“Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Madison Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!”
Back in February, when I found out I was selected to run the Madison Marathon with BibRave, I was more than a little excited! After all these years of running… ok after 9 years of running… I was finally running in Madison, finishing in the shadows of the capitol building!
Fast forward 9 months, and I’m not sure what to think. No, not saying that I am not looking forward to running Madison in 4 days, Seeing a bunch of friends and running the streets of Madison. A LOT has changed in the last 9 months!
Last winter/spring I had some lofty goals to run 2 full marathons this year. The 1st being Whiskydaddle in Peoria IL in October, and then Madison a month later. I wasn’t running either for time, both were simply to have fun and see new areas.
After a crazy summer of work and travel (some for work, some for fun) my training was not where it should have been. Then when my foot started to get cranky, I opted for the half marathon in IL last month. This was probably one of the best choices I could have made. My foot flared up after about mile 7.5 and I did what I could to ignore if for the next 5.5 miles. After giving it some rest and making some headway on recovery, I figured that I did not want to take a chance in Madison… I can make it through 5 miles with an angry foot, but didn’t want to chance 18 miles that same anger.
I opted to transfer to the Half for Madison. So now the pressure was off. It was truly going to be a day of running, exploring and hanging out with great friends (some of whom I am going to be able to cheer for as they finish the marathon!)
But Mother Nature, really??
I get it, I live in WI. The weather gets cold. But this year I think we have seasons mixed up! in the last few weeks we went from summer to fall, back to summer, and then jumped to winter like a jackrabbit that got into the coffee beans! When I signed up for this race, I expected usual fall temps. This week, it has been about 20 degrees colder than usual, and next week is supposed to be even colder. Throw in the second round of measurable snow and the makes the Hamster NOT a happy runner!
I’ve spent more time on my dreadmill in the last 3 weeks than I think I did all of November and December combined last year!
They say, “It’s Wisconsin. Wait a few hours (or a day) and it will change.” Well, that is not really the case this week, unless you truly enjoy cold temps!
With a high temp of 33 on Sunday, it is pretty much guaranteed to be a cold race morning! Time to mentally get myself ready for a cold race!
But I am also ready for this weekend! It is going to be am awesome weekend, despite the cold! Not only are several of my friends running the full marathon, but since I am running the half, I will be able to be AT the finish line to cheer them in! Plus I get to see fellow BibRave Pro Angie and her husband Josh who are coming in for Iowa for the race! She is also running the half, so there is a good chance I actually get to run with her for a bit too.
I also love the Madison area and am looking forward to checking out some of the awesome restaurants, exploring a little and catching up with friends. I have been told that the course is beautiful (guess I’ll see how beautiful it is with snow) and has it’s own share of hills (aka mounds of opportunity) but is a favorite among most who run it!
I guess I really need to start digging out the cold weather running gear to prepare for this weekend. Since most of this gear has not been used since March, it might take me a while to find it all, so I guess I need to start the hunt now! For the first time, I may actually be running a half marathon in my sweatshirt this weekend!
Are you running this weekend? How are you mentally preparing for this race? How may layers are you adding to keep out the wind and cold?
Look for me on the course! You won’t be able to miss Angie and I in our BibRave orange! Then after, we can enjoy some hot beverages together!
Join my list!
Subscribe to get my latest content delivered right to your inbox!