Panty Raiders Half Marathon Reunion

Before I give you the play-by-play of this glorious race and even more glorious drunken debauchery, let me first say:  Run a Ragnar.  

Running Ragnar Chicago was actually a pretty big frustrating mess with bright shiny moments of hysterical laughter and team spirit interspersed throughout.  It was one of those things you don't really appreciate until a few weeks out - far enough out the disappointment doesn't sting so badly, but not so far that you can't remember the raunchy inside jokes and the little things you learn about someone after sharing a cramped, panty-strewn van for 36 hours.

The reason to run a Ragnar, however, doesn't have anything to do with the race itself.  It's this:

Linda, me, Kimba, Amy, some ho-bag, Lisa, Amy Zyn, Falon, Amy Zem

Sigh.  I love these women so, so much.   I can only hope at our next reunion we'll have all 12 of us!

So anyway, the race.

We ran the Tyranena half marathon, which is awesome.  It's pretty small, incredibly well-run, and just beautiful.  The course has rolling hills for the first half, an unofficial beer stop (be still my heart), and enough scenic diversity to get your mind off of the task at hand.

Something I should mention here:  I was SICK.  Sick sick.  It started on Thursday, and when I woke up on Saturday morning, my throat was on fire and my sinsuses felt like they were going to explode.  

I wasn't sure I was going to run, but I got such a boost of energy from seeing my girls and the race hoopla, I lined up with everyone else at the start.

Rachel and I made a quick decision to run together - we both wanted a buddy and I didn't want to be tempted to start racing when I got out there. 

We were only a couple of miles in when I realized our pace would put Rachel really close to a PR.  Hmmm.

She ran an awesome race right up until the end when she surprised the hell out of me with a seriously fast finishing kick.  We held hands (because we're secret lovers) when we crossed the finish line and it couldn't have been cheesier.

OK, we might have held hands at other times besides the finish line.  Don't judge.

We finished around 2:00:30, which was great for a somewhat difficult course.  So proud of Rachie - she fought the whole way.

As for me, the race felt like an easy long run.  At the risk of sounding boastful, I have no idea when a 2:00 hour half became easy for me.  It makes me reassess my running goals for sure.

So that's that.  I'm still a little sick, but hopping back on the treadmill today to try to run the last of it out.  

Have a super Thursday everyone.