Quarter Marathon

2 weeks ago I got this spur of the moment idea to sign my hubby and I up for the route 66 quarter marathon.  Then over the next few days the weather around here kept getting hotter and hotter reaching record highs.  At one time my temperature thing in my car, I don't know what its "officially" called, read 107, yowzers!  That's H.O.T.!!! 

Hmmm.... I wonder what time this race starts.  I was crossing my fingers that it started early.  I looked it up.  8:00?!?!?!  Are you kidding me?  That's not early!!!  We are going to die in this heat!  What was I thinking???

Over the next few days, I began to dread this race.  It was going to be so so hot.  The last few times I have been crazy enough to run in this thing we call summer, I about passed out from the heat.  Each time I run I pray that those people that water their lawns had their sprinklers out in full force spraying in the side walk so that I could run through it.  I have also been running with a water bottle so that I can drench myself at each mile mark.  This weather is just plain miserable for those of us that enjoy running outdoors!  It has forced me to become good friends with my treadmill again, so much so, that the darn thing broke on me a few days ago, forcing me to run in the heat the last couple days that I needed to train.  It also forced me to forgo my trusty side-kick, Roxy.  I can always count on her to go on a run with me, but this heat is a little too much for me, not to mention her.  The last time we ran in this heat, Roxy was panting so bad and so hot, when we got back I turned on the bathtub faucet and she hopped right in.  Poor girl!

 

Today was race day, my husband, who is the kind of race day runner that gets up hours before the race to prepare, got up at 5:30.  Me, not so much! I need 15 minutes max to get ready.  I got up at 6:15, since we decided to get to the race at 7:00.  We made it to the start line, made a couple trips to the porta john,  did our routine warm-up and stretch, and we are ready!  The gun goes off at 8:00 and there is a line of hundreds of people at the start eagerly awaiting their turn to cross the start line.  Surprisingly and God willingly, the weather was more perfect than could be expected, it remained cloudy the entire race and even started to mist half-way through.  It was perfect, perfect I tell you!  Thank you God! 

The course was well marked and went through downtown, up riverside and back.  The race was very organized.  I was impressed!  At the mile markers there were various bands playing.  I think my husband and I's favorite had to have been mile 2 with the old man and the karaoke machine singing Willie Nelson.  You can't go wrong with a Willie classic!  There were also plenty of water & Gatorade stops, and not to mention people with water hoses willingly hosing us hot runners down.  Of course, I made sure to run through every one!  At mile 5 volunteers were handing out wet sponges, it couldn't have come at a better time.  The whole course, the mile markers, the cheerful volunteers and bands, the water stops, and lets not forget the hose downs, made for an enjoyable long run. 

I ran my training pace, not a pace that would kill me because I was very fearful and respectful of this heat.  I ran a slow and smart race and felt great afterwards!  My husband did a great job as well and we both have pretty cool medals to add to our collection.

Oh, and did I mention that I signed us both up for the half marathon in November!?!  My husband has never ran a half before, and I am so excited to be able to train with him and be there when he completes this challenging feat!  Let the fun begin!  All-in-all, today was a great start to whats bound to be a kick-off to whats to come!  So excited I get to do it along side my other half :)