I took a red eye flight at 11:30pm out of LAX with United airlines. I would have a layover in Chicago O'Hare airport before landing in Madison, Wisconsin.
11/8 Saturday
During my layover at O'Hare airport, I ate breakfast at McDonald's. I then discovered something that I've not seen before. The toilets had mechanical self cleaning seat covers. No more have to use those paper toilet seat covers. I'm wondering what it uses to clean the seat.
After landing in Madison, I went to go pick up my rental car. The girl at the counter was a trainee. She was trying to sell me on everything with her trainer standing right next to her. I waived the usual insurance, but I'm such a sucker and went with the upgrade to a premium car to help her out. The car she gave me was a burgundy Toyota Avalon with leather seats and seat warmers. Pretty nice for another cold weekend, but the low tire pressure warning light came on as soon as I drove it a few yards. I drove back to the return lot and went back to the rental counter to get another car. This time they gave me a white Nissan Maxima. This car wasn't as nice, but at least no warning lights came on when I drove it.
I drove over to the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center for the expo and parked at the Government East Garage just off of Pinckney. It was a short walk over to the convention center from the garage. I took a bunch of escalators down to the bottom level where the expo was held. Right before you enter the expo, they will even print out your bib number for you if you didn't already know it. The bib and shirt pick up was in the back. I went through the bag and threw away the advertisements before heading out to go get lunch.
I hiked over to the Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry to eat a burger. They have good beer flights if you want to sample a bunch of the local brews. I started things off with the Wisco Road Trip. Then for my meal, I ordered the Melting Pot Burger. It came with Cheddar, Swiss, and Provolone cheese, Jones Diary Farm smoked bacon, and their signature English garlic sauce. I can definitely see and taste why it's their number one selling burger! I finished things off with the Mad City Flight. I've eaten my fair share of burgers and the one I had here easily ranks at the top. I would definitely want to come back here to try other items on their menu.
Taking the Wisco Road Trip
Melting Pot Burger
Mad City Flight
After my meal, I stopped by the Capitol Centre Market to buy water, coconut water, Powerade, and bananas.
It was a bit early to check into my hotel, so I went back to the expo to kill some time. I ended up checking out the course preview video that they had playing on a screen.
Parking came out to be $4.50 when I exited the garage. I drove to the Red Roof Inn just past the airport at Hayes Road. After checking into my room, I took a shower and a nap. The room was pretty much on par with a Super 8, Motel 6, or a Days Inn. It was good enough for a quick trip. The bed was comfortable and clean. Also the towels were clean. For dinner, I walked across the street to eat at Perkins. I sort of had an early Thanksgiving dinner. I ordered their turkey dinner with mashed potatoes and corn. I drank a couple glasses of ice tea with my meal.
Red Roof Inn
Red Roof Inn
Turkey dinner
Before going to sleep, I went through the expo haul. They gave us a bottle of TYR sports drink which I ended up dumping before going through TSA. I then got my race gear ready for another cold race. According to the weather forecast, we were going to be lucky that the cold weather would not be including snow or rain.
Race shirt
Race gear
11/9 Sunday
After getting ready, I packed my stuff into the car while snow was actually coming down. As I drove towards the starting area at the Capitol, the precipitation would go away. I parked in the same parking structure as yesterday and waited in the car a bit before getting ready to go outside. I wore last weekend's throwaway jacket and a mylar heat sheet to cover my legs. After using one of the portapotties, I ended up waiting with a whole lot of people inside the Starbucks just next to the starting corrals. One of the Starbucks employees was definitely irritated with the runners and the huge line waiting for the restroom. I braved the cold and went outside to wait inside the corral. As the race was about to start, I took off the jacket and the mylar sheet and threw them to the side.
My friend warned me about the hills. Boy was she right. I kept that in mind for the entire race. I made sure not to run out hard in the opening miles. The course had us heading out to the University of Wisconsin Arboretum. The hills started coming by mile 4. That would only be the beginning of a rolling course full of hills. If you weren't running up, you were running down.
1: 8:14
2: 8:28
3: 8:32
4: 8:58
5: 9:03
6: 8:49
10k: 53:57
The short climbs here and there was already wearing me out. We ran up to Camp Randall and the Observatory Hill around the University of Wisconsin. There was then a couple mile stretch along Gorman St where we got to see a nice view of Lake Mendota. I crossed the halfway point just behind the 4 hour pace group.
7: 9:21
8: 9:04
9: 9:14
10: 9:56
11: 9:46
12: 9:40
13: 9:38
Halfway: 1:59:39
After crossing the halfway point, we headed up Sherman Ave where we headed up to Warner Park for some more rolling hills. The temperatures during this race was in the low 30's. It felt significantly warmer than last weekend's marathon where it was in the 20's. I actually had to roll down my arm warmers and thought about removing the gloves. It was still cold enough that I kept the gloves on.
Running up a hill
14: 9:58
15: 9:57
16: 10:18
17: 10:52
18: 11:53
30k: 2:58:28
We headed up to Maple Bluff. This was one difficult but scenic course! The short steep climb near mile 24 finally had me taking a walk break. The final mile had one last climb that had my legs begging for a walk break, but you can see and hear the finish line just a block over. I knew it was just a quick u-turn before I saw the finish line.
19: 10:39
20: 11:37
21: 11:28
22: 12:37
23: 11:11
24: 11:20
25: 12:07
26: 11:18
26.2: 1:56
Finished: 4:25:55
This was a much tougher course than last weekend's marathon, so I was glad to find out that I had beaten last weekend's time by 1 second. Progress is progress. :) I love races that gives out free race photos. Usually I only want one race photo, but I really don't want to pay $30 for one especially when I run so many races!
Finish line
After getting my finisher's medal, I picked up a few post race goodies. There was even a booth that printed out your results. I then picked up a free ice cold beer. I sat down at a table to drink it and it got pretty cold. I quickly finished the beer and headed to my car to change out of my clothes and put on some warm clothing.
See you next time!
After I changed, I walked around the corner to the Great Dane Pub for my traditional post race burger and some real beer. I sat at the bar and started off with a Texas Speedbump IPA. For my burger, I ordered the Applewood Bacon Burger with sharp Cheddar and a side of mashed potatoes. It came out with fries, so they brought me some mash potatoes separately in a small bowl. It was a good burger! I had plenty of time before I had to head to the airport to catch my evening flight home, so I had the Devil's Lake Red Lager and an Old Glory American Pale Ale as well to help finish off the burger. During my meal, I had the chance to talk to a few people that had also run the marathon and their friends. Throughout the marathons over the years, I've had so many great conversations with strangers.
Great Dane
Texas Speedbump IPA
Applewood Bacon Burger
After I paid my tab, I headed over to the airport. This time it cost $5 to exit the garage which was the maximum per day. I gassed up the car along the way. This time I was able to not incur the EZ Fuel charge because I was able to show my gas station receipt to the guy at the car rental counter when I dropped off the car. I hung out in a section of the airport where they had some comfortable chairs. I sat there for a spell drinking my bottles of water before going through TSA. I had to toss the TYR sports drink as I had no more bladder space. This time my layover was a quick one in Denver. State #30 done!
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