A more proper Athens recap

I really should recap the Athens half-marathon better, but now I'm a week and a half away from it, so it's hard to say what I remember!

The runners

Friday night before the race: The intent was to go to bed early and gets lots of sleep. I skipped a VERY GOOD show on Friday night with that intention. I didn't get to bed early.

Saturday: I got up early to head out with the training groups. I was running late and pretty much started the 5k run as soon as I arrived. I didn't get a chance to talk to any of the half-marathoners. We ran 2.5 miles, I think, and it was fine. Then Aaron and I got a late breakfast - should have eaten more! - and headed home to shower and pack for Athens.

Satruday afternoon & evening: We drove to Athens, but on our way, we stopped at Weasel Boy Brewing in Zanesville for a pint (well, two half-pints for me) and a growler fill. Did not eat anything. Then we headed to Athens. We arrived shortly before packet pickup was done. Picked up packets and made plans for dinner: Chinese! That seems to be our pre-race dinner of choice. Salty carbs for the win (the cilantro chicken at China Panda is really good, btw). After dinner, we stopped at the Jackie O's production facility for a single beer. Then it was off to bed.

Slept like shit. Of course.

Race day: We got up early, met our crew and headed over to the starting line. Everything was good. I dressed in shorts, a tank and my Nike Flyknit Lunar 2s. It was a little concerning how I WASN'T cold at the start.

It was gonna get warmer.

Miles 1-8 were pretty much on sub-2 pace. And then I slowed down tremendously. I guess I was hot. I fueled twice and took water/Gatorade along the course. I felt okay, just couldn't get my legs to turn over.

I still PRed with a 2:03:46, so that's good. I am still disappointed that I couldn't hold the pace.

Oh well, post-race, much fun was had bar-hopping Athens. Some new spots and some old spots, starting obviously with Jackie O's - beer and pizza is clearly my favorite way to recover from running! And no trip to Athens is completed without an aquarium from The Pub.