Platte River Half Marathon Recap

Saturday was a run in the snow, and Sunday was a tune up half marathon. Many training schedules encourage you to fit in a 10K or half marathon to help work out some of the nervous energy and practice your pre-race routines before the marathon.

The Platte River 1/2 was an excellent race. I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking for a well organized event and fun course. It began in downtown Littleton, followed the Platte River Trail, and finished at Denver's "oldest restaurant", the Buckhorn Exchange.

I ran with Scott, who is in training for the Steamboat Marathon in June. We ran together and had a great time. We hit the pace we wanted while chatting most of the way. It sure made the time go by fast.

When we reached the finish, awaiting us was the best post-race indulgences. Burgers, beer and breakfast burritos! I partook in the two latter items...I know...quite the combination. Actually, it was my first post-race beer ever. Typically, that would be the last thing I wanted after running...or at 10:45 in the morning!

No Running Style...

This winter I've been in an informal email group with three friends (Scott, James & Brian) who are all running marathons in 2009. It's been fun to throw questions out to the group, check in on how training is going, offer encouragement after crummy runs, etc.

One promise I made to the group was that I was going to wear ski goggles the next time I went for a run in the snow. My previous two experiences this winter were not pleasant. Especially when the wind is whipping the snow into your eyeballs. The only thing you can do is run with your head straight down, which gets annoying after several miles.

We were supposed to get a foot of snow on Saturday, but when we awoke, we had nothing. It snowed a bit, but I think we maxed out at a half an inch. So I went running...and fulfilled my vow to wear goggles. I definitely did not get any style points, but it worked like a charm. Now I just need to invent goggles with wiper blades & defrosters on the front so the snow and ice won't build up!