A Tale of Two Halfs...

On 3.12.11, Jon and I ran the 2nd annual Roanoke Canal Trail Race.  I had high expectations of this race, as the trail was in much better condition this year.  Remember last years mud-fest?  Ugh.

Well, perfect weather and perfect trail conditions do not make a perfect race!  At least not for me...  I simply had a bad day.  I bonked at mile 10, which is pretty sad.  I had some stomach issues early that morning, which may or may not have contributed, and I felt a little dehydrated.  Excuses aside, I did a run/walk for the last three miles and finished with a 2:22:17...  not near what I expected of myself. 

On a much better note, Jon ran an awesome race, with another PR!  He PR'd last lear on this course with a 2:11, and this year he knocked that down to 2:02:59!  Way to go, Jon!  As proud as I was of his time, he was disappointed.  He wanted to break 2 hrs, so he definitely had a goal for the next half marathon, which was next weekend!

On 3.20.11, we ran the Tobacco Road Half Marathon.  I was aiming for a PR on this course, as I was told by multiple people it was a flat and fast course.  Well.......  maybe flat compared to Bays Mountain!  But not what I'd call a flat course.  It was not a difficult course, but I wouldn't consider it a "gimmie" either.

Jon and I opted to stay in Cary at the host hotel, which was great...  we took the shuttle bus at 5:45am to the race and were dropped off about a mile from the start.  I was not thrilled with having to walk that far.  LOL!  They starting herding us into the starting corral at 6:40 for a 7:00am start time.  We waited...  and waited...  and waited...  the race started 20 minutes late.  What?!?!?  So I'd been standing there (separate from Jon) for 40 minutes, wondering what the hell was going on.  It's very frustrating that race directors will have two speakers at the starting line, and actually expect thousands of runners to hear what they are saying.  Where I was standing, you heard nothing...  I had no idea why the race was delayed (if they even told us).  So, I was extremely frustrated before the race even began.

There was no wave start, so the first mile was pretty slow.  Frustrating!  It was so slow, in fact, that when I hit the two mile mark, here came the police motorcycle, trying to clear a path for the lead marathon runners.  Totally ridiculous for those folks to get caught up in all of us!  And they had another mile to zig-zag before the trails started, where they turned left and the half marathoners turned right. 

After hitting the trails, my calves finally loosened up and I settled into a nice pace.  After the down and back section started, some parts became very narrow.  People were running in both directions, and at times you'd get caught behind people and couldn't pass because there were oncoming runners.  Again, frustrating!

The pace group leaders were carrying sticks with balloons on them.  I was keeping an eye out for the 2:00 pace group so I could look for Jon.  Well, before the group leader was even in sight, Jon passed me and called my name...  I didn't even see him!  He was ahead of the pace group!!  It looked like he was having a great race, so I just knew he'd meet his goal of breaking 2 hours!!

Before mile 10, I had to make a stop in the woods.  Ugh!  I know my bathroom break killed a couple of minutes, so I was annoyed by that, but I could not have made it to the finish...  and it was certainly faster than waiting for a port-o-pot!

After getting back onto the road for the last three miles, here came the hills....  at the worst possible time.  I walked those hills...  about three of them.  I was trying to save my legs, still hoping for a decent finishing time, though I knew my goal of 2:10 was out the window.  I ended up finishing in 2:14:22.

I didn't reach my goal...  but I felt good at the finish and had an enjoyable race, so that's really the most important.  And Jon reached his goal with a finishing time of 1:59:33!  Fantastic!

Now...  here's the complaint section.  After walking a mile back out to the road and waiting a while in the cold wind, we get on a shuttle bus to the Embassy Suites.  We soon realize there is a shortage of buses and there have been bus issues all day, so our bus decides to help out and take a load of folks to the offsite parking location....  and he went there first.  So I guess we're just along for the ride!  After taking a few wrong turns, and finally getting to NetApp, the driver is told he's no longer going to Embassy Suites, he has been re-routed. 

Um....  hello?!??!  Do you see us on here?  There are about 6 of us, tired, hungry, trying to get back to the hotel for a shower and check-out.  So we're first told no one is going to the hotel.  I guess they want us to just be stranded in the freaking parking lot???  The dude managing the buses was a dumbass, who just didn't grasp what we were telling him.  Finally, another bus driver says he'll take us to the hotel...  meanwhile, the rest of the load were spectators trying to get to the race to see their folks finish.  Inconvenient was an understatement!  We left the race before 10:00am and finally got back to the hotel at 11:15.  We found out later that it happened to MANY folks.  Not that it makes up for it, but the race directors did send out an email with their apologies.  But apparently, buses were an issue last year as well, and everyone thought this year would be better...  it seemed to be worse.

I doubt I'll do this race again.  Not just because of the bus issue...  but the route, too.  I knew the start was on the road, but I expected much more trail.  Half of the race was on the road.  The marathon route may be a lot better...  but I definitely wouldn't do the half again.  One good thing was the medal....  very cool railroad design!