I ran my (official) first Half Marathon of 2014 this past Sunday. It was a sweltering 13 degrees and snowy at start time. The road was mostly a snow covered mess. 282 other crazies joined me on this journey.
The "Mill Creek Distance Classic" took place in Youngstown. The course was very challenging...it seemed that I was either running uphill or downhill for the entire run. I got to the 12.5 mile mark and thought that I was in the clear, only to see that the final .6 mile was all uphill...lucky me.
After about 4 miles of running (sliding) in the snow, I put the YakTrax on. YakTrax are a weird, but very useful invention. They attach to your shoes and have a coil-like tread that goes across the sole to give you traction in snow or ice. If you use them on a hard surface like concrete or blacktop, they are a bit uncomfortable, but on ice and snow you can run like a finely tuned engine, or something.
Crossing the finish line is always a great feeling...but due to the cold temperatures, there were not a lot of spectators cheering the runners on (can't say that I blame 'em). Oh well, got my prestigious medal, a banana, and a water, and headed for home.
That evening my shins began to spew vulgarities about running so many hills, but otherwise I felt pretty good.
251 Miles
