Cherry Tree Half Marathon

First off, congrats to the runners, PRs, and this team for winning as a team. Much thanks to Greg and Lauren to cheer us on. Undefeated at 1-0. Sub 1:45 score.

Friday:

Working 2nd shift the day before the race was good in that I got to enjoy a Mavs game (albeit a loss) and pick up everyone's packets. This was my first time stopping in to Rhode Island's speed bump on I-95, Pawtucket. Seeing the carnival set-up with the overcast/foggy weather was definitely ripe for the end of days that was predicted for 5/21/11.

The set up wasn't too bad as I picked up the 5 bib numbers and fell victim to another documented case of 'Pat Knows Everyone'. In a stuperous state after staying up for the game, I thought the person handling the pick up asked if I was Pat Henderson (duh Aaron, you're not a white kid from NK) to which he said he ran with him and knows The Greg.

The packet itself ain't bad, although the tech tee is a bit effeminate along with the canvas-like purse/bag and a gazette featuring the man who knows Pat (because of course it does).

Saturday:

Working 2nd shift the day before the race was bad in that I can never fall asleep after work and rocked about 4 hours for the race. Pre-race Kara Goucher vid, Without Limits vid, peanut butter and banana sandwiches and toilet paper utility belt, check. Pins and bibs in tow, I headed through fog and overcast to Ashton Mills to meet up Pat, Kevin, and Knapp.

Before parking at the Apex, DD drive thru for bagels served with a side of some gnarly teeth.

Thanks to my lack of foresight, I didn't know where Jess was and I had her bib 20 minutes before the race. Thanks to the nature of running, the portapotties are the runners' version of the water cooler and the bib found its rightful owner.

Lining up for the race, we heard the all too familiar emceeing of the Englishman who apparently is the only announcer for races in Rhode Island, running a racket in road races and waxing poetic about Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.

As we lined up together minutes before the start, English guy told us we were facing the wrong way so we were basically towing the line while the rest of the racers gave us a 50 foot bubble. That meant a ton of people passing me for the first 6 miles and me going out way too quick for the first 4 miles, as each clock kept insisting I was rocking a 7:30-45 pace. How I knew I would be running positive splits? I saw Pat at the out and back portion early on as we passed the point and high five. I also saw Kevin close behind as we rocked the point to each other. There was only one decent hill in a neighborhood that you could see well ahead of time and this was the point where my watch and left forearm decided to throw in an itchy rash and I had to pocket my watch mid-run.

At this point, delusions of grandeur crept in to my skull and I was then brought back down to Earth and humbled when Kevin caught up to me at mile 5. Miles 5-8, we kept together as we approached the bike path near Ashton Mills. At this point, I threw out of my arsenal a special 2 song playlist of Grand National's "Talk Amongst Yourselves" and Empire of the Sun's "Walking on A Dream" on a loop until the end. Running with Kevin definitely helped my time since I was slowing down before I saw him and kept me within striking distance of my ultimate goal of a 1:45 half marathon time.

In the back of my head, I kept telling myself the last 5k of the race I could crank it up.

Wrong.

I crawled through the last 5k, probably anywhere from 8:30-9:00 pace and could always see Kevin about a minute ahead of me and reverted to my Dallas Half ways and was visibly upset whenever I thought I saw a water station/mile marker/mirage only to be greeted by a congregation of crowd support sans water. My right shoulder even locked up when I tried to crack the right side of my neck.

At mile 11, I was at 1:30, and thought if I just run 9:00 pace, I could PR. The last 2 miles went by so slowly but the switch turned on for at least a little bit of time as I saw the Greg and son of Greg, Pat, cheer me on. The final 0.1 miles, I sprinted home in yak mode and to my surprise, had the English dude read my name over the speaker as I crossed at 1:47:46.

Spotted Kevin and Lauren and went further down the course to cheer on the rest of the runners with Greg and Pat per tradition.

3 bottles of water, a banana, and 6 bags of kettle corn crisps and another bag of normal crisps later and I was ready for breakfast.

Modern Diner, as seen on TV, was the first diner AND in Pawtucket so Lauren and the 4 stinky men with the same shirts, medals and bib numbers showed up at the new hipster joint post race. Here, we rocked body odor and respect as a little kid let us seat first because we had just run a race. I also learned that I need to invest in the Rosetta Stone to teach me English because I tried to order a Tom. Pesto. Mozz. What it really was was a Tomato Pesto Mozzarella (because Pesto. is shortform for Pesto) Omelette. Also, someone mentioned the size of Americans in the past in reference to the size of the diner; were we the size of hobbits 50 years ago?

Quotables and other notables:

-Lauren: "Worst crowd support"

-KOB "Single Ladies" dance, Katy Perry trifectah playlist through the spanish-speaking part of town. 'Firework' may sneak its way on to the next running playlist (fortunately or unfortunately)

-"Pawtucket is the new Providence/What is this, East Village?"-in reference to the hipsters

-"How's your Tom Omelette?"

"Very tommy"

:time passes:

"oooohhhhh"

A sad day for some. The Magill Dynasty ended for 5ks today.

BTW, the Rapture didn't happen.

Pizza after races, who decided this was the go to food post-race? Bagels cost must be > pizza cost

iPod shuffle for running, how'd I go so long without it? As someone who listens to music non-stop, I am surprised.

Overall, I enjoyed the race as it was mostly flat, had mile markers throughout with your gun time, tons of water stations at pretty much every mile. Weather was perfect, in the 50s with no sun and a relatively small race.