‘Twas the Night before the Iowa Half Marathon

So the Big Red Shoe Half Marathon is to tomorrow.  Cheryl is excited…and slightly cautious at the same time.   13 miles in Iowa City should not be that big of a deal at this point.   We have run that distance every weekend after Cheryl's First 10 K race!   However…it is now summer ( ok,  close to it….temperature speaking.)  And tomorrow is predicted to be hot.   Add in the possibility for morning thunderstorms and isolated rain, and there are a number of variables that add a little spice to the race.   And even though we have successfully completed a long 16 mile training run ( on a pretty decent weather day)  there is still the fear of the last 10k and the failed 20 mile training run to reflect upon.  

I say all this because…those were learning experienced…and what is life without a failure now and then to make you stronger. ( And Wiser!)   Let us go over the game plan…shall we? 

  The failed 20 mile run was right after a very swift 5k where Cheryl set a new record, won an award, and failed to recover before the long run!   Meaning:  she ran the next day a distance she had never run before after running a short race with all of her effort.  With no recovery time,  the next day long run was destined to be challenging at best.   Solution!   We have been tapering down this last week, with today being a complete rest day.  

Problem 2:   Cheryl runs the 10K with a new shirt believing that the shirt was a moisture wicking tech shirt…and that the temperature would be more cooperative.  It was not….She overheated from the weather AND the long sleeve non-tech shirt.   She still managed to pull off a 2nd place age group award…but she was not very happy with her performance.  Solution:  Cheryl will begin this race with the least amount of clothing allowed by Iowa State Decency Laws!  

  As for the weather…well, we have trained in a light rain before.   And the cloud cover is actually welcome when compared to running under the blazing hot Iowa sun.   So, hopefully there will not be a downpour and we can muscle our way through the small stuff.

Oh!  And I guess there will be spectators!   Barb Plans on coming,  as well as Wayne and Ruth for the finish.   We plan on a small picnic where Cheryl will have her celebratory cake!  I guess there is a covered area at the city park that is close by…in the event of rain.   We will have to feel things out as Cheryl and I are not as familiar with that section of Iowa City as Wayne and Barb might be. 

So there it is!    Cheryl picked up her packet with her shirt and bib.   She even posed with the cat for a few pics.  I’ll be trying to ride up in front of her to capture the pics of her progress.  This time I’m going to try to bring my bike so I can link up at several strategic spots.   We shall see how this goes as this will be the first time I use the bike for Race Photography. Hopefully they will not look too lame.   We shall see…