I don’t believe in numerology, but I do believe in number fun. I turn 47 on my birthday this year, which is a prime number. Both 17 and 2017 are both primes as well, as are 2 and 3, the day and month of my birthday. So, it only seemed to make sense to run 13 miles (another prime!) for my birthday this year. The F^3 Lake Half Marathon was the closest half. (There’s usually a non-branded Super Bowl race, the “Big Game 10K” or something, closer to my birthday, but nothing this year.)

When you’re running a winter race, you almost kind of hope for snow, just to make the photos really dramatic and cement how hardcore you are. The weather didn’t cooperate in that regard—it was plenty cold, but just overcast and grey. I’m a little undertrained (as usual), with a mild case of pneumonia over the holidays that didn’t help, so I decided to be sensible and just tuck in with the Chicago Endurance Sports 2:20 pace group. That worked out really well—I just looked it up and I guess was a new PR in the half marathon. Thanks, CES.

Time: 2:18:41
Overall place: 1287 / 1789
Pace: 10:36 min/mi
Place in Gender: 694 / 842
Place in Division (M45-49): 93 / 115