Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon Recap...

Saturday: On Saturday afternoon, JP and I headed down to the race Expo and the convention center in downtown Pittsburgh.  I had never been to this part of the city before so was excited to see what it was all about, and was a perfect excuse to act like a tourist.  

Here are pictures from the expo...

Can you find your name among the 22,000 runners?! I did!!!

They don't call it a running of the city bridges for nothing!  Luckily I only had to cross four of them.  The worst one was the last one... go figure!

After the Expo, JP and I walked around the Cultural District for a while.  Great shops lined the streets and it turned out to be a gorgeous (and rather warm) afternoon.  After that we met up with JP's cousin.  He was kind enough to let us crash at his place to avoid morning traffic and road closures.

Billy and JP at dinner at Tessaro's in Little Italy.  Billy doing last minute look ups about the race, and JP, well, maybe he's pumped about the race... or dinner.  Did I mention I managed to down an entire 1/2 pound burger and small ice cream sundae that night for dinner?  And I still wasn't full!  Oops!

Sunday- Race Day: JP and I got up at 4:30AM.  We were out the door by 5:00 and into the city by 5:30 after just a short one mile walk to town.  (Why I thought it was an awesome idea to add an extra mile to my day, I will never know.)  It was really neat to be in the city with no cars zipping down the streets.  Everything was relatively quiet.  Here's last minute preps of the start line...

Moments before the race started.  I had about 4-5 blocks to walk before the actual starting point.  It had also drizzled periodically prior to the start.  Wasn't such a fan of that.  Luckily the as I made my way over the starting gates the sprinkle had stopped.  Did I mention it was really chilly too?

• Miles 1-2 flew by.  I was maintaining an 11:30 mile pace.  This is super fast for me.  I relished in it, but knew it wasn't going to last long. 
• I really don't remember crossing the 16th Street Bridge, or miles 3-5.  
• Mile 5: I remember pretty well- it was the 1st exchange point for relay runners (man I was I jealous of those "done") and a couple of signs referencing Charlie Sheen's "tiger blood" and "winning;" it made me smile. 
• Mile 6: I unfortunately remember vividly as I was following a gentleman with some very very bad B.O.  But, the area was gorgeous with parks and older homes. 
• Miles 7-8: Took me over the West End Bridge (2nd worst) and through the West End Village.  The only redeeming quality about this race is that you ultimately knew that if you made the climb up the hill, your reward was a pretty fantastic down grade.
• Miles: 8-10: I hate Carson Street.  Billy said I would, and I did.  I really expected it to be a great opportunity to showcase the city and have runners run along the river... but that didn't happen... plus we would have missed those hills!  Speaking of missing something, I did happen to miss the mile 9 marker and somehow ended up at mile 10... a welcome sight as I was granted permission (with 1/2 marathon status) to make the left, while the full-marathoners continued straight.  Suckers!
• Mile 11: Cue the small water blister under the left big toe.  Dang it!!!!  There was a gentleman there at the bend on a bicycle.  Balding older man, with a pleasant encouraging smile.  "Just two more miles to the finish," he said.  Dammitall if I wasn't going to finish this race strong!! After all, it was just 2 miles.  I could do that in my sleep.
• Mile 12: gone in a flash, I know I was running through the city and my legs felt like lead.  I wasn't stopping though.  Not now.
• Mile 13: WHAT A BITCH OF A BRIDGE!!!!!!  That sucker was steep!  Some kind spectator had sliced up oranges, so I grabbed one and took a bite. Internal thought of, "if some cruel spectator wanted to really f*(# with runners, they could lace food, drinks, with really anything." I promptly threw the orange to the ground and kept trudging.  By this time we had rejoined the marathon runners who were whizzing by me.  WTF?  Seriously, you just ran 25 miles.... how is this possible that you are literally sprinting past me?!
• Mile 13.1: The glory of what I had been searching for.  The sides of the street were completely packed with spectators looking on for loved ones, family members, and friends.  Lots and lots of cheering.  I could feel my pace pick up a bit.  I was actually going to finish this thing!! 



I actually think I don't look too worse the wear all things considered.  After the finish line, 3 hours, 2 minutes, and 44 seconds after I had started, I collected my medal, grabbed three waters, a foil wind wrap thing (dumbest thing ever in my opinion- maybe I was using it wrong?) and 2 bananas.  It was over.  It was all over.  And I was done.

Later that afternoon I was convinced this may have been a one and done situation.  I did know for sure there was no way in hell I was ever going to consider a full marathon.  But, as I was talking with my lovely ladies from the interweb, I was asked if I would run with a girl in Philly in September for her first 1/2.  I was amazingly flattered at the offer, and am now considering a second 1/2.  But we shall see.

Right now, it's R.I.C.E. time.