Dear Madison Mini Marathon... I love you

Last weekend I was off to Madison, Wisconsin to run in my favorite road half marathon. I ran this race two years ago and fell in love with it. And this year was no different.

I've been anxious about getting back on roads for training. Ok, maybe dreading getting back onto roads. But if I'm gonna run a road full in October I need to be training on roads, huh? I wanted to use Madison as a "transition race", to ease the pain of getting off of only running on trails, which I'm in love with running. And what could be better? Run my favorite race=excited about all running=excited about road running=WIN!

Race day weather was PERFECT! Start in the 50's! The 50's! I kind of forgot what the 50's were all about. They are about heaven, that's what they are about. Beautiful weather and a beautiful course. What more could you ask for, really? Ok, you might ask for a shorter commute than 6 hours, but beggars can't be choosers.

I know I love the VIP race experience at the end of the race (you pay extra but get beers, massage, food and the best post race view in the house). But as I ran the race I tried to figure out the other reasons why this is the race I'm in love with. For me it's the perfect size. And the course has a great mix of city and park. And frankly, it's just a gorgeous area.

There wasn't anything during this race that was overly hilarious or strange. Just a nice race. Made a friend that I ran with from mile 4-10. She kept my pace higher than I intended, but it was nice to have someone to talk to. At mile ten my knee started to get wonky so I sent her ahead and the last three miles were much less interesting.

All and all, it makes for a great weekend. Even better when you're with friends. Even BETTER, when you have enough beer, cheese, running, and adventure that you don't feel a bit guilty about laying around in the hotel room all evening and watching Will Smith movies. 

Thank you Madison Mini for the perfect transition race to get me BACK to training for my next marathon! P.S. DO THIS RACE!!

 http://madisonminimarathon.com/