20k! The Dam to Dam is done!

It wasn't looking pretty this morning.  My brother and I left home at about 4:45am and it was looking ominous.  There was lightning in the distance and as we neared Des Moines, it started raining.

We waited in the throngs of runners (nearly 8000) for a spot on one of the dozens of school busses they had carrying us to the start line.  Eventually we got one and the ride took around 15-20 minutes to the side of the first dam.  Then we had a "1 mile scenic" walk to the starting line... and past the various pace signs that were all faster than we were planning to run.  We continued walking back to the Porta Potties.  What looked like a very long line only took 6 minutes.  My digestive system thanked me tremendously for helping it out at that point.

Then we dropped off our clothing bag with our jackets and made our way, still in the rain and wind, to the masses waaaay behind the start line.  After several minutes, we finally crossed the start line.  We were on our way!  (...at about 7:15am!  I think the actual start for the fast people was around 7:05am.)

Overall, the rain and wind wasn't too bad.  It was actually better than a hot, humid, and sunny day.  It didn't hail and there was no lightning once we got to the course.  We kept a rather steady pace, averaging 11:35min/mile over the course.  We finished in about 2:25 hours.  I'll take it!

We got a nice medal.  I'm going to display it proudly for a while, I think.  After finishing, it seems like not a big deal.  But, you know what... it is!  12.4 miles is nothing to sneeze at!  I could definitely do another half-marathon (which this basically was) but right now, a full doesn't look too attractive.  I'm starting to get sore in places and I'm rather tired, but over all, I feel surprisingly well.  I felt really good the whole race, too.

Before we left home, I had a small bowl of oatmeal, a cup of coffee, and a banana.  I had two "Just Plain" Gu gels on the course, which have some caffeine in them.  I had never tried that flavor, but it actually wasn't bad at all.  Along the way, I drank plenty of water and one cup of Powerade.  Afterwards, I skipped the beer. (Coors Light is rarely attractive to me, but at 9:30am after running that far, the thought of it made me feel like retching.)  I did grab a pork sandwich, a banana, and an apple.  That hit the spot. 

I wore my compression shorts and my shirt with the zippy pocket.  I wore my regular Saucony shoes and didn't have any blisters.  I also didn't have any of the issue with my foot that made me pause my training.  I couldn't be happier with the way my body handled it, really.  I noticed that my upper body didn't show any signs of tiredness until around mile ten or eleven.  I find it is really important for my upper body to hold good form, otherwise I get lots of aches and pains in my shoulders and back.  I think lifting has really helped strengthen my core and the rest of my body.

I'm really pleased that my brother came out to run with me.  We joked around, which made the miles past much quicker.  Wonderful time!  I think I'm already looking forward to next year!