Harlingen Half-Marathon 2016

Dreary weather continued for the Harlingen Half-Marathon. I was tired from the half-marathon the day before.

I often see people posting photos of their race face. Some are determined and fierce. Others are excited. In sillier moods, I'd go for a frightened look. But at this run, I'm pretty sure I had a detached "Let's just get this over with" vibe going.

That's all internal and nothing against the race. Other than finishing, my only concern was getting a finisher medal. Last year, they ran out by the time I crossed the finish line.

Some quick notes:

Once again, I lost one of my Race Dots before I even got to the start line. (I use them to hold my racing bib.) Those magnets are powerful and like car doors.

When the race started, I got passed by probably everyone. Supporters giving high-fives to all the runners left before I reached them. The cyclists who I believe were watching the last runners were in front of me. I was slower than usual, which is hard for even me to believe.

There were great snacks on the route. But I've already learned this lesson the hard way - don't eat anything you haven't trained with. I am going to add gummie bears and pretzels with peanut butter to my training list.

There were plenty of medals still available when I crossed the finish line. Yay.

And because I do silly things, I immediately made up the burned calories by ordering a cheese chili dog and fried Oreos from one of the food trucks at the finish line.

I carried a small towel with me. That's usually just for runs in hot weather. I drench them with water and put them on my head. But it came in handy. I used it to cover the wet seats, when I sat down at a picnic table after the run. I may add that to my running gear list for rain.

The exciting news is a full marathon is planned for 2018. And when I say exciting, I mean for other runners. I'm not running that. As the joke goes, I run half-marathons, because I'm only half-crazy.