The 2019 Madison Mini Half Marathon. How To Win At Losing...

Cheryl beats the Badger... Again. 

Another Madison Mini Half-Marathon finished.   And Cheryl set a new PR for the course... taking almost a full 2 minutes off of her previous best.  As you can imagine,  she is very disappointed that she had no excuses this morning, because the weather was actually... kinda nice.   Nothing irritates Cheryl more than Having to actually... "Try."   But she did put forth an effort.  And although she did not win an age group award at this race, ( she never does...  All those 45+ year old Gazelles....) She did put in a solid performance that she is mostly proud of. 

She looks so sad and
disappointed.

I still try to offer encouragement,  telling her it was just a fluke that the Sun disappeared behind the clouds,  the temps remained under 80 degrees, and the humidity was low.   If any of these factors had been in play,  I'm sure she would have done as badly as she had hoped.   Hey, I'm just trying to help.

So here is the break down:
2015  First time running the Maddison Mini.   1:43:59

Because of effort, she does
not "lose" like she had
prepared for. 

2016 Coming off an injury year:  1:47:15
2017  Skipped due to injury....  paid all that money and no refunds!  Grr.
2018  A year of heat and humidity:  1:43:55

This year!  2019:  1:42:00!

Mild Weather forces her to run
her best. 

  Pace 7:48 minute mile.
214 out of 2048 runners.
6th in her age group.

I'm formulating a theory on how this year is panning out.   I'll have to wait until the end of December to truly have all the information and Data to fill the narrative.  I can't wait to see where it goes.

At the Jon's

At the Finish

But enough about that.   Here are the Details:   After an early rise,   visit for coffee and donuts, and a trip to the Port-A-Jons,   Cheryl entered her corral.    I did not go very far ahead this year, because most of the time I miss her in the beginning anyway.

At her gate. 

Cheryl climbs in,  the Volunteer
watches. 

Instead, I selected a nice perch on a set of steps overlooking the start line.  The theory was that I would just take random shots of the crowd as they ran by and try to find Cheryl in the mix.... as Usual.

She unwraps the ribbon, floating
the ballon in my field of view. 

Lady with red Balloon stops in
front of me. 

And then a Lady arrives infront of me with this HUGE balloon.   On the side it read: "We Are Here."  I'm assuming it was so her runner could ID them from the other spectators.   As cool of a plan as that was, it was of no help to me.   The balloon rose up just in my field of sight.  She did move it a little, but the camera seemed to love to focus on that big thing and most of my early shots came out blurry.

My camera LOVED that balloon.  Focusing on it as the runners ran by. 

Almost miss Cheryl a second time. 

I call out her name,  

I skipped ahead to Mile 1.5 and almost missed Cheryl as she rolled by.   She was wearing the "invisible colors" of  bright coral.   Next to "black" in winter,   it was a color that LOTS of people were wearing this race.   I made the mistake several times thinking Cheryl was coming,  only to see it was someone else.

Cheryl gives me the backward hand wave. 

Cheryl at Mile 8

She runs by again. 

Off to Mile 8.   Again,  I called out to her and she found me.   She waved as she ran past. 

Cheryl at Mile 13.  

She waves as she nears the final
leg of the race. 

Lots of colorful Flowers. 

On my way to the finish line,  I pass
through the Botanical Garden.

While traveling back to the Finish line,  I stopped by the Botanical Gardens and snapped a few pics of the Pretty flowers and Fish.   My pictures do not do them any justice.   I love University gardens.   It reminds me of the ones at Michigan State.  ( Which where HUGE! and very diverse)

Almost there. 

Cheryl runs towards the finish

Near the finish,  I managed to capture more blurry pictures of her from the garden and then as she ran towards the finish.   I had to really huff it to get that last shot.   She was running downhill while I had to run uphill and behind the building to catch her.  Still,  I managed to snap a few just before she crossed the finish line.

Showing off the Medal

The Center spins! 

Cheryl grabbed her goodies and was thrilled with her time.   Not an overall PR, but a course record for her.   Almost 2 full minutes faster!  Time to Celebrate!

The beer of Offering. 

On to the 14 mile.  Party Time. 

They offered a wonderful Raddler ale.  Raspberry and lemon.   Cheryl said it tasted like Breakfast, and drank it down like water after running a half-marathon.   Which kinda makes sense...if you think about it. 

Cheryl is thirsty!

Receiving a Blessing. 

I fed the Ducks the Cheese puffed corn while Cheryl guzzled the beer.   Overall, I think she was happy.  It was almost like being blessed by the Saints.... or something.

My famous Leg Massage.

Mild weather was to Blame. 

So that is the Madison Mini Half-Marathon 2019 sum up.  The Weather was mild.  Cheryl ran fast. Cheryl celebrated with Beer.  And she did not walk this time.   I could also add that she was fully healthy,   has been riding her bike ( because of me.)  and got a great leg massage from me. 

Super Food?  OR Supper Tasty?

I should also note that she has been taking her "mushrooms" again.  ( Reishi hot chocolate) and Cordycepts.  I only mention these so Future Cheryl will understand why she ran so fast.   Personally,  I think the Mushrooms are more "Tasty Placebo" and not  a "Secret, Super Runner Enhancing Drug."   I love my Lion's Mane coffee! 

I love my Mushroom
Coffee.

And if Cheryl believes the Reishi makes her sleep better and the Cordycepts help her breathe deeper...  I say:   "More power to ya!   And buy me some more Lion's Mane Coffee while you are at it..."

Thanks for stopping in and wishing her luck!