Flying Pigs.

My friend Rita and I conquered all and ran the Flying Pig half marathon in Cincinnati last Sunday. On Friday, two of Rita's friends that had been training in their own cities came down to Chicago. Actually, only one came. The other, Rachel, lost her wallet on Friday and wasn't able to leave the city until her bank opened on Saturday. Then, once she got to Bucktown, she had to turn around the drive their other friend back to O'Hare, because she was having a series of panic attacks.

OH MAN. This makes that fact that Tim forgot to schedule our trip to Cincinnati and we didn't get to leave town until 3:30 PM (it's a five hour drive to Cincinnati, plus an hour for the time change) seem so minimal. Also, Rita's mom saved the day and picked up all of our race packets. So Tim and I pulled into Rita's house to pick up my race stuff at about 9 PM ET. I have never wanted to give Rita a hug so badly. I was stressed out, but I couldn't imagine what she and her friend had been going through.

Thankfully, Rita's parents had prepared an amazing meal of pasta and salad and Italian sausage. We weren't going to join them at their late dinner, but once we saw it we were though...weelllllllll. Maybe just a plate or two. Rita's dad was hilarious, and we got to see Rita's sister's dog, Arrow, who has doubled in size.

Anyway, I went back to the hotel and Tim went out to meet some friends. I took a couple over-the-counter sleep aids, prepped the bathroom for my 5 am (that's 4 am internal clock) wake time, and hit the hay.

I woke up at 5, made a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and pinned my bib on. Rita called, waiting outside in the car, and i ran down and noticed that the 100 women that were there to fight cancer AND run a marathon all had rain gear on...OH. IT'S RAINING. HUH. Didn't really plan for that...and realized, I didn't really plan for ANYTHING. I had only a technical shirt and shorts and nothing else to wear or layer with. A nice lady in the hotel gave me a garbage bag.

We hopped in the car, drove to the race and parked. At the first line of porta-potties I suggested we do the Kate Nydam method of "early and often." While waiting in line, Rita met this interesting woman. She was probably closer to 60 than 50, and decked out in full "If I wear enough pink, I'll defeat cancer single-handedly" gear, including an almost blackish-purple lipstick, hat, shirt, rain jacket, shorts, socks, fanny pack, and shoes, all covered with a large clear poncho with special plastic shoe covers for her sneakers. This is the best illustration of the "matchy-matchy" athletes my brother Aaron has always warned about staying away from at races. The three of us were more wearing "huddled masses" gear, shivering in the rain. I ducked into the porta and the lady started quizzing Rita and Rachel.

"Where is your hat?!" she screams.
"I don't have a hat," says Rita.
"Are you running or walking?" Lots of doubt in the voice here.
"I'm running the half marathon," says Rita. To which, the purple-lipped woman almost explodes.
"DID YOU EVEN TRAIN?"

Poor Rita. This lady tried to crush her confidence, but we carried on and headed for the Bengal's stadium, where runners were stretching and trying to stay dry. About 15 minutes to start time, having not warmed up (muscle wise), we headed for the starting line in rain that I'd say was a good 6.5 out of 10. The Race Director assured us that all dangerous weather was past us, so the race started.

Even though it was raining, it was about 75 degrees out once the sun came up (mile 2, at least). It continued to rain but by mile 6 it had about stopped. We all lost each other past mile 2---the first couple miles of the race take you over several bridges, up and down, and around a weird, non-scenic part of Cincinnati where you're most likely to be if you have a UPS package that is being held for ransom. Then it rolls back around through downtown and up to Mt. Adams. Did you hear that? MOUNT. Miles 5 through 9 are pretty steady climbs with a few flat stretches through in for breaks. However, when it's slowing everyone down instead of just you, it feels pretty good. And at the top of Mount Adams in a beautiful park, you get gorgeous views and an all-male barbershop singing group to cheer you on.

The rest of the race is really beautiful, especially after mile 9, when everything is downhill. I cut about 30 second off each mile past mile, and it felt great to be past those hills! This was the first race where I actually had a watch on and was checking my mile splits. And when the marathon and half marathoners split in Walnut hills, I was actually feeling so good I though, yeah, I can do this. And the Chicago this fall.

Anyway, we finished! And then we actually found each other! It was amazing. Rita's parents came down to see us run, which was so sweet of them! And Rita's mom was inspired to do the run herself---which I think is the biggest impact of the race. That's why I started to run---watching people run the Fargo Marathon in its first year.

Here are Rita and I at the finish. I finished in 2:01:51, not so great, but not terrible after skipping a month of long runs. And Rita finished her first ever (and hopefully not last) half marathon in 2:10! Yay for Rita! I can't wait to run a victory run in Chicago with you.


(Rita is the tiny blond in the white shirt and black pants in the center)


(I raised my hands in triumph---I really pushed the last mile)

Oh yes, and after the race, I went to First Watch for breakfast, picked up $40 worth of take out from Ambar, and a cup of naturally white peppermint chip ice cream at Graeters. Tim had Skyline. We are great multi-taskers.