2008 Tour de Ashland Half Marathon...

Or as I have come to call it, The Run From Hell! (If and when Hell freezes over, that is.)

I was going to go nice on this race, until this morning. This morning, when I checked to see if the results had been posted yet, I found that my name was missing. It is missing from the age group results. It is missing from the overall results. The race was chip timed and they pulled tags from the bibs. That means they should have two records of me actually finishing the event, but no mention. It's like I drove for an hour and paid $35 for a glorified training run in weather conditions that I wouldn't run around the block in. There was minimal course support with cars zipping by on all the main streets. The weather sucked. It was around 20 degrees at the start with winds gusting to who-knows-what. It was colder than the 12 degree race before Thanksgiving! And then there were the hills. It was all uphill. I'm convinced of it. I don't care what the elevation chart shows. A downhill with a stiff headwind is no longer a downhill. At best it's flat.

So let's summarize: I drove for an hour, during which my service engine soon light came on, paid $35 to run uphill for an hour and forty-one minutes in the cold. Yeah, that's exactly my idea of fun. There's a reason I have NEVER run a race in December and unless it's a race somewhere far to the south and/or west of Cleveland, I never will again. Rant over.

Aside from all that, I had a not-to-bad run. I knew the course would be hilly, although having never been to Ashland, I didn't know how hilly it would be. If they could get a secure handle on the traffic issue, this would be a SWEET fall half to do. On a sunny morning with temps in the 40s to 50s, no wind, and the trees full of color, this has the potential to be one of the more scenic runs around. I like the challenge of the course, just not under December conditions.

I did have a funny moment yesterday after arriving home. I thought I had lost my two gel packs because I had forgotten to zip the pocket in my windbreaker vest I had put them in. As it turns out, I had zipped them into a pocket i didn't even knew was on there. It was all the way around on the back. I kept hearing something bouncing and just thought it was my car keys. (They were in a back pocket of another shirt I was wearing.) When I went to put my clothes in the washing machine, I felt something in my vest, but I couldn't find the pocket! Eventually I was able to locate and extract the gels. Man I could have used them during the run! Those hills and that wind really took a toll on me.

Today we're heading to the Rec. Center. I'm going to be hitting the pool for the first time in well over a year. I'm also going to be calling the race director to find out where I am.