Fitness
I ran the Madison Quarter Marathon yesterday. I got there early enough to see the marathoners start, which was exciting. Way back when we moved to Madison, my goal was to run that marathon, but between the winter and my hip problems, it just wasn't to be. But it was a beautiful morning, and both of those things seemed long ago and far away.
Anyway, I'll start with the good things about the race. The shirts were nice. It was very well organized. There was plenty of parking, and it was very easy to get in and out of the parking lot without having to pass through runners still finishing the race. The course was very nice, flat, well marked, and full of spectators. Both the marathon and the 1/2 marathon had pace teams. All in all, a great, smaller race.
The negatives pretty much all had to do with me, haha. I went out way too fast and kind of died at the end. The fog at the start of the race burned off, and it was much warmer by the time we finished. I think part of my problem, too, was that I had an apple and peanut butter in the morning before the race, and those aren't really quick energy foods.
I finished the race in 54:17 (it's 6.55 mi), which is an 8:14 pace. Not great, but not awful. My 10k time was right under 52 minutes, which again is not great but not awful. Really that race was too long for the training I've been doing. I just don't have enough endurance to knock out a more than a 10k right now considering the longest run I do each week is just about 10k. I still want to race, though, and I'm going to look for some more 5k options this summer.
Food
Brat Fest
Yes, that is a semi converted into a giant grill.
And that wasn't the limit to the excitement. Here are some of the other highlights:
Budweiser Clydesdales
Guy from the UW marching band balancing a trombone on his face.
The Weiner Mobile.
There was also a carnival.
We didn't buy any brats, but it's a huge charity fundraiser, and a big part of Madison culture, so it was my duty to take D. Plus it was 1/2 a mile (or 8 miles! according to D) from the race expo.
Fun
D bought a bike this weekend so we've done a bit of riding around. Here's a picture of me in my natural habitat: Babcock Ice Cream.
Today we're planning to work in the garden and go out to Little Norway in the afternoon if the weather stays nice.
