My friend, Shanna, came with me to this race and we made a two day get-a-way out of it. We left Saturday morning and headed to Tulsa. After a quick stop we ate lunch at a place called Cheddars and then we went across the street to check out out their mall before we drove on into Joplin.
After checking in at our hotel we went downtown to pick up my race packet. Joplin has a very nice downtown area and we were sorry it was after business hours and that we didn't get a chance to check anything out. The place we wanted to eat in Joplin, The Red Onion Cafe, was just a few blocks away so we decided to walk over. While eating it began to downpour and didn't let up. Needless to say, we were both soaked by the time we got back to the car. We made it back to our hotel room and went to bed. It was hot, so I turned on the AC and fan, which was very loud.
That turned out to be a big mistake since the noise of that completely drowned out my alarm and instead of getting up at 5:15 to catch a shuttle to the start, I woke up at 6:10, with the last shuttle leaving at 6:15. With no way to make it to the shuttle on time I had to scratch that plan and decided that I would have to drive to the start myself and then Shanna could bring the car back and get ready and then drive down the the finish line to watch me finish. Since this was plan B, I didn't have very good directions to the race start in Baxter Springs, KS and the set of provided ones that we decided to follow weren't good and we managed to get lost. I was no nervous and sick to my stomach that I was going to miss the race and have to recap THAT embarrassing story here instead! The race directors wanted to have everyone at their respective starts at 7 for the 7:30 simultaneous start for the Full and Half Marathons and the 5K. I arrived at 7:15 completely stressed out, but there, and the timing turned out to be perfect. I had time for a quick bathroom break and then headed straight over to the start for announcements.
We started out with about 3 miles that got us to Historic Rt. 66 and they were the 3 most beautiful of the entire course. Fall had arrived in Joplin and we ran down tree lined roads that were red, orange and yellow and just gorgeous. We also ran over a couple of really pretty rivers and a pretty neat bridge. The last 10 miles of the race weren't spectacular at all view-wise, but we did run through 2 small towns before heading into Joplin for the finish so at least there was a lot of new things to look at, which helps.
There were several hundred people running the half and while I ran alone for the entire race, I was usually within 20 feet of other people. Around mile 6 I started counting my "kills" or people I passed and then I'd have to take away a kill if I got passed. I passed one girl who passed me back later and I never caught her again, and then I was passed by a lady who I passed back later and never saw again putting my net "kills" at 22. There was one girl who was always ahead of me the whole second half of the race and I kept with her really well and I tried so hard to catch her and beat her at the end, and I did really come back, but she still beat me by about a second. It was close! After the race I found her and told her she had been my rabbit and I was trying so hard to catch her, her reply was, I COULD FEEL YOU BACK THERE!!!
Anyway, I had 3 goals for the race.
1. Don't walk. CHECK! No walking this race!
2. Don't go out too fast. Run a smart race. CHECK! I stalked my pace on my watch like it was my job.
3. Get a PR by beating my previous best of 2:09:08. CHECK! I ran a 2:04:00, a 5 minute and 8 second PR!
Stats: I got 38/215 women and 9/43 in my age group (30-34)
Pictures to come later when they post some!
Shanna was there cheering me at the finish. We went back to the hotel and I showered an back to Tulsa we went, this time to Utica Square for shopping and a late lunch. Then we picked up the Guinea Pig for Luke for his birthday. After a quick stop for some frozen custard (YUMMY!!!) we were home shortly after 8:00. It was a great, GREAT weekend. I had a decent race, I got a nice break from home and the kids etc. and I had SO MUCH FUN hanging out with Shanna all weekend.
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