"2012-10-04T00:00:00"^^ . "2"^^ . "3"^^ . . "4"^^ . "madison mini marathon 2012!!! \n\noh man... i was so stinking sick for this half marathon. i probably should not have run. at all. however, i will not take a \"DNF\" for anything. stubborn? maybe. my friends and family think its mental illness. no one should love running THAT much. well. i do. \n\nthe madison mini is a nice event. the packet pick up is located in the uw madison union south. it was not super easy to park at for out of towners. in fact, i got a little turned around. could have been the medication i was on. could have just been the fact i didn't know where i was. either way, i eventually found it, and it was no problem to get my race packet once i was there. \n\nrace day parking was spread out at a variety of area parking garages. not being totally familiar with downtown madison, i just picked a parking garage based on nothing but the fact that i liked name. the start line is located near the uw memorial union. it was kind of a hike from the parking garage i picked. (perhaps i'll employ a better method next time) there were plenty of port-a-johns at the start. that will always win points from the ladies. however, there were a lot of mascots (you know, with the big heads. like people in suits).... and frankly, i'm creeped out by that. maybe it was the medication i was on. i was unsettled. in a donnie darko kind of way.\n\ni took the start line. tried to convince myself i was going to rock this. some guy on the loud speaker was yelling. i felt sorry for everyone who was sleeping in the apartments on the street we were lined up on. and we were off. i felt good for the first 7 miles. honestly, i kind of forgot i had a pretty serious illness. mile 8.... i was trying to decide what the runner etiquette might be - barf on the side of the road, barf in the port-a-john? (i went with the port-a-john and it was way worse for me. face down in a port-a-john is good for no one.) \n\n\nthe course is really pretty nice. a bit hilly, but it's madison. madison is hilly just driving through it, so you expect that. you run through the farmer's market and to the capital in the beginning, which i think was my favorite part. you run around the lakes as well. i did not so much like this part. the crowd began to thin and you ended up in the middle of nowhere. i didn't expect this in a city run. i thought i would be running through the city, not through the wilderness. it came as kind of an unwelcome surprise. the end of the race was nice though. it finished along the lake on campus. i was full on sprinting just to get it down with. i think i probably set a mile time PR, feeling my absolute worst just to get done. \n\nthe race village was nice at the finish line and i feel bad i didn't enjoy it more. there was a live band and lots of beer. if you ran both the madison mini and the summerfest rock and sole half in milwaukee, you got an additional medal and they totaled your time for a the M2M challenge stats. \n\ni would give this race another chance when i don't feel so terrible. being prepared to run through a less urban setting would better prepare me for this race. also, not being sick would probably be an amazing bonus.\n\ni don't hold it against you, madison. you're still about the most awesome city in the midwest next to my sweet home chicago."^^ . . . "2"^^ .