Lucky 13

Saturday I ran the Wicked Half Marathon in Wamego, KS for the 3rd year in a row.  I've found over the seven years since my first half marathon that I prefer training for this distance in the winter months so a late March race date that is also close to home has been an ideal and cost effective fit.

 After dealing with my festive unwanted friend from the Mexican Rivera cyclospora, running was basically non-existent for me all summer and I didn't start trying to run on a consistent basis/regular distance until after the middle school cross country season concluded in October.  Getting the distances back was easy, the speed, stamina after long runs and time to fit in long runs on busy weekends with all our other family activities....was not easy.

So for Saturday's race, I was just focusing on finishing, staying positive and not paying attention to my pace (which I knew if I did I would become frustrated).  And as the day of the race drew closer, I also realized that I would most likely be running my 3rd half marathon in cold and rainy conditions.  And the photo above was the conditions at race time.

 It rained/misted  for the entire race.  Thankfully there were only brief moments (maybe 3 miles total) where we were fully exposed to the north winds while it was also raining in the 40 degree temperatures.  But I have found that with the right gear (socks that don't cause blisters and get warm as your feet sweat/get wet are the most crucial) I actually prefer this kind of weather for a half marathon verses running in heat and humidity.

My lucky 13th half marathon was my slowest time to date.  But my attitude was probably the best it has ever been during 13.1 miles.  It was a soggy photo finish but I accomplished my goal of finishing and staying positive.