Goldsboro Heart and Sole Half Marathon

Race Number 2 in Goldsboro, NC.  Not sure where that is?  I didn't either, here is a link to the map, but it's about an hour and a half east of Durham.  It made for a perfect excuse to head back to the dirty D and catch up with some friends.  I was worried that my time and the way I ran in Orlando would be a fluke, especially because I had to push so much to catch Kathy at the end.  Luckily during this race I met a very friendly guy named Keith who was running at a good pace and made for a good conversation during the middle five miles of the race (still amazed I can say "middle five miles").  I actually took out one of my earphones while we ran together, it's pretty interesting the sounds of running when you aren't listening to music...the sound of your own breathing, your feet hitting the pavement.  The rhythmic sound of both are enough to help you get lost in your thoughts.

The race itself was pretty straight forward, not a lot of people but some very friendly volunteers.  The weather held until about miles 10-12, when we got dumped on by a rain, but it ended up being the cleansing rain that you look for in the spring or on a warm summer's night rather than the cold miserable rain of the winter....made me hope that spring was going to come early this year. (Update: I was way off on that thought). 

Now it is all about finishing the race, but it is nice to get a cool medal at the end of the race, unfortunately this race did not have one, so the race t-shirt will have to suffice.

This race was pleasant, but definitely was not overly memorable.  Part of the challenge is about getting caught in the experience and finding fun races in fun places to run.  That being said, being out in the NC trees and country was oddly comforting, like I was back home after being gone for a while.