Hey all! Happy Labor Day weekend. V here from slightly sunny Toledo. M and I decided to celebrate Labor Day by, well, laboring. Aug. 31 brought the 5th annual Soaring Eagle Boy Scout Half Marathon in fast & flat Bowling Green, Ohio. Quite a ways back we had decided this would be one on our race calendar, and, despite not sticking to a specific training program, darn it if we weren't going to do this race. Which, after assessing the sometimes questionable nutrition choices and unquestionable beer consumption in which we've indulged this summer, we decided was not going to be so much a race as it would be a run.
M is training for the Detroit Free Press marathon on Oct. 20 (her fourth running of it!) and I'm in for the Northern Ohio Marathon on Oct. 13. We figured getting a 13.1 long run in (with a bunch of other people) would be a great springboard for our training.
The Boy Scout half is one that M's done at least twice, if not three times before, and this was my first experience with the race run. I have to say even though the course meandered for about nine miles through nothing but cornfields and soybean patches, I quite enjoyed the run. Since we were using this for training, I employed my "Chatty Cathy Offense." I was determined to talk our way out of this run, just to keep our minds from veering into scary territory that might include thoughts of "hey, are we really prepared to do this" and "oh, gee, I haven't run this far outside since, let's see, APRIL." I was worried at first that M would be annoyed that I was doing this, since in a race situation we do NOT talk, but I know that if she was bugged, she'd feel free to tell me (in a loving way, of course).
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| Pre-race faces. Just look confident, right? |
The hydration stations were plentiful and pleasantly staffed by volunteers young and not as young. I took water at every station, thirsty or not, to sip and dump on my back. The kids seeking high-fives were my favorites. That was another fun thing about making this a run, and not a race. If I'm racing, I'm not going to go out of my way to expend energy to slap five with someone. But, really, after seeing how excited some of these kids got, I'm going to revise that policy. It's fun to reach out and helps me express my gratitude for the people who volunteer their time to make it possible for us runners to get out there and do our thing. Who knows, for a young girl, a high-five from a bunch of runners could inspire a future Shalane Flanagan. And we need more Shalanes, lol.
We sisters hung together until about mile 10. I started to feel the need for speed as soon as I put my earbuds in. I don't know what it is about "Solsbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel, but that song makes me move. Weird, right? Once I knew I had 10 miles in, I was able to relax and reel off the last three miles, with the last one being the fastest, at 7:52. I crossed at a clock time of 1:54.30 (chip times aren't available yet), and M was close on my heels to notch another sub-2 hour half for herself. She took home 1st in age group, and I was 3rd in mine (first race organized run as a 35 year old!).
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| Medals & pint glasses for age-group winners. Can't go wrong. |
I'm so looking forward to getting deep with this marathon training, now that I feel more confident after this half. If you're looking for a good, well-organized, and fast and flat half, I recommend the Soaring Eagle Boy Scout half! Thanks for checking out the recap.
Be kind to yourself. Be kind to each other. -- V.
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