Friday, November 23, 2012

Thunder Road Half Marathon:::: #9 of 12 in 2012



thunder road half marathon, charlotte, north carolina
half mary # 10
race# 9 of 12 in 2012
time:  2:52:40

expo::::
my friend becca and i drove to charlotte on friday afternoon and arrived at the expo around 6pm. i honestly thought the expo was a joke. it was at the blake hotel in downtown charlotte. we had to pay 5 bucks to park for 30 minutes. not cool. the expo was very sparse and i think it's pretty ridiculous to charge so much when we're obviously not going to be in there for long. i'm not sure if it was the race or the hotel charging the money, but shame on you whoever it was. 

side note: we had made a point to avoid elevation charts, but stumbled upon this shirt at the expo:

then we freaked out a little!

race morning::::
becca's amazing cousin leah (and her husband keith) were nice enough to let us crash at their house on friday night. becca and i got up early and headed downtown.

we didn't have any trouble parking (at the nascar hall of fame). it was pure luck, but we ran into a girl who works at the adjoining convention center. she showed us how to get next door without walking outside (it was cold!) and we were able to hang out, stretch, and use the bathrooms in the convention center. 

we waited until about 740am (5 minutes before the start of the race) to get over to the start line. it worked out fine. there were no corrals so of course there was mayhem at the beginning (there was a full marathon starting at the same time). 

the race::::
i was really excited to run this race with becca. this was her second half, but she may or may not have warned me that she couldn't remember the last time she'd ran. it was great though, having a friend made the race FLY by. the race was very hilly. continual climbs without much downhill/flats. 

most of the course was through residential areas, becca and i had fun claiming our dream homes!

the course support was great, lots of spectators and some bands along the way. 

of note::: i tried margarita shot bloks for the first time... YUCK. i should have known, considering i don't even like salt on my real margaritas, but i thought they were worth a shot. i ended up only using two of them for the whole race, when i usually eat a whole pack (6). depending on how training goes, i might use them again if i have trouble with cramping, but other than that i'll probably stick to the other flavors. 

7 comments:

  1. I would have been a little afraid if I had seen that shirt too! Great job on number nine for the year and glad you had great company for it!

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  2. Yay for #9! 13 in 2013 plans are in the works :)

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  3. Sorry the expo was so crappy! Every year it has gotten smaller and smaller, I don't understand.
    Glad you finished and had a great time running with your friend!

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  4. scoooore for not having to wait outside in the cold!! And I've wondered about the margarita shot bloks

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  5. Congrats on another great half! I don't imagine I'd like the margarita shot bloks either. One of these days I'll run an entire half with someone-it sounds like you guys had a wonderful time running together!

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  6. This was my North Carolina half in 2010--- they had it in december that year and due to cold decided to bump it up to november for later years, guess it didn't help. I so remember all the gorgeous homes and rolling hills- definitely was a fun course.
    Congrats on another half under your belt

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