well, it was pretty great until about the last mile or so.

i am just as awkward as i look

considering i had been awake since 2:30am, i thought i was feeling pretty ready.

haha there ain't no roads here

the drive to beaver was appropriately spooky with low clouds and fog along the river and wow that's a lot of train cars.

i may have made sub-optimal nutrition choices. i see that now.

i did a few things right: i didn't go off too fast, kept my heart rate in check (even unlocked a garmin max heart rate boost to 184 WOO), and really had a lot of fun just plowing through all the water and mud

end of race fit check

however, it wasn't all puppy dogs and rainbows. a couple of things i could have done better:

• double tie shoelaces
• drink more electrolytes or use salt tabs
• spend more(!) time at aid stations to enjoy the vibe and have real food (pierogies!)
• stop and take pictures!

even with all that, i think i did okay.

in fact, I KNOW I DID. LOOK AT THAT - I DON'T SMILE EVER

got that bread, hell yeah

i don't know what i was thinking, but i just went for it.

race face i guess

for my very first half marathon i think it went really well. i didn't blow up and i didn't start out too fast. i also got lucky with parking and was able to ditch the vest and gloves at the car after the first lap I WAS GETTIN' BROILY.

i took the training seriously (sort of), and the plan had me on schedule to finish around 2:15. but checking in that morning it said HAHAH GOOD LUCK MAKING IT IN 2:25. i wonder if that was Garmin's way of negging me, motivationally.

always ask first before racing

hey would ya look at that

don was amazing

...and tyler, too

oh, and my final time?

suck it, watch

checking previous race result photo's EXIF data to see when the photographer will upload new ones is this toxic or normal

how it started

how it middled

how it ended