Back from Cincinnati ... Awesome Time

Well, I'm back in Milwaukee after running the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati this morning at 6:30 am EDT. I slept well the night before, but was worried I would oversleep. I arrived yesterday afternoon, went and picked up my number and poked around the Sports Expo, then went down by the Ohio River to see the start and finish lines. I met some girls who were doing exactly what I was doing, so went to the Pasta Party with them and had a great time listening to the live bands and eating more than my fill of pasta. I woke up at 5 am, which was like 4 am back home, had a light breakfast and headed down to the start of the race. I actually was right on the starting line, so should be in some of the official race photos. There was only one wheel chair racer in the entire field of 15,000 people. I ran 2:48:31, which is pretty good for me, coming in 14th overall and 2nd in my 45-49 age division. There wasn't a whole lot of competition since there is no prize money. We started along the river in Cincinnati, ran across the bridge for 4 miles in northern Kentucky, then crossed back over and finished the race running through the Cincinnati suburbs. The first 10 or 11 miles was quite hilly and the wind was always in our face. It felt good though. It was mostly downhill after mile 12 or so. It reminded me so much of the New Las Vegas Marathon. I ended up running the second half of the race a little faster than the first half thanks to the guy I was running with who happened to be in my age category. It made me run really fast at the end. I don't think I've ever run so fast in the last two miles ever. After the race I ran into one of the girls I had dinner with last night. She had just finished the 1/2 Marathon course. What a coincidence to see her. I made a bee line for the hotel, showered and raced to the airport hoping to catch an earlier flight home, but they were boarding as I was checking in, and the airport is so huge, I didn't have enough time to make the flight. So I waited two hours for my flight and got home at 2 pm. The bus happened to be at the station when I came out of baggage claim, so I grabbed that back to downtown, saving myself $25. The bus only takes 15 minutes longer than a cab and drops me off a few blocks from home. I'm not hurting at all, so I got on my bike and pedalled around for an hour. That should help me recover sooner. Maybe I'll start running in a few days, but first a well-deserved rest.