.

This trail took us toward some of the older neighborhoods in Lawrence and to downtown.

Entering downtown, I saw this bar. No, we did not go there (closed on Sunday mornings) but next trip up....

My favorite store in the universe--Sunflower Outdoor and Bike.

Dana and Sandra enjoy a little downhill running.

Along the trail on the way back, I saw several of these nifty little birdhouses. It's address is 10 River Trail, and this residence has a nice screened in porch.

Uh oh--are the wheels falling off for Pat?? No--he was just posing for a photo-op.

But Sandra and Dana wondered what was going on. Shortly after this, Pat begin to pull ahead, and after conferring with the girls, I took off after him. Pat was intent on getting in under three hours, and we decided to run as much as we could and just see what happened. So we kept a 10ish m/m pace for a mile or so, and maybe that was not the best plan, as we slowed down considerably. But, we did in fact finish in 2:50 and change--so he met his goal, and had we kept a slower pace, we would have no doubt finished around the same time. Upon our finish, I ran back out to meet the girls to run them in. They were only a quarter mile back, and Dana seemed fresh on her feet. Sandra was laboring to keep her pace, and toughed it out without slowing down at all.

Paula was waiting on us, and Pat--a wonderfully sweet husband (or so I'm told) had bought Paula a bracelet with a couple of running charms because he thought she would not get a medal for running the 5K. However, she did get a medal. (I wondered if he kept the receipt for the charm bracelet, and Dana elbowed me pretty hard.)

So, here's the Charlie Brown Gang--mission accomplished, and we're bringing home the bling. Congrats to Dana, who is doing better all the time on roads. And to Pat, who did just fine in his longest race to date. Sandra now has 10 under her belt--pretty impressive. Paula adds another 5K finish to her total--great job! We've also done some crew babe recruiting with her.