MTC Half Marathon

Saturday I ran my 46th half marathon in Madison Mississippi on a cold rainy morning.  Mississippi is the 40th state that I have now run a 1/2 marathon or greater distance in since January 2000.  If this were 1889, I would have completed my run at chasing states.  However, its 2009 so I still have 10 states (and DC) to run before my goal is complete.

I've run races in colder conditions as well as wetter conditions, but this race was the coldest/wettest combination that I've run to date.  Saturday morning started with a steady rain and 37 degree temperatures.  The race start and finish was in the parking lot of Madison Central High School.  I arrived about 45 minutes before the start of the race.  I picked up my packet and went back to my rental car to wait for the start.  I opted to run with thigh tights rather than full length tights due to the rainy weather.  I wore a short sleeve shirt with a long sleeve shirt over it and a light shell to protect me from the rain.  I wore a skull cap to protect my head/ears from the cold and wore a hat with a bill to protect me from the rain.  I made a last minute decision to leave the Garmin in the car as it was raining a good bit and I didn't want to risk messing it up as it is not waterproof.  I also wore gloves to keep my hands warm.

The race started on time in the parking lot.  There were puddles covering the parking lot so my feet got a little wet right at the start of the race.  My fingers and toes ended up being the coldest parts as I ran the 13.1 miles.  The race course was a straight out and back on Highland Colony Parkway.  This was only the 2nd long distance event that I've run without a watch.  I really went out too fast and was pretty much done by the time I reached the turnaround point.  Too bad there wasn't a relay option.  I did a lot of walking on 2nd half of the course.  I managed to finish in 1:57:56; I looked up the results today and I was 5 seconds out of a 3rd place age group finish.  Amazing.  This was also my first 1:57 finish in 46 attempts; I had several 1: 56 and 1:58 times but never a 1:57 before this weekend.

This trip to Jackson was incredibly similiar to my trip to Louisville back in April 2005.  It was also a 1 night trip in rainy and cold conditions.  Aside from running the race, I really had no desire to see anything else in the area as the weather was just so miserable.  As predicted, I was delayed in both heading to Jackson and the return flight as well.  Both problems were on the Houston end.  On the bright side, I was able to print my return flight boarding pass when I arrived in Jackson as I fell within the 24 hour checkin time frame.  I was also able to change my seat to the emergency exit row seat, giving me more room to stretch my legs on the flight home.

Now it's back to 3 solid weeks of training for my January 1/2 full combination.