Fit for Life Half Marathon recap

Last Saturday I ran the Fit For Life Half Marathon! It was my third half marathon in 84 days that means that I am qualified to become a Half Fanatic! Considering I have only ran three half's total doesn't seem like I should be qualified to be a fanatic but I guess if you run all three in such a short amount of time that must show you are some kind of fanatic right. I really want the awesome half fanatic race shirt!

Back to the race recap. Packet pickup was Wednesday and Thursday before the Saturday race. I recevied my bib and a tech shirt, the rest of the "goodies" that normally come with packet pickup were emailed to me a few days before that. Random fact: One of my B.R.F. (best running friends) actually got to pick the color of the shirt because she called to find out what the shirts looked like 3 weeks before the event and they told her to pick the color. Pretty cool!! The race started at 7:30 in the parking lot of Hawks Stadium. The course was an out and back along the Boise Greenbelt. My last half 3 weeks ago actually started where this race had it's turn around point.

I was warned ahead of time by a friend that they didn't have tons of water stations along the course so I brought my own. Also they only had water and gatorade along the course, no gels or anything. It is kind of a good thing that I am an over researcher because otherwise I might have assumed that enough water would be provided that I would need. Also on their website they do not list where the porta potties are located. I know why they didn't list it...because they only had one porta potty. It was at mile 4, since the race was an out and back race I guess I could have used that one porta potty again at mile 9. Thankfully it was an area I knew well since I run the exact location on my lunch break at work and with my training runs with Boise Run Walk. I was able to point out along the course to others where the "secret" bathrooms were that weren't far from the greenbelt but unless you knew about them you would run right by them. FYI: The "secret" bathrooms are located around miles 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 (there are only three but with running back on the same route you get to enjoy them twice).

The first half of the race I was running strong and then I realized maybe I started out a little too fast. Plus my lovely IT band started to sing. I am so sick of that stupid IT band trying to talk to me when I am running. I just want some peace and quiet during my races! Is that too much to ask?! Anyway so at mile 10, I decided that I just wanted to be done with the race, I was tired (silly me thinking I could push myself too much) and hurting (I hate you knee). I sped up, annoying my knee further, and after a mile found one of my friends. I called her on the phone to let her know I was stalking her. I ran faster to catch her and we got to enjoy the last 1.5 miles of the race together. We arrived back at Hawks stadium where my husband and kids (my friend's too) were waiting for us. Like any race, you want to finish strong. What happens if a kid walks into your running path? You dodge him and make an awesome "oh crap" face then you pray that is your awesome finisher photo! Well I am in luck! It is my finisher's photo however it doesn't look as awesome as I had envisioned.

After the race they had free hot dogs and beer, water and some gatorade. After a race I want chocolate milk. After doing a bunch of races I now realize that maybe this isn't a standard thing that every race carries. Last year this race had chocolate milk (I did research), that knowledge is what fueled me the last mile of the race. However no chocolate milk this year :( The Race to Robie Creek had chocolate milk (lots and lots of it, I had two), See Jane Run had chocolate coconut milk (it was frozen and they gave me two to enjoy once they thawed), Fit for Life gave me none. I'm still bummed out!

Overall the race was cheap and a pretty area to run. They had 300 runners doing the half so maybe if it were a bigger race and had more man power then we could enjoy more water, maybe orange slices or some gels along the course. But then the race wouldn't be so cheap and low maintenance. It is a race I would recommend to others assuming they did their research and knew what to expect when!

Did you race this weekend? Did it have chocolate milk? What do you look forward to enjoying after a race?