So I ran the inaugural ING Georgia (half) Marathon last Sunday. Athena thinks it was some sort of existential rebellion/middle age thing that compelled me to do it. It was more of a desire to get in shape with a target to orient myself towards, plus the ability test myself. Running the hills literally was another way of climbing the hills figuratively. Gotta keep testing that hypothesis that the only limitations are the ones you bring with you.
The race itself wasn’t too bad. About mile 10 I got tired of running. Not physically tired, but annoyed. I got worried at about 11 ½ because I stopped sweating. Not a good sign. I slowed down a bit and made sure to get water at the next station. As soon as the water was on board I started to sweat again. When I crossed the finish line my head looked like a margarita glass crusted with salt. A universal complaint that I heard from everyone was that there weren’t nearly enough water stations and no Gatorade/Powerade stations. It ain’t just a marketing ploy: When you’re running that much you actually need Gatorade. After the race I started to feel a little nauseated. Once I got home and downed a quart of Gatorade I immediately started to feel better.
Overall it’s a great race. The course is well thought out and a great tour of Atlanta’s nicer points. It might even leave those from out of town with a decent impression of this city. I turned in a modest 2:28, which was right in line with where my training runs were. I’d like to get that closer to 2 hours if I chose to do another one. The word around the camp fire I heard is that you should count on about a week to recover. I was at 90% within three days, so I feel pretty good in that respect. An associate that’s a rabid athlete said your first marathon/half marathon is simply about surviving. That’s about how it felt.
Ares
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