Sloth and gluttony, Day #1

Today I slept late and I've eaten a ridiculous amount of sugar, which I fear is the new norm for me. I also have some wicked shinsplints. But the Detroit half marathon on Sunday was by far the most fun road race I have ever done.

The deciding factor was that the last half marathon I ran, in June, was the Trot to the Beach - on the back roads from Blenheim to Erieau. There were maybe 200 people in that race. The Detroit race had 24,000.

I took my iPod with me, much to Chad's chagrin. "REAL runners don't use those in races," he said. But I *never* run without it, I replied... how will I get through 2+ hours without it? I needn't have worried. I was more than entertained by 2+ hours of crowds, cheering, funny signs, and eavesdropping on fellow runners. I crossed the finish line with the earphones still in my hand, unused.

The race started at 7 a.m. and it was still dark. This is what me and 23,999 of my closest friends look like.

It didn't take long for the sun to come up, right as I was headed up onto the Ambassador Bridge. The elevation gain was not as bad as I thought it would be. Or maybe it was just the adrenaline. It was very cool to be up on the bridge on foot, with the border guards all cheering everyone on. I tried to heed Kathy's advice and take it easy on the downhill side.

In Windsor I whiled away a couple of miles looking for friends who set up a cheering section on Riverside Drive. Finally found them (and their camera - thankful for the pictures!) right before turning into the Windsor Tunnel and crossing back over to Detroit. There was some uphill in the tunnel but again, it didn't hurt as bad as I expected. Back in Detroit, the sun was up, the crowds were huge and it was a beautiful day. I enjoyed the clever signs ("Worst Parade Ever", "Total Stranger, I'm Proud of You!", "Run Like You're a Yankees Fan, "Welcome back to Detroit! How was your trip to Canada? Besides short." etc.) and before I knew it I was heading back downtown to the finish line.

Despite my sniffles and even with the hills, I finished this race strong - much better execution than my last few. I negative splitted every split except for the two with big uphills. And the funny thing is that Chad and I finished (chip time) within 13 seconds of each other, despite not running together and not even starting in the same wave. He ran a strong front half and a weak back half and I was the opposite (though I wouldn't call my front half weak - it just takes my creaky knees a few miles to settle in even at the best of times). If a half marathon was 13.2 miles instead of 13.1, I think I could have caught him. Maybe next time!

I finished this race in 2:06:54, which was not a PR, but then I didn't expect it to be. It's funny though - I have now done 5 half marathons and except for the one I did in 6 inches of snow that made for some sloppy footing... I have finished them all within 2 minutes of each other. One of them was 12 years ago and one of them was yesterday. I am consistent, if nothing else. If a bear were chasing me I think I would run away from it at that same pace.

So that's it... the final race report of the year. 2 half marathons and 3 tris this year... not a bad turnout, especially after the bad back/pneumonia 1-2 punch of 2011. 2012 was a very good athletic year. Hoping to somehow top it in 2013.