Here is the race recap for Austin. Officially, Austin Marathon and Half Marathon
Austin, TX
Registration:
Registration was through Event Dog... eventdog.com . Who comes up with this stuff?? I dunno.
Fee:The fees were $110 for the half and
$7.04 processing fee
Total, in case you hate math $117.04
The Expo:
This expo was at the Palmer Event Center. It was the same old thing. With the exception that Valerie and all three kids were with me. Valerie's brother lives in Leander, just outside of Austin, so we bundled this trip with a visit to see her brother. Packet pick-up was very easy. There was no line. I walked right up to the bib pick-up area and showed my drivers license and collected my bib and safety pins, then right over to get my bag and shirt.... easy peezy. The only "difficult" part of the expo was not losing track of Valerie and the kids. At one point I had to text them and let them know I where I was waiting for them near the exit -- they were wandering around looking at things that did not even interest them. Go figure.
Shirt:
The shirt was a short-sleeved wicking, tech shirt.
Race Day:
Sunday. We flew out Thursday evening. Valerie's brother picked us up at the airport and took us to his house for the night. Then we went into town and stayed in an AirBnb condo for the remainder of the trip.
Race Start Time:
Race start time was 7:00am. We started right about time. Valerie and I walked over to the start which was only a block away from our room. There were corrals, but they were designated for the full marathon, so I did some quick math and determined that I should be in the 3:20 - 3:25 corral area. This put me right up near the start, about 10 yards from the elite corral. I appreciated this placement because there were some 15,000 people in this race and it got a bit crowded in spots... particularly the start.
The course started in Downtown Austin with the Capitol in the background, ran over the river and around for a while, then back across the river and back to Congress St. and finished in front of the Capitol just down from the start.
Accommodations:
We stayed at an AirBnb condo/apartment. It had one bedroom, one bathroom and a loft. The loft only had room for a bed and a desk. Keeley slept up there. There was a pull-out couch in the living room and the boys slept out there, and Valerie and I stayed in the bedroom. It really was not a big deal that there was only one bathroom. I thought it would be worse with all five of us, but it was pretty uneventful. 
Transportation:
As I mentioned, Valerie's brother picked us up from the airport and drove us to downtown and even took us to lunch the last day and then on to the airport, so we did not have to get an Uber or taxi anywhere this trip. Everything else was within walking distance.
Weather:
The weather was pretty good. It was about 50-60F the entire trip. The forecast suggested rain on race day, but the rain came about 3:00am and stopped prior to the race, so it was wet out, but there was no rain at all during the race, or even while we were walking around the city. Some of the racers complained about the humidity, but I did not think it was an issue. Maybe I am just accustomed to humidity?
Race Morning:
The kids stayed in bed and Valerie and I walked to the start. She hung around until I took off, then found a spot to catch me coming back over the river and then again at the finish. The kids were supposed to come out to catch me finishing.... but they just missed me as they had a lesson in herding cats.... but they were right there when I came out of the racers exit just past the finish. --- "missed it by this much!"
Race:
The race was well organized. I did not have any trouble finding where to go. There was no confusion. All of the pacers and the corrals were set up for the full, so there was some simple division that needed to happen, but it was easy enough. The half and the full took the exact same course until about 12.5 miles and the half runners split off. It was well marked and there were people there directing traffic.
Valerie and I mapped out before the race about where she would be at mile 8 and roughly where she would be a the finish and then where we would meet after the race. It was good that we discussed these things before hand, because she did not notice me at the 8 mile mark. I noticed her and had to call out to her to get her attention. I was racing pretty well at that point and feeling good, so I was able to focus and recognize her. Had she been waiting around mile 10-13, I may not have been able to see her because I was "foggy" due to the hills.
There were water stations every1.5 or so. This race was sponsored in part by Nuun, so every water station had some Nuun mixture. I liked that. If you are not familiar, Nuun is an electrolyte powder or tablet that you mix with water. It gives the water some flavor and gives you some electrolyte replacement. I have them at home and it is part of my regular training regimen. They also had cliff shots at at least one place, maybe more, but I only noticed one around mile 9-10. I did not see any other food until the finish, but it is possible it was there.
Scenery:
The scenery was downtown Austin. I think they could have made the course center around the river more to take advantage of the scenic river front, but the river was not the main focus.
Race Entertainment: There were several smaller bands and other groups out for entertainment. One group of college aged kids were out in tiger outfits playing "eye of the tiger" and singing and dancing. There was a fair amount of community involvement. I saw multiple stations of neighborhood folks offering water, beer, and even champaign to the racers. I did not have any of those. Actually, I only got water and Nuun water at four stations, and only a couple sips each time. I skipped the other stations as I was feeling pretty good.... that is, until the late hills.
In the other entertainment category, after braving the expo, Valerie and the kids and I went on a duck tour of Austin on Saturday. We had a fun time. It was a decent waste of time and not terribly expensive. I think the kids enjoyed themselves as well. 
Finish:
The finish was just down the street from the start and just a couple blocks from the room. Valerie was at the finish to cheer me in and the whole family met me at the racers exit. The finish area was not crowded. They took photos, passed out medals and water and fruit cups and a finisher's bag which had another fruit cup that I gave to a homeless guy, some Oreo thins and some chips. The MC called out my name at the finish and as a bonus, he pronounced it correctly. We all walked back to the room from the finish together... while I ate my Oreos. ;)
Bling:
The finishers medal was a belt buckle with the ribbon colored to look like a belt. Cute. There was also a race bag. Misc:
This was a nice race. It was well organized, even with a large group. There were some hills that I have already alluded to. The late hills were a killer for me. There was a large elevation gain in the first few miles, some 600ft., but it was spread out over three or so miles. I was running well at about 7:45 per mile. Then came the down hill for a couple miles where I ran 7:11 and 7:17 and 7:30ish per mile. Then came miles 9-13. There were several hills that had less elevation gain, but over a much shorter period. That is, they were steep. I felt like I was standing still. People were passing me and I was getting winded. I have simply not mastered hills. My split times were inching above 8:00 per mile, and particularly the hill at mile 13. That mile was 8:30 something. In all, I finished fairly well, but my hopes of another PR faded around mile 10.
Friday morning, two days before the race, I went for a run, just a mile, around Valerie's brother's house. There were some major hills there too, but i felt pretty good and ended up running three miles at about 8:30 per mile pace. It was a relatively easy run. That evening, my left foot began to swell. No idea why. It did not hurt. Ice and anti-inflammatories did not help. I was a little concerned that I might have difficulty come Sunday. When I woke up Saturday morning it had subsided and was not a problem. I went for a light jog with Valerie and had no issue. I think it is/was tendinitis, but caused me no issue during the race. Just weird.Post Race:
We walked back to the hotel and I got a shower, packed up and went out to lunch with Valerie's brother and his wife and the rest of the fam. We went to Rudy's BBQ.It was good. I had a banana pudding which I ate before my lunch in case I did not survive through lunch, then off to the airport. We were super early to the airport, but we were sort-of homeless, so we went on to the airport and just hung out for a few hours until our flight. I walked up and down the terminal several times because the lactic acid was building up and I was getting stiff. I am still a bit sore three days later.
Next race is NYC. Not sure about the weather and the race is the day after St. Patty's Day, so I am not so sure about the crowds, but it should be interesting. It will be televised, so if you are so inclined to watch a half marathon on TV or internet on a Saturday morning, you just may see me out there.
