I'm writing from Cincinnati, where Bec and I have traveled for a "destination Half Marathon" and a weekend away to spend time together. Turns out that this is pretty much the perfect halfway point for us to meet- and a great city to visit. I've not spent any real time in the downtown Cincinnati and it is really impressing me, with its architecture and river and cultural opportunities.
We got in yesterday evening and spent some time at the "Expo" for the race, picking up our race packets and shirts and tons of swag. This race is quite the event! Then a nice dinner out at the most hipster of restaurants. Delicious quinoa tabouleh and not one, not two, but three types of water on tap for our enjoyment. What's not to love? On our way back we decided to brave the cold drizzle and overpay for a ride in the "skywheel" and then walk to the pretty riverfront park with these amazing, colorful fountains. Then we headed back to our Airbnb, which is an utterly delightful place to say. Its in this amazing three story brick house, tall and narrow in what we've determined is Cincinnati style architecture. And it appears to be full of a this charming, rotating cast of characters, from the young couple and baby who live here with their two huge dogs and one friendly cat, to the guests who come and go and linger and sleep on the couch and make conversation and schedules with ease. We took down some pretzels and cookie butter to share and you would've thought we'd brought gold, everyone was so thrilled. Had a great time chatting and laughing with strangers, which is not something I do too often these days. It was fun to put on my "performance face" and entertain them with my favorite stories... but we had a race to get up early for, so we cut the evening short and headed to bed.
Race day dawn cloudy and frigid, with temps in the low forties as we walked from our parking garage near the finish, the longest .7 miles ever to the start. Festive and crowded and still in the dark, the start was "corraled" by pace times so Bec and I said goodbye and good luck and headed off to run our races.
I just love race day.
All the excited, beautiful people around you, all the energy, music blasting from speakers and my favorite playlist in my ears. We headed off into the great unknown of a new course through a new city. Turns out, Cinncinnatti has amazing architecture throughout! We wove our way through several neighborhoods of simply amazing homes, Victorian/Italianate bled dollhouses set up on hills or nestled behind walls, and several adorable, "hipster heaven" downtowns. We ran past Mirror Lake and through Eden Park and took in a view of the river. There were a number of not-insignificant hills-- but what goes up must come down and it turns out those downhills were great for my pace. I was running a good minute/mile faster than my plan but still feeling terrific at mile 5-6 so I figured I'd try to keep it up. A big part of the ease of this race-- besides the downhills- was the constant diversion. Water stops every mile or so, and in between, other themed "refreshment" stops, with volunteers cheering and handing out a strange assortment of treats. I was down with the jelly beans but passed on the Chik'n in a Biskit cracker. And in between those, local bands and guitarists and singers performing for us. And in between those, groups of young cheerleaders and fans with signs. There were a few half mile stretches where we were NOT constantly regaled, and those felt pretty long by comparison...
After mile 7 we wove through a "not so nice" section of town, so that kept me alert and interested. Still felt OK right through mile 10, at which point I began counting by the half mile... then the quarter mile. Then sheer force of will to try to keep my pace for the last mile. I know that the last three miles are supposed to "take care of themselves" but they did not for me! I guess my lack of distance training hit right at that point. As did my faster-than-normal pace. I had hoped, briefly, to be able to hit a PR -- a surprise to even be able to hope for as my initial goal was to finish, maybe around 2:30, and not walk too much. Turns out I didn't have quite enough left to push those last few miles and missed the PR by 2 minutes. But I didn't walk except at water stops, and beat my goal time by a lot, and smiled for most of the race, so I'm going to count that as a win.
After the race we where overwhelmed by refreshments, and sunflowers, and a thermal blanket, and a crown (!) and I was grateful to have checked a bag .... which was a good half mile uphill from the finish. I slogged my way there and had the world's best tiny cup of coffee and then slogged back down with the very full bag to cheer for Becca. Standing there in the cold after running a hard 13.1 was maybe not the best idea as I think I lost 80% of my body heat and was a grumpy human popsicle by the time she came in. Still, we did our best to enjoy the (freezing) post race party and food before heading back to our room to crash, zombie like, for a few hours. Showers, blankets, and some time off my feet and I felt human again by 2:00. We had a city to see, gosh darn it, so off we went. Managed to visit the Taft house, the Art museum, and Eden Park, and retrace our race route by car, all before dinner. Had a marvelous creole meal and a few even more marvelous beers at a restaurant Bec had been interested in during the race (pays to race with a foodie-- she finds the good spots!), and enjoyed ourselves greatly. Topped off the evening with a visit to a grocery store... Isn't that what everyone does on a Saturday night? This place was no ordinary grocery store, though. It was huge and fun and kind of daunting and by the time we made our way through about 70% of it, purchasing the MOST random assortment of ethnic foods along the way, our day had caught up with us and we weren't good for anything else except snuggling under blankets and playing Sims. We couldn't even muster the energy to join our hosts for the pumpkin carving party they happened to be hosting. Because of course they were. I just loved that place.
Sunday morning we bade farewell to our hosts and their cutie-pie baby and started our day with a visit to a church-- a Basilica to be precise-- that we'd been eyeing since our arrival. Amazing and inspiring and even had murals by a local artist, Somebody Duveneck, who I'd learned about just the day before at the art museum and had quite enjoyed, so that was cool.
Then, of course, IKEA. Breakfast and shopping til we dropped before heading our separate ways home.
Such a treat to spend all this one-to-one time with my awesome sis. I usually have to share her with her friends and the rest of the family. I could get used to more time like this with her. We're thinking of meeting for the Flying Pig in May, because we had such a great time in the Queen City and because we're kind of crazy.
Well, half crazy, anyways...
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