Whistlestop Half Marathon Weekend

Well, on October 10th, 2009, Joe, Kelly and I participated in the Whistlestop Half Marathon in Ashland, WI. The morning started off cold, a whole 26 degrees with a wind chill. Seriously, in October it shouldn't be that cold!! Anyways, we jumped in the car, after I scrapped the inch of snow off my car!! It was so cold, I had a hard time really warming up in general. While we were waiting at that start, we stood in the chip shack, with many other runners. Trying to stretch the muscles to get warm wasn't really happening for me. I was freezing. Nothing I did helped to get me warm. Kelly and Joe both looked comfortable, but I wasn't at all. Other than the temperature never making it about 29 degrees that morning, I needed more clothing to put on and I didn't have enough. Plus, I didn't want to wear too much for the run itself, but I should've. I really think part of the reason why I wasn't faster is because I lost/used so much energy waiting trying to get warmer I just didn't have enough for the run itself. Oh well I guess. To top of the waiting, the race ended up starting 10 minutes late. I wasn't really sure what to think of the black ice on the road, but sticking off to the side seemed to be a little easier. After running about 1.5 miles on the road, we took a turn onto the corridor for the majority of the race. It was amazing and gorgeous! At one point on the race track, I was wishing I had a camera with to take a couple of pictures to share with everyone. Anyways, it was a quiet run, but with great spectators, water stations and just in general a great race. Other than having a horrible stitch in my side from .5miles to the end, the run run wasn't bad at all. I only stopped/paused 3 times for water. Way better than how Grandma's went, thats for sure. Then again, there was a 55 degree difference between these two runs!

I am not sure what Kelly's time was, but she finished before the two of us. I finished, with a personal record, of 2hour 24 minutes. Unfortunately for myself, I had been training at a 10minute/mile pace, however, during this run, I think the cold took a toll on me and I wasn't able to maintain the pace I was looking for. Oh well, right? It just means I'll have to run it again next year! And surprisingly, Joe finished at 2hour 26 minutes! At one point, Joe was running ahead of me which caught me off guard considering he was training at a 12 1/2 minute pace. So him running up with me was a surprise, but good shock! He did great though, and I am terribly proud of him!!

Here is Joe, just after he crossed the finish line! All smiles! He looked great! Although, a couple of hours later were a different story. He was really sore, but didn't want to admitt it. But that didn't matter, he completed his first 1/2 marathon!!

Here is a picture of Scott Raaflaub (Joe's friend from high school, a great guy,) Joe, myself, and Kelly all with our medals we earned. Did I mention it was cold out there! After our run, we all had hats, and layers of clothing on to warm us up again!!

Kelly and myself!

After the race, we went back to my parent house and had lunch with Kelly and her mom, then relaxed for the afternoon. The only discomfort I had from the race was from my SI joint, due to the uneven groud on the corridor you experienced at times. A little bit of IT band discomfort, but nothing else. Way better than how I felt after Grandma's thats for sure. As for Joe, he's still waddling around a little, but getting better every day.

On Sunday, we stayed and watched a movie with my parents, placed Phase 10 (it's a card game) and then headed home. On our way back to Superior, we stopped at a local farm that had pumpkins for sale. It was fun! Both Joe and I picked out our own little pumpkins, and one big one for carving soon enough. Here's me, picking out our big pumpkin for carving! There were so many options, it was hard to chose! But, honestly, it was fun. I love spending time with Joe. We have so much fun and get to act like children some times.