Pittsburgh half marathon

Last weekend I ran the Pittsburgh half marathon. Last year I ran it with Megan and because neither of us properly trained for race day it was not my fastest time. It was pretty miserable to tell the truth. Miserable because of training not a miserable race. 

So I'm  back to tackle the race again. This time I have been running. I completed a half two weeks prior to Pittsburgh so I felt pretty good heading into this race. I also knew this was not going to be a pr day either. Pittsburgh is not the flattest place to run. The half is not bad but the hills in the last half can beat you up a bit. 

On Saturday i woke up and headed to Pittsburgh with my mom to pick up my bib. It was her first real expo. I didn't shop like I normally would because I felt like mom wanted to make it a pretty quick trip. I picked up my bib and quickly shopped some venders. 

I thought mom would get the entire Pittsburgh marathon in the photo, I thought wrong.  

We then got my bib and headed home, but not before we stopped at an Italian bakery. 

I think I should stopped at more bakeries after packet pickups. It's a great way to carb load. 

I made it an early night because my plan was to leave moms house at 4am to arrive in Pittsburgh before 5:30 to find parking. The race didn't start until 7 am but I didn't know how the traffic getting there would be. Since I was getting up so early and I didn't want to wake everyone, I basically slept in my race outfit. All I had to do in the morning was wake up, throw my shirt on, brush my teeth and grab my bag as I walked out the door. I had my bagel pre-toasted to eat after I parked. As I was driving to Pittsburgh it suddenly dawned on me that I forgot my handheld in the frig. Ugh. Luckily there was a Sheetz gas station on the way so I pulled in a bought some Swedish fish. Looks like my run with be powered by Swedish fish. 

Turns out I could have slept in a bit. No traffic at all. No parking problems. I pulled in and took a little nap. 

Just like last year there was no real lines at the portapotties. 

I quickly checked my bag and was on the lookout for people I knew running. My stepdad laughed when I said I may run into people I know. He thinks it's too big of a race for that. Well how wrong he is. 

I turn the corner and I see Trisha and Dottie!  I played basketball and was in the same grade as Trisha's older sister, Stacy. So I grew up with Trisha running around at our basketball games. Dottie is their mom. I ran into them when I ran in Erie too. As we were chatting we were talking about seeing some of the same people at races even though you don't really know them. Dottie shows me a pic of shirtless man (who should keep his shirt on). She always sees him. Then they told me about trumpet guy. DC has the damn juggler and Pittsburgh has the damn trumpeter.  He plays the trumpet as he runs. Yeah he sounds annoying.

We all wished each other good luck and headed to our corals. It was going to be a warm day and I was already wishing I had packed my tank top. We finally headed off and within the first two miles I got passed by the damn trumpeter!  He IS annoying like the damn juggler!  He looks to be in his fifties or sixties and he blows the damn trumpet the entire race!  Now he would be even more annoying if he played entire songs, but I just heard him blow the trumpet as he ran past me. Who knows maybe he plays entire songs later in the race. 

I was feeling pretty good until I hit station square area. The hills were doing me in. I started walking up the hilly parts around mile 9 or so. On one hill there was a man handing out entire cans of beer!  He had some land shark when I went by. If he would have had small cups I might if taken some, but not an entire can! Lol.   The last bridge sucked the life out of me. It was up a hill followed by turn left and head up a mountain.  

Yes you are seeing the 80's come alive behind me. 

I was hating life!  I was hot and I just wanted to get these last two miles over with. Oh did I mention the ass cramp I had from mile ten on?  Yeah that was fun!  My hamstrings were a bit tight which I'm guessing led to the ass cramp. Fun times I tell you!  The last .75 or so was downhill and I just gave it all I had. I felt like I was flying as I was passing people. I've seen the finishers video..guess I wasn't flying like I thought I was. I finished in my normal time. My watch told me I had my fastest 5 and 10k ever. So if the hills hadn't killed me towards the end, who knows maybe I would have had a new pr. 

I got my medal and the all important smiley face cookie and headed to get my bag. 

I then felt like I was going to be sick. They heat was messing with me for sure. I layed down in the grass and didn't feel much better so I headed off to find some shade. I ended up finding a wonderful park bench in the shade. I layed down and closed my eyes for a bit. The man a few benches down, who was not a runner, looked at me like I was crazy. The runners on other benches didn't bat an eye at the homeless runner girl napping on the bench. 

It was a great race. Now I must walk a mile back to my car. Why does it feel like the car is so far away after you run 13.1?  I found my car and headed back to moms house.  I was going to stop and eat something but I knew I stunk and I really wanted a shower. So I decided to pickup my favorite pizza and take it back to moms for lunch. 

Yum!  Although I will say the Pepsi doesn't really hit the spot like a cold coke. 

All in all a great day to run!