Wow, its been four months since my last race. Crazy, and kind of sad. The Mews is one of my favorite races, because a bunch of friends do it, and, more importantly, there’s free beer at the end. It was a beautiful day, 60 degrees and sunny, but I woke up with a stomach ache and just wasn’t in to it. I nearly just stayed at the bar and ordered a beer and a burger instead of running. Instead I lined up at the start with J. Bad decision.
Even though this is the 3rd time I’ve raced this course, I swear the hill got bigger at the beginning. Good lord. I should have quit then. But I soldiered on, and J stayed with me the whole time. The first and last hills are killers, but the middle of the course is nice, through neighborhoods with lots of people cheering. I briefly lost J when I stopped at the second water stop and it was manned by one dude who was not keeping up with the water consumption at all, but I caught back up.
Until the big, giant hill at the end. I had in my mind that I would walk up it, and that’s what I did. J kept right on going, though. He may be more stubborn than I am. I walked the steepest part, then coasted downhill to the finish, but he beat me by about 30 seconds. I saw him look for me at the end, but he didn’t slow down. I was okay with him beating me, I had my worst race in a long time (31:56, it pains me to type that), and its my fault for letting him run with me a few times recently!
After, we had a lovely afternoon drinking beer, tasting whiskey, getting free Chapstick, and later, eating pizza and cookies.
Next up – I really don’t know. The Jingle Bell in Somerville is the day after our Christmas party, so that’s not going to work. I might do the Providence Jingle Bell next weekend, but I kind of doubt it. 2011 may end with only 7 races. Here’s hoping to a better 2012!
Recent Comments