Lincoln Marthon Race Report

The short version:

I ran the half (at 1:57:30ish) instead. Half because I got busted for running bandit and half because I wasn't feeling up to it.

The long version:

Since I spent the entire day before the race working, we didn't make it into Lincoln until almost dinner time. I was bummed to miss the expo, but we made it to packet pick up and over to the husband's friend's house in time for a yummy grill out. Made it to bed pretty early.


On the morning of the race, I woke up to a snotty nose, screaming headache and a wheezy chest. Turns out, the husband's cold from the week before had inexplicably hopped to me. (Well... not so inexplicable since I'm up on him like a spider monkey most of the time. I require a lot of affection.)

I drugged up anyway and got ready. The weather was predicted to be perfect, so I focused on that and tried to stay positive. The first task (and the one proved most difficult) was picking up the lovely Laura from Absolt(ly) Fit , in town from NYC. This chick is awesome. Unfortunately, I managed to get lost on the way to her hotel, showed up late, nearly got in a wreck, and babbled incessantly the entire time. I apologized on behalf of Nebraska.

We dropped off our stuff and headed toward the start line. (Notice the different colored bibs? Hmmm.)

We parted ways, and the gun went off. I'm a little biased, but I think this race is fantastic. The crowd support is great; the course is flat, well-marked, and interesting; and the water stations have cups with lids. Lids! You know how much easier it is to drink on the move with lids? Yay Lincoln!

My pace was more than a little erratic since I can't pace on feel with that much excitement going on around me. At some point around mile 3, I went flying past some couple:

Girl: What's our pace?
Guy: 8:30.

Damn. My goal was 9 min miles. I tried to slow down, but then I'd space out and just cruise along with the crowd much faster than planned. Something I clearly need to work on.

Fast-forward to the half/full split at about mile 12.75. It's very clearly marked who goes where, but since my bandit-bib was only for the half, I choose not see the giant sign.

I cruised into the 13.1 water station and was greeted by a lovely volunteer. The conversation basically started with,

"oops, looks like you (and your blue number) missed the turn- this is the full course..."

and ended with

"...because I'd hate to see you banned from future LTC races."

I thought about calling his bluff and trudging on, but after originally deciding not to do the marathon, my heart never really got back in it when I found out I could. Plus, I'd have no problem fake-naming it forever, but "Sarah" might not appreciate the blackball. At that point, the drugs were wearing off and I decided to call it a day. I slowly made my way back to the finish line and collected my half marathon medal.

A couple hours later, I watched Laura cross the finish line in very impressive fashion. (Check out her blog when she posts the race report.) She had a flight to catch, so the husband and I quickly threw her at her hotel and made our way home.

I was pretty disappointed to not run the full, but doing the half was the right thing. I had 10-12 hours of work Sunday-Wednesday, and I was officially a snotty, hacking, probably swine flu mess by the time we got home. I'm still not 100% better, but the coughing fits are less frequent, at least.

I'm thinking of running another half some time this spring/summer to see what my real time would be, but for now, I'm in a good space to just run to run. For now, I have a million other race reports and blogs to catch up on, so I'll just live vicariously through you all. Spring is here, and it's my most favorite time of the year to run for the enjoyment of it all.