Tom King Half Marathon, or the race that wasn't

Fresh off of my disappointment at Dry Creek, I found out that the Tom King Half Marathon was taking place on March 7.  This one was downtown, only about 15 minutes from home and finished in LP Field.  I love running into a stadium.  I don’t know if everybody feels that way, but it’s a huge rush for me.  The race start time was 7:30am, so I would have plenty of time to make my hair appointment at noon. 

As the week progressed, we had an ice storm on Tuesday, March 3 followed by a couple of very cold days (but sunny).  On Wednesday, they decided to postpone the race time by one hour, to start at 8:30am.  Eek.  It wouldn’t be nearly as much time, but I could still make my hair appointment.

On Thursday, they cancelled the Half Marathon and turned it into a 5K only.  It was warm, 50’s? on Friday but the run took place partially on the greenway system, so they were being cautious.  I can’t believe it!  I didn’t register until just a few days before the race, and now it was CANCELLED!  Aargh.  They tell us they are going to give us a “deep discount” on next year’s race.  That’s not helpful for my goals this year.  G and I decide that we’ll get up early and run a few miles before going downtown and running the 5K.  When the alarm goes off, I basically decided NOPE.  Just so frustrated, we wound up getting up and having a leisurely Saturday morning.  I definitely was not going to run after my hair was done, so we decided to run on Sunday.

Sunday morning, we got up and had a leisurely morning of coffee and breakfast.  The weather was WARM, in the upper 60’s.  We got dressed around 1pm and went out to G’s car to head out to the trail at the park.  The car wouldn’t start.  He drives an hour to an hour and a half each way for work and just started a new job recently.  He needs his car.  My son has a job 40 minutes away from home and just started HIS new job recently.  He needs the Explorer.  I had committed to meeting with the Ops team out at the site, I could not have one of them take me to the office or I would miss that meeting.  I needed my car.  So, we decide to try and change the fuel filter, since that’s what it sounded like to me.  I made the decision that we should do that before we run, in case we need to go back to the auto parts store before they close (Sunday).  So, we change the fuel filter and the car starts up but is still throwing a code (check engine light).  G decides that he’ll just have to call off on Monday and take the car to the shop. 

Now, it’s 2 hours later and we head to the trail and run 10 miles.  Starving, hot, and ready to get home; but the miles are done.

This Spring is conspiring against me, but I will not be beat!

G and I got up early on Monday (0445) and lifted weights and have followed through every day this week except for Tuesday.  The car cost $415.  Ugh.  I just spent $2k on my son’s Explorer in January with the understanding that he will be paying for any additional upkeep on it.  These cars are going to break me!

Next race is tomorrow, 3/14:  Kegs and Eggs 10K. 

The plan is to get up and run 7 miles before heading downtown for the race.  Race start time is 11am.