Madison Half Marathon Race Report
Last weekend was a busy race weekend for us! I picked up Liz at work at 4pm on Friday and we headed to Madison WI for my HM on Saturday. The drive took about two hours with the ever present construction on route 90. We found the expo, picked up my packet,and checked out the vendors. People in Madison must have alot of back problems, as there were at least five different chiros/spine booths set up.
I didn't purchase anything, knowing the DL half is coming up.
Next we headed over to our hotel in downtown Madison, which met us with warm chocolate chip cookies at check in. Liz was very happy!
The room was great, with a very fluffy bed. They even provided us with a map to the start line of the race, which was about six blocks away. We went in search of dinner and walked around downtown for awhile. The area is really cool as it is a college town. Wisconsin Badger stuff was everywhere, and there are tons of restaurants, pubs, and shops, with a fun atmosphere about it. It seems everyone had a bicycle or
scooter of some sort. The streets even have designated bike lanes. Because it was a busy Friday night, we ultimately settled on a pasta buffet that was back at our hotel. They like runners in this town!
I was up early, showered, and we headed off for the 700 am start. The corrals were set up on the main streets and I was put into H with I and J behind me. About 5000 were signed up for the half, with more for a 5K. The morning started off cool and overcast, and then the storms moved in. An announcement was made that they were delaying the race and that we should all take cover in the student union,
, and parking garages. I followed the crowd into a large cafeteria and watched the rain move across Lake Mendota. The wind picked up and it was obvious we were going to be there awhile. I had to borrow a guys cell phone to get in contact with Liz as I had lost her in the crowd and we had to be out of our hotel room by noon. The race ended up being delayed an hour and a half. So, when they made the starting annoucement, they gave all of us about 15 minutes to line up again. I hit the port o pot and found my corral again and started the race without any warm up. The course was nice and wound through the downtown area and past the state capitol building. At about mile 2 a second wave of heavy rain and wind came through and soaked us, and lasted for about ten minutes. My shoes filled with water. I made the first 5k in about 28 minutes and the 10k mark in 58:34. Then the sun came out in force and started cooking us. At the top of a hill, I could see a thick layer of steam rising from the pavement and not moving much. All in all it was a long, wet race, with a few sections with rolling hills. It was a nice course, but I don't really remember the second half of the race as I just wanted to finish it in the heat and humidity. My time ended up being 2:16:47 which was about 9 minutes slower than the Chicago Rock and Roll half the week before. The finish line area was set up really well with a good variety of food and drinks. The finishers medal doubles as a bottle opener. (only in WI !!!) I liked the area and the great support of the hotel and fans cheering in the rain and would like to do this race again next year, hoping for better weather.
I made it back to the hotel, with just enough time to shower. Then it was a two hour drive to Pleasant Prairie WI for Liz's Danskin Womens Triathlon on Sunday. We got her packet, dropped her bike off at the transition area, and headed to our next hotel at the Illinois State Beach Park a short drive away. This hotel was a shock to us after such a nice experience the night before. The place looked nice online, but turned out otherwise. It was on the beach, which was closed, the pool and hot tub were emptied of water, the elevator was rank smelling. The place looked like it had been built in the late 60's and only minorly updated. The door to our room had to be the original one, with a vent built into the bottom of it. There were dozens of cigarette burns in the carpet, a very bad patch job to some kind of damage to the ceiling, and the wall paper was coming off the walls in several places. The chairs were oriental style and none of the furniature matched. Okay, it was adventure time. Never roughed it inside a hotel room before! We went out to dinner, and came back to a wedding going on outside in the woods. People in suits and nice dresses everywhere. When we got to our room, the door wouldn't open. Key card and handle worked, but it wouldn't budge. GRRRRR!!! I stomped back to the desk, almost lost it with the teeny bopper behind the counter and got a new keycard, which she thought was the problem. Another guy was there and said he was getting his fifth card of the day! The new card didn't work. I stopped, almost attacked, a maintaince guy in our hall and he finally got the door to open. Sometime during the night, we got woken up by our neighbors across the hall who must have been at the wedding. They were drunk, and their door had the same problem. Kicking it didn't help them.
We got up at 330 to shower and load up the car. Then sat in the foyer and had breakfast which we had brought with us. We also got to watch a few of the drunk wedding girls stumble around the front desk, looking for some snacks. It was time to leave.
Liz's race was a much more positive experience. The weather was beautiful, and she did really well. It was a sprint distance tri with a half mile swim, 12 mile bike ride, and 5k run. She did okay in the swim and run portions, and flew in the bike part, finishing in about 1:40. Despite the hotel, it turned into a good day.
Next up, the DL half! We leave next Friday for CA and the magical world called VACATION!
-Mike
I wish that could have been an easy time for me 
By the time I reached 12K, I'd slowed down my pace by a good minute. I didn't understand why because usually my mind fatigues before my body does. I can't explain it, I didn't feel like I was out of gas but I had a hard time running any faster. 
I still had the stomach cramps if I tried going faster and now my knee along with my back was now achy.
Glad you're getting the exercise in. I always feel great when I get lots of runs in. I gave up soda about a year or two ago, and feel so much better. So, if you can give it up, that would be great.
That's why I have the weigh-in on Friday! You still have time to burn it all off!
