Easy run in the sun

So last night turned into a nightmare. The opening ceremony was cute. They shoved us all into an ampitheater a couple hundred hards from our hotel. There were probably 45 countries and over 1000 flag waving people there. The problem, it was miserably humid, and whoever decided it would be a good idea for the U.S.A. delegation to wear heavy blue polo shirts should remain anonymous from me. We were all sweating through our shirts within 10 minutes of arriving. The ceremony ran through the entire half marathon, but some of us wanted to cheer the half marathoners on, so we left the sweat box and went outside the stadium, were the mosquitos were running rampant. I dont think I was bitten, but it was fairly annoying.

There were 110 half marathoners and it was so hot and humid, that 6 ended up in the hospital with IV drips. Hey, its only 5.5%. The race organizers screwed up by not having enough water stations, and the conditions made everyone 5 to 20 minutes slower than their qualifying times. Felt bad for them and glad I chose not to enter that race. I headed back in the ampitheater after I stopped sweating and immediately started sweating again. At least the stank was with everyone. A German guy won in 1:16, and they brought him out on stage after so we could congratulate him and then it was dinner time. Some of us headed back outside first to watch the half marathoners finish, then grabbed some traditional hungarian grub, and went back to the hotel to chill for a bit.

This morning I awoke at 6 am and did a quick shakout run in the rain. There were massive thunderstorms here last night and somehow I slept through it because it was the talk of breakfast. I needed the shakeout because my knee was sore from sleeping in a weird position. I headed down to the track around 8:30 am and chilled until it was time to warm up. I did an easy 2.5 mile warm up and was naturally soaked aftewards. The over 30 group raced before me, which was a bummer because there were a few faster guys in that one. The winner ran 4:25.

My race went off at 10:15 with only five people. I did not come here to run slow, so I decided to just take it from the gun, but was a little more cautious than usual since it was now deathly hot. I also wore spikes since half the track was still wet. I hit the first lap in 66.5, which felt easy, and had a 20 meter lead. I maintained pace perfectly and came through 800 in 2:12.8, by then the lead had opened up to over 100 meters. I rolled through 1200 in 3:19.4, another 66 and still felt easy. Given that it was hot and I did not want to kill myself, I cruised home in 51 for a 4:10.54. I ended up winning by nearly half a lap. Very pleased with the time given the conditions and I think I could run at least 10 seconds faster right now with competition and better conditions.

There was another Italian lady who won her race by about the same margin who probably runs competitively back home. She said her PR is 4:17, very good. I shuttled home to jump in the pool and change, then headed back for the awards ceremony and took the bus into Pest. Last thing: the announcer during the race is a hoot. He is doing live play by play during the races, but doesnt know much about track, so hes getting so confused. I also just had my first food mix up. I ordered a fruit soup, and asked what it was first. The waiter said it was a bunch of fruit in a bowl. Sounds like a fruit bowl I think. He brought out what can only be described as fruit poop n a bowl, so gross. Sent it back, finished my beer and left. STUPID AMERICAN!!! Good times, looking forward to tomorrow.